TV REVIEW: The Strain “The Third Rail”

The Strain could be a very good show if most of its episodes weren’t half stupid. “The Third Rail”—the third to last installment of the season—starts off weak, but finishes decently. It’s just a shame that the show can’t be more consistent.

The episode begins with Vasiliy testing a UVC bomb, which he plans to use on the vampires running amok in the subway tunnels. Eph tries to convince Nora that Abraham is right, and that if they eliminate The Master, then that will stop the plague and everyone will be saved, including Kelly, whom Eph now believes is a vampire. Eph and the crew then head to the subways, leaving Zach and Nora’s mom behind at the pawnshop.

Most of the episode spends its time with Eph and the gang, but there is a disappointingly large chunk dedicated to Zach’s quest for cigarettes. Yes, Zach decides to leave the antique shop so that he can retrieve a pack of cigs for Nora’s irritating mother, who has never been more annoying than she is in this episode.

Zach’s cigarette run gets dumber as it progresses. When he arrives at the store, he is interrupted by two looters. Zach, feeling scared, decides to hide in another part of the store and is almost killed by a vampire. I am really not sure why Zach instantly deemed the looters a threat. They were just looking for some food, so why would they want to harm Zach?

The subway tunnel scenes somewhat make up for the excessive amount of Zach and Nora’s mom. I was feeling almost entirely negative about the episode up until those final few minutes, which, unlike the rest of the episode, actually got my heart racing a bit. The subway scenes are beautifully shot, with fantastic shadows and splashes of color.

Eph and company run into a load of vampires in the tunnels, and even come face-to-face with The Master for the first time. I’ve decided that I prefer to see The Master with his hood up; I’m not digging the makeup work they’ve done on him, which is surprising given the excellent makeup on the other vampires. I understand that they want The Master to look discernibly different than his minions, but the face does look kind of goofy, unfortunately.

After The Master grabs hold of Eph, Vasiliy deploys the UVC bomb, causing The Master to drop Eph and retreat deeper into the subway tunnels. Abraham becomes furious with Vasiliy, believing that he could have eliminated The Master had Vasiliy not thrown the UVC bomb. Abraham has spent decades trying to defeat The Master, but he’s being delusional here; it’s clear that The Master has a significant physical advantage over Abraham and any other mere mortal.
The episode wraps up with Eph and the gang seemingly on the retreat, much to the frustration of Abraham.

Though the subway scenes redeem the episode somewhat, it’s evident that the show still hasn’t figured out what to do with Zach and Gus—two characters that brought the episode’s momentum to a screeching halt every time they appeared on screen. Zach’s quest for cigarettes will likely be remember as one of the season’s weakest segments, when it’s all said and done. And Gus’ horrified reaction to his infected mother fell completely flat; I would’ve forgotten that his mother had ever been introduced if the “Previously on…” recap didn’t remind me. That relationship is so underdeveloped that it didn’t even come close to eliciting a visceral reaction.

“The Third Rail” is probably my least favorite episode from the bottom half of the season. It’s visually stunning and has some good tension, but the story it tells is a disappointment. It has enough vampires, but not enough drama. Last week’s episode wasn’t perfect, but it at least touched upon themes of loneliness and fear of the unknown. “The Third Rail,” unfortunately, doesn’t appear to have much of a goal in mind.

Only two episodes left.

Additional notes:

– Tony’s mom on The Sopranos was also annoying at times, but at least she said some hilarious things. Nora’s mom? Not so much.

– It’s been a while since we heard about Abraham and his wife. I wonder if that will be revisited before season’s end. Perhaps in a flashback?

– I still have some questions I’d like the show to address before the season ends: What is the government/military doing to fight the plague? Has the plague spread outside of New York yet?