The Strain - The Box - Advance Preview

The first episode of The Strain aired last Sunday night to rave reviews and praised for its cinematic quality. The premiere was watched by three million viewers, which is pretty good for an FX network show. Having read the books, and comic books, the series is based on I was happy to see the creators remained faithful to the source material. They may have veered off for a few scenes, but that is to be expected when converting to the big screen. The first book in The Strain Trilogy is approximately four hundred pages in hardcover format and the first episode covered about the first two hundred pages. This is important to note because it means the next twelve episodes will cover roughly the latter half of the book and possibly delve into a few pages of the The Fall, the second book of the trilogy, meaning each episode will be jam packed with great stories and quality action scenes.

Episode 2, The Box, is the perfect compliment to the first episode. I will say that the first half of the episode is slow going, but the last half more than makes up for it. That is to say there is not much action in the first half, but it is still filled with great acting and back story necessary to understand the overall picture.

After watching the second episode you get a better understanding how the story will be told throughout the season. We get a lot more Eph and Nora, but only a little of the tenacious pawn shop owner, Abraham Setrakian. I am really looking forward to him using that cool sword. We learn a little more about the mysterious robed figure that crushed the head of that airport employee and it's possible relationship some of the other characters.

I enjoyed The Box, especially the last fifteen minutes, which were action-packed. It appears that answers will be doled out in very small increments, but as long as each episode is as action heavy as the first two have been then it won't matter. There are still a lot of questions that need to be answered regarding the virus and the robed figure. This is quickly becoming my favorite series on television right now and I'm sure it will be the same for everyone when they see the next few episodes.



Have a great weekend everyone! Enjoy episode two of The Strain, The Box, on Sunday night on FX.