S02.E04: The Silver Angel

[ShellSeeker]

 

Eph and Nora finally see their lethal virus in action. Fet takes the security of Red Hook into his own hands while Dutch and Setrakian set off for Staten Island to question Fitzwilliam, Palmer's former body guard.

 

[PrincessEnnui]

Is Quinlan/Vaun dead? This show is choppy.

 

Just when the heroes seem capable, they start losing IQ points.

[Primetimer]

The Silver Angel knows how to grapple effectively with life's problems.

Read the story

[lulee]

I was really expecting Zach to start hitting Eph with that bat.

[SimoneS]

  I am losing interest like I did with season one. This show is so uneven and badly written at times. The writers are trying to do too much with the flashbacks and multiple present day stories. If Abraham and Dutch are going to trek all the way over to Staten Island to see Fitzwilliams, at least explain why he is so loyal to Palmer.

 

I couldn't take Fet getting beaten and arrested seriously because it is impossible to believe that the authorities would not have sealed off the subway tunnels.

 

Why does Eph have to go to Washington? They need to start spreading the disease in NY, the center of the epidemic.

 

Is Quinlan really dead? Because that would be an absolute waste. I cannot believe that Gus did not go back to the Ancients and is instead wandering around the city. Angel was interesting, but they are taking too long to get to the point.

 

The only part of the episode I enjoyed was the bankers getting sucked to death by the Strigoi. Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch.

Edited August 3, 2015 by SimoneS

[Rickster]

Based on how old he looked in 1966, it looked like Fitzwilliam must be sucking down the worm juice too. Of course that wouldn't explain why he looked about the same age as his brother.

[CletusMusashi]

Part of me wants to complain that"Angel" already did the "old luchadores fighting monsters" schtick, but let's be realistic. The only good things about Season 5 Angel were one episode about luchadores and one about muppets. The only thing about this show that I really honestly dislike is Zack, who only emerges from his trollcave for a few minutes a week. So, all things considered, I think "The Strain" is more than giving AtS a run for its money.

Edited August 3, 2015 by CletusMusashi

[SimoneS]

Based on how old he looked in 1966, it looked like Fitzwilliam must be sucking down the worm juice too. Of course that wouldn't explain why he looked about the same age as his brother.

 

No, that was Fitzwilliam's father attending Palmer in 1966. That is why Abraham said that Fitzwilliam reminded him of his father.

Edited August 3, 2015 by SimoneS

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Once again, Gus failed to release his mother.

SMDH...

The young woman at the restaurant, is crushing hard.

Hope she stays around, I like her.

Like others here, found this eppy to be uneven and slow.

Plus I hated seeing my bae Fet harassed by bootleg

Guardian Angels.

Edited August 3, 2015 by MrsRafaelBarba

[Human]

These intros and flashbacks have been painful.  I actually turned off the show because I couldn't deal with that black and white flashback.  The other flashback with Palmer and Setrakian seemed quite unnecessary.  We get it, Abe introduced Palmer to the vamps which eventually led to what's happening in the present.  We got it the first flashback.  Please don't tell me they are going to keep hammering this for the rest of the season.  

 

I'm also really sick of the women running around fighting vamps with their hair just flying all over the place.  Newsflash, there are vampire squigly sperm worms flying all over the place and it only takes one and that one is probably going to catch on that lustrous hair and wiggle it's way to the scalp and then death.  I mean, in real life that's how it will go.  In tv life high heels and long unbound hair are like special protection powers for women.  

 

The infection thing was really cool.  But why go to DC?  The tv is working now, so other communications should be back up.  Maybe pick up a landline phone, dial a number, tell them what's going on and that you have this infection plan.  Leaving the city is stupid.  I bet Eph will be responsible for the virus moving to the rest of the country as one of those worms will likely hitch a ride in his wig hair.  

 

Zack not being able to hit a ball, somehow so apt for his character.  

[steelyis]

I was really expecting Zach to start hitting Eph with that bat.

 

 

The little shit looks like a psycho half the time.

 

I swear this show has an uncanny ability to make want to punch a child.

