THE STRAIN Series Finale Recap (S04E10) The Last Stand

Noetta Harjo

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The Strain has come to the Last Stand.  The strigoi are being released on the humans.  And our heroes are doing their best to figure out another plan of action.  The Master thwarted their plans last week by moving to another location.  This after Desai and Zach told the team that the Master was nesting at the Empire State building.  At the conclusion of last week’s episode, things looked pretty bleak.

Click here to catch up with the final season of THE STRAIN

The strigoi are closing in on Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll) and the gang.  Mr. Quinlan (Rupert Penry-Jones) is surrounded by strigoi at the Empire State building.  And of course, the Master (Jonathan Hyde) has moved locations to avoid being taken down by a nuclear weapon.

Mr. Quinlan handles his brood pretty easily.  The Master lets him know that he is still watching through the eyes of his minions.  Quinlan tells him to stop being a coward and face him.

Gus (Miguel Gomez) tells Eph to take the nuke and hide it.  He and his guys will hold of the strigoi headed towards them.

The Master and Zach (Max Charles) talk about what’s going on in the streets of New York.  Eph got away.  The Master says the Partnership is over.  He releases the hold on his strigoi that kept them from attacking humans.  Zach looks on with worry as thousands of strigoi emerge from a nearby park

Eph, Dutch (Ruta Gedmintas) and Fet (Kevin Durand) get the nuke to a new location.  Quinlan meets them there and scares Dutch. The foursome discuss their next move.  Fet shows them an abandoned water tunnel where they can hide the nuke. The tunnel is 800 feet below the surface. In the tunnel, Eph and Dutch talk about Zach.  Eph accepts that he has lost Zach.

Rupert Penry-Jones as Mr. Quinlan in FX’s The Strain, fxnetworks.com

Quinlan tells Fet that he can see the victory in the end, but it will take everything…including their lives.  He has a plan and Fet is all in.

They tell the others their plan to bring the Master to the weapon. Quinlan will trap the Master in the elevator and trap them both in the tunnel.  Dutch points out that the remote will not work through 800 ft of rock. Fet says he knows.

Fet says he will detonate the warhead.  Dutch gets upset.  Fet says he is doing what Abraham Setrakian would have done.  Dutch asks why it has to be Fet. He tells her that he’s tired of fighting. He’s more tired of losing. He says mankind wins even if he loses.

Dutch professes her love to Fet.  He tells her that she has bad timing and kisses her.  Fet says he wishes he had used his time wisely.  He knows she will have a beautiful life with someone else.  And he’s going through the plan. Dutch storms off. Dutch and Eph look out for Gus. She asks Eph if he can talk Fet out of his suicide mission. Eph doesn’t think Fet would ever listen to him, but he says he will try.  Dutch hugs him.

Gus and the others retreat from the strigoi after on of his men is bitten.  They hide in a hotel room until the coast is clear.  While waiting, Gus finds another of his men has been bitten.  He kills the guy and gets angry.  Roman (K.C. Collins) calms him down and they leave their hiding place.

Gus and Roman run into a lot of strigoi in the streets of New York, but make their way through.

Max Charles as Zach Goodweather on FX’s The Strain, fxnetworks.com

Zach watches as the strigoi take over Manhattan.  The Master says that after everyone is turned, the only heartbeats they hear will be those of Eph, Fet, and Dutch.  The City is dying, so they will find a new place to reign.   All humans, animals, and strigoi will serve them.

Fet prepares the elevator for the plan.  He see Dutch and asks if she’s mad at him. She changes the subject and asks how the plan is going to work.

Fet says they will put the Master and Quinlan in the cargo elevator. After Fet drops them to the tunnel, he will follow in a smaller elevator. When he gets to the tunnel, he will say something cool…like Bruce Willis would say.  Then he will detonate the bomb.

Fet tells Dutch that he and Quinlan have committed to this plan.  He asks that she committ to them.

Gus and Roman finally arrive at the hideout and tell them the strigoi are attacking everyone. They are on their way to their hideout. If they are going to do anything, they need to do it quick.

Flashback…to the beginning of the plague..

David Bradley as Abraham Setrakian, Kevin Durand as Vasiliy Fet, and Corey Stoll as Dr. Ephraim Goodweather on FX’s The Strain, fxnetworks.com

Dr. Eph visits Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley) and Fet.  Setrakian tells them that the fight will be long and weary.  They need to rest while they can.  He also says there’s a chance that this fight will take everything they have. Eph says he’s lost a lot already.  Setrakian says that the fight has just begun.

Back in present day,

Fet and Eph talk about Setrakian and how he was inspiring.  Fet promises that the Master will hear Setrakian’s name one last time before Fet blows him up. Eph tells him that Dutch doesn’t want Fet to go through with the plan.  Fet knows and understands.  Instead of discussing the matter, Fet asks Eph to watch out for Dutch and give Zach another chance. Eph says he will give it a try.

A strigoi appears on a roof top.  Fet sees it and tells Eph their plan is working. Now all they have to do is show the Master where they are hiding.

At Strigoi HQ,

The Master tells Zach that Eph has been spotted. They are following him to their base of operations.  He says disarming the weapon will be simple. He is going with his strigoi army to destroy Quinlan. Zach says he wants to go to. The Master is happy to have him.

