The Strain Recap: "The Third Rail"

Written by Scotty

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

As the nights in New York City are no longer safe, the daytime is not getting much better.  Looting has taken over in the streets as nobody knows what is happening and thinking about their number one priorities, themselves.  It is getting harder to know what to expect as there are many infected that have vanished from their homes and businesses, but while they are all hidden somewhere, their possessions are up for grabs.

Eph, Abraham, Fet and Nora are preparing to head out and find the Master’s lair.  Knowing that it has to be underground, they are equipping themselves with all of the UV protection that they have available, along with a bomb of sorts.  Knowing that this entire event started with one vampire, Abraham wants to end it by cutting off the head of the first and most powerful.  Heading into the bowels of the city, the group is led by Fet who has been catching and killing rats in the area for years and knows more about the secrets that the area holds than anyone else.

With their search area being around Ground Zero, the group enters more tunnels that have not been used by the city since the incident. With all of the ammonia over the walls and rails, they find that they are on the right way to where the Master should be hiding. Keeping quiet and not disturbing the newly infected, everyone is starting to get fed up with their current situation and taking it out on each other.  With their trust diminishing, they find a rat hole that could lead them to their goal.  Going first, Eph starts to hear cries for help from his ex-wife Kelly and will not stop and listen to reason from anyone until he finds her.  Meeting the Master for the first time, Eph is amazed with the power the creature possesses, but is not able to protect himself and needs to depend on his friends to get him out of his current predicament.  

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On babysitting duty back at the pawn shop, Zach has been put in charge by his father while the group is out hunting.  Taking care of Nora’s mother, Mariela, Zach finds that he is going to have his hands full with the old woman who is not entirely there.  After throwing her final fit, Zach decides to take matters into his own hands and leaves the shop to find the old woman some cigarettes so she will calm down and stay in the safety of the basement.  Leaving the shop, Zach is able to see how bad the city has gotten and has to keep his eyes open as the vampire threat is not only active in the day, but still very dangerous.

After escaping from his prisoner transport, Gus has been able to find his way home and needs to make sure that his mother is ok.  After banging on the door for several minutes, he finds that it was left open and enters to find his brother has been changed into the same type of creature as his best friend was just a few hours ago.  Having to defend himself, Gus has to kill his own flesh and blood and find his mother.  Trying to call everywhere where she could be, he hears a little knock in the closet and when he opens it to the light, he finds his mother is one of the infected as well.  Apologizing to her and leaving the apartment, Gus makes his way through the city to find whatever he can that will help him survive the outbreak.

It was a little bit of a more condensed episode as almost all of the characters were highlighted, but done well.  Watching as the large group is only trusting each other a little bit, they seem to be taking one step forward and three steps back in their relationships.  But finding the Master’s lair was the highlight of the episode and watching Abraham destroy his master work from so many years ago.  Knowing where they have to go to find the one that started it all is a large step for the group, but when they saw what the next tunnel has in store for them, it may be more difficult than they expected to get close to the Master once again.  Stay Scared!

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