 

 

The infection thing was really cool.  But why go to DC?  The tv is working now, so other communications should be back up.  Maybe pick up a landline phone, dial a number, tell them what's going on and that you have this infection plan.  Leaving the city is stupid.  I bet Eph will be responsible for the virus moving to the rest of the country as one of those worms will likely hitch a ride in his wig hair.  

 

 

Right? His ego drives him to do the least practical, least straightforward, most self-serving bullshit!

[MrsRafaelBarba]

@ Human...

 

The hair thing bugs me as well.

 

And when are they going start wearing clothes/shoes.  better suited for combat? 

[Monty9]

MrsRafaelBarba

 

Plus I hated seeing my bae Fet harassed by bootleg

 

Yep. And I liked his joke about his invisible friend Donnie too.

 

BOTH Eph and Nora were being stupid. Yes stay in New York, don't travel to D.C. call, e-mail whatever but unleash that sucker out there. Make a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M240_machine_gun

like thing with darts coated in that stuff and drive it around. There is no reason for Nora to be so conservative, (Because potential apocalypse happening... Hellooooo?). That is unless she is hinting at something to come that she couldn't possibly know right now.

 

Also Eph, I know Zack sucks but maybe you could just let him try to smash some balls instead of criticizing his technique 'kay? It's been a little stressful as of late so maybe his batting stance isn't the most important thing.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Monty9

[shockermolar]

Having spent the last 3 days coaching an 17U baseball team, my first thought was "hey Eph, adjust that damn machine so the strike zone isn't set for a 6 foot tall man" and my second though was "jesus I wish that kid would take a ball to the head"

[FlowerofCarnage]

So there is no National Guard response, no response from other federal agencies?

Edited August 3, 2015 by FlowerofCarnage

[ottoDbusdriver]

So there is no National Gaurd response, no response on a federal level?

 

i don't understand why Justine Feraldo's campaign against the vamps suddenly jumped to Red Hook -- Fet offered an explanation because it had water on 3 sides, I guess, but wouldn't it have made more sense to expand out from the end of the Verrazano bridge from Staten Island. Secure the bridgehead into Brooklyn.  But hiring stooges ... correction, "peacekeepers" .... to beat the crap out of anyone that doesn't follow the curfew -- that's not going to end well.

 

That crawl on the bottom of the news channel had an odd story -- massive landslides in the Mid West continued in many counties. Where exactly in the Mid West would there be "massive" landslides ?  Let alone that they would continue to be more landslides after the original.

 

I thought it was odd when they showed the transition to the Federal Reserve meeting there were two buildings on fire in Manhattan, like that's an every day occurrence.  And why would they hold the meeting so late in the day such that they would have to leave the building at night ?  Are they unaware that that is when the vamps operate ?

 

I still find this show's insistence on detailed address information when switching between scenes to be kind of odd.

 

That whole scene with Eph and Zack at the batting cages was pretty bad.

Edited August 3, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[islandgal140]

With this episode, the show made it impossible for me to believe that there would be absolutely no massive federal response and national/international attention to what is going on in NYC.

 

If the stock market is closed for a day or more due to some type of crazy unexplained crises in what is considered the center of USA finance (Wall Street, the stock market floor, Dow Jones, etc.) there is no way in fucking hell that shit wouldn't be getting done and there would be not only a federal response but a worldwide response. Hell, they even mentioned that foreign markets are being effected. You don't fuck with rich people's/corporation money and expect not only the Hammer of Thor to fall but the release of the Kraken, throwing up the Batman signal in the sky, the Avengers - they would be calling every damn body!! No way could Palmer no matter how rich be able to orchestrate all this by having people over at the CDC or FEMA in his pocket. Nope. 

 

Those side winder vamp kids are creepy as hell.

 

I don't know about his acting ability but damn, if Nathan Lane every needed someone to play him as a young teen, physically the kid that plays Zack would be perfect.  Except that Lane is a walking smiley face/ray of sunshine and this kid is constipation personified. 

 

I didn't understand the whole Gus and Angel thing. Did they know each other beforehand or not? 

