‘The Strain’ recap: Time to meet the Master

Fans of FX’s vampire drama, “The Strain,” have already seen archvillain Thomas Eichhorst without his pancaked and prosthetic-enhanced human face -- translucent skin, bald pate, demonic eyes, missing nose and ears.

Not a pretty picture.

Viewers also have watched the various stages of transformation from human victim to full-fledged bloodsucker, with characters getting pastier, hungrier and scarier by the moment.

But not until now, in the episode dubbed “The Disappeared,” has anyone spied the visage of the Master, the king of all vamps. It’s the moment so many fans have been waiting for -- the Big Reveal.

And?

The monster is creepy, for sure, as any 7-foot-tall night-crawling mass murderer would be. But it’s reminiscent enough of some classic incarnations of Nosferatu that even casual fans should be able to stomach the sight without sedation or a barf bag.

How about for the diehards? Is it a life-changing genre-expanding moment? In truth, anything the small screen and a basic cable budget could offer may be a letdown in general. But loyalists may be pleased enough with the Master’s freaky features, even though they’ve had to cool their heels until hour nine to get a glimpse of the Vampire Who Ate Manhattan.

Expectations are extremely high, after all, since the series comes from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and showrunner Carlton Cuse. Maybe they should’ve rethought those elfin ears?

If the Master’s ugly mug doesn’t bring forth quite enough heebie-jeebies, his actions in a single scene of this episode might do the trick. As witnessed in flashback, the Master turns Eichhorst into one of his own kind, but not by the projectile-stinger-to-the-neck that fans have come to expect.

It’s even more personal and vile than that, befitting Eichhorst’s Nazi resume. The Master rakes one of his razor-like talons down Eichhorst’s arm and feeds the vampiric infection from his body directly into the wound. Worm transfer! Try to shake that image, preferably before bedtime.

That’s one of several shocking bits in this hour, with another coming when gangbanger Gus dispatches his best friend and fellow thug Felix on the way to Riker’s Island. Gus’ husky homeboy turns vamp within the confines of an NYPD vehicle and takes out the two police escorts. Gus says a little prayer-apology and ends Felix’s (half)life before he becomes the next meal. Freedom is bittersweet, but Gus grabs those handcuff keys and moves along.

And yet another startling revelation: Drs. Ephraim Goodweather and Nora Martinez, colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and leaders of the hero vamp-fighting brigade, are still hot for each other.

No, wait, that’s no surprise at all. That they’re clumsy enough to get caught with their pants down in his ex-wife’s house, well, that’s the frightful part. Discretion is lost in the chaos.

On the flip side, file the next several developments under “wholly predictable”: Eph isn’t at all sorry about bashing his ex-wife’s new boyfriend with a shovel and burning his worm-plagued body. Say a few words about the deceased, Eph? Naw.

Vasiliy Fet keeps a wary eye on Dutch, the hacker responsible for the nationwide communication meltdown, while bringing her into the Scooby fold. They are so not hooking up. And she, learning about the connection between evil billionaire Eldritch Palmer and the vampocalypse, fesses up about her role in crashing cellphones, stock markets and Internet service. She may be able to undo her highly paid domestic terrorism, she tells lead vamp hunter Abraham Setrakian.

Viewers tended to doze off during earlier episodes when Eph’s family life took center stage. Understandable. But it’s significant now because his ex-wife, Kelly, is missing and presumed caught up in the vampire contagion.

As Setrakian keeps impressing upon the gang, newly hatched vampires prey first on their “dear ones,” the people they love. Kelly will resurface, in other words, and go hunting for her young son, Zach. Where’s the kid? With Eph, of course, providing a DNA trail directly to the renegade vampire fighters.

Odds and ends worth noting in this episode:

-- There’s an overheard snippet of a radio report about flooded emergency rooms, with New Yorkers complaining of “flu-like symptoms.” And in a previous hour, characters in Grand Central Station had surgical masks over their faces. That means the vamp virus is spreading quickly, even though the CDC and government bigwigs denied that a virulent pathogen landed at JFK on Regis Flight 753, killing 206 passengers on board. They’re still not acknowledging the outbreak, putting out a steady stream of misinformation instead.

-- In kidspeak, a vampire is like a rabid animal, and in Dutchspeak, Setrakian’s lair behind his Harlem pawnshop is like the Batcave.

-- Setrakian, who first saw the Master in a concentration camp in Poland in 1944, tried to stop the vampire from preying on fellow prisoners. He attacked him with a purloined silver knife but couldn’t damage the monster. He ended up with crushed hands and a lifelong vendetta.