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The Strain-ger Talk: Sn 2, Ep. 7 “The Born” Recap

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Welcome to The Strain-ger Talk, where each week we breakdown and discuss this week’s new episode of FX’s The Strain. We will be going over major plot points, the game plan from both sides of the upcoming war, best action moments, new types of vampires, and of course the Tongue-Punch of the Week! If you missed last week’s talk then CLICK HERE! Apologies for this weeks being a few days late, but sometimes life gets in the way of talking Strain-ge. Now a lot of drama happened this week that we need to cover, so without further ado, lets talk some Strainge!

*MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! IF YOU DO NOT WANT THIS EPISODE SPOILED THEN STOP READING*

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Breakdown:

This week it is all about Quinlan! In the beginning we are treated to an epic flashback from when he was a gladiator during the Roman empire. After defeating his opponent, he meets with his senator sponsor who reveals that he is of both Strigori and human origin. Basically, he is The Master’s son! How this is possible when Strigoris lose all their reproductive fun stuff hasn’t been explained yet. But it does explain how he is able to tolerate sunlight. Quinlan is already proving to be a new favorite on the show (sorry Fet) and will hopefully continue to bring more awesomeness to the show. Oh wait, HE ALREADY DOES!

 

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Our favorite odd couple, Fet and Abraham, go and investigate one of the buildings that Fitzwilliam told them about in the previous episode, only to discover its actually The Master’s nesting ground. After finding the abandoned bus for the blind children out front and then discovering their nurse/dead bodies inside, Fet and Abraham become surrounded by a group of Feelers. The two try to fight back, but The Feelers are too fast and the two are left with few options. As they prepare for what would be their last fight, The Feelers suddenly run off scared. Why?

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QUINLAN!

Quinlan walks into the scene. The Feelers back away, looking equally scared and confused by his presence, a feeling shared with Abraham and Fet. Shortly after an awesome display of skill and hatred for other Strigori, Quinlan explains himself to the odd couple. He tells them that he has met with The Ancients who gave him their names and has been following them in order to hopefully find The Master’s nest. After giving cryptic hints about who he was he reveals to them that The Master is in fact in the building. We get another classic Abraham “NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN KILLING THE MASTER!” moment and Fet runs off to bring the boom down on the building. Abraham tries to catch up to Quinlan and face off against The Master.

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Quinlan and Abraham catch up with The Master and Eichorst for a showdown. This is a great moment as we see The Master interact with his own kin. Quinlan has so much rage towards him and rightfully so, even when they are talking The Master insults him and brings up killing Quinlan’s mother. But before the fight begins Quinlan points out that The Master draws his strength and power through the shadows and point blank asks him what he is trying to attain from this siege, especially since it leaves him exposed. This is a great point that hasn’t been brought up yet, as we see in all the flashbacks, he has always kept a low-lowish profile when it comes to he previous evil shenanigans. This current siege of New York is a bit off character for him. But just as Quinlan charges at The Master, Fet’s bombs go off blocking the two from each other and preventing us from an epic fight.

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Don’t worry Quinlan, we are just as disappointed as you.

Quinlan is obviously pissed off by this and dissolves his short lived alliance with Abraham and Fet. Claiming they cost him his best chance at getting to The Master, he storms off to continue on his own. Fet and Abraham are left in a daze as they run back to the apartment. The actions that take place in this scene, though the building coming down comes off a bit staged and hokey, feel a little forced in execution. By that, I mean the action an set up of the scene feel too set up. Luckily, both Quinlan and The Master have a great chemistry of hate between them that helps keep the scene going. This is a great character scene, the action just doesn’t work as well. Its also a bit understandable that Fet would be off his game as Dutch’s ex-roommate returns throwing him of to the side.

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Thats right, the track star Nikki who abandoned everyone last season at the gas station is back. Dutch ends up spending most of the episode trying to keep both Fet and Nikki, though she seems to be leaning more towards Nikki through out by keeping her relationship with Fet from her. This of course harkens back to when Dutch claims that she specializes in passionate and destructive relationships. The whole situation throws Fet off his game as he is very hurt by the sudden abandonment. The episode ends with him in a bar with Eph talking about their perspective problems. Oh yeah, Eph is back and drunker than ever!

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Eph’s best impression of that one drunk friend you had in your early 20s.

