The other plane survivors, Ansel Barbour and Gabriel Bolivar, also had meaningful, disturbing transformations this week. Barbour is still exhibiting signs of sickness and has sprouted his in-mouth proboscis by episode’s end, downing a raw steak in his kitchen. So far, his wife and kids are worried but not dead – though something tells me they won’t be sticking around for much longer. Meanwhile, Bolivar is having an even grosser time – his skin is deathly pale, his eyes are red and vampiric, he prefers shadows and, most worryingly, his manhood drops off mid-urination (gross, I know). Good luck to whatever urologist tries to help him out with that one.
Taking “Gone Smooth” as a whole, it certainly passes by quickly, with interesting developments on all fronts and an increasing sense of tension. And now that Eph, Nora and Jim have killed their first vampire, I’m guessing shit’s about to hit the fan in a major way. Up until this point, they’ve been approaching this epidemic as scientists, doing research, making calls, running tests – and all the while, the strain has been spreading. Now that the trio have seen how evil this threat truly is, and that the only way to stop it is with brutal force, something tells me they’re not going to be operating within the CDC’s playbook for much longer. When Nora spoke with Setrakian, he was unyielding in his take-no-prisoners approach to combatting the strain, and I’m guessing the Canary team is going to coming around to his point of view sooner rather than later – especially if more of the vamps decide to use as much tongue as Redfern.
Where does that leave us? “Gone Smooth” isn’t a particularly exhilarating or eventful hour. Cuse, del Toro and Hogan are certainly taking their time – though none of the build-up feels superfluous, I must say. As everything stands right now, The Strain is not a “great” show, strictly speaking (though I am loving Corey Stoll – so, so good during that custody hearing – and Mia Maestro – constantly proving herself a fierce and capable foil for Stoll’s Eph – more with every scene). And that it’s not great shouldn’t surprise anyone – it’s not based on a particularly great book, and it’s definitely not aiming for Emmys. The Strain just wants to be a scary good time – and to get back vampires back to the terrifying servants of darkness they used to be. And though “Gone Smooth” is nowhere near as compelling or deliciously violent as “Night Zero,” those ambitions remain fully intact.
With Eph, Nora and Jim now more aware of their opponents, Setrakian back out on the streets and the plane survivors about to fully vamp out, “Gone Smooth” feels like table-setting of the highest order, for a feast of gory chills and thrills only del Toro could whip up. Now that The Strain‘s appetizers are out of the way, I’m looking forward to watching for a better idea of what he’s prepared for the main course.
