Tonight on FX The Strain airs with another all new Sunday July 19, season 2 episode 2 called “By Any Means,” and we have your weekly recap below. On tonight’s episode, Vet and Dutch [Ruta Gedmintas] grow closer on a mission to make sure neighborhood buildings are clear.
For those of you who don’t know, the show is about a vampiric virus spreads through New York City.
On tonight’s episode per the FX synopsis “Vet and Dutch grow closer on a mission to make sure neighborhood buildings are clear. Meanwhile, Eph and Nora perform experiments on their new patients; and Kelly begins her search for Zack.”
Tonight’s episode looks like it is going to be a great episode and you won’t want to miss it, so be sure to tune in for our live coverage of FX’s “The Strain” season 2 Episode 2 at 10 PM EST!
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!
#TheStrain begins with Eichorst looking at the carvings on a sarcophagus. He says they show a prophecy. He tells Bolivar the Master will soon undergo a transformation. He says the Master will select a new vessel and rise again. Bolivar asks who he will choose and Eichorst says it’s up to the Master and they must serve faithfully. He asks if Bolivar will and he agrees. Eichorst sits inside the crypt and lies back.
The blind kids have all been transformed into clicking monsters called Feelers. Kelly touches them and sniffs at them. They click at her. They coo as she caresses them. She kills one then sniffs. She’s killing off those not born blind. Eph has the bitten guy and his wife in their lab. They ask when they can go home and Nora says they’ll find them a safer place. They also have one of the dead creatures and they harvest the worms from it.
Nora asks Eph when they’ll tell them and he says in a couple of hours and she says they’ll be too sick to put up a fight. Eph says they’re infected so it doesn’t matter. Abraham listens to the news when Fet comes down to see him. He says he’s checking in since Abraham hasn’t been out and it’s noon. Fet says he and Dutch are going to go clear out some local sites and wanted to see if he needed anything first. He tells Abraham to remember to eat.
Abraham asks if he wants to remind him to go to the toilet too. Fet asks what he hopes to find in the books and Abraham says something he missed before. He says when he was younger it was all in his head but now it’s slipping away. He says there must be a clue in there. He says there’s an ancient book that may tell him how to destroy the Master. Back in 1965 at the University of Vienna, we see Abraham giving a lecture on the pagan myth of vampires.
A man is wheeled in and sits in a wheelchair and asks if the myths persist because vampires are real. It’s a younger Eldritch Palmer! Palmer tells Abraham he’s a great admirer of his and says he knows he would lose his job if he admitted the truth. Abraham asks what truth and Palmer says that vampires are real and walk among them. Palmer offers to put his resources at Abraham’s disposal to help. Abraham says he can’t do it.
Palmer asks if he knows of Josef Sardu who carried a cane with a silver blade and a wolf’s head handle. Palmer says he heard it resurfaced in Vienna. Abraham asks if it’s true and Palmer says he’d like him to find out. Abraham agrees to look into it. Palmer offers him a hand to shake and Abraham does so tentatively. Eph tells the McGeevers they need to talk. He shows them the worms under the skin and says they have contracted the disease. He says there is no cure.
He says they will die in 15 to 48 hours. The wife asks why they brought them there. Nora says they need their help. Eph tells them how US soldiers volunteered to help eradicate yellow fever. The husband says no and they are leaving. Eph says they will die slowly and painfully and their corpses will reanimate and they will seek out and infect anyone they love. They’re terrified they would infect their son. Nora says they can make them comfortable while they pass.
Eph says they can strike a blow at the disease that could help their son. The McGeevers agree to help. At City Hall, Councilwoman Faraldo shows up ranting at Barnes and the Mayor. He says he’s been on the phone trying to get more help but everyone has been too busy playing CYA. The Mayor rants about the stress. Barnes says the CDC has established protocols to shut down the epidemic. Faraldo asks about the infected people and the guy says they are warehousing them.
Faraldo says they are evil and have to be put down. She says only City Hall is protected and asks where the other supposed guards are. Faraldo says they need to handle this themselves and says they’re taking back Staten Island one block at a time and blow their heads off so they can all be safe. She leaves and tells them to keep jerking off while she does the real work. Coco comes to tell Palmer that she decided to accept his job offer. He says he knows she has a writing background.