 

There have been a lot of gross things on this show but the pus filled sacs on the infected vamps take the cake.

 

I still don't understand why the gang don't wear more protective gear when out in the streets at night. I would be not only afraid of the 6 foot stingers but what about the worms that could fly onto you when they shoot at or knife the vamps in close proximity. I mean that is how the man from the older couple got infected isn't it? 

Edited August 3, 2015 by islandgal140

[FlowerofCarnage]

No. The husband from the older couple got hit with a stinger.

I don't understand how those people could be slaughtered on National TV and the CDC teams and US Military not be deployed. They need to show some type of response or I am out!

Edited August 3, 2015 by FlowerofCarnage

[BigBlueMastiff]

I only read the first book, painful to finish, but I digress.

 

 

I didn't understand the whole Gus and Angel thing. Did they know each other beforehand or not?

I don't remember this in the book at all. They spent so much time on Angel's back story, and his later interactions with Gus, it must mean something.

 

 

I honestly wondered if my On Demand messed up during the pre-title card segment.  Black & white luchadore match?  The hell?  Then the vampire twist was revealed and it made some sense, but I still found it to be a waste.  I find this entire thing to be one, unless Angel or the owner's daughter is actually going to play some kind of part in all of this.  Oh, and Gus still can't kill his vampire mother, so way to go on that front, buddy.

I thought the same thing ;)

Edited August 4, 2015 by BigBlueMastiff

[Trois]

There are quite a few deviations from the books so far which is nice, because the loopholes in the books are much wider (and they couldn't have ended this show like in the books anyway).

Overall I think that the show is better than season 1. Of course the boy is annoying as hell (but if his character develops like in the books then this is only the beginning!), but I guess I can live with it.

[Jordan27]

I was really expecting Zach to start hitting Eph with that bat.

He wasn't bratty this week, but Zach is a pointless character.  That scene in the batting cage didn't belong in this show.  Boo hoo, Zach is sad. All this family melodrama in the midst of the vampire apocalypse is silly.  In reality, no one would think about this at this time.  Stop the monsters and then we will get emotional counseling. 

[Jordan27]

Zack not being able to hit a ball, somehow so apt for his character. 

 

His character and baseball skill is the same....a strikeout.




I still don't understand why the gang don't wear more protective gear when out in the streets at night. I would be not only afraid of the 6 foot stingers but what about the worms that could fly onto you when they shoot at or knife the vamps in close proximity.

 

Yep, pretty silly since they insist on using a sword with blood flying all over the place.  It wouldn't be long before some blood splashed on one of them.

 

And why would they hold the meeting so late in the day such that they would have to leave the building at night ? 

 

So true.  I'm rich and I'm going to go out at night without bodyguards with monsters running all over the city.  Not happening.

[DEM]

Usually, I'm all for more Gus because he's been so underused, but WTF was that Angel & Tandoori Palace story? Yikes that was slow.

 

Good to know Zach has another expression besides 'constipated demon', but he can go now, thanks.

 

I wish Nora had come right out and said what her problem was with large-scale deployment. Not that Eph's plan made sense either, but at least he gave a reason for it. Sorta.

[thuganomics85]

I honestly wondered if my On Demand messed up during the pre-title card segment.  Black & white luchadore match?  The hell?  Then the vampire twist was revealed and it made some sense, but I still found it to be a waste.  I find this entire thing to be one, unless Angel or the owner's daughter is actually going to play some kind of part in all of this.  Oh, and Gus still can't kill his vampire mother, so way to go on that front, buddy.

 

The infection seems to be working, so Eph wants to go to D.C. to get the virus to the government.  Not sure why he doesn't just do another television broadcast, email, etc.  At the same time, I'm not sure what Nora's deal was and why she wasn't offering any other solutions, but just complaining.  Still, her biggest offense tonight was telling Eph to go play with Zach, which meant his dumb ass had to appear again.  Thanks a lot, Nora.

 

Vasiliy manages to blow up the subway track, but has now gotten himself arrested. Have no idea what to make of all this.

