The Strain Recap: "For Services Rendered"

Written by Scotty

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

The eclipse has finally taken place and NYC is starting to look like a ghost town.  With so many people getting sick, it can only be thought that the virus outbreak is going to be epic once everybody changes into a flesh craving beast.  There is no place to hide in the city, as it seems that everyone knows somebody that is infected and they are looking to pass it on.

Eph, Nora and Abraham have to find a way to kill the infection before it takes over the city.  Having to listen to the old pawn broker, they try to devise a plan to bring The Master out to the surface.  Knowing that Jim Kent is in talks with the group behind the outbreak, they guilt him into playing along and making demands that could only be met face to face.  Kent agrees, but when the meeting does not go as planned, the group has to follow The Master’s helper, Thomas Eichorst, into the subway and try to locate The Master’s hiding place.  Knowing that this is a trap, Eichorst turns the table on the group and his old friend Abraham and keeps them at arm’s length until he is ready to face them.

Neeva is holding onto the Luss children until she is able to be certain that the sickness in the house is controlled.  Returning home from a business trip, Roger Luss is upset to hear that his nanny has taken control of his children without proper cause and demands they be brought home immediately.  Against Neeva’s decision, her daughter takes control and brings the children back home only to find that it is filled with the infected.  Trying to hide from the threat, Neeva is met by a group of heavily armed hunters that seem to know how to kill the infected.  Being released from the house, the group has to find somewhere else to hold up while the threat continues to grow and become more deadly, with one less person.

Eldritch Palmer is recovering from his emergency liver transplant and is in no shape to fight with anyone.  Being disappointed that the magical cure that he was promised has not yet been delivered, he is not trusting his current clients.  With the internet being taken down fully in the New York area and only having limited cell phone coverage, his plan has gone off without a hitch.  Knowing that the group would not be able to accomplish what they are trying to without his help, he knows that there is a great prize awaiting him at the end of the tunnel, but he has to live long enough to collect it.

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Gus and Felix have been arrested and thrown in jail for killing the infected morgue worker.  The police are not listening to a word that Gus is saying when being processed.  Trying to explain that it was self-defense, the two have been locked up and Felix is starting to get sick.  Being bit on the hand, it is only a matter of time before the old friends will have to come to terms with what is about to happen to their relationship.

Most of the episode was based around the relationship between Abraham Setrakian and Thomas Eichorst as they have known each other for a long time.  Eichorst was running the prisoner camp that Abraham was taken to during the war.  Finding out that the young Jewish man was a very gifted carpenter, Eichorst has assigned him to working on something extra special.  As Abraham worked his new project, Eichorst seemed to grow fond of the young man, visiting and talking with him more and more frequently.  Even though the two men shared some of the same views of what was currently happening during the war, Eichorst was still in charge and would not veer away from the completion of the special box that is being constructed. 

It seemed like this episode was paced a little bit slower than the previous ones, but with that said, it was over before you knew it.  Once again, it was a very strong story and covered the history between Abraham Setrakian and Thomas Eichorst.  With these two knowing so much about each other, I cannot wait to see how the end game plays out between the two.  Not knowing how many people have been infected during the eclipse, it looks like the living will have to find a way to survive an outbreak of epic proportions.  I am excited to see what comes from the group of vampire hunters as they are not normal people and nothing has yet been explained about their origins, but they seem to be worried about the survival of the human race.  The episodes cannot come fast enough and I hope that you are loving how this is playing out as much as I am.  Stay Scared!

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