They hear choppers out the windows and she says Palmer seems to be the one person trying to save the city and she wants to help. He says he’s starting with food centers to give people out. He says he’s working with the Mayor closely and wants her to writer his speech for the opening of the facility. He says he has confidence in her and says to make him look good. In Red Hook, Fet and Dutch break into a community center.
They go into the pool area and look around. There’s some music playing and tey spot blood on some windows. They open a locker room door and Fet tells her to be careful. There’s blood all over. They hear a hissing sound. They find several of the creatures in the showers. It’s daytime so they’re slumbering. He shines a light around. There are many of them. He asks for grenades and she hands them over and he asks her to stand back and make some racket.
She looks in a bathroom stall then bangs on a bathroom wall. She tells them to come and get it. They stagger towards her. They focus in on her and she pulls the grenade as does Fet. The silver grenades annihilate the creatures and they behead the few that weren’t close enough to buy it. They head out groaning and Fet says he likes the silver on her. He says he needed that and she says a win gets the endorphins flowing. He says one small step for man.
He says if they clear out the block, then the next block, they can extend their perimeter. He hears a splash and sees she’s in the pool. She says it beats the dribbly water pressure at his place. She invites him to come in and he says no thanks then explains he can’t swim. She laughs and tells him to get in the shallow end and she’ll teach him. He strips and joins her. She asks if he can blow bubbles. He says he can and demonstrates. She tells him to relax and tries to show him how to float. He doggy paddles near her. She promises to rescue him if he gets in over his head. They start kissing.
Abraham works at his books and listens to the news. Noa comes down and says the test subjects will be turning soon. She says she needs some advice. She asks about the Master seeing through the eyes of the strigoi. He asks if they know where they are and says if the couple doesn’t know where they are, neither will the Master. He gets angry and says he’s not an old fool. Nora snaps back and says they’re all dealing with a lot.
Abraham says what she’s doing to those people is distasteful but for a noble purpose. He says a few weeks ago she wouldn’t have had the strength to do it. She says it feels like long ago. Abraham says he’s seen people do things because they love cruelty but says that’s not her. In Vienna, in 1965, Abraham goes to an import house called Steiner. The shopkeeper tells him about some Dresden China then Abraham says he’s looking for artifacts from the war.
The man tells him to follow along and takes him into a locked area. He shows him a case full of Nazi paraphernalia including a first edition of Mein Kampf autographed by Hitler. He shows him some things from Himmler’s collection. Abraham asks about the cane and the man says it’s his most prized possession and he hates to sell it but he needs the money. He shows Abraham the hidden sword in it and he says it was for Sardu but must have been shortened.
The man says it went through many hands before he acquired it but tells him that a buyer has already spoken for it and is coming to take possession tonight. The man says he’s a man of honor and Abraham calls him Dr Dreverhaven. He says his name is Rolf Steiner but Abraham says he must not remember him and says he used to hose down his operating room after he experimented on his fellow prisoners. The man goes to run and Abraham chases him. The guy has the sword in hand.
Abraham gives chase. Dreverhaven goes into a crowded hotel running through the dining room with Abraham nearly on him. He makes it out the other side and knocks down a mother with a stroller. They head into a hotel lobby then the Nazi trips and falls. He drops the cane but makes it onto the back of a delivery truck and gets away. Eph and Nora are taking blood to feed the strigoi to keep them alive. Zack comes in and his dad explains about the test subjects.
Fet comes in and calls him Dr Frankenstein. Nora says they’re turning and Dutch says they should put them out of their misery. Zack asks what the plan is and his dad says it’s hard to explain. Zack gives attitude and Eph says he’ll explain it to him once he understands it better himself. Eph and Nora are in the lab working with samples. They’re trying to infect the strigoi blood but find the strigoi blood kills every virus they put it up against.
Eph says it would be a great antibiotic if it didn’t turn them into vampires first. The McGeevers call for them and they put on their HEPA suits. Epha sneaks a sip of vodka then leaves the bottle before he heads in. The wife is doing badly and the husband says Pauline is in pain. He asks them to give her something. She says she can’t breathe and Eph gives her a shot. Eph says if he gives her more it will kill her and Emmet says he doesn’t care and says to just end it now.
He says to put his wife down now and then him. He tells Eph he’ll kill her if he won’t. She stills and Eph says she’s resting peacefully. She seems knocked out. Eph straps her to the table. Then Emmet starts thrashing and calls him a bastard saying they trusted him. Eph straps him down too. Abraham leafs through his notebooks and then uses his magnifying glass.
