The Strain - The Assassin - Review: "Turning Point"

As The Strain advances through its second season we can see the major arcs come to a head and certain characters reveal their true natures. The episode on Sunday - The Assassin - showed us the lengths that our heroes will go to exact revenge on The Master and his minions. Three episodes remain this season and I am beginning to enjoy The Strain even more as it progresses through the current major story arc of locating the elusive Occido Lumen and our heroes searching for the evasive Master.

The episode Sunday was fundamentally two stories. One half, a continuation of Eph's Washington D.C. storyline as he readied to seek vengeance against The Stoneheart Group for attempting to kill him during his visit. If you remember, Eph travelled to the capital to help get his and Nora's cure for the virus into the hands of capable people willing to help the cause against the strigoi. Eldritch Palmer and his Stoneheart group must have gotten wind of this and sent someone to handle the situation. Since Eph has survived he has had only revenge on his mind and nothing will get in his way of achieving that goal. I love how Eph now resembles a strigoi with his bald head. It blurs the line between human and monster. Hopefully Eph doesn't go too far off the deep end and becomes what he has been hunting this whole time.

The other half of the story told Sunday was a continuation of the major plot line of our heroes attempting to obtain the Occido Lumen, the ancient book that tells the history of the strigoi as well as secrets about how to destroy them and The Master. Setrakian, Nora and Fet played detectives as they searched high and low for the ancient writing in homes and apartment buildings all over New York. Setrakian is all too consumed with his search and sometimes as he searches for one goal he loses sight of another. It seemed only fitting that as soon as he had his hands on the Occido Lumen that something goes wrong and he loses hold of it. (This is what has been happening to our heroes since the first episode of the series - as soon as they achieve some gains in this war they lose something else in the process.) Who that person was and why they have possession of the Lumen in the first place is the big question of the episode.

What I enjoyed most out of the episode was probably the pairing of Eph and Dutch throughout. I really liked watching these characters together even though they seem the least likely to form a lasting bond. Deep down they do have similarities. The episode was not the best of the season, but it was a great hour dedicated to showing us more about the inner workings of Eph's ever evolving thought process.

I also loved the parallels that are being drawn between Eph and Setrakian as the episode bounced back between the two storylines. The two are a lot alike with how they have a goal in mind and want nothing else but to see it through no matter the cost. Setrakian didn't even want to help Eph and Dutch when it was discovered they were captured by the police. All he had on his mind was Lumen and gaining control of it. He is a true warrior much like Eph is turning into.

At the end of the episode, with that horrifying scene, I felt that The Strain had reached a turning point in its run. Dutch has become such a beloved character that I can't imagine anything happening to her. No doubt Fet will try to save the day, but if not then at the very least discover Eichorst's hideout. With one of heroes in real danger the show just turned a corner on the story and I can see it getting much better from here on out. Three episodes remain this season for us to discover what our team of vampire hunter are really made of.

Thoughts and Discussion

- Does Councilwoman Feraldo have a secret agenda? Something tells me there is more to her motives than just clearing out the neighborhoods. What do you think?

- Who was that person that hit Setrakian over the head to take the Lumen? Why did they have charge of it in the first place?

- What will Coco do now that she knows everything Eldritch has been keeping form her? Also, what will she do now that she know that The Master helped revive her?

- When will we see Mr. Quinlan again? His entrance to show was incredible and now we haven't seen him for three episodes.

- Will Eph still seek out Eldritch or will he let that go for the moment?

- Will The Master take action against Eldritch for demanding things of him? I feel The Master must be getting tired of Eldritch thinking they are 'partners' when The Master considers himself to be 'Godlike'.

- What will happen to Dutch!?

Thank you for checking out my review! Please comment below so we can discuss the episode and the series some more. I should have an Advanced Preview of the next episode of The Strain up in just a few days so keep an eye out for that! Have a great week everyone!

About the Author - Geo N

Geo N is from Detroit, MI. His favorite shows include The Blacklist, Hell On Wheels, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, LOST, The Leftovers, The Strain, Sons Of Anarchy, Sleepy Hollow and countless others. When he's not watching tons of TV, he enjoys reading, playing hockey, comic books, weightlifting, and writing. Thanks for checking out my post.

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