The Strain
Season 2 Episode 5: “Quick And Painless”
Directed by J. Miles Dale
Written by Liz Phang
Created by Chuck Hogan, Guillermo del Toro
Starring Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Mia Maestro, Kevin Durand, Richard Sammel, Jonathan Hyde, Miguel Gomez, Natalie Brown, Ruta Gedmintas, Jack Kesy, Ben Hyland, Lizzie Brocheré, Robin Atkin Downes, Robert Maillet
FX
Air Date: Sunday August 9th, 2015, 10pm

Last week on The Strain, a new character, well two new characters were introduced via an old black and white luchador movie, where Angel (aka Felix – Joaquín Cosio) fought vampires. Then we cut to sullen old Felix working in a restaurant, suspicious of Gus (Miguel Gomez). AND… there’s a girl. Eph (Corey Stoll) and Nora (Mia Maestro) unleashed the vampire plague on the vampire plague, and Eph was gleeful, as it’s working. The infected vamps were committing forced suicide by the Master. Vasiliy Fet (Kevin Durand) gets arrested after he blows up the subway tunnels. Dutch (Ruta Gedmintas) and Setrakian (David Bradley) go to Staten Island to get Eldritch Palmer (Jonathan Hyde) intel from Fitzwilliam (Roger R. Cross).

The Strain 2.5 “Quick And Painless” review: Ok. My heart has literally been in my throat this entire episode. Whoa. Creepzilla! The Staten Island cleaning program begins in Red Hook, and the cops run into Kelly Goodweather’s (Natalie Brown) vampire children. These little critters are quick and resilient. The human citizens are in an uproar over being detained, while they are being “protected.”

Dutch and Nora go to get Fet out of jail, and all three get recruited. Nora, volunteers her science knowledge, and Dutch and Fet volunteer their kickass-ness, sharing tips with the officers. Fet really takes too many chances, and he just shouldn’t do that being my favorite character and all.

Eph heads out to Washington DC alone with the vampire-killing virus, and in disguise (Stoll is back to bald, the way I like him). He runs into his former CDC boss on the train, and karma!

Palmer and Coco (Lizzie Brocheré) have dinner, where they end with a romantic dance as a building burns in the background. I can’t get a read on this assistant. The whole vibe between them is so weird. And I know why he’s strange, but I have no idea why she is. I feel like they are building up to something with them, and it’s driving me crazy.

Setrakian continues his search for the Occido Lumen and he has a lead. Fitzwilliam shows up deciding to join the team.

A mysterious plane lands in Jersey. Was a good vampire or bad vampire the former occupant? We shall see.

One of the best episodes of the season, and Eichorst and Bolivar were not even in it. I usually enjoy their scenes immensely. This episode was so good and so fast-paced, I didn’t realize they weren’t in it until after it was over.

The Strain airs Sunday nights at 10pm ET on FX.

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The Strain – Next On: Quick and Painless

Eph changes his appearance to leave the city while Nora is left as the reluctant parent for Zack. Dutch and Nora make a deal with Justine to secure Fet’s release from jail.