First Born

First Born
Season 3, Episode 3

Air Date	September 11, 2016
Release Date	September 11, 2016
Written By	Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan
Directed By	Ken Girotti
Episode Guide
← previous Bad White	next → Gone But Not Forgotten
Cast Guide
Starring
Corey Stoll as Ephraim Goodweather David Bradley as Abraham Setrakian Kevin Durand as Vasiliy Fet Richard Sammel as Thomas Eichorst Jack Kesy as The Master Miguel Gomez as Augustin 'Gus' Elizalde Ruta Gedmintas as Dutch Velders, Rupert Penry-Jones as Mr. Quinlan Aaron Lazar as Kroft Joaquin Cosio as The Silver Angel
Also Starring
Deanna Dunagan as Ancharia

"First Born" is the third episode of third season of The Strain. It first aired on September 11, 2016.

Summary[]

Somewhere in the mid 2000's Kelly Goodweather is in a operation room with Ephraim Goodweather about to give birth to Zach. Eph keeps on telling Kelly to breath during the operation but she gets annoyed and tells him to stop. The surgeons deliver Zach in a large caul, a sack like membrane, which unsettles the surgical staff. Kelly tells them to get her baby out of it. They open it and get Zach out of it as he starts crying. In the present day Zach is resting while Kelly tells him about how he was born, she comments on the rarity of a caul birth.. Kelly apologizes for drinking blood from a child in front of him. Kelly talks about the white drop that the Master gave him and how the Master doesn't like people suffering from Diseases. In the kitchen of their headquarters. Fet is cutting a grilled cheese sandwich when Abraham Setrakian yells at him to come to the room where the Occido Lumen is Fet comes over and Vasiliy Fet told Abraham Setrakian that Quinlan took it and left with Eph. Fet then also told him that he put a tracking device on the Lumen incase Quinlan betrayed them as they went off to the humvee to find them. Meanwhile in Red Hook, Brooklyn Eph reads the Lumen. They talk about how they are going to trade with the Master. Quinlan says that Kelly Goodweather is one of the Master's principle servants. Eph replies by saying "what about it" after that Quinlan tells him that the Occido Lumen is the answer to both of their problems and he will guarantee that he will get Zach back and kill his father. A flashback of Quinlan back in 58 A.D in a Roman countryside. The owner of Quinlan guides Ancharia to Quinlan in his cage. The owner talks about him. Ancharia tells the owner that she wants to watch him feed. A villager comes in with a goat to feed Quinlan. Another villager unhooks his stinger cage. The villager then lets go of the goat as Quinlan feeds on the goat. The owner asks Ancharia why she wants to keep Quinlan. Ancharia said that Quinlan is a hybrid creature. Ancharia then asks how much it costs to remove the curse from the owner's family and him. In Ancharia's tent Ancharia asks Quinlan's name. Quinlan stutters and says Quintus. Ancharia tells him how powerful he is and that he is one of the born vampires. Ancharia unhooks his stinger cage. Quinlan opens up his stinger halfway but dosen't kill Ancharia. Ancharia tells him that the Master has been hunting him for a while. In Gus's apartment Gus is giving more blood to his undead mother as he is getting more weaker. He gives the bowl to his undead mother and grabs a helmet. He gives her the blood as she drinks it Gus puts on the helmet on her. Angel Guzman knocks on the door and Gus tells him that it wasn't a good time as he passes out on the floor while Angel Guzman kept knocking. Angel Guzman noticed that something is wrong so he kicked down the door to discover him laying on the floor. Angel Guzman helps him to sit up. Angel Guzman looks surprised as he was looking at Gus's undead mother. Eph is driving down Brooklyn with Quinlan Eph talks about how Quinlan is half human half vampire. Quinlan gets annoyed and prefers to ride in silence. But Eph wants to really talk about it Quinlan said that he is conceived by two humans but his mother got infected by a vampire. He also tells him that anyone that is pregent that has a baby in a womb and the mother of that baby get infected the infection won't infect the baby but it will turn the baby into half human half vampire. They talk more and more about their plan. In another flashback in 60 A.D Quinlan comes back to Ancharia tent to see if anyone followed him. As he went inside a couple of vampires were approaching the tent. They come inside only to see that Ancharia is sleeping so one of the vampires started to attack her but Quinlan came in to kill the vampire and also killing the last one as Ancharia looked pleased. In the morning they went exploring in the snowy mountains. They soon find a cave to sleep in suddenly the Master came inside the cave fast with a few vampires. Quinlan grabbed a sword and pointed at them as the Master told him that he is invictous. Quinlan said his name. The Master tells him angrly that he carries him self like a human. Ancharia tells Quinlan not to engage. Quinlan says that he is an ancient of his destruction. Master speeds out of the cave to bury the entrance with boulders. Meanwhile in the present day Gus is sitting on a chair sick Angel Guzman tells him that it's very dangerous to keep a vampire. Gus tells him that is it is his mother. Angel Guzman asks him in sarcasm "If he is the only mexican who ever had a mother". Gus tells him that he could keep her safe inside their apartment. Angel Guzman reminds him that she is not his mother anymore. Gus angrily yells out "You don't know how i feel". Angel Guzman tells him that he is losing strength and warns him how his undead mother could kill both of them. Gus deines him and threatens him to leave. As they fight sirens are heard coming closer into their apartment. The New York Police Department tells everybody that they are going to do a sweep. Gus looks out the window and sees police officers and New York Safe Streets Initiative guards exit their vehicles. Gus gets a wheelchair and tells him to cooperate. Gus gets his undead mother puts a blanket over her head to cover her. Angel Guzman looks around the hallway to see if anyone is around. Angel Guzman and Gus go to a elevator. They get in the elevator. Once they got down to the first floor they see New York Safe Streets Initiative guards clearing out rooms to see if their is any vampires. They quickly ran pass two guards that are in a room. When they almost got out of the apartment two New York Safe Streets Initiative guards saw them and pointed a gun at both of them. The two guards yelled at them to take the blanket off. The both of them took of the blanket. One of the guards told them to take off the helmet but Gus warns them so Gus took off the helmet and cut the tape making his undead mother kill one of the guards as Angel Guzman knocks out the other guard. As more guards came in and saw. Gus and Angel Guzman ran but they were surrounded and was arrested. Eph and Quinlan goes into a convenice store to find a vampire to talk to the master. They soon find one as they capture it Eph then shows it to the Master and to make a deal. Once they were done talking Quinlan killed the vampire and they went off to Coney Island to make a deal. Back in Quinlan's past Quinlan is still stuck in the cave Ancharia told Quinlan that if the Master comes back he will be to weak. Ancharia asks Quinlan to drink her to be stronger. So Ancharia silt her own throat and killed herself. Quinlan then drank her blood. The Master comes back and Quinlan told him how upset he is. The Master tells him that night is more longer than day. Quinlan said that he will destroy him and his army. Quinlan attacks but The Master doges his attack. The Master said that he will meet Quinlan again as Quinlan speeds away from the cave. Meanwhile Vasiliy Fet and Abraham Setrakian are still driving around New York trying to find the Lumen. In Carmine Street's High School Augustin Elizalde and Angel Guzman are walking towards the warden's desk. Gus asks what the place was? Gus why they were not getting booked, fingerprints, and calls. The corrections officer tells them that they are at war and he is putting them as a sweep team which he was informing them to be forced to clean out vampires out of New York. The corrections officer brings them down to the school's gym. Fet and Abraham Setrakian sees that their GPS is going off land so they still kept on following it to where it goes. Eph gets onto Coney Island to make the deal he waited until it was night. When it was night The Master, Kelly, and Kroft came. Eph then shows them the Lumen and demands to send down his wife and son. Eph tells Kelly to show him Zach's face unfortunately it was a feeler. The feeler then tackles Eph to the ground. The feeler tried to attack but got hit by the Occido Lumen. Eph beats up the feeler and burns it's face with the Occido Lumen and throwing the feeler onto the water. Kelly tries to attack but gets burned by the Lumen. Eph beats up Kelly yelling "where is he". Kelly runs up to him saying that he'll never have him. Eph burns her face once again with the Lumen. Asthe feeler comes back from the water and onto land to attack Eph. Kelly grabs the Lumen and runs to Kroft and The Master. Eph kills the feeler while Kelly asks The Master to turn him. The Master then told her to let him suffer. Quinlan comes in to kill Kroft and tells him about how he's been hunting The Master for centuries. Vasiliy Fet and Abraham Setrakian see the undead Navy Seals walk by. Fet yelled and got their attention but then to turn back to shoot at Quinlan injuring him. Quinlan kills on solider and has a gunfight with them. Abraham Setrakian throws a light bomb at them to save Quinlan. Fet throws another lightbomb killing the Master as Quinlan had the chance to decapitate him as he did he also died. Fet and Abraham Setrakian look as The Master's worm crawled onto the sewer. As they look in horror.

