The Strain - Episode 5: "Runaways"

For those who have been reading the comic book series or even the novels, this is the episode many have been waiting for. Ephraim and Abraham team up to start their hunt for the infected and also so Eph can get some evidence so the CDC can take action. Abraham's life in a concentration camp and his first time seeing The Master is explored here as well.

Easily, this is the best episode of The Strain yet as the show steps a bit away from the government drama aspects set up in the first four episodes. This episode was mainly about the hunt and Abraham passing the torch to Eph. The two have a good team dynamic and play well off of each other, making their story the most enjoyable to watch as well.

In addition, we get to see what happened to Abraham during World War II, where he spent his time at a concentration camp as a carpenter, eve though he was only an apprentice. He catches his first glimpse of Thomas there as an officer. This is the first time Abraham also comes across the Master in a very horrific manner as the Master picks off men in the camp, at night, once by one, and Abraham is the only one to see it. These scenes really heighten the horror atmosphere and give a bit more credibility to Abraham as a vampire killer.

"Runaways" also focuses on Vasiliy Fet, the rat hunter, who spends some time in the sewers trying to find out why the rats are all surfacing. While he is incredibly hard to understand, this is a strong secondary story on the show and a nice and different perspective to how people are dealing with what is happening. What he finds is expected, but thrilling nonetheless.

The only real downside to the episode, as a whole, was that the Felix and Gus story line was non-existent. This wasn't very problematic because overall, the episode was a ton of fun and the focus was a lot more on the horror aspects of the series.

The Strain is picking up the pace and offering a lot to fans of the books and graphic novels. This is the first time the public gets a good look at the "vampires" from this world and we get to see how may of the supporting cast is dealing with this new problem. While the last episode was a bit of a let down, this one really kicks up into high gear and offers viewers a thrilling and horrific television experience.

This episode was awesome

And I knew it was going to get a 5 as soon as we got the flashback.

I loved the "now who's gonna pay me" last words. That little scene was awesome. I can't wait till that lawyer gets killed, I think half her lines in the show have been "I'm gonna sue the crap out of them."

At first I was a little curious as to why some of the changes from the book were made but clearly they are setting up characters from the second book that weren't present in the first.

Great epsiode. 8/10. There was some stupid stuff as usual but I love the show. Looks like the action is ramping up. Can't wait to see the whole city fall apart and Sh*t going down.

Surprised to see 5 stars. On IGN and AVACUB they give this show bad reviews.

I really hope we get more flashbacks of Abraham's time in WWII. Easily the most entertaining parts of the episode for me. I also like how he just casually makes Eph breakfast while explaining things haha

Man this was my favorite episode so far just because the city is starting to fall. Gotta say that watching Vasiliy escape the vampires in the sewers and the vampire attack in the senior home were my favorite parts

Best episode so far.