The Strain (FX, Sundays)
07-19-2014
, 02:51 AM
A virus begins to spread across NYC threatening to turn humans into vampires. Only one man can stop it...
That guy from House of Cards in a wig now looking like this:
Our hero is joined by:
his super hot sidekick,
Rudy,
and some wrinkly old British guy who has been fighting vampires his entire life and is a Holocaust survivor,
Who also keeps one of these in a jar (gross):
Spoiler:
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The show is created by Guillermo del Toro and based off three novels he wrote. In my opinion the show is campy and loads of fun. It has has scares and creatures like this:
So if you want to see Cory Stoll in a wig and drinking lots of milk while battling a vampire plague. The Strain is must see TV.
One more time it features the beautiful Mía Maestro,
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Sundays on FX, The Strain.... it's better than Tyrant.
Last edited by Ahutz; 07-19-2014 at 03:15 AM.
07-19-2014
, 03:00 AM
The mixed opinions everyone has been having about The Strain:
Summary -- "maybe better than Last Ship" "books weren't good" .
(Copied posts from General TV thread)
Summary -- "maybe better than Last Ship" "books weren't good" .
(Copied posts from General TV thread)
Quote:
Everyone watch The Strain on FX tonight. It's going to be awesome.
Guillermo del Toro on the small screen, a pet project he had been working on for nearly a decade! FX by all accounts just said "here is a pot of money, make something awesome".
It's vampires, but it's not sparkle like a princess' tiara "why can't we be friends?" BS.
Guillermo del Toro on the small screen, a pet project he had been working on for nearly a decade! FX by all accounts just said "here is a pot of money, make something awesome".
It's vampires, but it's not sparkle like a princess' tiara "why can't we be friends?" BS.
Quote:
I'm not sure how they'll break down The Strain from 3 books into a TV series but I'm really hoping they make some changes when they get into book 2 and a lot of changes from book 3.
The 1st book was great but the 2nd and 3rd were a let down. I still think the show could end up being awesome though.
The 1st book was great but the 2nd and 3rd were a let down. I still think the show could end up being awesome though.
Quote:
The Strain had some very cheezy parts and some terrible acting. Peter Russo's home life was horribly cliche and boring. There were enough interesting aspects for me to keep watching but it's a bordeline show.
These "worlds" where nobody has every heard of a vampire/zombie/werewolf/headless horseman/some other famous mythical beast always take me out of the story though.
These "worlds" where nobody has every heard of a vampire/zombie/werewolf/headless horseman/some other famous mythical beast always take me out of the story though.
Quote:
Strain has good directing, good plotting, and character development will be at least okay
The other aspects of the writing are pretty lacking. I think this could be a rocky start for something better. I think it will struggle to create its world, which is a problem. But it looks entertaining if you're into mildly cheesy scifi/fantasy/mystery (I am)
The other aspects of the writing are pretty lacking. I think this could be a rocky start for something better. I think it will struggle to create its world, which is a problem. But it looks entertaining if you're into mildly cheesy scifi/fantasy/mystery (I am)
Quote:
You can't hope that the directing stays at the same level of the first episode. The Pilot is always directed by the best Director for the show (in the case of "no name" directors), and then it's handed off to hopefully continue in that style (tone, pace, and style are crucial to Pilots, and that's what is gone for in them, so it's crucial to choose well for the show). Sometimes the directing will get way better than the Pilot (Bryan Singer's laughable House Pilot is a good example). Sometimes, it will get way worse (Halt and Catch Fire's episodes 3 and 4 are good examples of this). Guillermo del Toro is a great director, who excels in this type of world.
From looking at the list of directors they got (the ones listed so far) for The Strain, they chose very well, so there's no reason why it won't stay at least near the quality of the Pilot for at least 4 more episodes. I'm a fan of David Semel, and Keith Gordon has done excellent work, as well. Peter Weller is the weak link (doesn't really seem to have anything in this genre), but he seems like he'll be capable based on what he's directed. The hand off was made from del Toro to Semel for episodes 2 and 3, who is a really good Pilot director, so I'm sure that was mostly just making sure del Toro's style transitioned to the rigors and constraints of television. After that, Gordon takes over the next two, and Weller does episode 6 (none of the rest are listed yet).
The good news was that its first episode had excellent basic cable ratings, so it doesn't look like it's going anywhere for awhile. That means that its budget shouldn't end up getting slashed from season 1 to season 2.
