Eph must choose between Zach's safety and the safety of the citizens of New York City. Meanwhile, his relationship with Nora reaches a critical impasse. Gus and Angel assemble an unlikely gang of Sun-hunters.
"Fallen Light" proves that this season of The Strain is basically just building up to the grand conflict over who gets possession of the Occido Lumen. Not the use of the book to change the tide in this war. But instead, Setrakian, Eichhorst and Quinlan are all planing on taking the book by whatever means necessary. That is the conflict heading into next season's finale. It is exciting to see the tension between these various fractions of people. It just doesn't feel like a satisfying setup for the finale. Throughout the season, the retrieval of this book has been treated as a stalling tactic. It was made abundantly clear that it wouldn't make a difference to the show until the season finale. And now, that may not even be true. It's frustrating because it's hard to invest in the story The Strain is trying to tell at the moment. That has the potential to take the audience out of the story completely. It's certainly just a bunch of continued setup for the grand conflict here. And that isn't even remotely compelling to watch. It's just information the audience needs to know in order to make the big battle seem more engaging next week.This episode of The Strain doesn't inherently do anything bad or horrifying. It's just really boring. It's as if the show isn't even trying to bring all of its different narrative pieces together for the end of the season. Yes, Setrakian, Eichhorst, Gus and Quinlan are on a collision course in regards to the book. But Dutch has nothing to do with that. Eph, Nora and Zach have nothing to do with that. Justine has nothing to do with that. All of those people are doing wildly different things in this episode. Some of them are laughably bad. Who in their right mind is thinking about the future of their relationships after a physical trauma Dutch just endured? That's such a nonsensical plot that made it even more apparent that she should have been killed off last week. Death is a much more visceral response for the characters than the weirdness that is currently happening with her. She's still traumatized by Eichhorst's torture. But she's still choosing between Fet and Nikki. This from a woman who doesn't believe people should only be with one person for the rest of their lives. It's stupid storytelling that has no basis in any understandable emotions. Nikki is leaving her despite Dutch choosing Nikki over Fet. That moment is horrible because Nikki isn't more than a briefly seen, cliche character and has absolutely nothing to do with the core premise of the entire show. Dutch was never realistically going to leave - even though this trauma would give her more than enough reason to leave town.
And then, across town, Justine is continuing to deal with a large uproar amongst the Upper East Side residents who believe their civil liberties are being violated for her cause. The loudest opposition is the Mayor who is surprisingly and mysteriously killed right afterwards. Their relationship has never been seen as anything more than adversarial and opportunistic. The Mayor was more than happy to take credit for Justine's work until he no longer agreed with her severe methods. But then, he is gone. His death allows a shakeup to occur amongst the political sphere. But who really cares whether or not Justine will be indicted for this alleged crime? It keeps the show from building any momentum. Remember when she had such a rousing success with the citizens of Red Hook? The leader of the people quality is gone. She is just another politician now who is trying to do some good but her actions are very limited.
Also, why did it take this long for Eph and Nora to tell Justine that they had developed a bioweapon that is effective at killing the vampires. They have become acquainted enough that Nora can mention the fact that she's been trying to get in touch with Zach's grandparents and they are finally able to get through now. They have fought in battle together. When the police lieutenant sees them in the crowd, he waives them in with complete certainty. They respect each other in this time of war. Eph was so blinded by his pursuit to kill Eldritch Palmer that he completely lost track of this very practical and sensible plan. He had so much confidence in Washington, D.C. Sure, his travel outside the city wasn't the best for making the outside world a place worth saving. But it did create a barrier to keep this weapon on the sidelines until the season finale. It will probably be able to do something for the way that the police force attacks the creatures. But also, Eph and Nora make all these plans to refine the weapon and get Zach to safety. Plans that are basically set up for the next episode. And yet, next week is the season finale. So basically, none of those plans are probably going to happen. Why then did the show waste all the time then suggesting that they would?
This is also the latest episode to have a questionable use of flashbacks. This time the action is centered around how the CDC team came together in the first place. And yet, it's so confusing why this is being shown to the audience during the penultimate episode of the second season. It establishes the importance Nora had in the early days. That could be seen as foreshadowing to her death in the present. But that kind of narrative device only works if she dies in this episode. She's no where near any of the action though. Her life isn't in peril at all in this episode. The flashbacks only happen in order to strengthen the "love connection" between Eph and Nora. That has never been something remotely interesting on this show. And yet, it keeps insisting that it's something that is indeed happening. Eph's big love for her isn't important. Despite everything that has happened, him saying he still loves her isn't a great definer of his character right now. Nor does her crying in her bed make her any more of an interesting character. These flashbacks give the audience the requisite backstory so that they can maybe invest in the two of them as a couple. However, it's just three scenes. That's the show putting in the minimal amount of effort possible. It's lazy writing. That's why the two of them as a couple doesn't pop on screen. Even if Nora dies in the finale, this episode doesn't make me care about her as a character or one half of a couple than last week's episode did. So what was the point of it all then?
Some more thoughts:
- "Fallen Light" was written by Bradley Thompson & David Weddle and directed by Vincenzo Natali.
- Coco seems like a vastly different character than she was the last time she was seen. Previously, she had just awoken from her injuries, was made immortal by the Master and unsure about the horrors Eldritch has done. And now, she seems somewhat like a Lady MacBeth figure. She's in on what's really going on and is advising Eldritch what to do. It's a better use of the character. But it does feel like the show missed a step.
- Gus assembles an army of soldiers for Quinlan to use during the day with his war against the Master. However, the most meaningful moment of this story was Angel coldly killing the inmate who wanted to question Gus' leadership. That made him way more interesting than anything he had previously done.
- It would be easy to assume that Eldritch is the one who got the Mayor killed, right? He used that in order to get Justine promoted. She may be more unpredictable and less easy to control. But the chaos could help them on their mission. And yet, this story only works because none of the heroes have told Justine that Eldritch is working with the Master.
- The previous episode made it a big deal that the Lumen was being given to Alonso and his street crew. And yet, this episode has the action play out exactly how it was always expected to. There was no surprise or suspense. Just more of the same.
- What has happened to Kelly? Doesn't it feel like it's been awhile since she's been stirring up trouble?
- It was great to see Sean Astin as Jim again. And yet, showing the assembly of the team was so pointless because that iteration of the team stopped being accurate two-thirds into the first season. That made it even more frustrating to watch now.
