02x01 - BK, NY

Episode transcripts for the TV show "The Strain". Aired: July 2014 to September 2017.*
Watch/Buy Amazon


"The Strain" is a thriller that tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. As the strain spreads, Eph, his team, and an assembly of everyday New Yorkers, wage w*r for the fate of humanity itself.
Post Reply

02x01 - BK, NY

Post by bunniefuu »

Previously on "The Strain"...

Too long I've lived. Too much I've seen.

(Screaming)

Strigoi!

I've seen them in the tunnels. It's turning people into hungry vermin.

They are no longer people. And to think they are is very dangerous.

You do not have the luxury of choice anymore.

All we can do now is fight.

Man: Is the w*r already lost?

Are we destined to be cattle for monsters or now that the enemy has shown his face, do we have a fighting chance?


(Creatures screaming)

I've kept my part of the agreement;

the Master will keep his.

Behold.

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Boy: What about Mom, Dad?

I don't know where your mom is, but I'm gonna find her.

No!

Boy: Mom!

It's not her anymore!

Boy: No! Mom!

The Master will use your wife's love...

Eph, don't.

- for her son to pursue us to the ends of the Earth.

Let him try.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, you cling to the delusion that you will prevail?

The great game is over, Jew.

Not while I still breathe.

(Barking)

Abraham Setrakian, come and have your soup.

Abraham!

I'm not hungry.

Tell me one more story, Bubbeh.

It late now, Abraham.

There's barely enough time for a tale. Maybe... while you finish your soup.

What story do you want to hear?

Sardu, Bubbeh. Will you tell me his story?

Sardu? Again?

Even if it is a scary one?

Very well, Abraham.

But, I want a clean plate at the end of it all.

There once was a great nobleman named Jusef Sardu.

Since childhood, he suffered from gigantism.

His body was aged, his bones were bent and riddled with aches, so he was forced to walk with a cane.

His was a beautiful sword-cane with a white-gold handle and a silver blade.

(Speaking foreign language)

His disease made him aware of the frailty of life.

So as a result, he was very kind to others, especially children.


(Sardu and children speaking in foreign language)

(Sardu laughing)

(Speaking in foreign language )

However, Sardu's brother, the baron, was shamed by his sibling's affliction.

He organized a hunting trip with his brother and his cousins, because he believed the blood of the Great Grey Wolf could cure the disease afflicting Yusef.


(Dogs barking)

Day after day, they walked in search of the Great Grey Wolf.

(Men laughing and speaking in foreign language)

(Strange croaking)

Hey, hey, hey. Hey!

(Word in foreign language)

Bubbeh: But... something other than a wolf was alive in the woods.

(Man speaking foreign language)

(Creature croaking and growling)

(Man speaking foreign language)

Bubbeh: And it started hunting them.

One by one, the members of the hunting party left...


(Creature growling)

until Jusef found himself completely alone.

(Sardu panting)

A certainty grew in his heart; his brethren were dead, and it was up to him to k*ll the beast or die trying.

Finish your soup, Abraham, and I'll finish my tale.

When he finally encountered the creature... it was not a wolf at all.

(Sardu panting)

(Strange growling)

(Flesh tearing sound)

It was an ancient, hungry being.

And as it gazed at the giant's body, it smiled.


Young hunter.

So, you think you're going to k*ll me... with that?

(Growling)

I can smell the silver on the blade.

(Laughing)

Do you think you are faster... than me?

(Coughing)

(Sardu groaning)

This body is frail, brittle.

My will, my soul...

(Sardu groaning)

I pass unto you.

Ah!

(Sardu coughing)

As a blessing, I bestow them.

(Sardu groaning)

(Sardu growling)

(Sardu screaming)

(Panting)

(Soft growling)

Bubbeh: Sardu returned to his village weeks later, but was never again seen outside his castle walls.

Not in daylight that is.

Some say he was much changed.


(Weird croaking)

And soon, young children began disappearing from the village, vanishing from their beds at night.

