“It’s Not For Everyone” can finally put the debate to rest. The Strain is a good show, it’s not quite a great one – yet – but there is huge signs of potential now that all of the characters are in the right places.
Things pick up right after last week’s insane final scene. The CDC team is reeling from what just took place, and Eph takes charge. Jim is still being a contrary idiot, but he does seem like the only voice of reason within the horror.
The autopsy scene that occurs early in the episode is a huge highlight and shows the fantastic lengths Del Toro went to in developing the internal physiology of his new breed of vampire. It’s glorious and filled with curiosity. You can feel the tension in the scene. Especially when Eph talks about efficiency. If the bisecting of the ribcage and subsequent removal of the tongue don’t make you sick than you’re much stronger than I. Personally I believe this scene the best the series has yet. Corey Stoll’s face as he slowly pulls out the stinger will be etched into my brain for a long time.
The survivors are in shambles. Which makes for some great scenes demonstrating exactly what the strain does to people. Ansel is having a real hard time. The dude can’t get out of his jammies, but his awful wife finally solves their dispute with their shitty neighbor. Loved the result of the scene, don’t know how I feel about the wife making the snap decision to murder her neighbor. Oh well, it did result in some fantastic tension.
Gus finally gets the development he sorely deserved in a storyline this week that feels a lot more grounded than his previous affairs. We start to see him less as a moral ambiguous stereotype and a strong willed leader who will do well in the fight to take back New York. The fact he intimates his own landlord into taking out his trash is pure perfection.
Eichorst is a tour de force. I love to hate him, and while I can imagine he’ll be a terrible force to be reckoned with as the Stonehart group continues to tighten its grip over the city. New York City is beginning to crumble and I can’t help but think Herr Eichorst is the one who is orchestrating everything, even more so than The Master.
Jim’s reveal as a piece of shit was nicely handled. I fail to look at him as a victim and was really happy to see Eph punch him in the face. Luckily Eph starts to put things together, and it’s no thanks to Mr. Nora Exposition Machine Martinez. Seriously – every thing that comes out of her mouth is a weirdly stated question that restates the obvious.
So finally we have Abraham and Eph together, and fittingly gives us the title of the episode in an offhand remark from the old man. “It’s Not For Everyone” shows the strength of the two series leads and the interesting chemistry that is beginning to bubble between the old world and the new world. Which for me makes the spine of the novel. The interaction between Eph and Abraham really comes to define the story, there is no clear way for either man to defeat the threat in front of them. They must use the worlds of science and the supernatural to defeat The Master and Eldritch Palmer.
I have a certain faith that The Strain has finally found it’s footing with a week that pushed the series into vampire battling territory. There aren’t so many questions anymore, rather, it’s just about how to defeat the threat and Abraham has the answer. Seriously though, David Bradley is the fucking man. His performance is cold and bold. He knows what needs to be done, and I can’t wait to see him handle the character in subsequent weeks.
Now we’ve got to get some Vasily into the mix and I’ll be one happy man. Let the great hunt begin!
Stray Thoughts:
– Exasperated Jim “This thing’s dick is gone, and it just shot a shit load of shit all over the room!” Horrible dialogue.
– I want Abraham and Gus to get together.
– Craving a little more in the way of Vampire action, but I think we’ve got a lot more coming our way in the next few weeks.
– Nora hate.