By Jeremy Hannaford (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: October 1, 2014
While the novel series wasn’t praised for fantastic writing, The Strain was a compelling, if predictable, tale of plague-induced vampires. With the show being produced by FX, it is reassuring to know that the necessary maturity and gore are vital parts of the show.
But with the first season coming to a close, it is becoming increasingly tiresome.
The Strain trilogy was created by renowned filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan. It follows a group of CDC scientists as they race to stop a vampire epidemic, which is threatening to be unleashed by an ancient being of untold darkness. While the first season is following the first book to a point, it takes a few creative freedoms just like The Walking Dead did. The main narrative is intact, but in order to fill up 13 episodes for the first season, extra content is added on to fill the episode count.
The vampires are inspirations from Del Toro’s reaper vampires in Blade 2, as well as the Romanian strigoi legends. The vampire curse brought upon New York is that of a virus which transforms people into mindless creatures with six-foot stingers emerging from their mouths, and adapting rodent-like qualities. While the show doesn’t hold as much of a scientific flavour as the book, it does delve into the biology of the creatures and their fantastical qualities.
The opening episode was well-directed by Guillermo Del Toro himself as he introduces the terror and mystery that was the Master and his connection with a Holocaust-survivor-turned-vampire-hunter, Abraham Setrakian (expertly played by David Bradley). And while it takes some time to get used to Corey Stoll’s ridiculous wig, he gives a solid performance as the driven yet constricted Dr. Ephraim Goodweather.
But as the season progresses, the episodes begin to lose their hold over the viewer and become unnecessary plot points. As the show reaches its season finale, the amount of filler from past episodes have become increasingly “straining” to watch. Also being that The Strain is a horror-thriller, it has its fair share of clichés, one of which being stupid characters. The Strain is far too liberal with its multitude of moronic character choices.
Another issue that was abundant in the novel is that, aside from Abraham, none of the characters are memorable. The show is mainly about the epidemic and the fallout surrounding the characters. But in terms of a character study, there aren’t enough moments to make them unique.
The Strain has the potential to be a good show, and for the most part it has done a decent job. But Del Toro and Hogan’s lack of experience in the television market shows as characters continually drop out of the narrative, only to reappear whenever it seems convenient. It has some great moments and it will certainly scare you, just so as long as you don’t mind face-palming every now and then.