 

Palmer set up a meeting with a bunch of Wall Street bigwigs, only for them to get jumped by a bunch of vamps led by Bolivar.  What is Palmer's game, here?

 

Abe and Dutch jet off to Staten Island to try and convince Fitzwilliams to join them.  He refuses for now, but I'm sure he'll change his mind.  Either his brother will convince him to go or, worse, his brother will somehow die and that will cause Fitzwilliams to join the gang.

 

Barely in Eichorst again.  Boo!

 

Kelly and her baby vamps are getting closer.  I really do hope they get Zach and we never hear from him again.

[bosawks]

And somehow Kelly is a better mother to her vampkids than Eph is to his son.

[Nutjob]

The lack of federal response is driving me nuts. In the real world, the President would have declared a state of emergency on such a plague and sent whatever reinforcements were necessary.

 

This season started off well, but I swear they're starting to lose me.

[maczero]

 

Those side winder vamp kids are creepy as hell.

Yet oddly endearing.  I almost went "Awww" when they were cooing and nuzzling against their mama.

 

I didn't understand the whole Gus and Angel thing. Did they know each other beforehand or not? 

I'm not sure.  At first, I thought he would turn out to be Gus's father.  That doesn't seem to be the case or at least Gus isn't aware of it.  I'm going with Angel doesn't like Gus because he knows his "type".  Possibly a bit of intra-racism going on there.

[easypeasy]

The first, was it 10 minutes? were just so boring and set the tone for the rest of the show. If not the the posts here, I wouldn't even know they plan to go to D.C because I'd zoned out by that point.

Eph and Zack bonding. Oh God, somebody please make it stop...

The little shit looks like a psycho half the time.

 

There is something so Children of the Corn Isaac about him.

Every time they show  Kelly and her crawlers menacingly sniffing his clothes, I wonder what's taking them so long.

 

You would think the Master would take better care of his new meat suit, but Bolivar is out marauding with the pleb vamps for some reason. What happened to guarding Palmer?

Why is Gus so important? Vaun told him that they need him, but I'm sure they could've recruited at least a handful like him for their mission. Apparently,the Master has bought into the hype enough to take time out of his busy schedule to personally taunt him.

I'm sure more stuff happened but I don't have the strength to rewatch.

[DEM]

The Angel stuff did remind me of one thing: This universe includes our popular conception of the vampire (i.e., standard fangs, crosses that burn). Will the show ever acknowledge or explain why 'real' vampires are so different?

[xaxat]

This show made a huge mistake in splitting our group off into separate plots. For me, the best parts of the show were the interactions of our merry misfits as they tried to figure out what was going on with Fet as the core. (With the hope that Fitzwilliam and Gus would soon join them.) Fet talking to anyone makes the show so much better. Now, Fet doesn't even have Dutch and I have no idea where they are headed with Gus.

[Texasmom1970]

The first, was it 10 minutes? were just so boring and set the tone for the rest of the show.

I admit I was only partially paying attention at the start, but I actually had to check to be sure I taped the correct show. When the guy was watching the movie, I was like WTF is this "The Strain" or did I accidentally tape something else.

I was pretty bored my love for Fet is all that got me through this one!

[ratgirlagogo]

 

If the stock market is closed for a day or more due to some type of crazy unexplained crises in what is considered the center of USA finance (Wall Street, the stock market floor, Dow Jones, etc.) there is no way in fucking hell that shit wouldn't be getting done and there would be not only a federal response but a worldwide response

 

The lack of federal response is driving me nuts. In the real world, the President would have declared a state of emergency on such a plague and sent whatever reinforcements were necessary.

I know what you both are saying and it is logical.  On the other hand having lived in NYC through both 9/11 (which pulverized Wall Street obviously) and Hurricane Sandy, you would be surprised at how little federal help was actually given (as opposed to publicly declared) and how LONG it took for basic services to be restored. I mean like months and months. Years really. Rich folks don't really need the  NY Stock Exchange to make money, it's just one of their many options.  An entity like Stoneheart is in a position to profit from disaster in a way that more locally limited enterprises can't.  This is actually one of my favorite aspects of the show, although it doesn't make up for Zach, the most unbearable child on television.

