Four episodes into its first season, The Strain is still a work in progress. Most of the characters we’re following aren’t interacting with one another, although they presumably will, and so the strength of a given hour depends largely on who is being featured. “It’s Not for Everyone” turns its focus to some folks who haven’t had much screen time—Gus and Palmer--and the results are mixed, making for a stop-and-start feeling to story.
But things certainly hit the ground running, picking up immediately after last week’s Canary team vs. Monster throw down and diving into a terrifically gross autopsy as they try to make sense of what’s going on. The breakup of the team feels is, in its own way, as purposefully messy as the physical fight that ended last week’s episode. The truth comes tumbling out of Jim to a livid Eph and Nora, and just when it looked like they’d storm off without the video evidence, Nora demands the phone. It’s a parting shot that lands much harder than any physical blow Eph could deliver and is an important sign that they’re keeping their eye on what matters.
Meanwhile the big moments with Ann-Marie’s neighbor and Abraham decapitating the infected French family were cool, as long as you don’t think about them too hard. I don’t totally buy the wife suddenly becoming a killer without a conscience, flipping from meek to calculating in a heartbeat. But even if I’m not completely convinced with how she got to this point, the idea of Ann-Marie keeping Ansel hidden and well-fed is an intriguing one. Of the four survivors, Ansel’s easily the most sympathetic and his transformation has been the most disturbing since we’ve seen it take an emotional toll.
And the nod to Poltergeist in the basement was cool, but was Abraham just hanging out down there and waiting for someone to show up and get attacked? Again, it was fun to see him in action and these are the types of questions you can’t dwell on too long in order to enjoy the show, but it was an awfully lucky bit of timing for all concerned (It also showed, again, that The Strain is not going to shy away from the usual television taboos. You know, like beheading a little girl or disemboweling a dog. In the same episode.). But, curious timing or not, I’ll gladly take Abraham with a sword as opposed to Abraham behind the pawn shop counter.
Four episodes into its first season, The Strain is still a work in progress. Most of the characters we’re following aren’t interacting with one another, although they presumably will, and so the strength of a given hour depends largely on who is being featured. “It’s Not for Everyone” turns its focus to some folks who haven’t had much screen time—Gus and Palmer--and the results are mixed, making for a stop-and-start feeling to story.
But things certainly hit the ground running, picking up immediately after last week’s Canary team vs. Monster throw down and diving into a terrifically gross autopsy as they try to make sense of what’s going on. The breakup of the team feels is, in its own way, as purposefully messy as the physical fight that ended last week’s episode. The truth comes tumbling out of Jim to a livid Eph and Nora, and just when it looked like they’d storm off without the video evidence, Nora demands the phone. It’s a parting shot that lands much harder than any physical blow Eph could deliver and is an important sign that they’re keeping their eye on what matters.
Meanwhile the big moments with Ann-Marie’s neighbor and Abraham decapitating the infected French family were cool, as long as you don’t think about them too hard. I don’t totally buy the wife suddenly becoming a killer without a conscience, flipping from meek to calculating in a heartbeat. But even if I’m not completely convinced with how she got to this point, the idea of Ann-Marie keeping Ansel hidden and well-fed is an intriguing one. Of the four survivors, Ansel’s easily the most sympathetic and his transformation has been the most disturbing since we’ve