The Strain Review: “The Third Rail” (Season 1, Episode 11)

“The Third Rail” makes no illusions about where its main story is taking place, but it still finds time to catch up with Zack and Mariela. Their subplot is a bit of a bust – Zack goes to a convenience store to fetch cigarettes for Mariela, only to encounter a strigoi and just about gets away due to the unintentional intervention of two unfortunate looters – but it doesn’t take up very much time in the episode, so there’s not much to complain about.

Additionally, Gus is brought into contact with Zack this week, though their brief conversation definitely doesn’t create a clear way forward for Gus to meet up with the rest of the group. After escaping the prison convoy, Gus returns home to find that his brother and beloved mother have both been transformed. (Side note: Miguel Gomez is absolutely terrific to watch throughout the episode, and his character’s discovery of his turned mother is one of the series’ most heart-wrenching moments to date.) It’s a cruel new world that Gus has found himself in, and though he takes great pleasure in decapitating the transformed super who previously mistreated his mother, the loss of his brother and mother is rightly played for every ounce of emotion.

By episode’s end, Gus is out on the streets with an axe, ready to dispatch any strigoi that come his way. It seems like an odd decision to have Zack be the first of the main characters to encounter Gus, but I’ll look forward to seeing how the writers continue to intertwine their stories.

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with “The Third Rail.” Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan owe episode director Deran Serafian a drink – he delivered the series’ most nail-biting and horror-heavy installment to date, while infusing the hour with some very engaging and unusual filming techniques (his treatment of the crawl through the tunnel is absolutely fantastic). I wish that The Strain could be this good every week, but that it isn’t does make episodes like “The Third Rail” all the more gratifying to watch. Now that the group is actively on the hunt for the Master, I’m expecting the next two episodes (the final two of the season!!) to maintain the same break-neck pace. Where The Strain is going, I do not know, but if “The Third Rail” is any indication, it’s going to be a scary, wild ride.