History YMMV / TheStrainTVSeries

** [[{{Ghostapo}} Thomas Eichhorst]] is a former [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]]-turned-vampire who acts as the [[TheDragon right-hand man]] of the Master. Even prior to his transformation, Eichhorst was a despicable human being who declined to help a Jewish, former co-worker he had a crush on, and instead lied to his superiors about her being a thief and allowed her and her family to be hanged. During the war, Eichhorst offered Russian [=POWs=] a special assignment in exchange for better living conditions, but neglected to tell them that their new job was executing Jewish prisoners too old or infirm to work. When one [=POW=], Fetrovsky, performs the execution only after Eichhorst threatened his and his friend's lives, Eichhorst [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure murders Fetrovsky's friend anyway]] as punishment for hesitating. Eichhorst was eventually made the commandant of a [[POWCamp concentration camp]], and at some point became aligned with the Master. In order to find a carpenter to craft his master's coffin, Eichhorst threatened to kill a workhouse full of prisoners unless the one who carved a Jewish Talisman he found stepped forward. Unlike the animalistic vampires that make up the Master's army, Eichhorst retains his mind and his sense of {{sadis|t}}m, which he displays through actions like vampirizing Setrakian's wife to [[StakingTheLovedOne force Setrakian to kill her]], and [[AttemptedRape attempting to rape/eat Dutch]] with his stinger. In addition to setting nukes and vampirizing blind children for the Master, Eichhorst also oversees the creation of slaughterhouses to drain humans of blood as efficiently as possible. When one of his employees doesn't see the difference in using a dummy to test the system instead of a live person, Eichhorst illustrates his point by {{impal|ed With ExtremePrejudice}}ing another employee on a meat hook, then timing it as he's subjected to the draining process. A [[PsychoSupporter fanatic]] who aspires to greatness through serving the Master, Eichhorst is instrumental in helping bring about the vampire apocalypse.

** [[spoiler:Zach being the one to blow up the Master in the final episode via HeroicSacrifice. To some, it comes off as an AssPull, with the series having spent so much time making him as villainous as possible only to yank the rug out from under all of his CharacterDevelopment in favor of a generic RedemptionEqualsDeath conclusion, and many were not happy with the fact that it gave him AdaptationalHeroism in the process (Eph detonates the nuke himself in the books). To others, it's the logical conclusion of Zach realizing the consequences of his actions, and many point to various pieces of evidence that despite his deep hatred for Eph, Zach never wanted him dead, and they counter the AdaptationalHeroism argument by pointing out that [[AdaptationalVillainy Zach never detonated the]] [[AdaptationalVillainy ''first'']] [[AdaptationalVillainy nuclear bomb in the books either]] (The Master did that)]].

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: Fet comforting Dutch at her apartment, and Abe comforting Zach and explaining what's going on.
** Eph and Nora [[spoiler:eulogizing Jim while burning Matt's body]].
** Dutch's utter ''fury'' at the police for bruising Fet's face, and his earlier scene of comforting her after [[spoiler:her ex-girlfriend's mother had given her a ''vicious'' TheReasonYouSuckSpeech]].

** Anytime technology is used or mentioned. Gabriel's manager talks about "the YouTube video," Eldritch Palmer hires a hacker to slow down the entire Internet, and Eph texts back and forth phrases along the lines of "c u l8r" with his son, despite the fact that it would actually be ''harder'' to type like this on an iPhone due to autocorrect.

** When Eph is [[ItMakesSenseInContext cutting his hair]], you can very clearly see the line between the wig and Corey Stoll's head. It's especially amusing when you see the reveal of his new look... and it's an almost exact duplicate of [[HouseOfCardsUS Peter Russo's]]!

** Zach was fairly well liked by the fandom in the first series, but he's dropped straight into Scrappy territory as of season two. He's been recast, and all the new actor seems able to express is petulant anger.
*** He's now pretty much everyone's least favourite character after he gets [[spoiler:Nora]] killed in the season two finale. [[spoiler:He further cemented that in the season 3 finale by setting off a nuke, potentially dooming humanity, all because he was mad at Eph.]]