[Tippi Blevins]

One of the weirdest/funniest things was the Indian restaurant stuff. You could hear people screaming for their lives outside and the people inside are just, la la whatever let's go about business as usual. And Angel just heads into the alley, at night, barely able to walk. He's lucky he only ran into Gus and not a bunch of slavering vampires. Also, why were his movies in black and white? He only seemed about 60. 

 

And shouldn't curfew be before the sun goes down?? People are still walking around, hailing cabs, doing whatever they normally do, well into night!

 

I also think it's weird people are just acting like this is an outbreak of nasty flu. They're not nearly freaked out enough by the fact that there are literal monsters with throat snakes the size of a whale's wang, or even trying to evacuate.

[hardy har]

This show has officially become a chore for me to watch. It could have been so awesome. Then, it turned out it wasn't, so I hoped for dumb-fun, but it's just dumb-frustrating.

 

What in the fuck was that opening? I actually thought my DVR messed up, so I stopped it and had to check another source to make sure it recorded the right thing. Anyway . . . I should've interpreted that as a sign.

 

Fet, my dear, those fuses seemed really short. Who are those dude who beat him up? Are they vigilante wannabe cops? It looked like the had biohazard emblems on their armbands.

 

Eph you are a dick (obviously), but whether you release your Experimental vamp on 1 or 3 could you at least wait until Fet gets back in the van?!?!?!? He straight up let the vamp go and Fet was right there!!! Nora confuses me so much. Getting all coupley with Eph and telling him to spend quality time with Zach made me LOL pretty hard. Then they go to the batting cages and Eph is immediately annoying. Dude, I know your kid is a little shit (wonder where he gets that from), but just let the kid swing. Damn. Oh, and how much alcohol does he have squirreled away at that hideout? He's constantly drinking something different.

 

Still super confused about the lack of emergency responders/National Guard etc in New York. I got a good giggle at the background for Blond lady where everything was chill yet when they show the bigwigs coming out of that meeting there are cops all over the place. Also, massive facepalm at Nora being all aghast at the possibility of Marshall Law. Girl, that should've been done forever ago.

 

I still don't understand how vamp hearing works on this show. I remember our Merry Band of Dumbshits making a big deal about being quiet around them so the vamps wouldn't hear/come after them, but there have straight-up been several scenes where our crew have literally had convos where they are whisper-yelling at each other and they're only a few feet from a nest. Do vamps just . . . . not sense sound when they are sleeping?

 

I don't really understand their physical strength or abilities either. Like, they have these crazy stinger things and are crazy strong, but they sometimes get into hand-to-hand combat with humans and are overpowered. I mean . . . what even? Then, there's Kelley . . . who needs baby vamps to find her son even though these vamps are inherently supposed to seek out their love ones, but whatever.

 

I actually liked the whole Dutch and Abe seek out Fitzwilliam side plot and I wish we got more of that instead of Eph/Zach and Gus and whatever the hell dumb stuff the show has him doing. Anyway, I think the actors who play Dutch and Abe play off of everyone else really well, so it was fun seeing them get to do stuff together. I still maintain the show would be some much better if it was just Abe, Fet, Dutch and Gus fighting vamps. Fitzwilliam can come too because I am shallow and I like looking at him.

 

Speaking of Gus . . . his plot this week was that he got to meet an Ex-luchador/actor. Scintillating. I'm sure it will turn out that Angel actually fought vamps back in his day, but Jesus Christ, show.

 

Hair and make-up on 60's Abe is still hilarious. If I may borrow a phrase from Coupling.....I go to my safe place whenever flashbacks happen on this show, so I'm not really sure what happened.

 

Gus quit acting like Zach and put your mom out of her misery. Also, Master, stop monologing (?) like a Bond Villain and kill Gus for fucks sake! Not that I want him dead because I enjoy looking at him too, but what the hell?

