*Warning: spoilers for *_The Strain _are in play. If you haven't watched "Ouroboros," come back after you've caught up.
It's been beaten into our heads that Season 4 of The Strain is the end of everything as we know it. FX's horror series has been setting up the resolution of the vampire outbreak that started back in 2014, and tonight's episode saw two of the most formidable forces of good and evil square off. After a decades-long grudge match, Herr Richard Eichorst and Professor Abraham Setrakian finally had it out, and the Professor won a resounding victory. But while Eichorst (and others) may be dead -- huzzah! -- we might not have the professor for much longer either.
After being sprung out of The Partnership's big B-positive medical center, the professor has been having some medical problems. For most of The Strain's final season, he's been out of the picture, and his return tonight left him in worse shape. Going for several months without a dose of his non-viral mixture of Strigoi blood, also known as "The White," the 95 year old is finally starting to act his age. While the downside saw him suffering from a stroke, the upside has shown him the way to decode just what the Occido Lumen says, which will spell destruction of The Master. This was just about the time that Eichorst snuck up on the Professor, challenging him to duel to the death.
Setrakian edged out Eichorst by overdosing with blood thinners, and the inspiration for the good Professor to best his long time adversary came from the same strategy that Eph used to take down a hive of Strigoi in Philadelphia. Of course, this presents one of the two problems that besets the future of Setrakian's existence in The Strain: he's overdosed to the point that he's probably bleeding internally. And if that doesn't kill him, there's a big chance the bite that he suffered from Eichorst has infected him. Either way, it feels like Setrakian is on borrowed time, and the clock is ticking faster than ever.
Of course, in addition to Eichorst's swan song, two other characters paid the ultimate price: Alfonso Creem, who was killed by The Master when trying to bargain in exchange for selling out our heroes, and Alex, Eph's partner from the Philadelphia resistance, who came back to New York with him. Three big deaths, and the reunion of all but Fet and Quinlan's contingent have occurred, and only three episodes are left after tonight.
With New York sealed off (thanks to the bridges and tunnels being destroyed) and a nuclear bomb now within striking distance of The Master, all of the game-ending pieces are back on the home court. And The Strain is about to come to a violent, epic denouement. Let's just hope Abraham Setrakian survives long enough to see the destruction of The Master.
The Strain continues its home stretch to the big finale, next Sunday at 10 PM EST on FX. For all the other shows that'll be hitting primetime when the horror drama has wrapped up, check out our fall premiere schedule.
