The Strain Episode 11 WILL hunt you down!

By | September 21, 2014

Read about Episode 10: Loved Ones

The Strain Episode 11 - The Master

Tonight’s episode was really fast paced and brought things a lot further along than the last couple episodes did.  It was all in all a very good episode.  Not everyone enjoyed last weeks episode, but I did.  I liked the story telling style, but this weeks was much more straightforward and to the point.  Very much reminded me of Peter Weller’s episodes.  What follows is a spoiler-filled synopsis.

The Strain Episode 11, The Third Rail, opened up with Fet and Eph testing an experimental UV flash bomb.  “In engineering terms” it failed.  Zach was using his mom’s phone to video the project.

Nora’s mother is having trouble adjusting to life at Setrakian’s but everyone is trying to hold it together.  Back with Gus, who goes home, he discovers his brother, fully turned, and dispatches him as quickly as possible.  Back at Setrakian’s, Eph compares himself to a nondescript Van Helsing confessing that he does believe that killing The Master will stop the plague.  Loading up in the truck, Abraham gives Nora the silver knife that Jim had used, and Ephraim tells Zach to hold the fort down.

Mariela, Nora’s mother, seemed to be almost testing Zach during one of her episodes.  Meanwhile, driving through the busy streets of New York, Eph and the team see the outrageous looting and chaos happening.  Gus is trying to get ahold of his mother and having no luck when he hears a noise down the hall.  He goes into the room and finds his mother in a closet, infected.  At Setrakian’s, Zach is reading the book that Abraham lent him when he hears Mariela having a small break down just outside the Pawn Shop.  He reluctantly agrees to go get her some cigarettes in exchange for her staying in the basement.  Descending into the subway tunnels Abraham and Ephraim give us this exchange: The cave you fear to enter, holds the treasure that we seek.  We also find out that The Master is drawn to human suffering.

Trudging through the tunnels, the team begins to see the leftovers of victims. Purses, jewelry, wallets, stuffed animals, and more. Getting closer to the tunnels under the former Trade Center Towers, they find a very large of nest of vampires.  However, seeking only The Master, Abraham tells them to turn off the UV lights and proceed through.  Killing one would alert him.  Back at home, Gus is confronted by his mother turned vampire, but leaves her.  On his way out, he grabs a fire axe just in time to confront the building manager who is also now a vampire.

The Strain Episode 11 brings Gus and Zach face to face

Fet doesn’t know the tunnels quite as well as he thought, they get lost.  After seeing one get fried on the subway tracks, they determine that they are getting close.  Back with Zach, he finds a convenience store to get some smokes from, but a couple scavengers come in and he runs off to the back and down into the supply room where he is face to face with a vampire.  He makes it out and the scavengers get ate by the vampire and he runs into Gus wielding his fire axe.  Gus lets him leave.  Back in the tunnels with the team, they find a very small crawl space tunnel.  Eph crawls through with his Machete and UV lamp.  Vamps come up behind the others and Fet volunteers to hold them off while Nora and Abraham crawl through.  Before the others can make it through, Ephraim hears Kelly’s voice and despite Setrakian’s warnings, walks off to find her.

The Strain Episode 11 - Ephraim and The Master's Coffin

Nora and Fet begin fire a few rounds off into the enclosing crowd before Fet takes them on solo.  With both Nora and Fet through, they leave a UV lamp in the crawl space to keep more from coming through.  Kelly’s voice leads Eph into The Master’s nest, where he finds the coffin.  After finding it empty, vampires close in around him and The Master makes his big reveal to Ephraim.  The Master throws down the gauntlet to Eph, swearing to destroy his family.  Just then, Setrakian comes to help and is quickly rendered helpless shortly after drawing his sword.  Fet and Nora make it just in time to use the UV bomb, but The Master slipped away.  Enraged, Setrakian destroys the coffin he built so many years ago.  The team reluctantly follows Abraham after The Master, but before going too far they find the mother of all nests.  Zach does it make it back to the Pawn Shop before dark with cigarettes.

Next Episode: Last Rites

I’ll be live tweeting during the season finale in 2 weeks: @anonymousgeek5