[ratgirlagogo]

Also wanted to say that I LOVED the homage to Santo (I mean, ahem, ANGEL DE PLATA)  at the beginning.  That was REALLY well done (the cardboard mad scientist computer!  vampire brides with old fashioned natural boobs and backcombed wiglets!  middle aged masked wrestlers who look like fat dishwashers!  huge puppet bat!)and I loved the nod to the old Mexican Aztec vampire movies.  On the other hand that movie could not possibly have been made anytime past 1965, even in Mexico - meaning Angel at Tandoori Heaven or whatever its called would be in his late 80s at the youngest.  Is Angel doing the worm in the eyeball thing also? And if so why don't the worms fix his knee?  The knee thing also was a charming lucha homage just because in both American and Mexican wrestling "focusing on the knee of your opponent {meaning just trying to damage it}"  is a time honored storyline wheeze in terms of moving the match forward.

 

And although I've caught up with it at this point it is REALLY DISTRACTING that the actors playing Young Abraham and Young Palmer not only don't LOOK much like the older actors - they aren't even trying to SOUND like them. Why?   It really took me a while to realize who they were supposed to be.

[raven]

ratgirlagogo, I liked the opening too.  I don't know how correct the details were like you do, but it was fun to watch.  Fun also was the release of the infected vamp scene, yay for some of the team snarking and having fun!  Vamp suicides was also entertaning, though it did put me in mind of a similar, hilarioius scene in the awful move "The Happening".  Hee hee!

 

I enjoy the flashback scenes, I like young Abraham.  So what did Eichorst say to Palmer?  Maybe we'll see that later.  Young Palmer is more interesting than old Palmer, though the set up to massacre all his other cronies was inspired. 

 

The batting cage scene was awful.  Are we supposed to feel bad for Zach?  I don't. 

 

I think Angel took an instant dislike to Gus because profiling!  I do wish Gus would kill his mother already. Are there more Vamp Squads out there to work with, maybe they can work together,

 

The end scene with Kelly and her pack was appropriately creepy.  Overall I liked this episode.

Edited August 9, 2015 by raven

[ratgirlagogo]

 

I think Angel took an instant dislike to Gus because profiling!

His dislike was SO instant that I assumed he already knew Gus personally and had some bad history with him.  It took me a while to realize that it was as you say profiling.

[CletusMusashi]

I think you're on to something about how long ago the movie was made. Last week, I shrugged it off as "maybe the only copy of his movie he could get was recorded off of an old black and white TV." But it's in the original VHS tape box, so... yeah. The timing does look to be deliberate. I don't think he's necessarily eyeballing worm juice. He could be skipping the worms entirely and doing something with "the white." As far as his knee goes, maybe it wasn't just hurt too much to continue competitively with, but was completely destroyed! I'm not sure a rejuvenation actually fixes broken things that have already healed back wrong. Probably it just makes you a bit less crippled and a lot stronger, energetic and long-lived.

Edited August 10, 2015 by CletusMusashi

[chainsaw ash]

Series one was great until the final episode when they cheated and changed the rules as to what would kill The Master and allowed him to run through sunlight. Anyway me and the missus waited a whole year for series 2 and it just went down the pan. What is it with American shows and their writes? Don't they watch the previous episodes before they write the next one. The whole thing that made series 1 interesting was, how the story was a mystery. Initially you wondered what killed all the passengers on the plane and got drawn into the story, as it unfolded, as each of the characters changed into a vampire and then went for their loved ones to spread the disease. Now in series 2, its just turned into an  absurd zombie show, with naff cgi and totally unbelievable story. Why would the Government not intervene, when there are 000's of vampires swarming the streets at night. Why is it left to a rat catcher to sweep block by block for vampires. Why does the rat catcher want to blow up a tube station. Its non nonsensical. Then tonights episode with 10 minutes of a wrestling flick, just to show the character in it, was the old star of said flick, did it for me. 

This show like Under The Dome, Heroes, Lost, Alcatraz, to name just a few shows how terrible The US is at making shows. They completely lose the plot  and treat its fans with such contempt, that each writer of an episode, just doesn't care about what happens next since that particular car wreck, is the next writers problem, to sort out, which of course in the end, when the  show gets cancelled  they can't.

I won't be watching anymore shows from the US