The Strain: Season 1, Episode 10

The Strain
Episode Title: "Loved Ones"
Channel: FX
Director: John Dahl
Writer: Gennifer Hutchison
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Horror
Runtime: 60 min
Rated: TV-MA
Original Air Date: September 14, 2014

So, The Strain is coming around into the home stretch, this is the last third of the season and everything should be going forward at the the fastest pace we've seen this season. Right? Unfortunately this was not the case. This was an episode that focused entirely too much on things that the audience already knew, and tried to make them more significant by having them occur to someone 'important.' The only issue there is that the character in question hasn't done much over the course of the season to make the viewers care about them.

Also present is a bit of a side adventure concerning Vasiliy and Dutch Velders. Oh, you don't recognize that name? She's the hacker that, you know, hacks and stuff. Don't feel bad, I had to look up her name as she's one of the least developed characters on the show. Nearly a third of the episode is eaten up with her attempting to undo what she's done to the Internet and phone service. That plan, like most of the episode, goes no where; the only thing we learn along the way is that Setrakian's group may have some allies in high places.

Near the end of the episode something important finally happens when the Master shows up with what looks like a reactionary plan to Setrakian and Eph's efforts. I'm still hoping it will be well handled, otherwise it's only a ploy that we've seen in countless other works of fiction. There were also, along the way, a couple of Eph's actions that I'm sure the audience was supposed to find shocking; but at this point we've seen that kind of thing many times, so with no emotional weight behind it those actions fell flat.

Conclusion: When the season should be ramping up it seems to be sputtering. The rehashing of things the audience already knows couldn't be made to be more interesting just because they were happening to someone new. This was unfortunately the worst I've felt about this show coming out of an episode.

Rating: 5.5/10