 

Thats right, Eph is back and drunker than ever. After a quick stop to a local bar, Eph come barging into the compound and drunkenly spills the beans on Fet and Dutch’s shared bedroom. This doesn’t seem to hurt anyone but Fet later on, but then again we don’t spend much time with Nikki and Dutch for the rest of the episode. After a nap, Eph is patched up by Nora who tells him about the incident in the church. Eh is now fully convince The Master is using Kelly to get to Zach and him. Nora convinces him to talk to Zach and he promises not to leave again. This makes a lot of sense as the last time he left New York, four people died and he nearly lost his own life.

 

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Ugh

I think the biggest problem with Zach wasn’t necessarily with the actors, but more with how limited his interactions with pretty much everything was. For the first few episodes this season, he was kept in his room, only coming out to for the one fit per episode. Now that he has met the Strigori version of his mother, I feel that his story is starting to come together. The struggle he is suffering from now has its true face, and its causing greater conflict for him. Honestly, the scene between Zach and Eph when they talked about not abandoning each other and the church incident was one of the more honest moments between the two characters. That is, until that overly cheesy moment where Eph promises to no longer make promises. It felt like I was watching the commercial for a Hallmark original for a moment there.

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The episode ends with Eph telling Fet that he is going to kill Palmer. This is is a pivotal moment as we see Eph try to pull himself out of the funk he has been in since the assassination attempt in DC. Eph’s journey down this dark path is setting him up for this moment. Would Eph have been able to even think about the possibility of taking Palmer’s life before DC? Or has him taking two lives allowed him to not only conceive this idea, but actually attempt to execute it? Either way, it’ll be good to see Eph back on the battlefield. I agree with Fet a little bit when he claims he has been doing more than his share of dirty work in the group. While Eph and Nora’s research is important, there is still the need for able bodied foot soldiers in this battle. It will be tough, but if Eph is able to take out Palmer, that would be a huge win in this war. Speaking of Palmer.

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Palmer spends most of the episode covering the tracks of his assassination attempt and putting the blame of the three dead in DC on Eph, including Eph’s former boss and his two conspirators with the assassin out of the picture. The rest of the episode is Palmer flirting with Coco, taking her on a helicopter ride while the city continues to burn under them. And then, finally, after weeks and weeks of weird sexual tension, Coco and Palmer hook up. This is a big moment in their story line as there has been a weird tension between the two. Will Palmer start trusting Coco to be a part of his plans with The Master? Or will he continue to keep her away from them? Either way, it looking like Palmer has a new loyal sidekick.

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Tongue-Punch of the Week:

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This week’s Tongue-punch almost went to Palmer and Coco, but instead I am going with the Metaphorical tongue-punch that happened at the beginning of this week’s episode. In the beginning of this week’s episode we see Quinlan engaged in a gladiator battle to the death. After bringing his opponent down, the “born” Strigori looks up to his sponsor for confirmation on his kill. After receiving a nod of approval, Quinlan reminds his opponent that “his species demands it” and then stabs him in the neck. This is brutal on many levels, but mainly because Quinlan could have stabbed him anywhere, but choose the neck. Thus making it a metaphorical tongue-punch and for a week that had no actual tongue-punches from Strigori, this still kicks ass.

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Best Action Sequence of the Week:

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This week’s Action sequence goes to Quinlan Vs. The Feelers! Quinlan takes out a group of Feelers first by stabbing one onto a wall Michael Myers style, then cuts one in half and stabs it in the head, then grabs and rips the tongue out of one:

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AND THEN HE PULLS OUT SOME UZIS AND SHOOTS THE EVER LIVING SHIT OUT OF THE REST:

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Quinlan is officially my new favorite of the show. Sorry Fet.

Final Thoughts:

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This week’s episode is continuing the trend of addressing all the issues I have been having with the show this season. Quinlan has anything but a soft introduction to the series, Zach’s story is starting to feel more organic, and even Eph has finally acted drunk. While I wasn’t too impressed with how the building came down when Quinlan charged at The Master, the show is starting to show a steady incline in quality. I am still left wondering what they are going to do with Gus and Angel as they weren’t in this week’s episode. Then again, Dutch wasn’t in last week’s and she made up for it this week. Hopefully they can expand and grow Angel’s storyline, other wise it might start to bring the series down again. If this week is proof of anything, it is how awesome Quinlan is. I can’t wait to see what happens next, especially how Kelly is going to retaliate. As we start to get closer to the season finale I think everyone is going to start bringing their A game to the war. I can’t wait for the escalation.

