"The Strain" The Third Rail (TV Episode 2014) Poster

(TV Series)

(2014)

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7/10
Hunting down the Master
claudio_carvalho16 January 2019
Fet unsuccessfully tests a UV light bomb at the basement of Setrakian´s pawnshop. They prepare to go hunting the Master and Eph asks Zach to stay with Nora´s mother, leaving the keys with the boy. The annoying Mrs. Martinez is hysterical and Zach decides to leave the spot to bring cigarettes to calm her down. Meanwhile Gus returns home and finds the fate of his family. At the subway tunnel, Setrakian and his team hunt down the Master, but it is not an easy task.

In the "The Third Rail", the pointless and annoying Nora´s mother is hysterical looking for an ashtray from her youth and cigarettes. What is the point of this character? Now that Gus knows what happened to his beloved mother, what will he do? The showdown between Setrakian and the Master is not promising since it is still the beginning of the series and as per the clichés, the Master will certainly find a way to flee. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Caça ao Mestre" ("The Hunting to the Master")
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7/10
Down in the tunnels
gedikreverdi30 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
When Ephs son went out to get some cigarettes for Nora's mother he came across Gus whose parents all transformed. They went down to the tunnels and passed thru a small opening in the wall of the tunnel that led to the coffin. They saw the master and scared it away with the light bomb. Countless monsters are dormant down in the tunnels. It was really scary when the pest controller got stuck in the opening with a mobster after him.
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7/10
Better than the last one, but still has some major flaws.
Brettyboy00726 September 2014
This episode was better, because they didn't have the useless Dutch side storyline. But they introduced a single episode side storyline in which Zach has to go get cigarettes for Nora's unstable mom. Don't these people ever watch movies? If there is a big riot going on and especially after Zach saw his mom's boyfriend as a vampire, why would he even wanna leave. Just lock her in the bathroom or something if she's annoying you. That's a bad part on the writer's front.

The main storyline with the group hunting The Master was great though. It had a lot of intense moments and the ending was a great cliffhanger ending.

Hopefully in these last two episodes, they will wrap up season 1 nicely with no more side story lines. Finish strong.
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9/10
Really Good [8.6/10]
panagiotis199325 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Reaction / Review for The Strain Season 1 Episode 11: Episode 10 was good and I gave it a rating of 7.7/10. So now the team has one old lady with alzheimer's and one kid. This could be very very risky. It's really sad watching Gus kill his own brother. Is it time for a new adventure? I think it is. Wow Gus' mother is also infected? I feel so bad for him knowing how much he loves his mom, that sucks. Gus meets Zach, that's cool. Watching Setrakian going through that hole is painful. He is too old for that stuff. I wonder when we are going to see the good vampire again, the one we saw a few episodes back. Eph meets the Master, now that was cool. Oh boy, Setrakian is mad that the Master is gone. Wow how many are in these tunnels? Overall a great episode, my rating is 8.6/10.
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5/10
Seriously?
somzer22 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
5. Tops. The idea is great in my opinion. A "new" approach. Relatively. Combining zombie virus and vampires, personally I really do like it. The idea of giving them a leader who controls them, sees all via the eyes of his pawns (the master), whose death will defeat all pawns? The cliché of clichés. We'll see how it turns out, but if it will as 'hope' in the series...well, let's just hope it won't come down to that.

Admit it. Every movie contains bad ideas, plot-holes, problems, unreasonable things, whatever, I don't think there is one exception. Lord of The Rings, Star Wars, HP, Inception, The Godfather...Every one of them. Yet I dare to say it started out pretty good.

But seriously, I know it is a drama but it is getting more and more ridiculous.

First, people in general still don't know there's a 'virus' out there turning people into blood-sucking psychos. Can they not see the corpses? No internet, weak signal, sure, but did they lose the ability to speak as well? Can they not get in a car and leave? At least now people started looting. About time...

