This is a gift horse we should not look in the mouth (if for no other reason than "its mouth probably contains a horrid vampire stinger").
But here's a nitpick that must be made: surely, there was some other option for Zack than to leave him alone with a dementia-ridden senior in the middle of the full-on vampire apocalypse.
At least lay down a few ground rules. No doing what Mrs. Martinez says, if it sounds especially crazy. No picking up and waving the giant scythes. No venturing out alone into a New York plagued by vampires for a pack of cigarettes. Really, it's that last rule that bears repeating.
C'mon, Eph. Teach your son about peer pressure.
But at least, during "The Third Rail," Zack's little skirmish through the convenience store of the damned is terrifyingly tense. He meets the horrors of young folk with rebellious attitudes, the horror of bloodthirsty vampires, and the horror that erupts when group B begins feeding on group A.
Also, Gus! At this point, "The Strain" is basically laughing in our face about how Gus will never join the group and we're all fools for assuming he will, but that little gotcha! moment of Gus meeting Zack was worth a smile.
And "The Third Rail" upped the Gus ante by actually including him for more than two minutes in a storyline that had a real impact.
Oh, did it have impact. Gus gets home from his little prison bus escape jaunt a few weeks ago (at least, for us it was- in the timeline of "The Strain," probably just a few hours). But since then, his junkie brother has gone all vampy, and his mama's about to do the same.
You've got to hand it to Miguel Gomez- "The Strain" may not use him that often, but it absolutely should. In a handful of short scenes he walks us through a totally believable progression, from fear for his family, to mourning for his vampire-ified family, to cold calloused anger that swings an axe and dispenses cool one-liners.
"You here for the rent, puto?" will go down as this series' (this season's, anyway) great stand-up-and-cheer-because-the-adrenaline-is-too-much lines. Ridiculous. Amazing. Spattered in vampire mucus and worms.
And now that Gus is roaming the streets as a one-man vampire-chop squad, there's a way better chance he'll oh, say... join our group of main characters and stop being a weird walking tangent.
Just a thought.
Okay, now for the part everyone's waiting for- the "third rail" part of "The Third Rail."
Our gang (do they have an official name yet? The Scooby Slayers? The Splat Pack? Abe Setrakian and the Anti-Vampire Friends? Whatever) descends into the ancient subway tunnels of New York, to seek out the Master and destroy him.
And it is tremendous.
"The Third Rail" is basically set piece after set piece, each one a significant step up from the last. First we get that poor (not really) Strigoi that steps on the titular subway hazard and fries himself to a flaky golden brown.
Then, the sequence in the tunnels, which is far worse ("worse" in a positive, hands-covering-your-eyes-but-still-peeking-through-the-fingers kind of way). Claustrophobia aside, that one Strigoi who was following Fet through the tunnels deserves some kind of medal.
The twinges. The stilted, sideways movement. 100% nightmare fuel.
And that final confrontation. Yes, the Master still has a serious case of Fish Lips (especially when he speaks), but after getting a little used to his appearance, he totally works.
Especially when all the other Master-related features help distract from his ugly mug- the way he crawls down from the ceiling, and those big clawed hands of his. The voice and the eyes definitely help too.
Plus, there are a few solid little moments that bring out the epic confrontation-ness of this epic confrontation.
The Master gives Eph's hands a good crunching, just like he did to Setrakian back in the 40s (although perhaps not as crippling).
And there's The Master's threat against Eph's wife and son (even though, technically, his wife is already a goner- even if Eph isn't admitting it to himself yet), which is quite like the threats Eichorst was spewing at protagonists every chance he could.
Guess the vampire lieutenant doesn't fall far from the ten-foot cloaked vampire tree. Or something to that effect.
That Eph vs Master moment really was superb, though. Easily the best use of our Big Bad since the pilot (it's going to be tough to beat that first airport kill, but maybe something in the finale could overthrow it).
A perfect cap to a solidly built suspense-bomb of an episode. Plus, everyone hates each other now, which is bound to cause extra drama next week.
One question remains, though. Where's Kelly? We (and Eph) can hear her voice, and there's a female Strigoi visible towards the end, but it's not clear if that's Kelly or not. Has she gone full Eichorst, or is she another feral beastie hopping around the tunnels?
Maybe we'll find out next Sunday, in an episode that promises big things. More Eichorst, more giant vampire hordes (seriously, that was a lot of vampires) and the return of the secret magic vampire SWAT team we haven't seen in weeks.
We're almost through the first season of "The Strain." As superb as it is now, it's bound to get even better as it comes to a close.
src of http://www.starpulse.com/news/Adam_Bellotto/2014/09/22/the_strain_season_1_episode_11_recap_a?page=2
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