"The Strain" Recap: "Dead End"

Written by Scotty

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

How far would you go to protect your friends from being harmed?  I would hope that my friends would be knocking down doors to find me, but at our ages, it might not happen since we all seem to have bad knees.  But I would do anything for my friends since they are an extension of myself and if any harm came to them, I would be beside myself if I did nothing to help them. 

Abraham awakens from his forced slumber to find a younger man standing before him.  Looking at the man’s ear, Abraham knows exactly who he is, Rudyard Fonescu.  Rudyard was the young boy that was hiding out in the church when it was overrun by the Strigoi threat.  Now that Rudyard has the Lumen, he is looking to cash it in for the life he should have had this entire time, and even with Abraham’s warnings about the book, he will not back away from what he wants.  Needing to find a way to sell the book before his time runs out, Rudyard has an appointment with Alonso Creem who is the eyes and ears of the streets and has been on the lookout for the book himself.  Now the waiting game is on to see who is able to come up with the highest bid.

Gus is trying to move the Guptas out of the city to safety while he prepares for his next battle.  Knowing that there is no real safe place he makes Angel promise that he will take care of the family and even though the old wrestler agrees, he wants to stay and fight.  When Gus visits Aanya to make sure she is ready to go, the two know that they should be together.  But the timing is not right and even though there is love between the two, Gus wants to ensure that she is safe from the threats and will not put her in harm’s way.  Promising to find her when the battle is over, Gus is shocked to see that Angel is back at his side.  The two are now ready to go meet with Quinlan and get their game plan together to take out the Master.

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Dutch seems to have no hope when being locked up in Eichorst’s torture chamber.  Wanting to get to know his next meal, Thomas is does not hold back on his questions, much less his answers.  Tormenting Dutch, he delivers an officer cocktail, and even though he bites the poor man, he disposes of the body so it will not change.  Dutch is looking for any way to get out of her cage and sees that the officer was not cleaned of all of his weapons and being able to secure his pepper spray, she just needs to wait for the perfect time to try and escape.  After doing Eichorst’s bidding, Dutch has the upper hand and is able to spray her captor, but when she sees the light at the end of the tunnel, she is shocked to see it is bricked up.

The main story in this episode was getting to know our favorite Thomas Eichorst.  As a failing radio salesman, Thomas has never been able to find his way but all is not lost as he is able to get a date with Helga from the office.  Knowing that he is meant for more, Helga helps pad Tommy’s ego since she would not be out with a loser, but her words are taken more to heart then she knows.  While at dinner, Thomas is intrigued by a Nazi soldier’s speech and believes that he has found his calling in life.  Blasting the Jewish race in his own words, he finds out that Helga is one herself.  Joining the party, Thomas will have no ties with the woman that has helped changed his world with her words, but the love he has for her will never die.  With the respect that the uniform brings him, Thomas knows he has made the right choice, although he starts to see what is happening in his country.

I hate to say it, but this has been my least favorite episode and it does not even have Zach in it.  With the wonderful backstory for Thomas Eichorst, it just did not pack the punch that it should have and with his torture scene with Dutch went to a messed up place, I am starting to wonder what storyline the writers are going with now.  Dutch is a strong character and I guess he was trying to break her, but he is not the Governor from The Walking Dead and the scene was not scary at all, it just seemed like it was ripped off to try and get the same effect.  It did not and I will leave it at that.  Angel and Gus are going to take the city by storm with Quinlan, while Abraham is going to have to start his quest for the Lumen once again and find out where Rudyard has taken it.  Fet has proven he can be there for Dutch and hopefully the two do not separate, since it seems like neither of them can live safely without each other.  Nora and Eph did not really have much to talk about on the drive home as they helped to rescue Dutch, but you can tell that the wheels are spinning.  Two episodes to go, I hope the finale does not disappoint.  Stay Scared.

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