Later that night, Quinlan prepares everyone for battle. Eph tell him good luck, and reaches to shake his hand. Quinlan takes Eph’s hand and wishes him best. Eph watches on as Fet and Dutch have a final moment together as the strigoi arrive. A small group of strigoi enter first.  Gus comes out first to let them know where the humans are.  The others start shooting.

The Master watches through another’s eyes and sees Eph.  

Outside, Zach and more strigoi follow the Master.  Zach asks if he sees his dad. The Master confirms it’s Eph and releases the rest of his army on the humans.

Miguel Gomez as Gus Elizalde in FX’s The Strain, fxnetworks.com

Gus sets off a grenade to lessen the amount strigoi. After the blast, Eph sees the Master with Zach. They see Eph and the Master puts his arm around Zach. Gus grabs Eph and they retreat to the elevators.

Fet sets off a silver bomb and that takes out more strigoi.  The Master retaliates with a high pitch sound coming from his throat. The noise makes the humans grab for their ears and hunch over in pain.  

Quinlan jumps out of nowhere and tackles the Master into the elevator, taking Zach with them.  Eph and the others finish off the remaining strigoi, while Fet and Dutch trap the Master and send him 800 feet underground.

Eph saw Zach in the elevator before it descended.  He also see Fet hesitate. Fet is looking at Dutch, wanting to say something. While they stare at each other, Eph runs to the smaller elevator and locks himself in.  Fet and Dutch tell Eph to stop. Eph blows the elevator and it falls to the tunnel.

Fet and Dutch have to quickly turn back to the battle as more strigoi arrive.

When Eph lands in the tunnel, he hits his head and is knocked out.

Zach wakes up and see the Master fighting with Mr. Quinlan.  The Master is stronger and quicker.  The Master taunts Quinlan saying how he brought Quinlan into this world and now he will leave it. Quinlan takes the opportunity to rip out the Master’s throat, causing him to bleed and lose his worms.

Zach watches as Quinlan grows weak and cannot stand. The Master asks what has Quinlan done.  Quinlan says he has won. The Master stomps Quinlan’s chest in, killing him. Eph wakes up and sees the Master standing over Quinlan.  

The Master is getting weak. He tells Zach that nothing is standing in their way.

The Master hears the elevator door closes.  Zach turns and fires a shot at Eph. Eph turns to face them. The Master tells Zach to kill Eph.  Zach aims, but does not shoot.  He says Eph is still his father.  Zach turns the gun on the Master and shoots.

Eph sees the Master grab for Zach.  The Master is attempting to transfer his parasite worm to Zach. Eph runs and tackles the Master, but the Master is too strong. He turns the tables on Eph, opens his mouth and transfers everything into Ephraim.

On the surface, the strigoi stop fighting and stand in a weird zombie state.  Dutch says that the Master might be dead. Fet tells that he could also have a new host.  They shoot their way out of the building while the strigoi are weak.

Max Charles as Zach Goodweather and Corey Stoll as Dr. Ephraim Goodweather in FX’s The Strain, fxnetworks.com

In the tunnel, Zach goes to Eph and wakes him up. There’s not much time. Eph gets up and they go to the bomb. Eph says they won because of Zach.  He says he wishes he could spare Zach. Eph starts to activate the bomb, but The Master takes over.

Eph looks around and sees Zach. He tells Zach now they can rule the world as father and son. Zach asks if Eph is still in his body.  He hugs Eph/Master and says he loves him. Zach reaches for the detonator and sets off the bomb. On the surface, Roman, Fet, Gus, and Dutch barely get out of the building when the bomb goes off.  The building collapses and the war is over.

Epilogue

Fet narrates what happened after the nuke destroyed the Master. There were still millions of strigoi. They became easy to kill without the Master leading them.

Five years later, the sun returned.

A few strigoi were taken to a biosafety facility to be tested. Roman went back to the Federal Reserve for the gold.  He used his new found wealth to help restore Manhattan. Gus helped displaced refugees return to their homes. He hopes to find Aanya among them. Dutch joined a team of hackers to restore the internet.

There is no monument where the bomb was set off.  Only a few people know what really happened that night.

As for Fet, he returned to his old job and was happy to see the rats return to New York.

The final scene

Fet and Dutch walk together in the park…in the sunlight…in New York City.

Kevin Durand as Vasiliy Fet and Ruta Gedmintas as Dutch Velders in FX’s The Strain, fxnetworks.com

Thoughts

The Strain was full of action and drama, like any other vampire movie.  The primary villain, The Master remained evil until the end and never wavered in his belief that he could take over the world. It was the human element that he underestimated.

At the end of the series, Fet says that the Master tried to use love as a conduit for his strain.  And it was love that conquered the evil.  

I was so shocked when the Master took Eph instead of Zach.  I knew Eph would make the ultimate sacrifice for Zach.  Any parent would do the same. I also knew Zach would come around and turn against the Master.  I just didn’t expect Zach to make the same sacrifice for his father.  That was shocking and heartwarming at the same time.

Though the story dragged at times, I was happy with how it ended.  The ending gave us closure where we needed it and vengeance for those who died along the way.  Yeah, the epilogue was kind of cheesy, but what did you expect. The good guys win, the sun shines once again, and those who survive once again live happy lives.  Wasn’t that point of saving humanity?

Let us know what you thought of the series finale.  And be on the look out for the rest of the story in our Strain Rewatch.

Thanks for reading!

Noetta Harjo
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