The Strain recap: 'Belly of the Beast' 

Brady and Manning. Carey and Minaj. Setrakian and Eichhorst.

There have been some epic rivalries in history, but how many have spanned 70-plus years, the Holocaust, and vampires taking over the world? After mostly sitting out the first four episodes, our favorite pawnbroker/professor/strigoi hunter returned in “Belly of the Beast” and was immediately reunited with his long-time nemesis. The brief showdown helped bring a much-needed spark to the final season, which finally seems to have picked up some necessary steam.

The fifth episode begins with Alex and Eph, who are headed to New Horizons when their car breaks down in rural Pennsylvania. They walk to an abandoned nearby town, prompting Alex to ask, “What’s so wrong about this place?” I mean, other than the whole “strigoi invasion” thing? Eph finds a young girl’s cell phone on the ground and goes through it. “Looking for something particular, or just being a creep?” Alex rightfully asks. The videos, which are two weeks old, show Emily Stevens and her family preparing to leave for New Horizons. Realizing they are in front of Emily’s house, Eph and Alex go inside. Will they find vampire Emily?

Luckily, they do not, but they do find a comfy-looking bed. Alex lies down and asks Eph if he’s going to join her. He gets weird, but she didn’t mean it like that; she just thinks they should stick together. Eph’s still as smooth as ever with the ladies. Actually, on second thought, he is really smooth with the ladies. Who else could score four different love interests during a vampire apocalypse?

Continuing the trend of non-Eph characters only appearing every other week, we pick back up with Fet, Quinlan, Roman, and Charlotte in North Dakota, where they watch from a distance as strigoi secure another nuke. Maybe even more troubling is the sight of mongrels, which actor Jonathan Hyde has described as a “faster, deadlier, nastier” creature. That’s not great news.

The plan is to ambush the convoy and steal a pit for the nuke our crew nabbed a few episodes ago. The no-name members of the team aren’t excited to help, especially with the introduction of the mongrels. “They even made Rob Zombie nervous,” one cracks. Solid joke. To be fair, these guys have also been providing their blood to ensure Quinlan’s in tip-top shape. Charlotte convinces them to get on board by promising some nonexistent silver as a reward.

After Charlotte gives Quinlan a fresh jar of blood, he looks longingly at her, which can only mean one thing — flashback time! The action shifts to 1888 London. (Why 1888? Probably because it’s a cool number.) A young lady named Louisa has unsuccessfully been searching for a “demon” — and she finds one when Quinlan saves her life. Her twin brother is near death and seeks immortality. “My order is not one which I’d wish any soul to join,” replies Quinlan. She convinces him to visit her brother, who looks rough and is also going mad (bad combination). Quinlan meets the whole family when Louisa’s daughter comes in; she’s scared because she saw a monster. So, as any good mom would, Louisa introduces the little girl to a vampire.

Thankfully, we don’t have to wait two weeks to learn the fate of Dutch, who’s allowed to appear in consecutive episodes (Corey Stoll welcomes her to the exclusive club). She’s forcefully taken from a cell to a candlelight basement dinner with Eichhorst, who greets her with an extended sniff. This might be a bold statement, but I think it’s the creepiest thing he’s done in four seasons — and that’s saying something. “Your blood type is incredibly desirable,” he posits. “But much like veal, there’s nothing better than infant B-positive.” Okay, yep, they’re definitely just birthing babies so they can drink their blood. I take it back; this is worse than the sniffing.

The purpose of this not-romantic-at-all dinner? Eichhorst wants to know where Setrakian is. He’s not pumped to learn that The Partnership brought in both Setrakian and Dutch, so the old man is probably already a goner. “The very system you created has robbed you of your greatest victory,” Dutch boasts. “You will never have the satisfaction of lording your big win over him.” This possibility clearly haunts Eichhorst. He rushes up to see Sanjay and find out what happened to Setrakian. Good news: Someone fitting his description is on site for bone marrow research.

The Master’s right-hand man rushes downstairs to find an unconscious Setrakian. The discovery brings a smile to his face. Against doctor’s orders, he demands that they awaken his nemesis.

“A230385, welcome back,” Eichhorst says when Setrakian wakes up. “Don’t you know, this is the end…of everything.” The powerful vampire continues to gloat over his weakened enemy. “I’ll see you in hell,” responds Setrakian, to which Eichhost replies, “But you are already there.” 

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