Recap / The Strain TV Series S 03 E 10 The Fall

Season 3, Episode 10:

The Fall

"Accursed sunlight. I shan't miss it."

Directed by: Carlton Cuse

Written by: Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan & Carlton Cuse

"Humanity's survival was never certain. We came close to perishing many times before. In the 1300s, the bubonic plague killed over 20% of the humans on the globe. It took 300 years to restore the world's population. Later, the Spanish flu infected more than half the people on Earth, and killed 75 million before we were able to recover. And then science rose and humanity flourished. The population soared to more than 7 billion. Our advancements brought us all closer together. We lost our fear. We believe we no longer had any predators. We believed in the primacy of science and technology. But 41 days was all it took from the day an airplane arrived carrying this plague, to the moment when mankind stood on the precipice of destruction. Humanity teetered on the edge of the abyss. All it needed was one small push or a final last-ditch rescue."

- Abraham Setrakian

Humanity teeters on the edge of destruction. The Master finally reveals himself, initiating the end game of a battle in which there can be only one winner. Eph, Fet, Setrakian, and Dutch must overcome their personal differences in a last-ditch effort to vanquish the strain.

This is a WIP page.

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Tropes that are present in this episode:

• Atomic Hate: Zach explodes in anger when Eph kills Kelly. And we don't mean that metaphorically. All it takes are three words of malice and the detonation of a nuclear bomb to show his wrath.
• The Bad Guy Wins:
• Beyond Redemption: While Zach had been flip-flopping with uncertainties throughout the show, the moment he detonates the nuke is when we finally get the answer that there is no shred of human decency in his heart, not caring about the casualties that he inflicted with the flip of a switch.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Zach being bitter about his mom's death is an understandable one. But bitter to the point of triggering the nuclear briefcase beneath the Statue of Liberty to spite his father and rendering their latest attempt at stopping the Master for good and not giving a damn about his actions? That's Beyond Redemption.
• Downer Ending: Where to begin?! In the largest Hope Spot in the series, the latest attempt to end the Master has been foiled, Zach has firmly sided with the strigoi and walks away to parts unknown after he detonates the last nuclear briefcase, New York is in complete chaos, the group are forced underground to escape the nuclear fallout, and a nuclear winter begins, allowing the strigoi to invade the streets of Manhatten without the fear of UV light.
• Face–Heel Turn: Zach. Goodweather.
• Hope Spot: The final plan to put an end to the Master had been going along swiftly and flawlessly. He's in the silver-lined sarcophagus, and all that's needed is to dump it into the ocean, and let him starve to death. Then the nightmare is finally over. But Zach had other plans with that detonator...
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": All the protagonists react like this when the nuclear bomb explodes, seeking cover before the shockwave blast hits.
• Rule of Symbolism: Lady Liberty represents American freedom. Now that she's gone and the strigoi have less than benevolent intentions of rebuilding the world out of the ashes, humanity's freedom is gone.
• Spanner in the Works: If it hadn't been for Zach detonating the bomb out of spite for Eph, the Master's reign of terror would have finally been over.
• Sudden Downer Ending: So much overturning of the protagonist's progress to finally stop the Master, and all it took was one nuclear bomb to turn the ending of this episode from a potentially optimistic one into one of grave despair and misery.
• Wham Episode: The Master's final plan goes off without a hitch (due to Zach), he is freed from the silver-lined sarcophagus, and the strigoi emerge victorious, allowing them to take over the Earth in a short period of time due to the nuclear fallout and debris blocking out the sun.
• Wham Line: Three words, a tone of malice, and a nuclear detonator in the hand, it all goes to hell for humanity once the switch is flipped.
  Zach (enraged): "I hate you!" (*the detonator is pressed*)
• Wham Shot: Seeing the bomb go off on Liberty Island, vaporizing Lady Liberty instantly.