The BEST episodes of The Strain
Every episode of The Strain ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Strain!
A mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism ravages the city of New York.
#1 - For Services Rendered
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 8/24/2014
Setrakian, Eph and Nora formulate a plan to track down the Master using Jim as bait. Eichhorst and Setrakian’s pasts are revealed. At the Luss home, Neeva struggles to protect the children while encountering a mysterious stranger whose help she may not want.
#2 - Ouroboros
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 8/27/2017
His health failing, Setrakian ignores Eph’s warnings, pushing himself to the limit in his quest for victory and revenge. Fet and Quinlan race back to Manhattan, while the Master seals off the city and prepares to eliminate them all.
#3 - Creatures of the Night
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 8/31/2014
After discovering the potency of ultraviolet light against the strigoi, Setrakian gains a new and unlikely disciple. A quick trip to a Brooklyn convenience store turns into a deadly all-night siege.
#4 - The Fall
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 10/30/2016
Humanity teeters on the edge of destruction. The Master finally reveals himself, initiating the end game of a battle in which there can be only one winner. Eph, Fet, Setrakian, and Dutch must overcome their personal differences in a last-ditch effort to vanquish the strain.
#5 - Night Zero
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 7/13/2014
When a plane lands in New York City with everyone on board dead, Dr. Ephraim 'Eph' Goodweather, head of the CDC’s Canary Project, and his team are called upon to investigate. What looks at first like a mysterious viral outbreak might be the beginning of something infinitely more sinister.
#6 - Do or Die
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 10/23/2016
NYC is falling. Eph and Dutch frantically race to finish their new device to stop the Master before the city is overrun. Justine, Gus, and Angel fight in one last stand to stop the spreading virus. Palmer extracts vengeance for past wrongs but may have crossed the line.
#7 - The Master
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 10/5/2014
Eph and Fet recon for an all-out assault that Setrakian assures them will finally kill the Master. Gus aligns himself with a strange new force, one that may swing the fight in an unforeseen direction.
#8 - The Last Stand
Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 9/17/2017
In the series finale, Quinlan devises a desperate plan, but the costs are enormous. Eph wrestles with his conscience, Fet undertakes a suicide mission, and Dutch and Gus dig in for battle as humankind makes its final stand against the Master and his Strain.
#9 - Occultation
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 8/17/2014
After warning Kelly to leave the city with Zack ahead of the spreading plague, Eph is arrested by the FBI. Eichhorst has one final job for Gus. Setrakian realizes that the coming eclipse is the tipping point for virus infection and the beginning of the end.
#10 - Last Rites
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 9/28/2014
Dutch returns with a plan to broadcast Eph’s warning about the vampiric plague, but they face a new threat when Eichhorst launches his own attack against the pawn shop. Palmer receives a special visitor. Gus gears up for the on-coming fight but discovers there’s another mysterious factor involved.
#11 - White Light
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/16/2016
The Master’s voice proves to be more powerful and potentially fatal than Eph or Dutch anticipated. Fet and Setrakian track down the cargo from the Egyptian vessel and realize they may be in over their heads. Quinlan strikes a deal with the Ancients, but a last minute betrayal proves deadly.
#12 - The Disappeared
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 9/7/2014
Eph races to safeguard his family, only to learn that Kelly is missing. Dutch reveals her role in Palmer’s plan. Gus is forced to make a difficult decision about Felix.
#13 - Gone Smooth
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 7/27/2014
Eph and Nora fight to save Captain Redfern's life before coming face-to-face with the horrifying effects of the virus. A spike in rat attacks signals Fet that something inexplicable is happening deep below the city. Released from jail, Setrakian begins his own merciless plan to stop the spread of the disease.
#14 - First Born
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/11/2016
The Occido Lumen is gone. Stolen. Setrakian and Fet race to recover it. Gus and Angel try to hide a secret houseguest while avoiding a police sweep, and Quinlan’s thirst for vengeance is revealed.
#15 - Runaways
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 8/10/2014
With Nora gone, Eph reluctantly joins Setrakian's quest in hopes of gathering enough evidence to warrant a citywide quarantine. Fet encounters the unexpected inside the subway tunnels. A medical emergency threatens Palmer's master plan.
#16 - It's Not for Everyone
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 8/3/2014
A secret autopsy demonstrates the bizarre progression of the mystery virus, prompting Jim to make a startling confession. Eph and Nora race to find the father of the youngest victim of the plane tragedy, but someone unexpected beats them to it. Ansel, in the grip of disease, takes desperate measures to protect his family.
#17 - The Third Rail
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 9/21/2014
Setrakian leads Eph, Fet and Nora in the hunt for the Master's lair. Left behind at the pawnshop with Mariela, Zack risks his safety for Mariela's sake.
#18 - The Box
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 7/20/2014
The four survivors begin manifesting strange symptoms, but Eph and Nora's attempt to quarantine them is thwarted as the disinformation campaign begins. Setrakian receives a surprise visit from an old – a very old – acquaintance.
#19 - Night Train
Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 10/4/2015
Setrakian and Fet battle for possession of the Occido Lumen, and gain a surprising new ally. A massive attack imperils Eph, Nora, and Zack's escape from New York.
#20 - The Traitor
Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 9/10/2017
An unexpected guest brings old conflicts to the surface, dividing our heroes, threatening the group’s trust. With questionable new intel in hand, they launch a make‐or‐break final assault on the Master.
#21 - The Battle of Central Park
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/2/2016
Fet strikes hard at the heart of the strigoi army while Justine embarks upon a risky mission to drive the strigoi out of Manhattan once and for all. Gus and Angel fight for their lives and their freedom but are faced with a moral dilemma.
#22 - Madness
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 9/25/2016
New information from the Lumen forces Setrakian to seek help from his lifelong nemesis, Eldritch Palmer. Eph’s new experiments to understand strigoi communication seemingly take him to the brink of madness while Fet is on a mission to discover strigoi movements across New York City.
#23 - The Assassin
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 9/13/2015
Eph and Dutch work together to thwart the Master’s greatest ally. Justine runs into trouble with the Mayor while Setrakian tracks down the real owner of the Lumen.
#24 - Extraction
Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 9/3/2017
Reeling from loss, our heroes regroup. To defeat the Master, they must locate him first. Our heroes devise a new plan to track him through human collaborators, beginning at the blood farm with someone Dutch knows all too well.
#25 - Dead End
Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 9/20/2015
Dutch fights for her life against Eichhorst as Fet, Nora, and Eph frantically search the city for her. Setrakian confronts an old acquaintance on his search for the Occido Lumen, while Gus helps the Guptas escape across the border to safety.