What did you think of this episode?  Do you agree with me or think I am wrong? Let us know in the comments and we will see you next week with “Intruders.”

 

 

PS. I can’t be the only one who was reminded of this guy when they saw the master in his new form, right?

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Weird extra from Black Dynamite

Next Week Preview:

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More Screen Shots:

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Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed

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The latest exorcism movie is about to drop this summer. It’s aptly titled The Exorcism and it stars Academy Award winner turned B-movie savant Russell Crowe. The trailer dropped today and by the looks of it, we are getting a possession movie that takes place on a movie set.

Just like this year’s recent demon-in-media-space film Late Night With the Devil, The Exorcism happens during a production. Although the former takes place on a live network talk show, the latter is on an active sound stage. Hopefully, it won’t be entirely serious and we’ll get some meta chuckles out of it.

The film will open in theaters on June 7, but since Shudder also acquired it, it probably won’t be long after that until it finds a home on the streaming service.

Crowe plays, “Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg and David Hyde Pierce.”

Crowe did see some success in last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist mostly because his character was so over-the-top and infused with such comical hubris it bordered on parody. We will see if that is the route actor-turned-director Joshua John Miller takes with The Exorcism.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

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Win a Stay at The Lizzie Borden House From Spirit Halloween

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lizzie borden house

Spirit Halloween has declared that this week marks the start of spooky season and to celebrate they are offering fans a chance to stay at the Lizzie Borden House with so many perks Lizzie herself would approve.

The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, MA is claimed to be one of the most haunted houses in America. Of course one lucky winner and up to 12 of their friends will find out if the rumors are true if they win the grand prize: A private stay in the notorious house.

“We are delighted to work with Spirit Halloween to roll out the red carpet and offer the public a chance to win a one-of-a-kind experience at the infamous Lizzie Borden House, which also includes additional haunted experiences and merchandise,” said Lance Zaal, President & Founder of US Ghost Adventures.

Fans can enter to win by following Spirit Halloween‘s Instagram and leaving a comment on the contest post from now through April 28.

Inside the Lizzie Borden House

The prize also includes:

An exclusive guided house tour, including insider insight around the murder, the trial, and commonly reported hauntings

A late-night ghost tour, complete with professional ghost-hunting gear

A private breakfast in the Borden family dining room

A ghost hunting starter kit with two pieces of Ghost Daddy Ghost Hunting Gear and a lesson for two at US Ghost Adventures Ghost Hunting Course

The ultimate Lizzie Borden gift package, featuring an official hatchet, the Lizzie Borden board game, Lily the Haunted Doll, and America’s Most Haunted Volume II

Winner’s choice of a Ghost Tour experience in Salem or a True Crime experience in Boston for two

“Our Halfway to Halloween celebration provides fans an exhilarating taste of what’s to come this fall and empowers them to start planning for their favorite season as early as they please,” said Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Halloween. “We have cultivated an incredible following of enthusiasts who embody the Halloween lifestyle, and we’re thrilled to bring the fun back to life.”

Spirit Halloween is also preparing for their retail haunted houses. On Thursday, August 1 their flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. will officially open to start off the season. That event usually draws in hordes of people eager to see what new merch, animatronics, and exclusive IP goods will be trending this year.

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’28 Years Later’ Trilogy Taking Shape With Serious Star Power

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28 years later

Danny Boyle is revisiting his 28 Days Later universe with three new films. He will direct the first, 28 Years Later, with two more to follow. Deadline is reporting that sources say Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes have been cast for the first entry, a sequel to the original. Details are being kept under wraps so we don’t know how or if the first original sequel 28 Weeks Later fits into the project.

Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes

Boyle will direct the first movie but it’s unclear which role he will take on in the subsequent films. What is known is Candyman (2021) director Nia DaCosta is scheduled to direct the second film in this trilogy and that the third will be filmed immediately afterward. Whether DaCosta will direct both is still unclear.

Alex Garland is writing the scripts. Garland is having a successful time at the box office right now. He wrote and directed the current action/thriller Civil War which was just knocked out of the theatrical top spot by Radio Silence’s Abigail.

There is no word yet on when, or where, 28 Years Later will start production.

28 Days Later

The original film followed Jim (Cillian Murphy) who wakes from a coma to find that London is currently dealing with a zombie outbreak.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

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