Trivia[]

A caul or cowl is fetal membrane from the amniotic sac encasing a portion of a baby at birth. It is a rare occurrence for births that have come to term but are more common, though still very exceptional, among premature babies, which tend to be wholly encased in the amniotic sac. Not unlike umbilical cords, cauls are valued in some societies as mementos and charms.

In superstition, a caul is commonly regarded as an omen of auspiciousness or otherworldliness, with the caulbearer (i.e., the caul baby) destined for greatness, as in the case of Julius Caesar, or having connection with the spirit realm, as in the case of benandanti.In a darker East European account, folklorist Agnes Murgoci relates in 'The Vampire in Roumania' (1926) that caulbearers cast the evil eye and become vampires after death, especially if some of the caul is swallowed during birth.
Benandanti (lit. means "Good Walkers") was a fertility cult found in Friuli, or North East Italy. They were known for their ability to commune with the dead, fighting witches, ensure a bountiful harvest, as well as a preternatural skill to heal the sick and injured. These peasant seers often sought out by local villagers in matters of the occult and persecuted by the Inquisition during the Middle Ages.
Conscription - in simplest terms, the practice of pressing able-bodied young men into active military service (combat duty). In the case of The Strain, prisoners, who have committed any range of offenses, without regards to severity or due process, were drafted in combat. In the United States, it is an unheard-of practice, except during sentencing when a Magistrate provides the defendant the choice of military service as an alternative to incarceration.
There has been instances where there have been Penal battalions, companies, etc., military formations consisting of convicted persons for which military service in such units was either the assigned punishment or an alternative to imprisonment or capital punishment, such as in the former Soviet Union
A similar concept would be a Forlorn Hope Regiment, where volunteers who were able to withstand the first wave of enemy attacks, would be guaranteed cash bonuses, personal advancements and other benefits.