The Strain (Guillermo del Toro's New FX Summer Show)

I liked it, too, though I'm struggling to figure out why Berlin seems to be the city all of this originates from. Seems like a strange choice to me. Are they trying to imply some kind of Nazi association somehow?

 

Well, the arm tattoo certainly implies there's some of that going on.

And gets them the same general area without having to just call out Transylvania or Romania directly. Plus, can you get a direct flight from Romania to JFK? Honestly not sure...

 

After looking on Expedia, most are one or two stops, but reasonably priced.

 

I've got it recorded. I wasn't a fan of the book at all. It really couldn't settle on a tone. But, I suppose it is possible that it spawned a good adaptation.

 

I thought it was a bit meh, some interesting ideas, some boring characters, some atrocious dialogue, but I'm still on board, we'll see...

 

I disliked the book, but might check out the show anyway.

 

Are these worms related to the bugs that tried to take over the Federation?

 

Agreed Starbrow.

The premier had a couple of dopey moments but the 'monster' twist has me over-looking those and anticipating more. I definitely like this one more than Extant, so far.

 

Ain't that the truth...for the first time in years, vampires are truly frightening, and not just some lame dashing romantic figures.

 

I guess you guys didn't watch Penny Dreadful then.

 

I enjoyed it. I thought dealing with vampires as a virus outbreak kind of situation was a cool idea.
As much as I enjoy stuff like True Blood, The Vampire Diaries/The Originals, and Being Human, it is a nice change of pace to see vampires as scary monsters.
I'm curious exactly what role the worms play in the show's take on vampirism.

 

I'm liked the first episode, pretty creepy atmosphere though there was a moment when the evil entity looked a bit like His Divine Shadow which took me out of the moment but that wasn't their fault. It's interesting how they're combining some typical Dracula kind of stuff with sciency contagion things. Personally, I'm looking forward to more.

 

Just watched the first episode and I'm hooked. I just hope that unlike other series this series doesn't fail by not explaining anything in a timely fashion. Cause I have so many questions that I hope the next few episodes explain.

 

I'll stick with it for a little while, but the tone of the first episode was much cheesier than I was expecting, with a little too much fake movie-style dialogue, and villains that feel like they came out of an Underworld movie.

Maybe it'll still work as just a dumb guilty pleasure, but I was really hoping for a much more serious and intelligent approach to the subject.

 

more setup, i guess, but thought episode 2 was really slow, and not much really happened until the last couple minutes...

 

Yeah, it wasn't horrible but it did feel like they were just moving the pieces into place without actually doing anything with them until the end. But based on where it ended, it looks like next week thing next week, hopefully.

 

I'll second this. I was really looking forward to this and then...meh. Cheesy. Dumb people simply there to forward the plot. Dialogue was awful. The fact there are child actors is always a bad sign. They should only ever be background characters. Stupid relationship crap like the divorce/separation and affairs.

Spoiler: hugely disappointing.

I get the mediation in the beginning was supposed to establish the main character as someone both devoted to his family but obsessed with his job, but damn, it was like ten minutes long and completely killed whatever momentum they were trying to build.

Samwise kills everyone in the city because of a plot straight out of the worst of 24. And the crate of death was clearly visible from outside the van and the driver is clearly a tattooed gangbanger who was clearly going for his gun, but the SWAT guys do nothing.

Two-hundred fatalities and ONE CORONER?! Ummm...no, that would not happen. And no, the throw away line from the lead about avoiding press leaks by keeping city MEs away from the bodies doesn't cover it. Not to mention the redshirt CDC ME doesn't understand the concept of a mystery contagion that has killed hundreds might need more than thin gloves for protection? Yeah, go ahead and pick up the clearly EGG-filled heart that's flopping around and look at it. Brilliant.

The old man who clearly knows things he couldn't reasonably know unless what he is saying is valid is arrested because of ... what? Being old and creepy? His sword cane? Sigh. Yet the parent who assaulted a federal agent on national tv isn't arrested. Right.

And finally, they establish that this "infection" that raises the dead and is transmitted by worms spreads like the fucking plague. In a little over three hours 200+ people have been infected and resurrected and then all of them somehow escape from the police cordon along with a 500lb crate full of more worms. The story is already over: everyone in New York City would be dead, dying or prey in days. It would be impossible to stop the spread of those worms even without the living dead vectors.

PS - What was up with the tower chief getting his head crushed by "Dracula"? He makes a call to Berlin and conveniently speaks German, because that makes sense, and Drac takes the time to lure, drain and pulverize him because...horror? Like no one else is going to think to call the flight's origin point?

Oh, and thanks for spoiling every single creepy and/or shock moment in the previews. Bravo.

 

Good book I read, The Bellum Prophecy. No sparkly vampires.

 

I finally got around to watching the show and I like it. Its better than the standard TV fare. I agree with others that the whole "separation/custody" plotline drags the show for stretches. The idea that a city morgue would have only one person working there (though there was an overturned chair at reception) and would just not have any change of shifts or relatives calling after people never returned home from work . . . seems a bit puzzling.

Then again, it seems hard to figure out the timeline. Apparently there is simply a lot going on in a short period of time. By the end of the second episode has it been only a day since the plane landed . . . maybe two? Wow the authorities sure work fast in NYC!!!

I thought the call that the father made to the Doctor thanking him for sending his daughter home pretty amusing actually. Yeah, right. He sent home your daughter by just dropping her off at night in the cold . . . wearing just the dress she had on at the airport . . . so she could go around to the backdoor . . . ummm . . . okay. Thanks Doc!!!

And does nobody notice how the people released from quarantine are all deathly pale with bloodshot eyes and look as though they will soon pass out? "Oh you just got out of quarantine? Wow . . . you look like death. How about you sit over on that side of the table just in case."

And apparently the CDC are a bunch of pussies once you get above the lower levels.