The Strain Recap: "The Disappeared"

Written by Scotty

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

As the night continues in New York, more and more fears are coming to life.  Not knowing what is really happening in the great city with the lack of the internet, along with limited phone service, nobody is safe. Needing to find their loved ones and making sure that they are all virus free, the group starts to work their way home and then to the safest spot they know, Abraham’s pawn shop.

Zach Goodweather arrives home to find it empty of his mother.  Looking around and seeing the mess that was left in the house, he is attacked by her boyfriend, Matt.  Becoming infected at his job, Matt has returned to the place and the people that he loves and has attempted to feed, but finds it is much harder to accomplish when Eph makes it home just in time to save his son.  Disposing of his family’s new threat, Eph implores that Abraham takes his son and keep him safe until his arrival to their safe house. Zach is worried about his mother since no one can seem to locate her and like his father, will do anything to help find her.

On the other side of town, Gus and Felix are still in lock up and Felix is not recovering at all form his sickness.  Without receiving any medical treatment in the jail cell, Gus is worried about his best friend’s well being and tries to convince the guards to get someone to look at him.  Being ignored and, all of the prisoners are loaded onto a transport and sent off to the prison before morning.  Felix’s health continues to fail on the bus, but when he seems to come gain some power back, he becomes the thing that nobody wants to see, a vampire.  With Felix distracted while feeding off of the driver, Gus is able to escape his small confines, but has a decision to make before making a run for his freedom.

Vasiliy Fet is leading the charge to help get the surviving group to safety and will double check all of their residences before allowing anyone to stay alone.  Walking Dutch back up to her apartment, Fet finds it empty of any living being, but Dutch finds out something much worse.  Her roommate has run off with all of Dutch’s most important belongings, the money from her latest job and her laptop.  Trying to get a grasp on what is really happening in the world, Fet and Dutch discuss what to do next when an uninvited guest comes in the front door and tries to feed on the master hacker.  Knowing that this place is no longer safe, Fet decides to bring the young woman to the safe house as well.

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Eph and Nora are left alone in Eph’s former home to dispose of the body of his ex-wife’s boyfriend, but there is something more troubling on the couples mind, the loss of their friend Jim Kent.  The two start to kick themselves for not being able to help him with all of their training in the medical field, but are starting to come to terms that the old man might be right with needing to stop this virus at the source, rather than trying to save the infected.  In the heat of the moment, the two find a way to blow off steam, but end up getting caught by his wife’s friend.  Confessing his love for his wife, Eph unknowingly upsets Nora as she is trying her hardest to keep her wits about her in the situation, but is becoming lost very quickly.

Abraham Setrakian is keeping his mind busy working up battle plans when he meets the Master once again.  Trying to get everyone to understand what they are up against, he takes a moment with young Zach and introduces him to an old book on the vampire lore so he may become a little bit more acclimated to the situation just outside the door.  Also while making casual conversation with Dutch, he finds out who is the mastermind behind the outbreak, Eldritch Palmer.  Dutch also tells him of a German man that seems to be pulling the strings and never truly liked being around, Thomas Eichorst.  Abraham now has a target in mind and needs the help of Fet to make his way through the city and get to Palmer’s building and confront the master once and for all.

With another round of flashbacks to Abraham’s past, his hardships are really brought to life.  After completing the box for Eichorst, Abraham was treated as a normal prisoner again, but he knows more than the others. As the allied forces have been getting closer and closer to the camp, the Master has been feeding more heavily in Abraham’s bunks.  Although Abraham was able to procure a silver knife to keep the old being away, he is no match for the power that the Master brings to the table.  Breaking Abraham’s hands in the night, the Master has done his duty to make sure the carpenter cannot continue his trade as the camp is preparing to move and will only take the healthiest prisoners with them.  Abraham has been put on the firing line but is given a second chance at life as the allied forces pull up on the camps doorstep.

An emotional episode to say the least as you have seen the final days of Abraham in the concentration camp, a motherless child worried about her wellbeing, a woman trying to make since of a situation that she helped facilitate and a couple that does not know where they both stand in each other’s eyes.  Everyone just wants to go home, but as they are finding out, home is not safe, especially when someone that loves them has become infected.  Believing that the safest route is to stay under the watchful eye of Abraham Setrakian, since he was able to help get them all out the convenience store alive, it seems to be time for everyone to accept his explanations for what is really happening and more importantly, how to fight it.  Stay Scared!

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