"Sit back, relax, enjoy the show"
- Unknown Bolivar Song
Last Sunday The Strain aired its fourth episode of the season titled, 'The Silver Angel'. The episode was written by Chuck Hogan, one of the authors of the source material the series is based on. It was definitely my favorite hour of The Strain this season, however, I'm not sure many other viewers (or non-viewers, I should say) feel the same way. 'The Silver Angel' had the lowest ratings for any episode of The Strain with a "1.38" - that's low. The second season has been hemorrhaging viewers since the first episode's "1.66", consistently decreasing in the ratings with each passing week. I have seen shows with worse ratings still get renewed for subsequent seasons, but I would feel much better if there were more fans watching The Strain to give it the best chance.
The episode had some great scenes in it taken right out of the book. "El Luchador", The Wrestler, is a neat little part of the source material that I'm glad made it to the TV series. I would have liked to see more about what they plan for the luchador, Angel Guzman Hurtado, besides just crossing paths with Gus, who now seems to be just wandering aimlessly now that he is without his guide, Vaun. It was upsetting what happened to Vaun and his team of hunters in episode three, but I'm sure it only strengthened Gus's resolve. This storyline, when it plays out, will be fun to watch, especially if another character from the books makes an appearance in the next few episodes.
Setrakian and Dutch set out to see Fitzwilliam has been up to on Staten Island living with his brother on Staten Island. I wasn't too thrilled with this part of the story, but let's hope it picks up speed in the next few episodes and Fitzwilliam can be an important asset to our group of heroes. They might need his help now that Fet has been taken into custody by that paramilitary group patrolling the subway station.
The flashback scenes this season are a great addition to the story as it adds much needed backstory to Setrakian and Palmer's tenuous early relationship. Together they have been looking for the Occido Lumen, but for obviously different reasons. Palmer's motive is, of course, more nefarious, with the origin of his relationship with The Master still a mystery at this point. We are still unsure how that conversation with Eichorst all those years ago played out.
The episode was fun to watch and moved the story along a little bit, which is good, but it doesn't appear to be enough. The series is suffering from important elements that could make it much better and bring a boost in the ratings department. One thing that is needed is the fact that there is no sense of urgency in the city or the world as a whole. Its almost as if there is no plague at all or it's only confined to an extremely small radius or just the subway system. I think if the show portrayed a more apocalyptic atmosphere it would make for some better television. Don;t get me wrong I still love The Strain, I just want it to be on the air for at least two more seasons to see the source material played out on TV.
- Did you notice...Gus wants to order something "kinda like spaghetti" from Tandoori Palace, which the waitress says she will bring. What Indian dish is "kinda like spaghetti", lol?
- Will Eph and Nora be able to synthesize more of their 'cure' to the plague and be able to inoculate enough strigoi for it to be effective?
- What will become of Fet? If those men took him to prison then I imagine our heroes will need a few episodes to break him out. How will they find out where he is?
- Did you notice...Zack is a fan of Bolivar's music. He was listening to his music and had a poster of him.
- What deal did Eichorst give to Palmer all those years ago to make him give up searching for the Lumen? We can assume that it was everlasting life, but was there something else - something more?
- Why did Palmer eliminate all those financial players? What final goal did that achieve?
Thank you for checking out my review! Please comment below so we can discuss the episode and the series some more. Have a great week everyone!
