THE STRAIN Season 2 Preview

Article originally published as TV Preview: 'The Strain' - Season 2 on Blogcritics.

FX’s The Strain intrigued and confused audiences last summer. This weekend, it returns for a second round on FX and hopefully it will continue to do more of the former and less of the latter. The first episode back, “BK, N.Y.,” isn’t the best hour of television I’ve seen lately, but for fans of the brand of horror that the series presents, it will likely be pretty satisfying.

Events in “BK, N.Y.” pick up just after the end of season one. Abraham (David Bradley) goes looking for The Master (Robin Atkin Downes), while Vasiliy (Kevin Durand) reinforces their defenses, and Ephraim (Corey Stoll) lets alcohol interfere with choosing the right path forward. There’s action and movement on a number of subplots, a frightening encounter with the dark minions, the unexpected return of a recurring character, and a longer look at the scarred face, hooded one.

My problem with this hour, though, is that it does seem to be tossing a lot of ingredients in and they aren’t all necessary. “BK, N.Y.” follows a big encounter, so Abraham’s plot is solid, building upon past progress. Vasiliy’s makes a sort of sense if they’re digging in for the long haul, but do any of them think that’s the best course of action? Ephraim is pretty much off the rails, reminding us of his job, which seems silly to bring back up now, and without a solid hero’s thrust until the very end of the hour. It makes the whole thing feel a little meandering, rather than hitting the ground running after last season’s build up. 

The Strain is stalled further by an extended, ten-minute prologue before we even get back to the familiar. We see a young Abraham being told a story by an old woman, so there’s flashback within flashback. The tale is interesting and does inform on current events, but it’s quite long and there doesn’t seem to be an immediate need for it to be, confusing the situation even more. Perhaps it would have been better to tease this out over multiple weeks, or at least present it as fact instead of legend, telling the audience whether or not they can really trust this version of events, the way it is told calling into question its legitimacy, even as it matches up with the main plot.

Another thing The Strain has to deal with in its second season, considering there’s no time jump, and this is an issue many series have to tackle at one time or another, is the character of Zach Goodweather. Being a kid, viewers would notice a huge growth spurt over the mere hours between seasons. Whether because of this or for another reason, young actor Ben Hyland has been let go and replaced with Max Charles (The Neighbors). Max doesn’t really look that much like Ben unless you squint real hard, so perhaps the series is hoping the different look will make us forget about the quick aging. It does not.

Overall, I do enjoy The Strain. It gets one’s adrenaline pumping, and while some of the makeup is hokey, the general look and feel of the show is pretty cool. The acting isn’t bad and the story doesn’t seem like it’s been done a million times before, as many other shows do. However, there are some very, very good programs on right now (Hannibal, Humans, Mr. Robot), and by comparison, The Strain pales. As a genre series catering to a specific audience, I think it works well. But in the larger television landscape, it’s likely to fail to appeal to the masses and really take off like The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones has, lacking something vital and hard to quantify. I’ll probably keep watching it, but it won’t make my must-see-as-soon-as-it-airs list.

The Strain returns Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on FX.

THE STRAIN Is Contagious

Article originally published as THE STRAIN Review on Seat42F.

FX has done it again with THE STRAIN. What I mean by that is they’ve got yet another well-developed series full of fascinating characters, engaging stories, and an original premise. THE STRAIN does feel like many vampire movies of a certain vein (think: Blade), but there is absolutely nothing like it currently on TV, meaning there is no pattern for it to follow as it unfurls. This makes for a rich, unpredictable mix of ingredients which already feel special before they’re fully cooked.

THE STRAIN is based on a trilogy of novels co-written by Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy), who is working on the show, too, having directed the first episode and writing screenplays for it. His style, creepy and dark, is prevalent throughout the pilot, “Night Zero,” which takes place in a single night. There is definitely a clear voice behind the narrative, one infused with talent and flair, and that comes through right away. If this quality can be maintained, the series should easily find its audience.

THE STRAIN begins on a plane. Something is lurking in the cargo hold that should not be, and by the time the machine touches down on the tarmac, all is silent on board. The CDC, led by Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll, House of Cards), among other agencies, swarm to investigate. What they find is a horrific situation that baffles their greatest minds and has no clear cause or prevention. Will they be able to start to unravel the mysteries before the situation spirals out of hand? Hard to tell, since the plot rockets away in the first hour, already moving quite rapidly.

They may get some help from a seasoned veteran of the ancient battle, Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley, Harry Potter, Broadchurch). Abraham appears to be a Holocaust survivor who has known his war isn’t over, but has been satisfied with the long cease-fire. He is compelled to come out of retirement when he senses the game is once more afoot, but since he is a grizzled old man with a thick accent, it might be hard for him to get the attention of anyone that cares.

Ephraim and Abraham seem to be our two primary heroes, and they could not be any more different, making it unlikely they’ll become fast partners, but that’s OK. This isn’t your typical two-people-stop-a-baddie formula. Instead, it appears a massive war is being teed up in the heart of New York City, a very populous place, making Abraham and Ephraim but two players in a larger plot, the focus in a vast scope. They may not even spend all that much time together, though both will probably be needed in whatever solution emerges in the end.

Both men are introduced in very telling scenes, showing different sides of their personas. We first see Ephraim rushing, perpetually late, to a custody meeting with his wife, Kelly (Natalie Brown, Bitten), whom he doesn’t want to let go, but whom he’s already lost. Abraham, meanwhile, takes down two thugs (one of whom is played by Veronica Mars’ Francis Capra, a recurring player here) who seek to rob him. Both of these show the men in ways we probably won’t always see them throughout the series, but tell us something inherent to their personalities, so is a cool way to begin with them.

The villains are complex, too, though less fleshed out from the start. Eldritch Palmer (Jonathan Hyde, Titanic) is the wealthy benefactor who lures the danger towards the Big Apple. He is assisted by the cold Thomas Eichhorst (Richard Sammel, Inglorious Basterds) and, strangely enough, a Latino street gang. They have a plan and have had time to carefully enact it, meaning the good guys are starting a few steps behind, so it may just be too late to stop Palmer.

With a terrific cast that also includes Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings), Mia Maestro (Alias), Kevin Durand (Lost), Ben Hyland (House of Cards), Jack Kesy (Morgan), and Miguel Gomez, it’s one of the most intriguing pilots I’ve seen this summer. The mythology is obviously carefully mapped out and it is genuinely scary, with major characters and countless extras sure to die in the coming weeks in this incredibly dangerous world. Watching THE STRAIN feels like viewing a grand film, rather than a TV show, with great visual effects and a large sense of purpose and drive. The story is finite and it’s going somewhere. I’m excited to see what that destination is.

THE STRAIN airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on FX beginning July 13^th.