'The Strain' Recap: Fort Defiance Doesn't Seem Safe

When it comes to the apocalypse, no one is safe. This week, The Strain gave viewers reason to be nervous.

Eph and Martinez are still struggling with ridding the Strigoi strain for good. After what was thought to have been an unexpected, undeserved blessing last week has turned into yet another challenge for the two. Their battle is epic in scope: a combat against ancient magic with modern science. But they can’t crack the code. Their solutions are — and this is real — too good. It kills the Strigoi worms on the spot, but it needs enough time to transmit.

Elsewhere, our Armenian samurai Setrakian (great description by Dutch) has a long life. How? The Strigoi worms in a diluted form. His secret to being relatively spry at 94 (!) is absorbing the strain in less harmful solutions. Which means he very well may have a part of his biology that is Strigoi. Hell, he could be Strigoi, but in a far less malevolent form. Whatever solution Eph and Martinez eventually come up with, will it kill Setrakian too?

Making his return to the series is Reggie, Palmer’s former aide. Coming to his brother’s home on Staten Island, which has been declared the only “clean” borough, it’s revealed that Reggie always had his doubts about Palmer. What did they know ahead of time? From the previews next week, he — and his brother? — may be joining the Scooby Gang. And I like it! I liked Reggie from the start and I wanted him to rid himself of Palmer. When he did I was ecstatic, but I didn’t know where he could go. Joining Setrakian’s Vampire Avengers is a baller move. I hope he does it.

The long and the short of it is that everyone’s future is now in jeopardy. There wasn’t a cliffhanger, so to speak, but everyone is still teetering near an edge. That makes for good watching, but only if we have the sense that someone might actually fall. It’s time to start murdering characters. Here’s hoping the bloody-minded showrunners are up to that grisly task.