The Strain Season 2 Episodes 3-4 Reviews: Fort Defiance And The Silver Angel

"Fort Defiance" opens with Bolivar making his way through the streets with a tote bag full of dirt and worms. Coppers, ya best leave the freaky goth strigoi alone. Bolivar will now serve as bodyguard for Palmer.

Bolivar Is Back Bitches!

Next, Gus is getting strigoi fighting lessons from Vaun. If all else fails, grab the vamps by the stinger and pull really hard. That makes me laugh every time. Abe is being tailed by a strigoi. He zaps the guy and chops off his head. He then scoops up some worms and puts them in a vial. We'll hear more about this later.

Dutch sees a missing poster for her ex girlfriend Nikki. Remember the one that stole all her stuff? Dutch goes to see her mom who does not like her one little bit. Fet and Dutch continue to have a strange relationship but who am I to judge? Whatever works for ya during the vampire apocalypse...

Why Isnt Justine Running For President? I Would Vote For Her!

Councilwoman Feraldo continues her assault on the munchers. Staten Island is now a vampire free zone. I especially enjoyed her display of decapitated strigoi of all shapes and sizes. Dont mess with Justine!

And remember Palmer's ex right hand man Fitzwilliam? He's alive and well and visiting his brother Curtis. Did you notice he's Art from "Orphan Black"? What if we combined "The Strain" and "Orphan Black"? That would be super cool.

Kelly, Please Come And Eat Your Son

Zach is being an ass (for lack of a better term). I know its hard being a teenager during a vampire epidemic but come on! He first tries to jump a bus to see his mom. Then he destroys some of Eph's lab equipment. Your dad is trying to find a cure to save mankind. Cut him some slack! Can someone please tell Kelly where that kid is stat?

Eph and Nora finally get somewhere with their vaccine. They will release a stigoi and see what happens. Eph communicates with the Master through the vamp. Eph vows to kill himself and Zach before they get turned into strigoi.

Uh, You Do Have A Hood. Why Dont You Put That On?

Gus, Vaun and the ninja team sneak into Palmer's building. The plan is to kidnap Palmer (but of course they're being watched on CCTV). Bonus points for the strigoi riding UNDER the elevator. They are all however easily wiped out by UV rays in Palmer's office. That was anti-climatic. At least Gus manages to escape.

Yes I Use Worms As A Beauty Regiment. I'm 94 Years Old For God's Sake.

And in the biggest reveal, Abe confides to Nora that he has been using strogoi worms as eye drops in order to keep active at his advanced age.

"The Silver Angel" begins with a fun Mexican wrestler vs vampires black and white fllm. That was fun. Unfortunately the silver angel is now working as a dishwasher in an Indian restaurant. Gus ends up there and they eventually team up. Gus later goes home and confronts his vampire mom who's talking smack to him (since the Master controls her).

Eph, Nora and Fet release McGeever into the wild so he can take the virus back to the other vamps (and infect them as they sleep). It seems to have worked. But the Master retaliates by having the infected strijoi jump to their deaths. Its three steps forward and two steps back for the CDC.

Flashback to a younger Abe and Eldritch who are in search of the Occido Lumen. Eichorst makes an appearance but of course he always looks the same age.

Zack and Eph do some father/son bonding (or not) at the batting cages.Kelly and the Feelers later sniff the place out in search of Zach. Those characters continue to be super creepy and I love them.

Yep I'm A Bad Ass

Palmer holds a meeting for some big wigs at the Federal Reserve Bank. When they exit the building, vamps attack as a TV reporter looks on. Palmer views the whole thing from the safety of his car.

Fitz Knows Stuff

Abe and Dutch finally meet up with the Fitzwilliam brothers. Abe convinces him to join them. Fitz knows more about Palmer's weaknesses than anyone else.

Points To Ponder:

I too am confused by the whole Vaun/Quinlan thing. I thought Quinlan got killed along with the ninja team in Palmer's office. It turns out that was Vaun. Quinlan will be introduced later. OK then.
Did you notice Zach was listening to Bolivar's music? That was a fun addition.
The actor (Roger Cross) who plays Fitzwilliams is also Travis on "Continuum" and Six on "Dark Matter".

Grade: 4 Monsters (out of 5). There were some great moments but "The Strain" continues to suffer from a sluggish pace. A little editing would fix it right up. All things considered, I'm still enjoying the show. And "The Strain" has just been renewed for a third season (so the vampire killing fun wont be done anytime soon).