TV Review: "The Strain" Episode 1 & 2

- by Ninja Ross, 23 July 2014

Way way waaaayyyyy back in November 2012, I reviewed the comic book version of The Strain, written by David Lapham with art by Mike Huddleston. It’s based on a book by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, which I have still not read. Because reading is for squares.

I gave the comic book a pretty darn positive review and I’ve been excited enough to wet my pants since this TV show was announced. Now there have been two episodes, which I am now going to tell you alllll about.

It’s a pretty fantastic start; we watch a typical plane landing, as the flight attendant walks through the aisle telling people to cut their crap out, buckle up and turn their music off. She’s called to a trap door leading to the cargo area by her panicking co-worker, who says he can hear something trying to get out.

That’s pretty spooky! And it’s well directed, too, with a nice, lengthy build up before something big and scary bursts through the trap door to ruin everyone’s day. It’s nice to see it kick off with a good horror vibe.

The plane lands but nobody can get any response from the crew. All the blinds except one are pulled down and there’s absolutely no movement from inside. This gives us a nice, creepy atmosphere before we’re introduced to Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll), running late for a custody hearing with his ex wife. Yay human drama!

Don't touch him!

Goodweather is called in to investigate the plane, and find out exactly why nobody is responding. They’re the CDC’s “canary crew,” so it’s their job to go in and touch everything before anyone else gets a chance. They come across four survivors who wake up with no memory of what happened. At first they seem to be doing fine. I’m sure you know where this is going.

It’s vampires! Less of the sparkly kind, or even the Buffy variety. Instead, we’re treated to a cross between gothic and scientific. It’s classic Dracula but with science! And that’s an excellent premise.

The vampires are a bit more savage than Dracula, however; we get more of a leach kind of vampire, using a long phallic (as if vampires needed to be any more of a metaphor) tongue to pierce arteries and feed, as well as infect the victims

The first episode focuses mostly on exploring the effects of a plane full of people turning up dead, as well as introducing the key characters. It doesn’t have a whole lot of action, but what it DOES have is Del Toro directing. That’s pretty fabulous. This is a guy who knows how to direct horror and he brings a heck of a lot of talent to this pilot.

David Bradley AKA Filch.

He builds up atmosphere with ease, keeping things spooky and tense. He does it subtly, by using lightening and a soundtrack that, at times, sounds like it’s from a John Carpenter movie.

The second episode is directed by David Semel, who is no stranger to vampires, having directed episodes of both Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

While he’s plenty talented, he doesn’t really bring quite the same feel as the pilot episode. It’s nowhere near bad, of course, but it does feel a bit flat in comparison. He does, however, keep things moving at a nice even pace, with the help of a well written script by David Weddle (Battlestar Galactica) and Bradley Thompson (also Battlestar Galactica...).

Stoll is, of course, not the only actor in the show. We also have Mia Maestro, as Goodweather's partner in crime (or world saving, I guess). She’s probably the weakest element of the show overall. She feels a bit emotionless a lot of the time. She’s kind of like a card board cut out with a speaker attached. 

There's also Sean Astin as the assistant, who, kind of predictably isn’t the nice guy he appears to be. He’s actually pretty good in his role and does create a pretty convincing character.

The best casting decision, however, is David Bradley as a vampire hunter. Argus Filch as a badass old vampire hunter.  Come on, that’s some fantastic casting! Right?!? As always, he brings a lot of skill to the role and keeps things feeling alive.

Goodweather and the cut out.

While the show is, overall, pretty fantastic, it does have its bad points, besides Maestro’s flat performance. There are a lot of clichés here. Some really cringe worthy moments. The hero is a recovering alcoholic, for example. That’s an old, tired idea and the show doesn’t really do anything interesting with it.

There are also a few holes here and there, most noticeably when our hero visits the morgue with his cardboard cut out. That’s pretty much all I can say on that part without ruining a pretty awesome scene prior to that. I’m sure you’ll notice something amiss. 

It’s well worth watching, though; the blend of gothic horror and the science behind the disease is fascinating and the majority of the cast help make it believable. It’s flawed, but there’s a heck of a lot to love here.


Are you watching "The Strain"? How do you enjoy it? Who is your favorite character? How do you think does the show compare to the book and the comics? Let us know in the comments!

Tagged: movies & TV, Reviews.

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