The Strain Season 1 Episode 12: Last Rites

5 second plot: Everyone's back at Setrakian's place, licking their wounds. Internet girl's got a plan. She can get Eph on every TV and radio by hacking into an emergency broadcast signal. We get the origin story of Setrakian's heart in the jar. Criminal guy goes out looking for guns. He is kidnapped by the cool (good?) vamp-killing group from a couple of episodes ago. The old rich guy finally gets a visit from The Master. And the evil German is knocking on Setrakian's door.

5 second review: Some things are just ludicrous. And not very well done. But then we get eye-popping creatures and lots of gore and nastiness and all is well again. It's quite the contrast. The drama is terrible, but the horror is awesome.

IMDb score: 8,3/10
Our score: 7/10

The Strain Season 1 Episode 11: The Third Rail

5 second plot: Eph, Fet, Nora and Setrakian are on the move. The plan is to take The Master down as swiftly as possible. But there are a lot of 'munchers' they have to get passed first. Eph's son Zack is left in the shop with Nora's demented mother. Oh, and Gus, the escaped criminal, goes home to check on his mom and brother. And it's, well..., not good.

5 second review: There's some awesome claustrophobic shit going on in this episode. And some genuine great scares. But also a couple of things that bothered me: like them walking around like tourists in the tunnels. And the way The Master looks like... I'm sorry, but that is a seriously bad make-up job. He doesn't look scary, he looks like a guy in a rubber suit straight out of a monster movie from the '40s. It's ridiculous.

IMDb score: 8,5/10
Our score: 6/10

The Strain Season 1 Episode 10: Loved Ones

5 second plot: Zach locates his mom's cell phone and Eph goes out to find her. The virus gets to her first and The Master seems to have a special plan for her. Vasiliy and hack-girl try to get the internet back up and running. And the others seem to know where to find the big fucker and look for a back entrance.

5 second review: Oh man, I had trouble not to fast forward most of this episode. It's overly dramatic and often ridiculous. And they are taking their sweet time. Jesus. This is a fucking national emergency. Get moving! Also, the nasty stuff is always the same and the shock effect is wearing off.

IMDb score: 7,7/10
Our score: 4/10

The Strain Season 1 Episode 9: The Disappeared

5 second plot: Eph goes looking for his family. He finds his son, but also runs into his ex-wife's boyfriend who turned into a vampire. Hacker-girl informs Setrakian about her involvement in the internet melt-down. And we get some more back-ground info on the master and the origin story of the German super-vamp.

5 second review: They are taking their sweet time to get to it. They even have time for some smoochin'. By now the entire city will have turned into bloodsuckers. I have a question: how much can these bloodsuckers eat? They are hungry all the frikkin' time. We finally get to see the master, which is cool. And about time. But his hands look kinda 'rubbery', don't they?

IMDb score: 8,8/10
Our score: 7/10

The Strain Season 1 Episode 8: Creatures of the Night

5 second plot: The CDC doctors coincidentally team up with rat guy. They were both looking for ultraviolet light. After they find it they all get stuck in a convenience store. The hacker chick is also there (coincidentally). Apparently the master isn't very happy about the fact that they hurt one of his favorite disciples (crazy Nazi guy). So he dispatches a whole bunch of vampires to the location.

5 second review: This episode is one big action thriller. They are stuck inside and the creatures try to get in. And quickly more and more of them arrive. The tension rises high and everyone gets to show his/her action skills.

IMDb score: not yet rated on posting date
Our score: 8/10

The Strain Season 1 Episode 7: For Services Rendered

5 second plot: We get some back-story on the 'relationship' between the old hunter and the second in command vampire. Apparently the old hunter made the coffin back in the day. Meanwhile in the present time he is teaming up with the CDC boys and girls. Since the virus is spreading to rapidly, the new plan is to eliminate the master.

5 second review: I think they are going to need a better plan... This is a bit of a boring episode with lots of irrelevant information. But we meet some new and very interesting friends in the last minutes. They make the boring stuff disappear like a fart in the wind.

