As someone who devoured each entry in del Toro and Hogan’s The Strain trilogy, I’m excited with what this TV adaptation has accomplished so far. The Strain is visually fantastic, with a grimy, blood-stained appearance that should allow the series to blend old-school horror chills with its ambitious, modern-day storyline of new scientists confronting ancient evil. The writing is strong and darkly clever, affording ample time to characterization while still prioritizing gory thrills. And the show doesn’t suffer from its ensemble cast, managing to introduce many of them in “Night Zero” without ever feeling overstuffed (take that, Leftovers).
And though Eph and Nora are the main characters, The Strain is also promising in terms of its supporting players. David Bradley hams it up as Abraham Setrakian, a Holocaust camp survivor and pawn-broker who has dealt with the Master and his vampires before – I’m sure we’ll find out where in future episodes. Setrakian, equipped with a rapier concealed as a walking staff and a lair packed full of creepy objects, seems set to serve as this series’ Van Helsing figure. The actor’s a great fit, nailing even campy lines like, “Time is of the essence,” and “All the passengers on that plane, dead or alive, they must be destroyed!” I’ll be looking forward to watching him make good use of that sword-cane in weeks to come.
Also compelling is Miguel Gomez as Augustin “Gus” Elizalde, a Latino gangbanger who gets wrapped up in the Master’s plot when Eichorst recruits him to take the wooden coffin from the airport across the bridge into Brooklyn before the CDC can grab and contain it. In one scene, Eichorst gives him three conditions: do not examine the cargo, do not stop, and be back in Brooklyn by daybreak, and asks Gus to recite them back. Holding up three fingers, Gus replies, “Screw you, suck my dick, and,” lowering two appendages to give the crusty high-roller a cheeky one-finger salute, “I’ll get it done.” It’s characters with spunk like that are going to help Cuse, del Toro and Hogan to keep The Strain light and comic-booky, as it should be.
With “Night Zero,” The Strain is off to a gory, extremely promising start. It has a truly epic story to tell, that much is clear, and with all the talent involved both in front of and behind the camera, The Strain seems perfectly capable of telling it. I honestly couldn’t be happier with this premiere. The horror is never so gross as to be off-putting, none of the characters seem leaden or dull, the direction is above and beyond anything I’ve seen from FX so far, and the foundation that the pilot lays for future installments is resoundingly solid. Subtlety be damned! Any show where a giant cloaked monster can slam a dude’s head flat in one blow is all right by me.
What The Strain is primed to do for TV vampires is nothing short of revolutionary – no fang-bangers or tender love bites here. That there’s something so violent, primal and disgusting about how this show’s vamps drain their victims feels like a breath of fresh air – and the same can be said for The Strain as a whole. What’s so good about it can be summed up in that scene when the Master goes at one of his victims like a thirsty toddler with a juice pack – it’s gruesome, oddly enthralling and punchy enough to make viewers immediately buy into the series’ melding of gleeful goriness and ruthless, go-for-the-jugular-style pragmatism.