** [[BigBad The Master]] is the youngest of the Ancient vampires with a legacy of death [[HistoricalRapSheet going back millennia]]. Killing and feeding at his whim, TheMaster ends up in New York after stowing away aboard a plane, killing and turning everyone on board before sending the newly-made vampires after their own loved ones to spread his new strain. In the past, the Master also used [[POWCamp concentration camps]] as a feeding ground, and when the carpenter Abraham Setrakian tried to kill him, the Master broke his hands to leave him to suffer and die now that he would be useless to the Nazis. Using his vampires to kill and convert countless innocents in New York, the Master directs a number of blind children to be turned by his right-hand man Thomas Eichhorst to serve as "hunters" before attempting to overwhelm entire neighborhoods with his armies. When his ally Eldritch Palmer annoys the Master, the Master kills his lover Coco just to prove a point. Finally having his "brothers" killed, the Master and Eichhorst attempt to use a nuke to blot out the sun to allow the vampires to completely overwhelm New York.
** [[{{Ghostapo}} Thomas Eichhorst]] is a former [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]]-turned-vampire who acts as the [[TheDragon right-hand man]] of the Master. Even prior to his transformation, Eichhorst was a despicable human being who crossed the MoralEventHorizon when he declined to help a Jewish, former co-worker he had a crush on, and instead lied to his superiors about her being a thief and allowed her and her family to be hanged. During the war, Eichhorst offered Russian [=POWs=] a special assignment in exchange for better living conditions, but neglected to tell them that their new job was executing Jewish prisoners too old or infirm to work. When one [=POW=], Fetrovsky, performs the execution only after Eichhorst threatened his and his friend's lives, Eichhorst [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure murders Fetrovsky's friend anyway]] as punishment for hesitating. Eichhorst was eventually made the commandant of a [[POWCamp concentration camp]], and at some point became aligned with the Master. In order to find a carpenter to craft his master's coffin, Eichhorst threatened to kill a workhouse full of prisoners unless the one who carved a Jewish Talisman he found stepped forward. Unlike the animalistic vampires that make up the Master's army, Eichhorst retains his mind and his sense of {{sadis|t}}m, which he displays through actions like vampirizing Setrakian's wife to [[StakingTheLovedOne force Setrakian to kill her]], and [[AttemptedRape attempting to rape/eat Dutch]] with his stinger. In addition to setting nukes and vampirizing blind children for the Master, Eichhorst also oversees the creation of slaughterhouses to drain humans of blood as efficiently as possible. When one of his employees doesn't see the difference in using a dummy to test the system instead of a live person, Eichhorst illustrates his point by {{impal|ed With ExtremePrejudice}}ing another employee on a meat hook, then timing it as he's subjected to the draining process. A [[PsychoSupporter fanatic]] who aspires to greatness through serving the Master, Eichhorst is instrumental in helping bring about the vampire apocalypse.

* AssPull: To some, ''[[spoiler:Zach]]'' being the one who [[spoiler:finishes off The Master by setting off the second nuke. After very little buildup to his HeelFaceTurn in the ''literal'' last five minutes of the series. To be fair, despite being constantly angry with Eph, Zach never really expressed an actual desire to ''kill'' him - so it should not be totally unsurprising that he refused the Master's order to kill his father. In fact, earlier in the episode Eph wonders if Zach was being sincere about wanting to save his life in the penultimate episode. Also Zach is shown to be pretty horrified when the Master's forces start indiscriminately killing every human in the city to locate the nuke. Let it be known; everyone has their limits.]]

* AssPull: To some, ''[[spoiler:Zach]]'' being the one who [[spoiler:finishes off The Master by setting off the second nuke. After very little buildup to his HeelFaceTurn in the ''literal'' last five minutes of the series. To be fair, despite being angry with Eph, Zach never really expressed an actual desire to ''kill'' him. In fact, earlier in the episode Eph wonders if Zach was being sincere about wanting to save his life, and Zach is shown to be pretty uncomfortable when the Master's forces start indiscriminately killing every human in the city. Let it be known; everyone has their limits.]]

** Are the flashbacks to Quinlan's love affair with Louisa meant to be sweet and show his human side? Or are they just plain creepy?

