Has anyone else been watching this? It's 7 episodes in and it takes a different tone then most for vampire TV shows. Very dark and mysterious with people dying in pretty gruesome ways every episode. In depth characters and so far a good plot line. Recommend you to watch if you can, on FX Sundays at 10

 

Been watching since the beginning. Hugely entertaining, and I'm not even close to a fan of the horror genre. Very interested to see how this turns out.

 

I was somewhat vocal and dismissive of this show a few weeks ago. Holy hell, I'm getting tired of the trope where the main character is approached by someone (in this case it's Filch, the great David Bradley) who knows what's going on. "You got vampires, Chief." But the MC ignores him for plot convinience.

If I'm in charge of disease control and I've got a plane full of dead people, and some old guy comes to me with advanced knowledge about the disease life cycle and the mysterious phantom coffien we found in the cargo hold, I'd give that guy five fucking minutes of my time.

Also in that scene the CDC guy shakes Filch's hand without a glove and then procedes to rub his eyes to show his frustration that his time is being wasted. The Chief of the CDC, in the heart of a crisis, just rubbed whatever germs Filch may or may not have in his eyes.

And this was after a speech not ten minutes before warning against such nonsense.

Lazy writing/10.

 

My sister and I just got caught up with this show today. I'm enjoying it so far. I've liked how fleshed out the plot is as far as the way in which the disease is spread. Also, the antagonists actually have a strategy, which is a nice change. Top down manipulation/coordination, as opposed to just introducing the plague to the city and herp-derp hope all goes well.

Yeah, some of the actions these characters take makes me shout at the TV in frustration. However, I'm guessing that this is a little more realistic than if the main character (F) was actually on-board from the jump with Abraham (the old man).

My rationalization for the MC in this scene:
- The Old Man does an <b> absolutely horrendous</b> job of explaining what's happening in the limited amount of time he's given. I'm serious, worst elevator pitch ever. It amounted basically to "Hey science nerds, it was Satan that caused all of these people to mysteriously die. We must hurry to desecrate the corpses!" He offers like one single piece of information that could help validate his claims and then immediately jumps to the deep end of the pool. Not very persuasive.
That weak explanation seemed more contrived than the epidemiologist not believing it. Having seen more of him in later episodes though, I don't think that he was trying particularly hard. I'm thinking that he was just trying to warn them for his own consciences' sake and that he never really expected anyone to listen to him.

-The Main Character is kind of a snobbish prick, so it does seem likely that he'd be the one to ignore some random old man trying to tell him how to do his job. So this is more of a personality flaw in the main character than in the writing itself.

-The MC and his friends are all highly trained CDC folks. Confirmation bias about the nature of the disease (natural vs. supernatural) is to be expected to persist to a seemingly insane point in time. That point being when one of those dead people stands up and starts trying to eat your face off.

With regards to the shaking hands and then touching face: Eh, it would appear to them that the disease is strictly contained to the plane and the passengers. If it was airborne (which the air samples said it was not) then they would not be walking around sans body suit in the first place. To him, he's as likely to get sick from the random old man as he is from anyone else that he comes into contact with at the airport. This was not something that particular stood out as inconsistent or a glaring error.

(Everyone putting their hands all up in the unidentified box of dirt fresh off of the plane of death is something that jumped out as lazy writing.)

Yeah, overall it has been frustrating watching most everyone explaining the danger to their loved ones in a way that wouldn't be convincing to a 7 year old. You can't really expect anyone to believe your story without some proof/greater explanation, can you? Annoying.

I also really did not like the way that the 4 survivors did not connect the dots between the mysterious thing that killed everyone else on their plane, and the flu-like symptoms that they were soon thereafter displaying. I mean, I know they all thought it was carbon-monoxide poisoning, but c'mon, my mom won't even let me give her a hug if I've sneeze once around her. Not one of them or their families were concerned/paranoid enough to go to the hospital? Dumb.

As a minority, I appreciate the fact that most all the minorities in this show are ready to run at the first sign of danger. It's comforting to project myself onto them. Hah. I also like all of the character back stories. I really like the developments as of this last episode, it adds a new dimension that I did not see coming.

Spoiler

Vampire-hunter vampires... so basically Blade? I'll take it.

Yeah, some stuff does not make sense and it's a bit frustrating at times, but the good far outweighs the bad IMO. Things are really heating up, the show having crossed a threshold now with people on the street being attacked. I'd give it a strong 7. I was expecting it to suck, but It's surprisingly good

 

The show has its moments and is quite entertaining, so not all is lost.

I like the characters, they are well developed for the 7 episodes we saw so far but the rampant obliviousness of the regular Joe is painful to watch.

Spoiler

A suburbia goes dark and nothing. A cab driver goes missing and nothing...