(Soft growling)

And while no one ever saw Sardu again, some say they heard his cane in the night.

(Tapping on window)

(Tapping Kn*fe on table)

Evil... lurks in the world, Abraham, in many forms.

Some familiar, some not.

You must stop it.

We all must.

(Cane tapping on floor)

(Tires screeching)

(Siren blaring)

(Horrific screaming)

(Master croaking)

(Master screaming)

In the nameof all that is holy!

(Screaming)



(Distant siren blaring)

(Distant object clanking)

(Distant bang)

(Rat squeaking)

(Clanking)

(Creature roaring)

Show yourself!

I'm right here.

Where is he?

I was wondering the same thing myself.

Who are you?

My name is Vaun.



(Sirens)



(Sirens)

(Car alarm system ringing)

(Sizzling noise)

(Sizzling noise continuing)

(Distant siren blaring)

Never thought I'd be nostalgic for rats!

Yeah!

Vampire-proofing is, uh, a lot more labor intensive than rat-proofing.

Where's Setrakian?

He left before I got up.

Where to?

He's not big on leaving notes.

Hey, you wanna help me out with this?

(Distant sirens blaring)

(Firetruck horn honking)

He said sunlight would k*ll that thing.

We chased it into the sun, it got away.

Everybody makes mistakes, even vampire hunters... even doctors.

So you're still on board?

You're still ready to follow him down every dark tunnel in the city?

Yeah.

But I've got my own plan.

Which is?

I'm gonna secure my place, then next door, then the block, and then the next block.

The ground game isn't for me.

(Distant yelling)

So what are you gonna do?

(Wind whistling)

Well, seeing as how as a vampire hunter, I'm total sh*t, I'm gonna go back to being a doctor.

Man: At the press conference in Rose Garden earlier today, the President announced...

Eph: Nora?

...that he has ordered another 2000 National Guard's troops to deploy in Manhattan...

Nora?

...secure government buildings and crucial infrastructure.

Eph: You ready?

Nora: Yeah.

This brings the total number of National Guard troops in the city to 10,000.

Zack is still asleep.

Dutch. You could use some ventilation there.

Yeah. And a latte with almond milk and a massage from the Four Seasons.

When Zack gets up, could you make sure he gets some breakfast?

Dutch: Where are you going?

Out.

Got it. Yeah, no problem.

I'll just feed your kid and make sure this place is vampire-safe for you.

Is there a problem?

Just said, wasn't a problem.

Sounds like there's a problem.

If there was a problem I'd tell there's a problem.

You're just so bloody presumptuous.

Am I?

God, yes!

...chairman of the Armed services committee expressed concern at a hearing today...

Please and thank you.

Whatever, and you're welcome.

With Russia's surprise annexation of Latvia and Lithuania.

(Wind blowing)

(Growling)

My Master...

(Master groaning)

(Master moaning)

I'm removing the bag now.

Any sudden moves and I'll k*ll you.

Nod if you understand.

Wait!

I know this guy.

Give me my cane!

No way, old man.

He owns a pawnshop in my neighborhood in Harlem.

He's not a thr*at.

You're the idiot brother of the man-child who stole my clock!

I brought you your clock back.

OK, shut up. Come on, let's go!

That way.

You work for this filth?

You know what they say. You've got to stay on top of the food chain, O.G.

You and five strigoi?

Not very smart.

Silence.

You will approach with all due respect.

(Growling and croaking)

They exist... the Ancients.

They're sleeping now, but they can hear and understand everything.

I speak for them.

What do you know of the seventh one of their kind?

The... the seventh?

The one you call the Master. You injured him.

How do you know this?

The seven share a common mind.

But the seventh... has the power to disrupt thought.

When you injured him, he lost control, so they saw you fighting.

And now, he has recovered enough to shield himself from you once again.

What do you want?

They want to make an alliance with you.

Sometimes great enemies become allies, so they can fight a common foe.

Do they know how to k*ll him?

I think, for obvious reasons, they won't answer that question.

Then I don't see how they can help me.

No.

You're here to help them.