I'm keeping an eye out on the show, before deciding to watch it. Reviews are really mixed, but I'm encouraged by down the line choices the show made. If it gets a little better next week, I might just suck it up and check it out.
From looking at the list of directors they got (the ones listed so far) for The Strain, they chose very well, so there's no reason why it won't stay at least near the quality of the Pilot for at least 4 more episodes. I'm a fan of David Semel, and Keith Gordon has done excellent work, as well. Peter Weller is the weak link (doesn't really seem to have anything in this genre), but he seems like he'll be capable based on what he's directed. The hand off was made from del Toro to Semel for episodes 2 and 3, who is a really good Pilot director, so I'm sure that was mostly just making sure del Toro's style transitioned to the rigors and constraints of television. After that, Gordon takes over the next two, and Weller does episode 6 (none of the rest are listed yet).
The good news was that its first episode had excellent basic cable ratings, so it doesn't look like it's going anywhere for awhile. That means that its budget shouldn't end up getting slashed from season 1 to season 2.
I'm keeping an eye out on the show, before deciding to watch it. Reviews are really mixed, but I'm encouraged by down the line choices the show made. If it gets a little better next week, I might just suck it up and check it out.
Quote:
Just watched last night. pretty good start.
I liked the scene in the cold office building where you could see the condensation from the breath of the old guy and Travis from Continuum, but none from the other guy. Obv indication he's a vampire.
Pretty cool detail.
I liked the scene in the cold office building where you could see the condensation from the breath of the old guy and Travis from Continuum, but none from the other guy. Obv indication he's a vampire.
Pretty cool detail.
Quote:
I'm a little upset at the world in The Strain. I feel like it needs to be a little more dystopian. Something a little more Gotham or a little more Sin City or a little more Carnivale, even a little more Blade. Something that makes the lore not stick out like a sore thumb. I mean, the vampire slayer or whatever the old dude in the pawn shop is doesn't seem believable because the rest of the world seems like standard CSI or something
When telling a story like this, you gotta make the audience say "yeah I could totally see how a vampire could exist in this world".
When telling a story like this, you gotta make the audience say "yeah I could totally see how a vampire could exist in this world".
Last edited by Ahutz; 07-19-2014 at 03:08 AM.
07-21-2014
, 08:54 PM
07-22-2014
, 02:33 PM
Meh. I did not like this second episode. I think television viewers are smart enough now that this show could do without a lot of the "character building" for Dr. Eph. In that same way, I feel a lot of the secondary characters are just cliched cut-outs of popular archetypes. Like viewers get it, people are complicated, I feel we don't need to be shown these classic character types and all their "flaws", we've seen it all before. I'm just sick and tired of: lol bureaucracy, alcoholism, lawyers being lawyers, thieves with hearts of gold, evil businessmen, and neglectful fathers, and I'm sure we'll get a racist character soon on The Strain too.
I expected more from FX, either do something different with your characters or just yada-yada-yada all this cliched bull**** and get me back to some vampire virus stuff. This feels like I'm watching a crappy Stephen King adaptation on CBS or TNT. My hope is that once **** hits the fan that The Strain can at least become a fun show with some scares.
Having said all that, I'm in on the this Russian exterminator fella, pretty sure he's about to become a GOAT vampire hunter. I enjoy the scenes with the old guy and I can't wait til he starts kicking ass and letting people know what's really up. Everything with Eph and the CDC is cool when they're actually working.
Contagion stories and stuff are always thrilling to me but The Strain is trying hard to muck this one up good.
Also... yes to this.
I expected more from FX, either do something different with your characters or just yada-yada-yada all this cliched bull**** and get me back to some vampire virus stuff. This feels like I'm watching a crappy Stephen King adaptation on CBS or TNT. My hope is that once **** hits the fan that The Strain can at least become a fun show with some scares.
Having said all that, I'm in on the this Russian exterminator fella, pretty sure he's about to become a GOAT vampire hunter. I enjoy the scenes with the old guy and I can't wait til he starts kicking ass and letting people know what's really up. Everything with Eph and the CDC is cool when they're actually working.
Contagion stories and stuff are always thrilling to me but The Strain is trying hard to muck this one up good.
Also... yes to this.
07-22-2014
, 06:57 PM
