Welcome to The Strain-ger Talk, where each week we breakdown and discuss this week’s new episode of FX’s The Strain. We will be going over major plot points, the game plan from both sides of the upcoming war, best action moments, new types of vampires, and of course the Tongue-Punch of the Week! If you missed last week’s talk then CLICK HERE! Apologies for this weeks being a few days late, but sometimes life gets in the way of talking Strain-ge. Now a lot of ACTION happened this week that we need to cover, so without further ado, lets talk some Strainge!

*MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! IF YOU DO NOT WANT THIS EPISODE SPOILED THEN STOP READING*

Breakdown:

This week’s episode has proven to be the best the show has put out so far. Everything clashes as plans from both sides of good and evil start to come together. Eichorst and Kelly retaliate in a big manner, Councilwoman Feraldo has to face the consequences of her role, Zach finally comes to his senses, Nora finally steps out of Eph’s shadow and kicks major ass, and Dutch proves that she is not out of the game. Ultimately this week’s episode is about two things: The first battle of the war and the women of The Strain. But before we get into those, lets talk about these awesome new credits!

The Strain‘s credits have always been cool, but a bit confusing. The original credits were short, quick, bloody, and gross as they mainly featured bloody slugs crawling on a bathroom floor. But the thing is, these slug creatures were never featured in the show. The opening seemed a bit out of place in the look and feel of the show itself. That all changed this week with the introduction of a new and longer credits. The new music for the opening is awesome and epic as the credits showcase key scenes, characters, back stories and item’s from the show’s rich mythology. I am very excited about this new opening, especially since they revealed it with the best episode of the show. The story is making some big changes and I am glad that it is reflected in this new opening. Now lets get to the highlights of this week’s episodes.

The Battle For Red Hook saw the group getting split up. Councilwoman Feraldo stayed at the front lines of the battle to lead her police army against the invasion. After the power for the area was shut off Fet, Nora, and Zach went to go turn back on the power. Eph and Abraham went back to the compound to defeat Eichorst while Dutch was dealing with the tug of war between staying with Nikki or fighting with the others. I have heard others complain about the reintroduction of Dutch’s girlfriend Nikki saying how she is annoying and unnecessary to the story. While in previous weeks I would have agreed that she added little to the story, except for causing Fet to be off his game, but this week changed everything. Dutch was forced to face the issues and nature of her relationships with both Fet and Nikki, especially after Fet came back to her showing the confident and charming Russian exterminator we all know and love. Fet seems to have taken what Abraham said in previous episodes to heart and put his feelings for Dutch asides. I don’t think he’s over her, but he has excepted who she is and that their are more important things to deal with. Like stopping a vampire apocalypse. After seeing the side of him she fell in love with again, she confronts Nikki about her laptop and why her story of her missing time was filled holes, ultimately leading to her realization of how toxic their relationship was. Nikki is a comfort for Dutch and a reminder/hope for the life she had before the Strigori. But she realizes that the life she had is gone and finally leaves the apartment to join in the battle. During the siege, Dutch is nearly killed by a Strigori, but Nikki saves her in the last moment.

After the chaos, the group joins up in the aftermath and Dutch tells Fet about how Nikki saved her life. Fet and Nikki seem to have an understanding now as well as a mutual respect for each other. Nikki has joined in the fight and is no longer distant from the events allowing Fet to see her as a fellow fighter in the ongoing war. It seems that the two have a realization that they are both caught in Dutch’s web and no longer going to clash, leaving the decision to Dutch herself to figure out what is going on. Get isn’t out of the game, he’s just focusing on doing his part in the war and not allowing himself to be distracted anymore. It will be interesting to see how this triangle plays out.

The women of The Strain took center stage this week and stole the show. Starting first with Kelly who is now without her main group of Feelers, finds comfort from one of her lesser children. Now that she is more enlightened with her human memories and feelings she is in a state of vulnerability. She confines in Eichorst that the pain of seeing her son turn to Nora as a mother figure is weighing on her more after seeing him in the compound. She struggles with her human love for Zach and her Strigori need to destroy everything around her. This turn is not only great, but very unexpected. When Kelly first turned I assumed it would probably be the last time we saw her. When she returned this season, I was expecting her to be another mindless Strigori in The Master’s army, but instead she has a complex character who quickly rose in the ranks. Between the last episode and this week’s, Eichorst has become a mentor for her, teaching her how to tap into her past life and how to function as a passable human. This is a stunning turn as her character continues to blossom this season. After her and Eichorst shepard a small group of Strigori into Red Hook she tongue-punches the ships Captain without hesitation. Shortly after she is given a mental heads up from one of the Strigori of where her son is and splits from Eichorst to go find him. Thats where she meets Fet and Nora.

Kelly finds Zach with Fet and Nora at the power station trying to bring the power back so that the humans can have the UV lights back on at the main entrance. Nora has really stepped up in this episode, being the first to volunteer for battle and to bring back the power. She has really come into her own now that she is no longer in Eph’s shadow. I honestly believe after Eph told her what happened in DC she no longer feels that she needs to stay behind him and instead is focusing on helping the others more. Her need to protect Zach is at an all time high when Eph leaves them )breaking his promise to stay with Zach at all times again) to help out Abe and continues when Kelly comes for Zach. She also uses her abundance of intelligence to solve the power issue, something that Fet and Zach probably wouldn’t have been able to fix on their own. Nora has proven time and time again to be the glue that holds the group together, but now she is more than that. She has become a warrior in the battle. She is no longer just picking up the pieces or lending out a hand for others, she is active and interracial part of the groups survival. I am beyond excited to see strong female characters in this show and even happier that Nora has been given the chance to grow significantly in this episode. I just hope they don’t put her back in Eph’s shadow again once he returns. Speaking of Eph:

