The Strain Recap: "Runaways"

Written by Scotty

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

As the time ticks away until the eclipse, the threat of an outbreak seems to be imminent.  With all of the bodies of the dead passengers coming back to life and turning into something much worse than expected, there seems to be only one way to contain the threat, killing them all.  With Dr. Martinez looking the other way and removing herself from the situation at hand, Eph and Abraham have to battle the threat on their own.

Abraham Setrakian has finally come clean to Eph about what the people of New York are up against as all of the passengers of flight 753 are changing.  Giving Eph a little bit more background about what he knows, we are transported back to 1944 and get to see through Abraham’s eyes the Master that took his fellow prisoners during the night.  Although he did not know what was happening when it began in the camp, Abraham was able to put it all together as the sick people he was kept with were winding up dead.  The Master only seemed to take out the sick people, but his thirst was getting stronger and he had to start feeding more frequently, taking out Abraham’s brother right in front of his very eyes.

Eph needs to get footage of the creatures to prove to the powers that be that a quarantine is needed.  Being able to capture this using his cell phone when visiting the house of Ansel Barbour, he is able to bring the proof to his boss.  Everett is not willing to watch the footage that is placed in front of him, when all he sees is Eph shooting a chained up, sick man and calls in the authorities to try and get Eph off of the streets.  Jim Kent is still upset about being kicked out of the group, but will still help his friend find a way of escaping before he is sent away.  Although Kent is trying to make amends with his old friend, he is still on bad terms with Eph and will have to do more to prove that he wants to stop this outbreak before being let back into the inner loop.

Gabriel Bolivar has completed his transformation into a new creature.  With his publicist trying to make sure he is healthy enough to perform his eclipse concert, she calls in another doctor to take a look at him.  Bolivar takes full advantage and gets his next free meal, but when his publicist sees what has happened, she calls in a ‘cleaner’ to make the situation go away.  Thinking he is just folding under the pressure and not wanting any bad publicity before the show, she does not understand what is happening to her cash cow.  When the ‘cleaner’ shows up however, Bolivar gets to take full advantage once again for another meal.  Even though there seems to be a little part of him left, he cannot fight the voices he is hearing in his head and needs to bend to their will, and feed.

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Joan Luss, the final survivor from flight 753 is slowly starting to change as well.  Feeling under the weather, she has been stuck in bed since being released from the hospital.  With her two kids and nanny trying to do everything to make her feel better, she is starting to feel like something else is controlling her.  When her nanny tries to take the kids out of the house while she is still laying down, Joan gets upset, but is willing to let them continue on with their day.  Hearing the heartbeat of her children, along with fighting a thirst that cannot be quenched by anything that she knows of, she decides to take a jog and work the sickness out of her system. 

Vasiliy Fet is getting in trouble for not being the kindest to his customers, but does not seem to care.  Watching as rats are moving out of the sewers and taking to the streets, he knows that there is some other larger predator under the streets that are driving the rats away from their home.  Taking it upon himself, Fet goes down and takes a look.  Not knowing what to expect, he sees a little person run by and follows him.  What is finds blows his mind as there are several people with blood dripping from their chins that are looking at him like he is dinner.  Retreating back up to the surface, he sees that each of the people that were chasing him were burning when being exposed to the sunlight. Fet watches for a moment, then has to close the doors behind him as this is something that he has not seen before.

Is it possible that the show is getting better every week?  This is only five episodes in and each one seems to be more intense than the last.  With most of the internet being knocked out and now cell phone service is shaky at best, it is apparent that nobody knows what is on the horizon, other than Abraham Setrakian. I did not know how they would handle the old man’s story when it came into play, and am not too disappointed with how they brought it to life.  With Eph starting to believe the old pawn brokers story, and Nora being exposed to the outbreak while on her personal time, and no way to contact anyone, it appears that finding each other later on will be next to impossible, but you never know in a city like New York, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere…right?  Stay Scared!

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