A bunch of people get eaten in a care house and nothing... FFS how long will people remain oblivious. That's my biggest gripe with this show. One hacker to hack NY, one hacker to own them all... shees.

About what Joe said earlier, nah I wasn't as ticked off about the initial meeting with Filch. That was minor all things considered but them just handling the soil from that coffin with bare hands despite the fact that it wasn't on the cargo manifest left me baffled. You got a plane choke-full of corpses and a crazy looking box that wasn't supposed to be there and what do you do? You start playing with its content. That's lazy writing in my opinion.

But overall I like it. I like the plot progression. I like the characters, all of them. Mainly because they are all very distinct 'people' with their own histories and worries and motivations.

I'm kinda bummed about the waifus. The one dying from cancer was just ugh... and the almost ex-wife of the MC isn't very interesting. I mean, Holy CRAP! your almost ex-husband - who coincidently works for the CDC - tells you to grab the kid and run for the hills but what do you do? You blow him off and go about your day with a small interlude for a glass of wine with your very generic, very 'helpful' friend.

The female characters need some work IMHO, as they are right now they are rather flat and nearing stereotype territory.

The vamps look very much like Nomac from Blade 2, they even talk in similar manner.

Spoiler

Vampire vampire-hunters... I didn't see that coming but I'm pleased. It was a nice twist. They look even more like Nomac...

Wasn't there a book series about vampire such as we are seeing in this TV series? If I remember correctly, those vamps also lost their genitals, became bald and absolutely inhuman with a case of claws, rows of sharp teeth and pointy ears.

 

Well the show is based on a trilogy of books?

 

Yeah, it's written by Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. It's not bad at all, even though it has a billion POVs and many Stephen King scenes, especially its style of writing, details within detail but not exactly descriptive. At least, that's the first book, the only one I've read so far.

Frankly, I preferred the TV show, mostly because it shows better characterizations (even if Joe is right as far as lazy writing is concerned - some details are simply skimmed over for the sake of the plot advancement). Still, the Strain balances between horror and action (mostly action as the story progresses).

The one thing that really disappointed me, though, was the cliche of

Spoiler

Nazi vampires. I mean, I understand the WW2 era is a pinnacle of atrocity, but between all the media exploiting it to sell their story, be it Hellboy, Marvel's Hydra, etc, it's becoming banal - and it shouldn't be.

That's all from me. It's still quite enjoyable to watch as a show, maybe not to be taken seriously, but with some fine moments.

 

Annndd it is just this series I was thinking about. I saw advertisement of it when it was coming out years ago and thought there was a startling resemblance between that series and this show. I just thought that series was written by a woman, that's why I was confused...

I see del Toro is back to his old games of old, rich man who's dying and searching for a solution. He did the exact same thing in Cronos.

 

I'm a sucker for a good zombie-y apocalypse, and this show is basically the same thing but with zompires instead, and with more "here's the exact reason this happening and here's how it started" kinda junk. Thankfully, things are only escalating all the more. Tonight's ep with main heroes surrounded on all sides by zompires was great fun and previews some hilarious times ahead. Vasiliy's the best of the bunch, of course. And last week's zompire hunter introduction was classic.

And I'm stoked it got renewed for a second season 'cause by then New York is going to be completely fucked up (I'd imagine; haven't read the books) and we'll get some real apocalypse awesomeness. I hope. And the characters'll go some solid places, I also hope. But hey, it's no TWD, but it's tiding me over 'til October 12th. So GG The Strain.

 

The MC is starting to get on my nerves with his: 'are you telling me this creatures are not behaving as proper virus should?'

Here's a short animated video, part of the history and what happened in XIX century in Carpathian mountains, narrated by David Bradley.

 

The writing and blatant ignorance of how the CDC actually operates are cringeworthy.... but the show is campy enough to be enjoyable.

TBH, Sean Astin should be the main character, not BoringDad McScienceguy.

 

That would be just fucking awful, there's nothing likeable about him at all. The only people that I'd accept as a main character instead of Eph are Setrakian or Vasilly.

I'm really enjoying this show though and I can't wait to see where they take this in season two.

 

You are going to stop watching?

 

No. I enjoy the show for the most part. Especially the campy tongue tentacles. I just don't like the main char. Douchey and boring with few redeeming qualities, and the actor portraying him is pretty subpar skillwise.

 

It's entertaining enough for me to ignore it's numerous faults.

Spoiler

For me this show somewhat redeemed itself in last few episodes with the new mysterious monster swat team and the meeting between the main stories.

 

Okay. I'm about half-way through the first episode. Thus far it looks like someone's crossed over Låt den Rätte komma in with The Passage.

Huh. They even stole the scene where Eli licks blood off a concrete floor. xD