The Strain
Season 1 Episode 3: “Gone Smooth”
Directed by David Semel
Written by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
Starring Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Mia Maestro, Sean Astin, Kevin Durand, Richard Sammel, Jonathan Hyde, Miguel Gomez, Natalie Brown, Jack Kesy, Ben Hyland, and Robin Atkin Downes
FX
Air Date: Sunday July 27, 2014, 10pm

Before we get to my review of episode three of The Strain, the new FX series from Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, first here’s a recap of last week’s episode.

Before continuing, be aware that a spoiler alert warning is of course in effect!

Last Sunday’s The Strain 1.2 “The Box” introduces a new player, Vasiliy Fet (Kevin Durand), a super-enthusiastic exterminator, who checks his poisons and bug weapons like a soldier, and shuts down a fancy restaurant by waving a newly found dead rat at the patrons. Gus (Miguel Gomez) successfully delivers the box, and runs away when he hears the creepiness inside. Nora (Mia Maestro) and Eph (Corey Stoll) are still three steps behind the audience, running around trying to discover just what this virus is. To their consternation, the four survivors are released from quarantine after a fake carbon monoxide report is leaked by Palmer (Jonathan Hyde), a wheelchair bound elderly man who seems to be one of the men behind the virus, but has never met The Master (voiced by Robin Atkin Downes and physically played by Robert Maillet), former resident of the “box” and patient zero. Eph’s temper throws him off the case and gives a deeper look at Eph’s personal life as we follow him to his AA meeting. Meanwhile, the survivors are not feeling too well: bloodshot eyes, voice-like ringing in ears, and bleeding mouths. One survivor, rock star Bolivar (Jack Kesy) bites the neck of one of his groupies, then licks the blood off the floor. The pilot, Captain Redfern (Jonathan Potts) has tiny worms moving around under his skin. Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley) is visited in jail by Thomas Eichorst (Richard Sammel), and they taunt one another about their clashes in the past. Thomas had murdered Setrakian’s girl (played by wormy jar heart from episode 1), and Setrakian had chopped Thomas’s friend into little pieces. And the new question is…..where did all the corpses go?

Episode 1.3 “Gone Smooth” Preview: You guys are in for a treat! This episode not only builds up the suspense, it simultaneously satisfies you with slow gore and fast action. A fascinating and creepy start gives you the real face behind the Thomas Eichort mask. We get a glimpse of Jim’s (Sean Astin) motives. Vasilly, who is already one of my favorite characters, watches hundreds of rats pour out from underground into the open, a universally ominous sign. Setrakian starts following his own agenda to fight another war, reminiscent of years past. And the real fun is watching the CDC super-couple catch up to the audience, as they futilely try to save Captain Redfern’s life. He and the other survivors continue to morph into something else, in as gross a way as possible. Warning to their families: Run!

Comic-Con International will air the sneak preview of this episode and The Strain panel, including Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan, David Semel, Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Mia Maestro, Sean Astin, Richard Sammel, Jonathan Hyde, Ben Hyland, Miguel Gomez, Jack Kesey, and Kevin Durand, come together at 1:45pm Sunday in Hall H to talk about their exciting new vampire series!