The Strain series finale recap: 'The Last Stand' 

Every unforgettable moment, every gorgeous dress.

Let me begin by saying that I have not read the trilogy of novels on which

 is based. Judging from the comments sections of past recaps, I have a feeling that this ending is very similar to the one written by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. That said,

‘s series finale left me very conflicted.

, Eph, Quinlan…and that’s all. There’s no one else worth sending condolences to. NO ONE.

Most of the worst aspects of this episode were things that have annoyed me throughout the series, including everything involving Zach and too much that just flat-out doesn’t make sense. And yet, there were plenty of facets of the series finale that worked really well: Fet and Dutch’s touching interactions, Quinlan’s death, and, as much as I hate to say it, Zach’s final sacrifice. It didn’t redeem the character or how terribly he was crafted, but it was an acceptable conclusion.

“The Last Stand” begins right where the penultimate episode ended: with the team facing down a massive group of incoming strigoi. Eph thinks they need to protect the nuke, and Fet agrees, saying, “Yeah, not the time to make a final stand.” I mean, if the series finale isn’t the time, then I’m not sure when will be the best opportunity. Gus, Roman, Marcus, and some anonymous guys, who are surely destined to die, stay behind to hold off the strigoi. “No nice way to say this, Gus, but don’t get stung and lead The Master back to us,” cracks Dutch. Harsh, but fair. As Dutch, Fet, and Eph drive away, the remaining men fire on the hundreds of approaching strigoi. Unsurprisingly, all of the no-name fellas get bitten, including one who decides to go out like a boss by blowing himself up and taking some strigoi with him. The new Big Three of Marcus, Roman, and Gus go to take cover.

Meanwhile, Quinlan easily gets out of the situation we last left him in. He cuts off Abby’s head (again) and shoots all of the strigoi surrounding him. Then, another appears, who, like Abby, is being channeled by The Master. “Are you really so afraid of me?” yells Quinlan. “Anything you have to say, say it to my face, not through a proxy. But choose your words carefully, because they’ll be your last.” He kills the strigoi.

Watching from a very far distance, The Master sees that his enemies have all escaped. In a move that I approve of, he takes his anger out on Zach, scolding the boy for failing to locate the warhead. “Now, do you see your father for what he is?” he asks. “I told you, he cares nothing for you — only for himself.” I’d disagree. Eph has a lot of passions: drinking, killing strigoi, and finding new love interests during the vampire apocalypse. The Master decides to end the “masquerade of coexistence” and sets his minions to destroy mode, which seems to leave Zach a little uneasy. C’mon bro, this is what you signed up for!

Eph, Dutch, and Fet head to a Manhattan water tunnel construction site, where Quinlan is just chilling in the dark “like a creepy vampire.” Once again, Dutch, harsh, but true. They decide to go 800 feet below the surface to safely store the weapon. After Quinlan flashes the “I have a dangerous plan” face, he keys in his brother from a human mother, Fet. “If you want to save the city above us and the word beyond it, then the time for half measures is over,” proclaims Quinlan. “I can the see the end, Fet. I can see victory. But it will take everything you and I have.” “Everything” is code for “your life.” But it doesn’t matter; Fet is in. Ride together, die together, strigoi hunter boys for life.

As those two are plotting their own deaths, Dutch is trying to make Eph feel better about Zach, which isn’t exactly working since he’s wondering if he should have just blown up his son. “The last thing he said to me was, ‘Dad, I’m just trying to save your life,\'” shares Eph. “I just keep going over that in my mind.” He comes to the conclusion that Zach’s “already corrupted.”

Things don’t get any more cheery when Quinlan and Fet come over. They share their deadly plan: lure The Master, Quinlan takes him underground, and they detonate the warhead. The less-than-ideal part is that since Quinlan will be preoccupied, someone needs to be down there to detonate the nuke, and that someone is going to be Fet. Dutch is pissed about this “s—ty, stupid plan.” Again, a harsh but true comment from Dutch. “It doesn’t have to be you,” she tells her former lover, to which Fet responds, “I’m tired of fighting. More than that, I’m tired of losing.” Dutch rightfully points out that dying is losing, but he doesn’t see it that way. Her attempt to convince him to stay with an

Out of the loop on all of this are Marcus, Roman, and Gus, who are holed up in an apartment trying to wait out the strigoi. While Roman is enjoying an episode of

, Marcus is being conspicuously quiet and warm. Yep, he’s turning. “The only thing that matters anymore is dying human,” Gus says to his new buddy. Marcus replies, “Do me one favor. Don’t drag it out.” Oh, don’t worry, because he shot you before you finished talking. Losing another person he’s grown close to hits Gus hard, and he uses the drive to meet up with the others as an excuse to go 

With Dutch still mad at him, Fet points out this is “kind of a bad way to spend the rest of our time together.” He does his best to get her to “commit to the plan,” which hinges on Fet following Quinlan and The Master down in a little cage elevator. “Before I detonate the warhead, I’ll probably say something clever and cool like Bruce Willis would say,” he quips (I swear that I came up with the previous

reference before this!). Gus’ arrival and warning of the strigoi purging the city interrupts the nice moment, but don’t worry, because now Eph has the “I have a plan” face. I’m going to miss these faces. 

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