The Strain
Season 4 Episode 1: “The Worm Turns”
Directed by J. Miles Dale
Written by Carlton Cuse & Chuck Hogan
Created by Chuck Hogan, Guillermo del Toro
Starring Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Kevin Durand, Richard Sammel, Jonathan Hyde, Miguel Gomez, Natalie Brown, Ruta Gedmintas, Max Charles, Rupert Penry-Jones
FX
Air Date: Sunday, July 16th, 2017, 10pm

Warning! Spoilers below for the 4th season premiere of The Strain!

At the end of last season on The Strain, the humans lost the war against the strigoi. They did fight valiantly though. Quinlan (Rupert Penry-Jones) fought his father, The Master, in a breathless confrontation. Even Palmer (Jonathan Hyde) fought on the rebels’ side until The Master “gifted” him with his presence, to Eichorst’s (Richard Sammel) dismay. Eph (Corey Stoll) finally found Zach (Max Charles) with Kelly (Natalie Brown), and killed her, causing Zach to set off the bomb that decimated the city, both with the weapon and by causing nuclear winter, allowing the strigoi to walk in daylight.

Spoilers below.

The Strain 4.1 “The Worm Turns” review: Eph walks out into a complete wasteland. He turns a corner and we see lines of people waiting to get into a “Freedom Center,” guards on rooftops, and a pet strigoi on a leash. The strigoi is released and Eph bolts, but attacks and rips the face off of another. Eph is obviously still a wanted man, and he slinks about. He spies a water truck that is really a blood truck.

Eph: “I still can’t believe we lost.” Me and you both, kid.

A Partnership commercial airs about “Illumination Day,” the day nuclear winter allowed the monsters to walk in daylight. But they are not monsters. They have given everyone a “new and wonderful life.” Blood donation equals free healthcare for all. Hmmm…

Zach is playing with his pet, when Eichhorst gives him a high powered gun. The Master comes and gives him his daily worm dose, Eichhorst completely jealous. Zach ends up killing a tiger, and the Master is proud, Eichhorst is skeptical. He sees his mom who tells him to listen to the Master. She is the Master.

What a tease! Fet (Kevin Durand) and a different girl… He went to the outskirts to trade for info about a military base. They wanted to kill Fet and use his woman, Charlotte (Rhona Mitra from The Last Ship). My boyfriend, Quinlan, pops up and stops that situation.

Eph makes a house call. The lady has scurvy (or he might be bullshitting them), and only needs vitamin C to get better, but it is very hard to come by. When he gets back to rebel base, they are overcome and taken by the strigoi. Of course, there’s a fight, but something hits the bus and it explodes. Eph runs into the ones who set it off, one badly hurt. He reluctantly joins them for 24 hours.

Fet wakes into a dream that he lost Charlotte and sees Setrakian (David Bradley), who gives him some dire words, “The face of God is the key to his demise.” The next day he loses Charlotte again, but it is real. She was taken and he gets knocked out. He wakes up chained and his slave partner, Roman (K.C. Collins), used to work at a missile silo. Fet tells him he’s after “a thermonuclear warhead” and my expression matches Roman’s. I already knew this, but that’s a crazy statement to make even in these troubled times. They trick their female slavers and get the upper hand, Quinlan shows up, and the 3 plus Roman go get the warhead.

The Master teases that maybe the boy should be the next vessel, but Eichorst protests. He tells him to bring his favorite rebels in, and the boy can be rid of. For now, they give him a love interest to make him happy.

The Strain is back with all of its excitement and fear. This episode had all of the action we;ve come to expect, and yet what stood out was the conflicts both Eph and Fet went through. Eph was consistently torn between survival and helping for real. I get it. I do. He lost everything he had in the world. What reason does he have to fight? There is goodness underneath that layer of selfishness. Fet kept reliving his fear of loss this episode, and rightly so. They lost the war, and are trying to get it back.

Some thoughts:

– Fet: “I’m a complainer, not a quitter.”

– It’s time for Zach to join his father in the fight against the strigoi. I’ve been annoyed with him for quite a while.

– On the other hand, I am so pleased with Hyde as the Master instead of the alternately demanding and sniveling Palmer. Eichorst’s cracks in his usual confidence is great as well.

– No Dutch (Ruta Gedmintas) – miss her.

– No Gus (Miguel Gomez) – I wonder where he will pop up.

– “The face of God is the key to his demise,” seems a giant clue. Fet, please remember that from your dream and act accordingly.

– Do not skewer me, but I watched Game of Thrones (which I LOVE) and The Strain, one after the other, and The Strain won the television contest of the night.

The Strain returns Sunday at 10pm ET on FX.

Video

The Strain | Season 4: First Look | FX

The world is dying. It’s time to fight. Get a FIRST LOOK at The Strain’s final season with the cast and crew.

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