New York is running short of heroes.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
There's still one episode left to go this season, but "Do or Die" could easily have worked as The Strain's Season 3 finale. It was certainly an eventful chapter, shaking up the status quo yet again and bidding farewell to several long-running characters. The fact that so much happened this week really begs the question of what bombshell the show has in store for fans in the actual finale.
It didn't hurt that "Do or Die" was such an Eldritch Palmer-centric episode. Palmer has always been one of the most fascinating and morally ambiguous characters on the show, and that certainly hasn't changed this year. Here, Palmer finally threw caution to the wind and openly betrayed the Master. In the process, the episode delivered a cool shootout scene and an answer to the ongoing mystery of just what was inside that crate the Master rushed in from Egypt. As it turns out, it wasn't a sarcophagus containing one of the Ancients. If we learned anything from "White Light," last week, it's that the Master would rather destroy his siblings than form alliances with them. Instead, the crate contained two suitcase nukes, one of which was already used to devastating effect. I do think this reveal would have had more impact if it had come before the climax of "White Light," but it still raises a number of interesting questions. Namely, what plan did the Master have for the other nuke, and how does Palmer intend to use it now?
As Palmer's story unfolded, we were treated to several flashback scenes exploring his rise to power and his very dysfunctional relationship with his father, a man who refused to openly acknowledge his bastard son. These scenes worked very well. They lent an extra layer of sympathy to Palmer, reiterating the notion that he's struggled against overwhelming odds and a broken body all his life. Yet at the same they, these scenes serve as a reminder that Palmer is truly the architect of his own misery. He abandoned any chance he might have had at a normal life full of real, human connections. And all that for no better motivation than mere revenge? The Stoneheart name really is appropriate.
This episode culminated in a terrific showdown between Palmer and his perennial nemesis, Eichorst. As usual, their heated dynamic remains one of the show's best. There was a definite satisfaction in seeing Palmer play possum and then unload a well-timed shotgun blast into Eichorst's chest. It's been a long time coming. Sadly, Eichorst's pesky habit of cheating death and slinking away to lick his wounds continues once more. But between losing his hand to Dutch and pumped full of more lead than that one guy in "Angels With Filthy Souls," Eichorst has certainly seen better days.
Gloat while you can, Eichorst.
That victory over Eichorst may come as small comfort to the rest of the cast, though. This was a thoroughly depressing week for just about everyone else. Finally, the show touched base with Councilwoman Feraldo in the aftermath of her failed Central Park attack. Needless to say, things are looking pretty bleak for New York's Finest. Perhaps nothing this season better encapsulates the worsening situation in New York than the sight of a heavily loaded police convoy fleeing at top speed. Faced with a mere half dozen loyal followers, Feraldo had no choice but to abandon ship as well. Unfortunately, she failed to get out while the getting was good.
This episode delivered a gut-wrenching finale as Feraldo's path intersected with Gus and Angel's one last time and these few survivors fought a losing battle against overwhelming odds. And when the smoke cleared, only Gus was left standing. It was certainly a shock to see three recurring characters (Feraldo, Gus and Captain Kowalski) written off in one fell swoop. But at least Gus got the ending he deserved. He was a man who wanted nothing more than to recapture the glory days when he was Angel de la Plata, slayer of vampires and hero to millions. It's only fitting that he was able to go out in a literal blaze of glory, and even more fitting that we saw one brief glimpse of Angel in his prime before his life was snuffed out for good. Both Joaquin Cosio and Miguel Gomez delivered stellar performances in that emotionally charged scene.
I'm a little more ambivalent about Feraldo's death, not because that death wasn't handled well, but because so much of her story seems unresolved. She dealt with a lot this season in terms of her earlier brush with infection and her decision to sacrifice civil liberties for the sake of maintaining order. But at some point in recent weeks it's as if the show simply forgot about Feraldo, and now she's out of the picture for good. Theoretically, anyway. Her death was ambiguous enough that's not impossible that she might have survived. The fact that this episode was so blatant about mirroring the worm in the eye shot from "Gone But Not Forgotten" makes me wonder again if Feraldo has become immunized to the strigoi parasite. If so, surely she still has a role to play.
Things weren't going much better for Eph and the gang. Eph and Dutch finally had a successful test run of their strigoi signal blocker, but not in time to save the city from what appears to be its final descent into madness. To make matters worse, the simmering tensions between Eph and Fet have finally bubbled to the surface. I wasn't necessarily looking forward to that showdown, inevitable though it was. In general, the Eph/Dutch/Fet love triangle has been an unnecessary addition to a season that has ample character drama already. But writers David Weddle and Bradley Thompson handled the confrontation well enough. It was less about Fet moping that Dutch doesn't love him and more weeks of frustration compounded by the knowledge that Eph has a habit of using and discarding everyone around him. Honestly, Eph deserves a good throttling for some of the sins he's committed since the outbreak. And thankfully, Setrakian was on hand to break up the fight and remind everyone that they have much more pressing matters to attend to.
The Verdict
"Do or Die" s easily one of the strongest installments of the season, thanks both to a Palmer-focused storyline and an emotionally charged finale. This episode not only paves the way for a memorable season finale, it wouldn't have been a bad finale in its own right. It's enough to wonder how the series can even manage another full season with as dire as the strigoi conflict has become in recent weeks.
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