IMDb score: 9/10
Our score: 8/10

The Strain Season 1 Episode 6: Occultation

5 second plot: The vampire-virus is spreading like wildfire. The only advantage the uninfected have, is that these creatures can't survive in sunlight. The bad news is that there is going to be a solar eclipse in the middle of the day. Eph is taken into custody by the FBI. No-one believes his story. They think he's a killer. Rat guy is spooked. The old hunter needs help. Fast. But luckily he seems to have a plan.

5 second review: This time we get to see what happens when the creatures come into contact with the sun. It seems to be one new viewer-treat every episode. I'm not sure where they are going with the 'virus' spreading so fast. Right now it feels more like Outbreak than True Blood.

IMDb score: 8,5/10
Our score: 7/10

The Strain Season 1 Episode 5: Runaways

5 second plot: Eph hooks up with the old hunter. The old guy explains where he first encountered the creature and what needs to be done to stop the infection from spreading. Which is basically: chop all the infected's heads off. The rat guy also goes on a quest to figure out what's going on with his rat buddies. He finds a lot more than he bargained for.

5 second review: I don't like the fact that people from Poland talk English in Germany. I know that they are trying to make it easier for the viewer, but I just can't see past it. Why is it only now spreading like a disease? Why didn't it spread like this in Germany? And the word is out: vampires. Are these vampires? I don't know. But they don't like the sun. And silver. And drink blood. So I guess they are.

IMDb score: 8,8/10
Our score: 7/10

The Strain Season 1 Episode 4: It's Not For Everyone

5 second plot: The CDC doctors find out what they are dealing with. Sort of. The old (powerful) guy is up to something big. Every passenger on the plane (dead or alive) has transformed into a blood sucking killer. (The ones we know of anyhow). The old vampire hunter starts crossing names off his list. But he could use some help.

5 second review: This episode takes the gore up a notch. Or two. Great! These creatures are real nasty buggers. I don't know yet where they are going with the side stories (like the ex-con mommy's boy). Are these guys going to help kill the blood suckers or is it the opposite?

IMDb score: 8,6/10
Our score: 8/10

The Strain Season 1 Episode 3: Gone Smooth

5 second plot: The CDC doctors are looking for the missing bodies. They think the military had something to do with their disappearance. Meanwhile the survivors are transforming quickly. The old hunter plays stupid in court to get off easy (and quickly). And then there is this cool pest control guy who notices that all the rats are fleeing.

5 second review: The transformations are really nasty. I thought the rock star's nose was going to fall off. But then... well, I urge you to see it to believe it. It's cool the way animals (rats, dogs) seem to know something's up. Every episode has got one cool monster show down. This one isn't different. It's a good one.

IMDb score: 9/10
Our score: 9/10

The Strain Season 1 Episode 2: The Box

5 second plot: The dead people are alive again. Sort of. Together with the 4 survivors they are transforming into nasty blood suckers. The good doctor is thrown off the case. But of course that won't stop him from getting to the bottom of it all. The dying rich guy who sent for the creature finally gets to meet his guest of honor.

5 second review: The first episode was meant to get our attention, this second episode is all about finding out who is who and what everyone stands for. So there is a little bit less action but still a decent amount of creature nastyness. In other words: this show is still definitely going in the right direction.

IMDb sore: 8,5/10
Our score: 8,5/10

The Strain Season 1 Episode 1: Night Zero

5 second plot: A plane arrives at JFK airport from Berlin. All of the passengers (except 4) are dead. The CDC is called in to investigate. They find a lot of strange stuff but nothing that can explain what happened. They also find a big coffin with soil in it that was in the cargo of the plane. This coffin mysteriously (not for the viewer) disappears.

5 second review: This must be one of the coolest monster introductions I have ever seen in my life. We don't get to see a lot yet, but the 15 seconds that we do get to see the vicious creature are off the charts mega cool. This is going to be great. I can feel it in my bones.

IMDb score: 8,5/10
Our score: 9,5/10