But how about having sex in an apartment (or what), with OPEN doors, at NIGHT, while they know there ARE creeps out there? Well, why the hell not!

But that is not enough, now the kid, against his father's convincing, decides to go out and buy CIGARETTES for the crazy old lady. Seriously? He knows there is danger out there, he was told NOT to open that door, NOT to go out whatever happens, and he is a kid who can NOT buy cigarettes to begin with! Seriously?!?

Drama is one thing. This? This isn't drama, this is stupidity. This is bad script. Flooding us with mindless "dramatic" events such as a kid going out alone, with such an idiotic reasoning such as buying cigarettes, unthinkable! They didn't even bother making it more reasonable.

This is getting more and more ridiculous and annoying by the minute. Conflict is necessary but constant conflict between pretty much everyone is not! How about them following up a plan without whining and arguing for once? JUST for once! How about not coming up with idiotic morals while people are reanimated by worms with the sole purpose to kill? Emphasis on *Reanimated*. They are already dead, chopping their heads of won't make them any...deader. Or what.

Or how about them simply avoiding the most obvious dangers? Like: "Look, here's a pitch dark room and I can hear something making weird noises, similar to those dozens of things we just met earlier, how about going in? Alone? One by one?"

They are practically begging to get killed.

If it goes on like this, the 5 stars will turn into 4, then 3, and so on.

This is no way of making a series, but this is the best way of ruining it.

And I swear, I fear... I fear they'll come up with some utterly stupid idea again, like using "mom" (don't remember her name) against this...group of survivors, Or worse, turning her back and/or turning it into a love triangle...

*sigh*

I really hope my fear is misplaced.
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1/10
OK show however I would watch it last
solanojohn5522 September 2014
Welcome to the armature hour! I love Dracula shows and films since I was a kid and growing up… you can tell a lot about a show by the story and, characters development. You can take out the actors and a good show will still win on the story itself. In this show the actors are not great and the story is half-good so all the actors take 1 step forward and, 5 steps backwards. People / characters are introduced to play a major role then all the sudden they drop out for 2 episodes without a sound. We are left to wonder what, who, why and, when they came to USA just an empty zone! Everyone in the show is a boss or acts to overpower the other actor rather complement each other. lacking in every way the harmony in each episode by the bickering and childlike back talking. You have to agree it is annoying when you have to watch it every 5 minutes especially when the group are on stealth mode. It takes away from the story and the whole job idea of creeping up! So far not a single actor holds his or her cool or do as they planed, or told what to do in time of need. Will I keep watching it?...YES I WILL!! SO even with the low approving on my part it is still OK to watch because why not after all it better that nothing ….
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5/10
Was looking up... until they reveal the Master
johngallant1929 September 2014
I agree with several of the posts above regarding one step forward... this show is very slow to develop, but we expect to be rewarded at some point for our patience. This week was not it. Everything was going well as far as intensity and the slow-build, but then the Master is revealed in his full... whatever. This show obviously has a decent budget for special effects, both visual and cgi, but they didn't use much of it for the Master's costume/makeup. My wife thought he looked like a Muppet, and was not scary at all. Very disappointing.

Also, the pettiness of some of the characters can be annoying and does nothing to move the story forward, or develop relationships. At least they are developing the rat-catcher and the hacker (whom I wished dead at least once).

Otherwise, this new twist on an old theme (vampire master) is a good concept that I hope they take in an appropriate direction - the Apocalypse.
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5/10
And that's being generous
xhidden9930 January 2022
The show is getting soap-opera-ish with the absolute focus on everyone's feelings. Also the disobedient stupid kid who does not listen to anyone so he can do dangerous stuff is a time worn stereotype. With each episode the characters seem to be emotionally devolving into tweens. Everyone is acting less and less rationally with each passing day. And doesn't the population of NYC notice no internet or cell phone service for days on end? If the whole city imploded into anarchy don't you think someone would send in the National Guard?
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