Eph and Alex drive into the Philadelphia countryside. Their engine stalls and they go to a nearby car to get gas. There's no one on the streets, and Eph spots a phone on the ground. He checks it and finds video of a girl, Emily Stevens, saying that she's hiding and refusing to go. They check further on and Emily says that she doesn't understand why her parents are so excited to go to New Horizons. She hides in a crawlspace in her bedroom, and then her father telling her that they're going to New Horizons. Eph and Alex realize that they're outside of Emily's house, and go inside.
When they go inside, no one answers their calls. Eph and Alex check Emily's bedroom, and figure that she's gone with her parents. They prepare to go to bed for the night, and Eph suggests that he sleep separately on the couch. Alex says that the safest thing is that they stay together for safety, and Eph reluctantly lies down.
Vasiliy and the others watch as the strigoi squad removes warheads from a silo. They spot a strigoi mongrel on guard and Quinlan warns that a frontal assault would decimate their ranks, and Vasiliy agrees. They go back to the others and Vasiliy says that they'll have to steal a pit from the strigoi convey. The others review to help, and point out that they've given Quinlan enough of their blood. Quinlan says that he'll do it himself, but Vasiliy warns him that they need the others. He tells Quinlan that going off on his own is stupid, and he's rattled because he almost died in the first silo. Charlotte comes over and says that she convinced the others that there's silver in the truck. She then gives Quinlan his blood, and he thanks her before she walks off.
London, 1888
Louisa is walking down the street and hesitates. She goes to a cellar and asks if there's been any word. The woman in charge says that there's no one of the type that Louisa is looking for, and invites Louisa to come in and see herself. As Louisa turns to go, the woman tells her to wish her brother good fortune and Louisa says that it's too late for that. As she walks away, two men approach her and recognize her as a clergyman's daughter. They try to drag her into an alleyway, and Quinlan arrives and kills them both. He then grabs Louisa and asks why she seeks him. Louisa says that he's an immortal.
Now
In New York, Dutch sits in a cell until the guards come to drag her away. They take her to the processing plant, and she finds a dinner table waiting for her. Eichhorst is there and invites her to sit, and Dutch grabs a knife. He easily disarms her and slams her down, and asks if she would like to survive her ordeal. Eichhorst tells her that her blood type is rare, but infant B-positive is the best. He drinks a glass of baby blood and Dutch asks what the point of his charade at being human when the Master has won. Eichhorst says that he's different because he has free will, and the Master trusted him with implementing his vision of the world. He wants Abraham's whereabouts, Eichhorst extends his stinger for a moment, and Dutch tells him that she and Abraham were separated when they were captured, and he's probably been drained by now.
Eichhorst takes Dutch to Desai's office and tells him to check his records for old men processed the same day that Dutch was. He finds four men, and only one survives and is in a bone marrow experiment. Eichhorst gets the location and prepares to check for himself, and tells Desai to hold Dutch until he verifies they have Abraham and then drain her.
In the research wing, Dr. Joseph Himoff takes Eichhorst to Abraham, who is in a hospital bed. Himoff warns that it's dangerous to wake Abraham up in the middle of the tests, but Eichhorst orders him to do it or die.
Vasiliy calls Quinlan and tells him that the convoy is headed his way.
1888
Louisa and Quinlan go to a tea house and he figures that the Master sent her. She explains that she's there to find a cure for her brother, and he learned of Quinlan and begged Louisa to find Quinlan. Louisa offers her throat, begging Quinlan to end her brother's suffering. Quinlan tells her that he has no gifts to give her, light or dark, and Louisa asks Quinlan to visit her brother and confirm his beliefs in the dark arts.
Quinlan and Louisa go to her blind, twin brother Cyril, who realizes that Quinlan is there. Cyril asks Quinlan to turn him, but Quinlan refuses. Outside, Quinlan realizes that Cyril has syphilis. Louisa explains that she concealed it until the disease consumed Cyril, and Quinlan tells her to release him. She refuses to kill her brother, and Quinlan tells her that there are no others of her kind. Louisa's daughter Lydia comes in and says that she had a bad dream, and Louisa introduces her to Quinlan. Lydia curtsies to him.
Now
Alex is lying in Emily's bed and invites Eph to lie down next to her. He does so and they look at the fluorescent stars painted on the ceiling. Alex wonders what life would have been like if the strigoi had never come, and says that she thought she would live the American Dream. They hear a door opening and go to investigate. The front door is open, and a woman aims a rifle at them and tells Eph to hand over his gun.
Once Eph does so, Eph says that they're just taking shelter for the night. The woman, Francis, warns that strigoi enforces come through every couple of days. She lowers her gun and apologizes, and admits that she is turning. Francis explains that she escaped from New Horizons. When she got to the Welcome Center, she got a weird feeling and saw a delivery truck leaving from the back. Francis slipped into the back of the truck and left with it, and then returned to the town. Eph asks her if she could find her way back, explaining that if he can figure out what they're doing then maybe they can beat them.
Abraham wakes up and finds himself strapped to the gurney. A snake emerges from beneath his blanket and bites him, and Abraham realizes that he's hallucinating. Eichhorst is standing over him and welcomes Abraham back. The German says that it's the end of everything: of Abraham, of their conflict, He tells Abraham that he's not going to die yet. Eichhorst says that he needs Abraham to do something for him yet: admit that his God does not exist. Abraham promises to see Eichhorst in Hell, and Eichhorst tells him that he's already there.
Sherry and the others have their heads shaved, and an aide explains that it will help them with the radiation inoculation. Desai sends Dutch in with priority for processing, and Sherry asks if she's okay. Dutch yells that it's all a lie and they're about to be murdered, drained of their blood. When the guards move in on her, the other prisoners rebel and take them out. Dutch tells Sherry to get the others out while she finds Abraham and help him out.
Eichhorst hears the alarm and goes to investigate.
Dutch finds a cabinet with chemicals and grabs a bottle. She then enters the research ward and finally locates Abraham. As she unstraps him, Eichhorst comes in and Dutch lights the chemicals and sets Eichhorst on fire. He collapses and Dutch wheels Abraham out as the guards put out the fire on Eichhorst.
The convoy drivers see Quinlan and prepares to run him over. Quinlan steps aside and stabs the driver with his sword, and then catches the underside of the semi. He climbs over the back and the truck behind them calls to report where Quinlan is. A mongrel goes up to fight him, and Quinlan attacks him. They fight and Quinlan loses his sword. Quinlan lies down and a wire the truck is passing cuts the mongrel in half. When Quinlan climbs down, takes out the driver, and stops the semi, the truck behind them slams into it.
Vasiliy and his men move in on the convoy and open fire, killing the collaborators and the strigoi when they come out to attack. One of them leaps at Vasiliy, and Quinlan kills it. He tells Vasiliy not to read anything into it, and they cut open the back of the truck. When the survivalists come over, Charlotte admits that she might have lied about the fact that there was silver in the truck. They draw their guns on Vasiliy and Charlotte, and figure that they can turn them into the Partnership. A strigoi in the truck kills one man, and Quinlan kills him while the other survivalists run off. Vasiliy tells Roman that they have to get the pit before reinforcements arrive.
Once Vasiliy and Roman ge4t the pit, they unload it and put it into their truck. Quinlan says that nothing matters until the Master is destroyed, and Vasiliy says that he can't just be happy.
1888
Quinlan listens to Cyril begging Louisa for death. She comes in and tells Quinlan that she doesn't know how she'll go on if Cyril dies. Louisa explains that Cyril told her of the battles and history that Quinlan has lived, and asks him to indulge her. She makes him up to look human, and Quinlan looks at himself in the mirror. Louisa tells him that he's quite beautiful, and then starts to kiss him. His stinger emerges from his mouth for a moment, and Louisa goes to the bed. Quinlan goes after her, and Louisa begs him to sting her because she wants to feel it. He stings her leg and Louisa moans in pleasure.
Later, Quinlan, Louisa, and Lydia attend Cyril's funeral. Lydia takes Quinlan's hand, and he stares at the girl in surprise.
After the service, a priest finds an open crate in the church. He discovers that it's open and reaches in, and finds soil in the bottom. The Master slips in and drains the priest, then breaks his neck to keep him from turning.
Now
Francis leads Alex and Eph to New Horizons and they assure her that she's doing the right thing. He says that he'll make sure that she doesn't turn, but Francis is less than appreciative. Francis takes them down an access road and Eph figures that New Horizons is a step back to an agrarian society. They come to hundreds of bloody cases on the road, and Francis says that there's something evil and she can't bear to see it. She prepares to go, and tells Eph that she doesn't want him to kill her. Alex tells Eph that it's her choice and after a moment, he lowers his gun. Francis walks off, and Alex and Eph continue on.
As the two of them continue down the road, they smell something. Francis comes out behind them on the road, and the Master talks to them through her. The Master says that Zach is alive and an apt student, and Eph would know that if he hadn't fled New York like a coward. Eph shoots Francis in the head, killing her, and tells Alex that they have to finish it. They continue on and come to a vast processing plant, and Eph realizes that humans are the livestock, not the farmers.
Written by Gadfly on Aug 14, 2017