Over the millennia, they have gathered vast resources that could help you in your hunt.

A legend has passed down through the centuries... concerning a book, an ancient tome of uncertain provenance and some say divine inspiration; the Occido Lumen.

(Ancients growling)

And, uh... what do you know of this book?

I now have proof that it exists.

(Weird bark)

What are they saying?

They're trying to decide whether you should live.

I vowed to hunt the Master until the day I die.

If today is that day, so be it!

(Ancient growling)

All right.

Here's the bargain.

They'll let you live, but you must guarantee that when you find the Master, you will alert us.

Fair enough.

(Ancient growling)

Oh?

They're waking now, yeah.

We'd best leave.

They're gonna be hungry.

Man: No, no.

(Man grunting)

No! Please!

(Naked man grunting and panting)

(Ancient grumbling)

(Chain rattling)

Ah!

(Naked man screaming)

(Naked man screaming)

As you walk on in the daylight... (Naked man screaming) never forget this.

(Ancients grunting)

(Distant indistinct yelling)

(Door opening)

(Door closing)

Nora: Hello?

Anybody there?

No looters.

Well, if a Walmart is a 10 on the attractiveness-to-looters scale, then the pathology lab would be like a negative 3.

I wonder what happened to Elliot.

He was smart enough to start a chain of 10 pathology labs; probably smart enough to get out of the city.

Smarter than us anyway.

God bless the man.

Never skimped on anything.

(Eph sighs)

You know, it doesn't make any sense to haul all this back to Fet's; we should just set up shop here.

Yeah.

Thank you, El, wherever you are.

(Roaring)

Eph: Jesus Christ!

Ah!

Ugh!

(Screaming)

(Glass breaking)

(Roaring)

(Screaming)

(Low croaking)

(Vampire croaking)

(Gasp)

Poor Elliot.

Herr Eichhorst.

Where is he?

He's near... always near.

I was under the clear impression that he was going to be here!

The Master will attend or will not attend, according to...

Please!

Spare me the "he will or he will not" spiel.

It's tiresome.

This is the most significant part of the next phase of operations!

Now, where is he?

I see a little of the Master's white in your veins has made you bold, Eldritch.

But as a friend, I'm telling you, being too bold may not be wise right now.

(Eldritch laughing)

Eichhorst, honestly?

You're not my friend, and I don't give a warm sh*t what you think.

Don't try and manage me.

I'm not one of your foot soldiers.

I am the Master's partner.

(Distant siren blaring)

His partner...

Hmm...

Of course.

The Master will be very interested to hear that.

That's a burn.

Only silver could do that.

Did someone att*ck you?

Step away.

Who was it?

Setrakian and his merry band of vampire hunters?

The ones you deemed were not a thr*at? Hm?

(Generator sound)

Where is your faith, Eldritch?

If you only knew what was to come.

And what does that mean?
Mr. Palmer, sir.

I'm Coco Marchand. I work with Jack Parker.

I'm, I'm sorry I'm late, it was challenging to get here.

Where's Mr. Parker?

With all the craziness, he had a family emergency.

But I'm a licensed broker, and I know, from working with Mr. Parker, how important this deal is.

So, I jumped at the chance to work with you.

Anyway, I have all the paperwork right here.

Hello. I'm Coco Marchand.

Thomas Eichhorst. Very pleased.

Mr. Eichhorst is my business associate.

I had expressed my concern to Mr. Parker about the property's EPA status.

Yes.

I managed to locate the EPA 3842 form on the property. Zero issues.

Very well done!

The drains... they're all functional?

Can they carry a large amount of liquid waste?

This was a soap and cleaning supply factory, I imagine so.

What if we were to significantly modify the property?

It's zoned IR4, which means you can pretty much do anything you want here, except build a baseball stadium and compete with the Yankees.

(Palmer chuckles)

You a sports fan, Miss Marchand?

I'm a Red Sox fan, yeah.

Really?

Where did you grow up?

In France. My mother's French, my father's American from Boston.

I've never been to a baseball game.

You're kidding me?

Health issues, the distractions of my career...

No, sadly, I have never gone.

Oh, you must go.

Baseball can make you feel like a little boy again, in the best possible way.

Can we finish our business?

Here, I brought you the purchase agreement.

Tell them that in... thank you... in the middle of this medical holocaust, they're the luckiest real estate sellers in the city.

Give them exactly 12 hours.

I'm not moving on the price... except down.

Yes, sir. I'll get you an answer.

No, Miss Marchand, get me the property.

We either interrupt the chain of infection here... by developing a vaccine or we pour our efforts into a cure here.

Or we find a way to get to the Bahamas.

I love the chart, it's awesome.

And I don't want to get too meta about it, but I keep looking at it and I think; this is a summary of our entire careers; how everything we know is now useless.

Right, let's start with the vaccine.

Problem number one; this disease kills its host before it turns it.

Kind of a big problem if you're trying to create a vaccine.

It's really a lot easier if you have a living person.

Problem two, also an issue, a vaccine helps create antibodies.

Antibodies travel via the bloodstream.

So you need a bloodstream.

What if we find some mechanism by which we can get the body to destroy or reject the worms?

Cases like Jim's, where they only get nicked, that's 10, 20 percent of the total; everybody else is getting sucked dry like a juice box.

So we focus on a cure?

Sure!

All we have to do is figure out how to create wholesale human organ regeneration.

These creatures generate new organs in a matter of hours.

(Nora sighs)

Maybe we can start by figuring out how they do it.

Yeah, maybe.

What? Say it.

I'm not gonna be your scold.

I only quit drinking because of Kelly and the whole custody thing, and I can't think of a single positive thing I ever got out of it.

Be honest, even you like me better when I drink.

(Nora chuckles)

It's not PC but it's the truth.

Then you shouldn't feel the need to justify it.

I don't.

You're being presumptuous.

We spent the whole bloody day fortifying this place against vampires, and now you want to set out after dark?

Setrakian's still gone?

He doesn't know the neighborhood.

I... I can't wait for him any longer.

The man's a bloody sword-wielding Armenian samurai.

I'm sure he's... (Knocking on the door) fine.

(People yelling outside)

Thank you.

Where the hell were you all day?

Don't concern yourself with me.

Did you think that maybe, "Gee, uh, I should check in, let them know that I'm not dead, let 'em know I'm not a vampire"?

I'm not dead.

I'm not a vampire.

Hey.

Professor.

Did you eat anything?

I'm not hungry.

No, you gotta eat.

You gotta stay healthy and sharp.

I'm gonna get you something.

You're not even gonna growl at me?

I'm fine.

Where were you all day?

On the trail of the Master.

And?

Nothing.

(Setrakian sighs)

Mr. Fet, I need your help.

I have a storage locker... in it are all my extra supplies.

I, uh, kept them separate for... just this type of an emergency.

I need to retrieve them.

Yeah, OK.

We leave first thing in the morning.

See, that's... that's a good sign, you giving me orders.

You hurt him, you know?

The Master, you wounded him.

You shouldn't feel like you failed.

Newton's third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Write carefully.

Newton's third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Children, close your work and listen to me for one minute.

Given everything that's going on, we have decided to relocate the institute to outside of the city.

Now, the National Guard is in the process of setting up checkpoints at all of the bridges and all of the tunnels leading out of the city, but thanks to our generous sponsors at the Stoneheart Foundation, we've gotten a transit pass out of Manhattan.

So, those of you whose parents we've managed to contact, you will be picked up here at the school.

The rest of the group will travel with me on the bus to our new location in New Jersey.

All right, everyone, empty your lockers and pack your bag. We are leaving in two hours.

(Children chatting)

Jesus Christ, Zack! What are you doing?!

I'm practicing.

You're mad?

Let's talk it out. OK?

You can yell, you can scream, whatever, but let's deal with this.

She's gone.

She's not gone! She was right there!

You scared her away! You sh*t her!

She's turned. Do you understand how that works?

She's sick! You even said so!

Her heart... her organs... they're all gone.

There's nothing I can do to help her.

There's nothing anybody can do to help her.

She's something else now.

Bullshit!

You're a doctor, right, Dad?

Then save her! Find a cure!

You know, drinking alone is like dancing alone.

(Pouring drink)

(Putting drink on table)

(Pouring second drink)

To... survival?

To victory.

What the hell is this?

I won't know really until it's finished.

Well, how will you know when you're finished?

When I know what the hell it is.

That's a Zen riddle.

Too bad my job is so results-oriented.

You still have a job?

Oh, yeah. Saving the human race.

Oh, right. I forgot.

Ah! "Presumptuous.

"Failing to observe the limits of what is permitted or appropriate."

I really got under your skin with that remark, didn't I?

"Impertinent. Bold.

"Confident."

Arrogant.

Egotistical. Cheeky.

I forget, are we talking about you or me?

All right, so tell me, which is more fun?

Crashing the Internet or making this thing?

Art rarely goes viral, but dark deeds seem to be contagious.

(Vehicles honking)

You're absolutely right. Thank you.

For what?

The drink.

Nutter.



Excuse me. Are we at the quarantine zone?

I didn't hear us go over a bridge, or through a tunnel.

OK, everyone.

Grab your seatmate's hands, we're gonna get off the bus and gather just outside.

I have to go to the bathroom.

I'm sure we could all use a trip to the restroom, and some food.

Woman: Stand with me.

Girl: Miss Sanger?

I... I know, Meghan.

You're the last, right?

I think so.

OK, come on. I'll be your buddy.

Eichhorst: Welcome, children!

Hello? Who's there?

How wonderful that you have all arrived with your teacher.

Miss Sanger, are all these children blind from birth?

Some of them are, yes, but not all of them. Uh... are we... Is this the new school?

Your journey has indeed come to an end, but your adventure is just beginning.

So, finding a cure or making a vaccine is nearly impossible.

But what we can do is take everything we know about how to stop an epidemic and use that knowledge to start one.

Infect the infected.

Find a weak link in the vampire biology and cook something up to exploit it.

Infect the carriers, break the chain.

We need something we can distribute on a mass scale.

Something that vampires are vulnerable to, but that non-turned humans can tolerate.

The elevated body temperature. The stinger morphology.

Something to att*ck the simplistic brain stem?

The biological and chemical components, that's more your department.

If we can brew up something that will burn through these things fast but not too fast, with enough incubation time to spread the disease to other vampires, then...

Perhaps you two can be useful after all.

I'm glad you approve.

But first, I, uh...

I must ask you to help me with something.

Fellow New Yorkers, the federal government says it's doing all it can to help our great city, but if you're like me, you have a hard time seeing much evidence of that.

This morning, I informed Mayor Lyle that I am making available to the city an open line of credit to supplement the emergency budget, effective immediately.

(Applause)

Thank you, sir.

(Indistinct comments)

Mr. Palmer and I have never been on the same side of any political issue, but a true statesman sets aside political rhetoric in a time of crisis.

Mayor.

Let me be perfectly clear. This credit line is an investment in the future of this city and the resilience of its brave citizens.

I am calling upon everyone to be vigilant and to look out for family, friends, and neighbors in this time of crisis,
and show our country, and indeed the world, what New York is made of.

Thank you all for coming.

(Applause)

(Reporters chattering)

Man: Mr. Palmer! Mr. Palmer!

Ms. Marchand. Good news?

Your offer was accepted.

And I have to say, what you're doing for this city, it's heroic.

Oh... "To whom much is given..."

I don't believe anyone ever gave you anything, Mr. Palmer.

But you need a better tie. This one is boring.

Boring?

Mm-hmm.

I have a hundred just like it.

Miss Marchand... how would you like to work for me?

Pardon me?

Not for Stoneheart.

Directly for me.

Why, thank you, Mr. Palmer, but I don't think I can.

You feel a sense of loyalty to your current employer.

The firm paid for all my training and licensing, and I have only been with them for 18 months.

Yes, yes, that was very generous of them.

Here's what I want you to do, go back to your office and tell 'em Mr...

Parker.

Parker. I offered to double...

No, triple your salary and give you a position working directly with me.

I promise you, he won't be angry.

He'll be falling all over himself to retain you as a contact.

How does that sound?

(She sighs)

Man: Let me ask.

Second man: Been waiting all night... I'm sure.

Man: Is there any doubt, any at all, that the CDC's response to this epidemic has not been a total failure?

(Interview continuing indistinctly)

Hungry?

You went shopping?

Sort of...

You stole it?

Which is the greater sin?

Stealing food or wasting it?

My stomach said wasting.

Ever had ramen noodles?

I lived off this stuff exclusively for three years.

Ramen and Red Bull.

Oh, here. I got you this.

It's warm.

We're in the middle of a vampire apocalypse; everybody's making sacrifices.

Anything good on TV?

Just the same news over and over.

Is this gonna keep them out?

You bet your ass it will.

(Vampires growling)

Rise.

You are very lucky indeed.

Our Lord is going to give you back the power of your own thought, your own voice.

You have been chosen.

(Clearing her throat)

(Soft croaking)

(Exhaling) Zack.

Ahhh...

There. You talk.

It has begun.

Come.

(Siren blaring)

Eph: This place is a maze. Where is it?

It's, uh, here.

Eph: You don't remember which unit?

Of course I do. By sight, not by number.

Here. This is the one.

Are you sure?

Or, uh... this one. It's one of these two.

You have no keys?

He left them back at the pawnshop.

No harm.

Not exactly the weapons I was expecting.

Dammit! Then it's the other one.

(Distant thud)

(Metal object rattling)

OK. OK.

Don't sh**t!

Don't sh**t!

The government's lying, they're doing nothing.

Our building? The people who lived there have either been turned into one of those creatures or they fled.

I'm gonna check out the next corridor.

This seemed as safe a place as any.

So we stored ourselves.

Do you have any family?

A son. He's disabled.

He's well cared for.

We can find more silver. We can make new weapons.

Let's go!

Here, this is it.

Eph: What do you want so badly in there?

Yeah, this is definitely the one.

What's this?

Silver grenades.

Please handle them with care.

I was not able to make them too stable.

Dangerous expl*sives, your favorite. You carry those.

What's that?

Some notebooks, some research I need to review.

I, uh, made a mistake.

It won't happen again.

We found it! They're loading up the truck right now!

Why don't you come with us?

No, thank you.

It's not safe, nowhere is, but there is safety in numbers.

Nora...

Man: We're fine here, OK?

Eph: Godammit!

Oh no, Fet, I'm done...

Nora: Just think about it.

Eph: chasing the old man around.

(Vampires growling)

(Screaming)

Nora!

(g*nsh*t)

Go! Go!

Go!

(Vampires screaming, growling)

(Vampires growling, screaming)

(g*nshots)

(Vampire screaming)

(Fet grunting)

Oh...

(Vampires growling)

(Vampire screaming)

Huh?

(Vampires screaming)

(g*nshots)

Old woman: Oh! Ah!

Nora: Go to the truck!

(Click)

Nora: Come on! Come on!

(Vampire screaming)

Balding man: No! No!

Nora: Are you OK?

Yeah. Yeah, we're fine.

It's just a scratch. I'm fine.



No, wait, wait!

We need them.

We're all called upon to serve his glory... but the Master has anointed you above the others.

This is a great honor and an even greater responsibility.

All due to your connection with your dear one.

(Soft growling sounds)

Zack.

Yes, him.

Rejoice, Kelly... for you have an important role to play in the Master's great vision.

To that end, he has bestowed upon you the blessing of a new family.

(Soft growling sounds)

They have unique abilities... sight and perception beyond the visible spectrum.

Behold the Feelers, the children of the night.

(Soft growling)

(Soft growling)

(Feelers clicking)

(Theme music)
Post Reply