The Strain Season Two: Fallen Light

Abraham and Palmer both prepare for the bidding war for the Occido Lumen meanwhile Gus and Angel recruitment some more help from the local prison.

I admit for an episode that is before the finale this one didn't have as much impact as I thought it would but I will say what I first liked about it. Firstly the best subplot in this episode was the one involving Councilwoman Feraldo and if I haven't said so before she is defiantly one of my favourite characters on the Strain and I hope she sticks around for a long time. She had some strong scenes where she butted heads with the mayor because she pissed off the rich of NY while having the support of the cops. In everyone of her scenes she makes me completely join her side of things with her dialogue and the way she takes action; like how she argues that it is her cops on the line fighting the vampires while the rich can't fork over a bit of tax. Palmer may think that he can manipulate her (which is why he seems to be supporting her) but no, no I thought, Palmer isn't going to control her so easily lol. The other best subplot was the one with Gus and Angel where they liberated the prisoners to join in Quinlan's army and gave us some tense action scenes which where the only ones in this episode. It is cool seeing Gus take charge because he actually seems like a capable leader but it was really awesome seeing Angel so badass when he shot one of the rouge prisoners at the end. With the way the episode ended we'll probably see them fight Abraham's group first before the Master and wouldn't it be really cool to see Abraham vs. Angel? Speaking of Abraham his alliance with the Ancients is an interesting gamble but I just want someone to get the freaking Occido Lumen already so we can see how important it is!

As for everything else this episode sees Nikki leaving NY and I hope this is the last time we will see her because I have hated her since she first came back. They never even bothered to make her likable or even fleshed out her character in any way; the only thing she has done is ruin Dutch's character for me. This better be the end of this romantic triangle for good because I am sick of watching Dutch obsess over Nikki when they haven't made us care about it and I want Fet back to his old self rather than brooding over his relationship with Dutch. Another disappointment is they fact that Coco has completely gotten over how she was healed and has fully embraced what she is a part of now with out us seeing a single second of it! What a waste of an opportunity, I wanted to see her reaction to the existence of vampires and how the hell did Palmer convince her to join him!? While that was a shame I liked the mention that Palmer and Coco need more of the White to survive because while this is some good new info I seriously doubt Palmer wants to have that threat constantly dangled in front of him. We might see him (maybe not in the finale but next season) make some moves against Eichorst or even the Master to get more White or be turned fully into a vampire. Finally the scenes with Eph, Nora and Zach where good like Zach having a nice emotional moment on the phone with his grandparents and the fact Eph finally may have found a safe haven for him. However it is the Flashbacks that really stood out because this really developed the relationship between Eph and Nora a bit more which has been neglected this season and it was really nice seeing Sean Astin as Jim once again.

Overall this episode did have some good moments but it really failed to build excitement for the finale which usually is the job of the one before last.

SCORE: 6/10

Highlights: Feraldo steals the episode
                   Prison breakout with Gus and Angel
                   Flashbacks

Let - Downs: Dutch and Nikki subplot
                      Coco accepting things already?
                      Feels like a normal episode rather than build excitement for the finale

The Strain Season Two: Dead End

Eph, Fet and Nora try to locate and rescue Dutch before it is too late meanwhile Gus and Angel work to get the Guptas out of NY.

You know I thought there where going to be bigger plans for Dutch, maybe something involving Palmer, but I guess she was just going to be Eichorst's dinner. Parts of this episode where showing Eichorst torture Dutch but more in the psychological sense rather than the physical; they did a really good job of showing how much terror Eichorst was instilling in her, I guess he likes to play with his food before he eats it. Now I have a shrewd idea what Eichorst was planning to do with his tongue when he asked Dutch to take off her jeans and most of them involved hentai, tentacle stuff lol. We also got a really good chase scene between the two and again does a good job of showing Dutch is really afraid and just wants to get away; either through the looks of horror on her face to the constant dead ends. However a real highlight in their scenes where the Flashbacks to Eichorst's past as a salesman to a Nazi officer, it's been too long since we have had a Flashback involving his days as a human. It is nice seeing how Eichorst used to be just a humble salesman with barely any self - confidence to a Nazi who betrayed a girl he used to have feelings for though she was a Jew; you can tell he regretted that she was killed but that was when the last of his humanity went away and he became the hardened Nazi we saw in Season One Flashbacks. Now does this excuse what Eichorst is, no, because he is pure evil in the present day now but these gave us an understanding of how he became what he is now. The let down however was that the confrontation between Eichorst and Eph's group just ended in him fleeing once again, we didn't get to see even a little bit of a punch up.