Eph goes to help the stubborn Abraham when he tries to take on Eichorst alone. When Eichorst find them, he toys with them for a majority of the fight. He rants on about how he is going to play with Abraham a bit before he drinks him dry and who would win Zach once Eph is turned. Eichorst is talking like someone who has already won the battle. Eph try sniping him from a higher floor when he goes to attack Abraham, leading Eichorst into the building. Once Eph draws him to the roof of the building, Abraham and Eph ambush him and are able to wound him a few times before he runs off. This is a great turn as in the beginning of the episode, Eichorst and Kelly seemed like an unstoppable force that’s going to bring down the group and all of Red Hook. But both Kelly and Eichorst are seriously injured after their encounters. What does this means in terms of The Master retaliating? Does this mean they have a shot? We only have four episode left of this season, so I am sure we will find out soon enough.

Feraldo has proven many times since her introduction to be a person of action and passion. This week, all of that was put to the test when Red Hook came under siege. After fighting with the mayor to keep her efforts focused on taking back the burrows instead of the rich neighborhoods, the power is cut. The group leaves Feraldo and the police after a short fight with a Strigori scouting group to turn the power back on. After a few moments of quiet, Feraldo climbs to a high tower and looks into the dark to see:

Upon seeing the massive group of Strigori, Feraldo has a moment of hopelessness. She gives in to self doubts and begins to question her actions believing this to be a suicide mission. Her second in command reminds her of what her role is and why those men have and continue to follow her orders. Its not just that she is in command or that they believe in her, but that they need to do this in order to survive and protect mankind.

Feraldo not only gets her second wind, but she figures out that its not just her and the police that need to fight to save Red Hook, but the citizens themselves need to take a stand. She rides through the burrows and rallies everyone to fight against the Strigori siege and to take back their city. Geraldo really comes into her own in this episode proving to be a strong character. She is someone, like many in the show, put in an extraordinary position in a hellish environment. But whereas many just have to watch over themselves and those around her, Feraldo has been given the hard task of leading many to protect many more. Its a heavy weight that gets to her, but she still finds the courage to stand up and fight for her city. She is becoming a great character to watch and I can’t wait to see how this experience will affect her going forward.

Lets talk about the battle more. Through out these recaps I keep referring to the upcoming war. What we have been seeing so far are just the beginning of a war. There has been a lot of political maneuvers happening, a few skirmishes and attacks, but nothing big in the sense of total war. Until this episode. This episode marks the beginning of the war with its first battle, and it does not disappoint. This episode plays out like a season finale, throwing everything in and leaving everyone a bit wounded by the end of it. This marks a significant change in the story for many of the characters in the show. Feraldo now has a big win under her belt, but at a big cost as well. Eichorst and Kelly are both wounded after their encounters. Fet has put his feelings for Dutch to the side for the greater good. Even the citizens can no longer deny what is going on after having fought the menace themselves. But two characters who were left out of this episode might have the biggest impact on what happens next: Palmer and The Master. I am very interested in seeing how they will react to this battle, especially since it seems they were noninvolved with it at all.

Tongue-Punch of the Week:

This week featured many tongue punches, but none compared to the war-bound Kelly tongue-punching the ferry captain who snuck them into Red Hook. Its great in showing Kelly’s new drive for revenge as she follows Eichorst’s order without a second of hesitation.

Best Action Sequence of the Week:

This week’s episode was one big battle with skirmishes taking place around Red Hook. Its was a hard choice having to choose between Eph/Abraham VS. Eichorst, The Battle For Red Hook, or Fet/Nora VS. Kelly, but ultimately Fet/Nora VS. Kelly wins. The scene is quick and terrifying as we what Kelly is capable of on her own. She has been backed into a corner without Eichorst and her Feelers. Its intense as she tries to break through the window to get to Zach, even at one point using Fet’s gun to break through. We see here as she struggles with her memories and feelings from when she was a human turned with monstrous results. The struggle between Kelly and Fet ultimately ends with Fet chocking her with his trusty rebar until he lets her go to avoid becoming infected. Its a crazy intense scene as we see Kelly’s maternal instincts and feelings become warped as Nora prepares herself to do what it takes if Fet fails.

Final Thoughts:

This week’s episode has to be one of the best of the series. It had tons of action, more than enough character development, and mostly importantly it let strong female characters thrive. Three different women, on different sides of the wars proved that you can still have strong female characters no matter their role in the show. Whether its the strong leader who is dealing with having so many lives depending on them, to the paternal figure of the group who is finally not allowing another character to control them, to the deceptive and destructive monster balancing many identities. This show often dwells in the realm of great B-movie territory, took the time to develop these characters and give them a platform to shine. This is a welcomed development that is needed in horror TV and really all television.

Next week we will see the fallout of this week’s battle with Abraham getting closer to the Occido Lumen and we will see if Eph has was it takes to kill Palmer. We will also continue Gus and Quinlan’s team up and see the fallout of the battle on the city and everywhere else. This show continues to surprise me as this season continues and from the looks of it, we are in for a hell of a ride through the rest of the season.

What did you think of this episode?  Do you agree with me or think I am wrong? Let us know in the comments and we will see you next week with “The Assassin.”

Next Week Preview:

[iframe id=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/ax6g5zFuIwY” align=”center” mode=”normal” autoplay=”no”]

More Screen Shots: