Away from the Canary team, this episode spends most of its time edging two peripheral characters forward. Gus Elizalde, the gang-banger who brought the box over the bridge, finally meets Abraham Setrakian when returning the clock that his ne’er-do-well brother stole.
And Ansel, one of the four plane survivors, is undergoing hideous transformations, to the point where he loses control and eventually drains his German Shepherd of blood, though he regains his senses enough to chain himself up in the shed before he can hurt anyone else. Ansel’s poor wife Ann-Marie watches him unravel, but she spirits the kids away before he can hurt them. Then, in one of the series’ biggest WTF moments so far, she turns out to be perhaps just as in need of help as her husband. When a douchey neighbor comes a-calling, saying that her noisy dog (actually Ansel in the shed) needs a good beating, she lets him into the shed then slams the door behind him, allowing Ansel to leap into action and quench his thirst. I mean, the guy was being a dick, but that response seemed a little overkill.
Then again, a main theme of “It’s Not For Everyone” is how far people will go for a cause they believe in, so it fits. Ann-Marie believes that she can still save her husband, and she’s doing whatever it takes to ensure that he stays alive long enough for her to do that. Jim has sacrificed his team for personal gain, Setrakian is still disregarding basic moral codes to take on this epidemic, and Palmer (who feels abandoned by Eichorst at the end of this episode – another alliance on the rocks?) has given up his humanity in exchange for a shot at immortality. Eph is also pushing himself to get ahead of the strain, dismissing standard operating procedure and shifting from a straightforward CDC researcher into a more ruthless and determined crusader. After all, he has an ex-wife and son he needs to protect from this outbreak. I have a feeling we’re going to see Eph overextend in future episodes as he tries to keep the strain far away from Kelly and Zach. “It’s Not For Everyone” also shows us how far Nora will go, as well as what’s just too much for her. She’s such a nurturing individual that it makes perfect sense she wouldn’t see slicing Emma’s head off as anything other than cold-blooded murder.
So, where does that leave us? The Strain has changed up its show dynamics quite seriously in “It’s Not For Everyone,” but something tells me that the changes will be for the better. In Setrakian, Eph now has a partner who can do what it takes to get the job done, and the treacherous Jim is out of everyone’s good graces. Still, some burning questions remain. Have Eichorst and the Master in fact betrayed Palmer? Is Nora going to be able to walk away from Eph’s investigation, or will she be back and at it in an episode or two? What’s happening with Joan Luss, Gabriel Bolivar (also sporting a very unsightly cloaca) and Vasily Fet? And just where did Redfern’s doctors get their medical degrees? I’m sure that the next episode will have answers for us – well, apart from maybe on that last one. I’m not banking on The Strain‘s writers to have read Gray’s Anatomy. The show would be far less fun if it tried to make sense.