A weak subplot this episode was Abraham's involving the Occido Lumen because after the cliff hanger last week the owner just turned out to be an ass who is only interested in money. Sure you can really tell Abraham's desperation at getting the book as he tried to convince the owner how important it is but at this point I just want him to get the book already so we can find out what all the fuss is about. I was surprised that there was no Coco and Palmer subplot this episode but it was made up with Gus and Angel back because I really like the team up with those two. Gus is shown as a more tragic character now, finding a woman he is in love with and a family he wants to protect but has to leave them now. I'm glad that he got the Guptas out of NY because it was a nice relief for Gus knowing he did this right rather than them being killed in an attack and it is just another thing he wants revenge for. I am also glad that Angel has decided to fight with Gus because as I said I like these to character together since Angel has now really come to trust Gus over the course of this season. Plus Angel does really have some guts, volunteering to stay in a warzone to kick some ass when he could have drove to safety!

Overall a good episode and since we are only two episodes away from the end of the season I am expecting things to pick up a lot now.

SCORE: 7/10

Highlights: Dutch's torture and escaping
                   Eichorst Flashbacks
                   Gus and Angel subplot

Let - Downs: Could have had a better fight between Eichorst and Eph's group
                      Abraham's subplot was disappointing     

The Strain Season Two: Fort Defiance

Tensions rise as Palmer receives Bolivar as a bodyguard from the Master meanwhile Gus and the  Vaun make their move.

This review has come a bit late but better late than never lol, to start off I'll talk about the best part of the episode and that was with Gus and the Vaun. Gus is one of my favourite characters and I'm glad we got to see more of what he is up to starting with a really cool training scene where he is getting a lot better at killing vampires. We also get to see him and the team infiltrate the Palmer building which made for a really awesome heist part of the episode but it ended in a way I did not expect. It may have been too easy for Palmer to get the drop on this commando team so I hope they are not dead and we see them soon plus I hope Gus goes back to the other Vaun and continues to work with them. Speaking of Palmer I liked the interaction between him and Bolivar and it makes me curious as to how much Bolivar is like his old self; has he really got free will or is he controlled? Also really liked the opening with him and his attack on the cops, those poor sods. Another moment in the episode I really liked where the ones with Councilwoman Feraldo and her own way to exterminate the vampires. It is interesting to see others besides the main cast take up the fight but I just wish we got to see more of it which I will go into more detail later. Then there was the shocking secret of Abraham's long life revealed and I really liked the twist because not only did it make a lot of sense but adds more to his character in that he is getting help from the thing he despises the most.

As for everything else I again really hate the scenes with Zach and it has come to the point where I just want to skip all the scenes he is in. I know I've hated on him since Season Two began but he is not making easy with the stupid things he is doing like trying to run away on the bus or smashing all of his dad's work. I mean I forgot what age he is supposed to portray but I think he is old enough to understand what is going on and that his mom is lost; we really should sympathise with him more with what he has been through but he just keeps being the whiny, obnoxious brat and burden at this point. Also again it doesn't help that the new actor is just terrible and ruining everything good the last one did I'm not an expert on acting but he just comes across as being angry all the time nothing else, even in the scenes where he isn't saying anything. Another let down was the moments with Dutch and Fet because I found them to be completely irrelevant to the episode; the subplot with her friend was just a small call back to Season One and it didn't change Dutch's character in any way. All in all the biggest problem with this episode is that it should have focused more on the secondary characters; Dutch's subplot could have not been in there at all, heck even Eph, Nora's and Zach scenes could have taken a break. More screen time should have been given over to Gus, Feraldo and even Palmer's former bodyguard Reggie who was re introduced but we barely got any time with.   

Overall the weakest episode so far because we should have had more focus on Gus, Feraldo and Reggie but too much screen time was given to pointless moments with Dutch and Zach who you just want to hate at this point.

SCORE: 6/10

Highlights: Gus and the Strigoi team
                   Feraldo's infection free zone
                   Abraham's secret

 Let - Downs: I just hate that freaking kid!
                       No real point to Dutch's subplot
                       Should have focused more on the side characters this episode