* AssPull: To some, ''[[spoiler:Zach]]'' being the one who [[spoiler:finishes off The Master by setting off the second nuke. After very little buildup to his HeelFaceTurn in the ''literal'' last five minutes of the series. To be fair, in the penultimate episode Eph wonders if Zach was being sincere about wanting to save his life, and Zach is shown to be pretty uncomfortable when the Master's forces start indiscriminately killing every human in the city. Let it be known; everyone has their limits.]]

* AssPull: ''[[spoiler:Zach]]'' being the one who [[spoiler:finishes off The Master. After zero buildup to his HeelFaceTurn in the ''literal'' last five minutes of the series.]]
** To be fair, it's not ''entirely'' without buildup. [[spoiler: Earlier, Eph wonders if Zach was being sincere about wanting to save his life. Plus, Zach is shown to be pretty uncomfortable when the Master's forces start indiscriminately killing every human in the city.]]

** To be fair, it's not ''entirely'' without buildup. [[spoiler: Earlier, Eph wonders if Zach was being sincere about just wanting to save his life.]]

* BrokenBase: Reviews have been mixed, with some decrying the silliness of the premise and the apparent stupidity of some of the main characters, while other have praised the show's self-aware camp and revitalization of the vampire as a terrifying monster.

* CreepyChild: The goddamn [[spoiler:Feelers]]. They move twice as fast as other vamps, make an extremely unsettling gurgling/clicking/chittering noise, oh, and they're [[spoiler:[[UndeadChild undead children]]]]. Watch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPguGPxX_xk this featurette]] about them, if you're not planning on sleeping tonight.

* CatharsisFactor: After four seasons of being an unsympathetic monster who continually gets away with his crimes, it is immensely satisfying to see [[spoiler:Eichhorst die at the hands of his long-time nemesis, Abraham Setrakian. Setrakian tricks Eichhorst into feeding off of him after he's ingested blood thinner, which is poisonous to vampires, then takes his time mocking a visibly terrified Eichhorst over just how screwed he is before cutting the Nazi vamp's head off.]]

** [[spoiler: In Season 4, Zach finally seems to be growing more of a conscience and develops a crush on his maid Abby. It's pointed out that setting off the nuke was an impulsive decision brought about by anger rather than outright evil. Despite being the most pampered human alive the Master himself is defending as a future Host, Zach opens up to Abby, gives her supplies for her friends and genuinely seems fond of her...until he discovers she has a boyfriend. He freaks at her, claiming that he 'did everything right' to get with her by being nice and giving her things, and when she tries to leave, her physically restrains her. After she pushes him away, Zach's Strigoi bodyguard attacks...and despite her pleading for him to save her and tell the guard to stand down, Zach petulantly storms off and covers his ears as not to listen to her being murdered.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Zach Goodweather]], of all people, crosses the line in the season 3 finale. His carelessness had already gotten several people killed, and he'd already joined the strigoi despite them literally being undead, blood-sucking abominations, [[spoiler:but the audience might have been able to rationalize this on the grounds that he's a naive kid. However, in the season 3 finale, when Eph kills the vampirized Kelly in self-dense, [[DisproportionateRetribution Zach responds by knowingly detonating a nuclear bomb out of spite.]] This action single-handedly ruined the heroes plan to finally get rid of the Master, freeing him from his prison, and allowing the strigoi to overrun the city when the resulting cloud blocks out the sun. Every strigoi death that follows this point is directly on Zach, just because he was angry at his father and lashed out in the most destructive way possible.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Zach Goodweather]], of all people, crosses the line in the season 3 finale. His carelessness had already gotten several people killed, and he'd already joined the strigoi despite them literally being undead, blood-sucking abominations, [[spoiler:but the audience might have been able to rationalize this on the grounds that he's a naive kid. However, in the season 3 finale, when Zach kills the vampirized Kelly in self-dense, [[DisproportionateRetribution Zach responds by knowingly detonating a nuclear bomb out of spite.]] This action single-handedly ruined the heroes plan to finally get rid of the Master, freeing him from his prison, and allowing the strigoi to overrun the city when the resulting cloud blocks out the sun. Every strigoi death that follows this point is directly on Zach.]]

* FreudWasRight: When [[spoiler: the Master, in 3x10]] is hit with an experimental weapon to weaken him, his stinger, which up to that point was snapping aggressively at the humans in front of him, goes limp and [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything dangles down]]. Since strigoi multiply by infection, the stinger is, in a sense, a reproductive organ.