The Strain: Occultation

August 18, 2014 7:54 AM - Season 1, Episode 6

At the halfway point for the series the zompire outbreak is in full swing. Abe continues to slay (although with some age related complications), Eph's family continues to be annoying, and Vasiliy continues to be underused.
posted by codacorolla (13 comments total)

Vasiliy continues to be underused.

But he certainly shed some light on the situation!

Random thoughts:

Okay, again with the house locations. Was Abe at a random former passenger's house? Because that info would have been useful. Also, Abe, you really can't be going into different neighborhoods and just explode houses all over the place.

Matt better be dead by August 24, 11:00pm PST.

Am I supposed to know who Eichorst was playing Saw with? Also, an all white room? Form over function, Thomas.

I have nothing against Dr. Martinez's mother, but she needs to go into hiding with Eph's family until the end of this series.

Vasiliy continues to be underused.

I really hope we get a Fet/Eichorst showdown.

This show really hits the horror sweet spot for me: a perfect combination of scary and creepy, with enough lingering freak-out to make me afraid for a split second that the disintegrating shredded carrots in the alley behind the restaurant were Zompire worms.

I'm almost sorry I started watching because this may be the perfect binge watch show.

This episode was a little less dumb.

Vasiliy continues to be underused.

Team Vasilly!
posted by Room 641-A at 11:03 AM on August 18, 2014

Oh yeah. I live at the western-most edge of Los Angeles, and a couple of weeks ago I was waiting at a bus stop close to the eastern-most edge and my neighbor randomly appeared to take the bus back home, too, so I suppose it's remotely possible that the FBI agents got entangled with the M.E. but I'm still rolling my eyes. Hard.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:20 AM on August 18, 2014

You would think maybe someone would notice the pattern of arson at the homes of dead passengers. Abe isn't exactly subtle.
posted by miss-lapin at 12:27 PM on August 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

You would think that, but the tagline of this series might as well be EVERYONE IS TERRIBLE AT THEIR JOBS. I mean, right down to the FBI guys who see a decayed-looking man in surgical scrubs hauling a person out of a car and respond with "Leave it--it's not our problem".
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 2:03 PM on August 18, 2014 [5 favorites]

I'm assuming that by this point the police have mostly been 'et, and chaos reigns and all that, but the consistency of the disaster is really poorly done. I mean, we have eye witness sightings of the monsters snacking down on a retirement home, but then the rest of the city seems pretty normal and the cabby doesn't seem to know anything about it. Even with the dead Internet plot point, word of mouth in a population dense city is still pretty fast... as a viewer I'm totally at sea in terms of what crisis level the city is at, and from what little info we have none of the evidence seems to jive.
posted by codacorolla at 2:29 PM on August 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

Also, mid-town Manhattan, the pest control guys talk to Vasiliy like he's crazy when he shows them his sketches, but a whole office building is infested? I feel like those two scenes can't comfortably fit side by side.
posted by codacorolla at 2:30 PM on August 18, 2014 [2 favorites]

"How was work at the nursing home today, dear? Anything happen that would start a world-wide panic?"

"Nope."
posted by Room 641-A at 5:51 PM on August 18, 2014 [2 favorites]

I'm continuing to enjoy the slow burn of the series, it's being effectively done, mostly. The characters aren't totally dumb, so much as completely out of their depth to the extent they don't even realize they're sinking. Not to say that everyone is acting sensibly. But it does make sense that people are reacting slowly and/or denying the supernatural.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:59 PM on August 18, 2014

I liked the eclipse as a way of progressing the spread of the disease but it should have occurred in the first 15 mins of the show. Everything just happens so sloowly. Aren't there only 4 eps left in the season?

Loved Vasiliy trying to warn his parents. So much revealed about their relationship and pride and disappointment in just one scene. Vasiliy also seems to the smartest of our "heroes." "The sun killed first monster, well, I'm going to repeat with this second monster instead of getting close or thinking that's still a human being." Well done.

The empty office with the ringing phones was nicely creepy and unsettling. I liked the open with the prisoner. Also unsettling.

I do wish the show would get around to explaining the different types of vampires. Some are mindless and some wear make-up and have no trouble speaking several languages. Is it just age? Survive long enough and some intelligence reappears?
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 8:36 PM on August 18, 2014

I do wish the show would get around to explaining the different types of vampires. Some are mindless and some wear make-up and have no trouble speaking several languages. Is it just age? Survive long enough and some intelligence reappears?

So far it seems like Eichorst is the only Zompire that's passing as a sophisticated human after turning completely, so I thought he might be some kind of non-sexual, non-musical kind of incubus. However, I will now eye those make-up help questions on Ask with a bit more suspicion.

So much revealed about their relationship and pride and disappointment in just one scene.

"Are you here for money?" "No. Sorry to disappoint you." I loved that.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:23 AM on August 19, 2014 [2 favorites]

I feel like since the worms might be like a hive mind sort of thing (not that worms live in hives, but, hey, vaguely sciencey magic). There are drones and then there are other life-forms with higher levels of intellect which serve to carry out the larger and more complex goals of propagating the parasite in the human world.
posted by codacorolla at 8:36 AM on August 19, 2014

He's also older, which usually carries weight/potency in vampire lore
posted by Strass at 10:17 PM on August 19, 2014

Ohhh, occulatation. I was thinking inoculation. That answers that question.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:43 AM on August 20, 2014