The Strain recap: 'The Blood Tax' 

Gus + Dutch + no Zach = giving the people (a.k.a. me) what they want.

After the final season premiere caught up the audience with Eph and Fet, the second episode of the season reintroduces two more members of the scattered core team. And the new story lines for Gus and Dutch are interesting considering where we last left them: Dutch had found herself in the middle of a romantic tug-of-war between Eph and Fet, while the show could have easily let Gus run off into the sunset and never return.

Despite the reappearance of two favorites, “The Blood Tax” begins with an unfamiliar face. We are introduced to Raul, following him as he awakens in a crowded apartment, works at a Partnership building, and gives blood. After a draining day, he finally makes it home, only to be attacked from behind. “Didn’t I always tell you to watch your back?” asks the assailant — who turns out to be Gus! Raul is his younger cousin. “I thought you were dead,” Raul tells Gus, whom we last saw seemingly escaping to freedom after the loss of Angel. I thought he was sipping margaritas on a beach in Mexico. Guess not. He’s back, and he wants help getting into Raul’s work building. Don’t worry, Raul, he’s not stealing, just “reallocating.” “I’m here to take care of you now,” Gus tells his cousin. “We need to take care of each other.” Damn, I missed Gus!

Now that Gus is back, we’re getting Dutch, too. That’s a winning combination. She’s looking very uncomfortable in a chair. Finally time for a teeth cleaning? Nope, definitely not, considering the way she’s sitting with her legs spread. Dutch is visiting a baby doctor, who tells her that she’s not pregnant, but she is plenty fertile. The news doesn’t quite elicit a joyous reaction. Following the appointment, Dutch returns to what seems to be a pregnant lady factory run by The Partnership. The unit’s roster includes Nurse Greenwood (a Brigitte Nielsen lookalike), delusional pregnant women, and Eichhorst’s pal Sanjay, who is lording over the place. To add to the mystery, Dutch is going by the name Miranda.

How did she end up here? We find out as the action takes us back three months — and as if separate Gus and Dutch stories weren’t exciting enough, we get the duo interacting together, with the bonus addition of Setrakian. Dutch and Setrakian go to make a trade with Gus, who has teamed up with Creem, the man who sold the Lumen to Setrakian. “Looks like that didn’t work out to well for ya,” quips Creem to the old man, who jabs right back about how useless the $325 million he paid for it is. “Nuclear wear wasn’t good for the economy,” Creem responds. Despite Setrakian’s pleas, Gus insists that his days of fighting are over. “I’d say I’ve had too much experience,” he says. “This is my fight now.”

Upon leaving Gus, Dutch will soon have a fight of her own. Setrakian’s building is both on fire and being raided by strigoi, which is a bad combination. Relenting to Setrakian’s pleas to retrieve the Lumen, Dutch sneaks in, killing some strigoi on her way to grab the book. She finds herself being chased, leading her to jump from rooftop to rooftop like she’s Vin Diesel in

. (Then she cuts off the head of the strigoi following her, which did

.) Not wanting the Lumen to fall into strigoi hands, she hides the book just before she is caught. If it makes her feel any better, Setrakian was also captured. You’re right — probably not.

They arrive at the prisoner loading area to discover people being beaten and feelers sniffing women. “I have seen this before,” says Holocaust survivor Setrakian. I’m guessing not the feelers part. Setrakian goes over to help a family who are being separated, but he’s knocked over. This leads Dutch to jump in, but her fate is even worse than being dropped to the ground: A feeler goes into a tizzy over her, prompting her to be taken away.

Back in the present, we learn a little more about the mystery that is Dutch. Apparently, she isn’t a fan of pineapple, she has a new pregnant friend named Rosalinda, and she’s planning to escape the next day. How is she going to get out? A Partnership delivery man named Jeremy is suppose to smuggle her out, but he’s conveniently playing dumb. She starts threatening to make up a story about them sleeping together. The strigoi definitely don’t want a Jeremy baby. Dutch takes a break from planning her escape to play mediator between the nurses and delirious patients, eventually drawing the eye of the almighty Sanjay.

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