Dutch faces life on the other side.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
This may be the final season of The Strain, and while the general status quo of the series has changed significantly, there's little sense that we're barreling along to the big finale. As is always the case with this series, the new season is off to a sluggish start. It may be a few weeks before the battle against the Master truly kicks into gear again.
As with last week's episode, the focus in "The Blood Tax" was more on setting the general tone for the final season and showing just how drastically life has changed for our heroes. Eph aside, these first two episodes have each focused on entirely separate groups of characters, which does nothing to help build early momentum for the season. That's another frustrating hallmark of The Strain - that sometimes we're forced to wait several weeks for specific plot threads to be revisited. That trend looks to be repeating itself where Fet and the missile silo is concerned.
Still, at least all three storylines this week proved compelling enough. In terms of character drama, Dutch seems to have benefited more than anyone from the big shakeup in the Season 3 finale. Dutch has tended to be one of the more frustrating characters on the show, between her often superfluous side-stories and the fact that so much emphasis has been placed on the Eph/Dutch/Fet love triangle. But now that Dutch is completely on her own and basically reenacting the events of The Handmaid's Tale, her story has suddenly become much more interesting. There's a real sense of danger to her current predicament, even though she finds herself in a much more comfortable state than her friends. I'm also getting a kick out of the unlikely pairing of Dutch and Sanjay Desai. Hopefully that relationship will continue to develop this season, even though Dutch already rejected his offer.
The Dutch storyline also allowed for some flashbacks to the missing period in between Season 3 and 4 and some welcome screen time for Setrakian. Setrakian clearly isn't faring well in this post-Illumination Day climate with both his physical health and psychological resolve taking a hit. David Bradley captured that weariness well in his performance, bringing and extra touch of gravity to an already somber situation. Setrakian's monologue on the bus also made it clear just how much the writers have been influenced by the political climate of the past 18 months. I don't think I need to point out how Setrakian's critique of humanity's complacent, self-destructive behavior could be applied to certain real-world developments. The show is drawing clear parallel's between the Master's growing empire and various real-world authoritarian regimes. The show isn't being very subtle about any of this, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Seeing such a strong emphasis on drawing parallels between the strigoi uprising and current political climate gives me hope that we're going to see a very dramatic, passionate finish for the series this year.
It was a nice treat to see Gus back in the mix following his disappearance late last season. And not only that, but he's now partners-in-crime with Alonso Creem, who himself has come down a little in the world since auctioning off the Lumen. That's another fun pairing, particularly as it's clear the two don't really see eye to eye. There's a nice, subtle sense of tragedy to Gus' arc right now. Having lost everyone in his immediate family, you get the impression that he's clinging to his cousin as a sort of last connection to his old life. And there's almost zero chance that Gus will live up to his promise to "take care of his family."
Back in Philly, Eph's storyline is unfolding pretty much exactly as expected. He wants to keep his head down and survive the new world order, but life seems to have different plans. Predictable though this character arc is, there's a certain satisfaction in seeing him drawn back into the fray. Certainly, the notion of Eph forming a sort of underground resistance cell has its appeal.
Basically, a solid all-around episode, but one that didn't quite push the narrative forward as much as I would have liked. If anything, it feels like these first two episodes could have been condensed and combined into one dense, fast-paced premiere that sets the tone for Season 4. But now that we have touched base with all the main characters, hopefully the pace will begin to pick up next week.
The Verdict
"The Blood Tax" was a mostly enjoyable installment of The Strain, one that succeeded in exploring the harsh new reality that is life under the Master's authoritarian regime. Both Dutch and Gus are poised for compelling new character arcs this season. However, the season as a whole isn't moving as quickly as it needs, and there's a nagging sense that these first two episodes could have been condensed into one.
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