The sunlight from the window is glaring on his page and he has a fit when he reads about sunlight destroying it. He says it’s all fairy tales and lies. Fet comes in and tries to calm him down. Then Abraham notices a piece of paper that fell out of one while he was throwing things around. He unfolds the page. Back in 1965, Palmer looks at the sword and tells Abraham they next need to look for the Occido Lumen, a book that tells the origin of the strigoi.
He offers to pay Abraham a salary plus expenses to focus on finding it. His wife says he should focus on their classes but Palmer says he would secure him a professorship. Palmer leaves and she says he’s using Abraham but he says he’s using Palmer to find what he needs. Nora checks Pauline and says the tongue hasn’t bifurcated yet with stingers. She tries to talk to the woman but she seems to be gone. She goes to Emmet who asks how she is. Nora says she won’t be with them much longer.
Emmet asks to see her. She unplugs his IV from the stands and wheels him over so his gurney is near his wife’s. He thanks her and reaches out his hand to hers. Nora leaves the room upset at what they’re doing to the couple. Then she hears glass breaking and finds Eph being destructive in the lab. He says he loves the sound of breaking glass and says strigoi are biologically bullet proof. Eph says they should have looked at more pathogenic things like anthrax or plague.
She says they’re trying not to kill people along with strigoi. She looks at one she says is leucine. She says it can’t synthesize amino acids. They get to work on a different angle of the problem. The results are promising and they see it’s eating the vampire brain juice. He says it could destory the vamp’s central nervous system. They get started trying to grow a batch.
Palmer and Coco are at the location – called a Freeedom Center – and she hands him the speech. He thanks the Mayor and council members for coming. He takes the stage and reads the cards. The speech says he knows they didn’t come to listen to a blowhard. He says they are the survivors who didn’t run but hung on because they can bitch about their city but won’t let anyone take it from them. He talks about the twin towers and says when terrorists took them down, they became a symbol.
He says they all banded together and rebuilt. He says whether you loved or hated them, those towers belonged to us. He says New Yorkers are a family and when faced with a threat, we link arms and endure. He says we take care of our own and that’s what today is about. The crowd cheers. The people wonder why they need their blood type and they say it’s for medical help later. Abraham shows up and asks Palmer if he realizes what he’s done.
Palmer says he has him to think and none of this would have been possible if he hadn’t led him to the Master. Abraham says there’s another card to play and Palmer asks if he’s still chasing the Lumen. He says he can’t believe in the supreme being and says it doesn’t exist. He says he prayed for healing and Abraham says his prayers were answered but with a no. Palmer says he keeps Miriam’s heart on a shelf and says Abraham’s will join hers there.
Fet followed him and keeps on eye on him. Abraham tells him he wounded the master and will come for him soon. Palmer tells his men not to let Abraham leave. Fet sets off a small device that sets the security team to haul Palmer out in a hurry. One guy comes after Abraham but Fet knocks the guy out. Fet drives them away and asks Abraham if he got something out of it. He says Palmer doesn’t have the book which means they have a chance to find out based on Palmer’s reaction.
Fet says that still doesn’t mean it’s good odds. Back in 1965, Dreverhaven met with Eichorst and says he has to get away because he was IDd by a former inmate. Eichorst asks about the cane and the doctor says he knew his name and all about the cane. He says he had to get away from “that Jew” and tells Eichorst he needs the money. Eichorst pulls a gun on him and says he was once a proud knight of the Reich and Dreverhaven says it was long ago and he wishes he could return to those days.
Eichorst says a new Fuhrer has emerged and needs disciples. Dreverhaven says he’s tired of running and Eichorst welcomes him to the fold then infects him with his tongue feeler thing. Nora and Eph have the couple locked down with muzzles on them to protect them. They drip stuff into their mouths. Two days later, their mouths look better. Zack looks at the progress on the white board. He getes mad and starts wiping away at the word infects.
Eph tells Nora to cross her fingers and hope it works. It’s not clear if it’s killing the strigoi or curing them. Dogs bark and sirens blare as Kelly checks out their house. She’s tracking Zack. She carries some of his clothing and sniffs at it. She dumps it on the ground and the Feelers sniff around it then click. She tells them to find her son. The creatures creep away on all fours and she follows.
THE END!
PLEASE HELP CDL GROW, SHARE on FACEBOOK and TWEET THIS POST!