The Strain - Occultation - Review: "A Bad Omen"

"Light of the world, shine on me
Love is the answer
Shine on us all, set us free
Love is the answer"
- 'Love Is The Answer' - England Dan & John Ford Coley

So, you thought Eph's only problems were going to be the vampire creatures?

The Strain aired episode six, "Occultation", on Sunday, carrying a lot of momentum from last week's action-packed hour. We last left Eph on the run from the law for what appeared to be betrayal by his former (is it too early to call Barnes his former boss?) boss, Everett Barnes. Jim Kent was doing his best to redeem himself for his involvement with the dark side by helping Eph escape the best he could. Nora escaped the nursing home she was visiting with her mother in tow. Setrakian continued his relentless struggle of eliminating the passengers-turned-strigoi, going down the plane's manifest on-by-one. Vasily provided us with a close up and underground view of the infection taking place and the three remaining 'survivors' from the plane have almost completely turned.

The Strain delivered another fast-paced episode full of horror and creepy vampire confrontations. The show does such a great job depicting terror and dread lurking in every corner of Manhattan. The episode Sunday did not answer as many questions as 'Runaways' did, but with all the amazing scenes between vampires and our band of heroes and the amped up action it didn't matter. What is unique to The Strain is how the writers orchestrate the hour so it feels as though it were 15 minutes in length. Each episode has felt this way and it's a result of the scenes jumping quickly from character to character. I was glued to the screen from the first moment of this episode and am extremely excited for the following week.

Eph found himself in some hot water, no thanks to Kelly's boyfriend, Matt. I was wondering how Eph would get out of that predicament and thought it was appropriate that he was saved, indirectly, by the Chief Medical Examiner he spoke to before he was attacked by all the bodies he had in the morgue. Bennet, the Chief Medical Examiner, attacked both agents, giving Eph time to escape. Bennet then attacks Gus, but the police only view Gus attacking him and is subsequently arrested, sending him, and most likely hi partner in crime, back to prison. Gus's story line is getting a lot more interesting and I am eager to see where it goes and how he ties into everything.

Setrakian continued this episode going to the homes belonging to the families off the Regis Air manifest. His plan is still the same; kill each person off the list to contain and eventually eliminate the titular strain. Throughout the episode I kept thinking that it is going to take a long time to see his plan through effectively. By that time who knows how many more people will have 'turned'? By the end of the episode, Setrakian tells an exhausted Eph and Nora he has a new plan, which we will have to wait until next week's episode to learn about.

'Occultation' was an amazing episode, to say the least. It was full of action and some suspense, while putting our heroes into tough positions. The images of Earth during the occultation were really cool to see especially when the Moon's shadow was passing over Manhattan. The Master obviously chose this time to begin his plan and it appears to be extremely effective. Since the strigoi cannot survive in sunlight, this event gives his minions more time to 'turn' as many individuals as they can. Also, I think Kelly said it perfectly speaking to Zack, "It's a bad omen". The occultation could possibly be more than a celestial event and to The Master be more powerful than we know. I hope we find out the answer if there is any significance to it this season. I also hope that Setrakian's new plan will help them fight off The Master's advances before it is too late.

Thoughts and Discussion

- The other song in this episode was:
"No Cup, No Brook" - The African Brother

- I'm not sure if this is relevant, but why did Vasily turndown a scholarship to become, as his dad put it, a 'rat catcher'?

- Out of all the episodes that have aired, Sunday's definitely had the most grotesque scenes. The scene where Vasily opened the shades and burned his just-turned boss was cringe-worthy I thought.

- Do you think Gus will stay helping out Eichorst, or do you think he will jump ship and join Setrakian at some point? I also can't wait to see how Gus deals with his friend that is obviously going to 'turn' very soon. Will he be able to 'release' him, as Setrakian so elegantly puts it?

- Did you notice...Vasily's lamp injured the strigoi. Does he know this or will he have to figure this out on his own to help him deal with the vampiric creatures?

- Did you notice...When Vasily walks into his office, before he witnesses his turned associates, you can hear him mention a home explosion at Ozone Park. Although we never see the explosion we know it was Setrakian who set it. That home is where he killed the strigoi in the basement before placing a lit candle near the stove he set to emit gas eventually causing the explosion.

Thank you for checking out my Review! I hope you all enjoyed the episode! Please comment below so we can discuss the episode further!
What was your favorite scene? What do you think Setrakian's new plan is?

About the Author - Geo N

My name is George and I am from Detroit, MI. My favorite shows are The Blacklist, Hell On Wheels, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, LOST, Sons Of Anarchy, Sleepy Hollow and countless other shows. When I'm not watching tons of TV, I enjoy reading, playing hockey, comic books, weightlifting, and writing. Thanks for checking out my post.

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