The Strain on FX aired its freshman season finale on Sunday night. This season has been pretty good with some ups, but, unfortunately many downs too. We are left with many questions and not a whole lot of answers as we watched The Master hop off into the sunset. Then into a tunnel. Anticlimactic would be the word I would use to describe the finale. It was great to a point and I wanted more, but sadly never got it. We will have to wait until next season to get some answers and I will wager that season two, with where everyone is right now, will be much better the the first season.
The best, and my favorite, part of the episode was Gus's story arc. Seeing him with Mr. Quinlan makes me want Season Two to arrive even sooner. We were introduced to The Ancients, described by Mr. Quinlan to be 'holier-than-thou' beings to Gus, but we did not get much more than that. Unfortunately, we will not get much more information than that on the aged and veteran strigoi until next year.
The season as a whole was average for me. I was expecting more, but it's possible that was because I had read the books. I am a big advocate for spoilers, but sometimes, knowing what is going to happen is not a good thing. It made writing the Reviews a little more difficult as well. I would love to know what everyone else thinks about the episode and the season. It definitely had its low moments and I could name a few episodes, but you all know what they were. I predict the remaining seasons will be better since the confrontation and initial stages of the virus have been completed. Now, our heroes have The Master on the run again, but they just need to figure out what kills him. Maybe that will be the focus of next season? It's just a long way to Season Two.
Thoughts and Discussion
- Fet quoting Marcus Aurelius was so hilarious.
- Is it just me, or did The Ancients look like someone wheeled them in on dolly's? I mean no disrespect Ancients.
- We know The Master can take other bodies. Do you think he will take another body now that he is slightly injured?
- If sunlight does not kill The Master than what does? Setrakian even got him a little with his sword...does silver not do anything to him either?
Thanks for checking out my Reviews of The Strain everyone! It's been fun talking about this series with all of you. Until Season Two! Have a great week!
Really enjoy the first season! Not read the books it was a bit fresher for me.
ReplyDeleteThank you for covering the show so well this season George. Always enjoyed your reviews.
Can't wait for Season 2!
I was expecting much more of the Finale. But it was just pointless and meaningless. Nothing actually happened. It's not the worst episode of the seaso but it's somewhere close to them. I'm not very excited for season 2. Hell, I'm not even sure I'll even watch season 2.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoy the first season!
ReplyDeleteThe season finale was fine, but nothing really happened. The Strain season 1 was very disappointing. Not that excited for season 2.
ReplyDeleteIt was all new material for me so I was not disappointed in the season -- was just grateful to have the show. There was an unevenness in the material in the episodes -- with some being much more engrossing than others. I was not expecting a big finale closing out story lines because I knew the books ( without having read them) were not set up for that. I count having met three great characters in Fet, Mr. Quinlan, and Setrakian as a win-win-win, so no let down for me. Thanks for all your fun reviews during the season.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! I am glad you enjoyed them!
ReplyDeleteI am equally glad you enjoyed the season. Fet, Mr. Quinlan and Setrakian are great characters. My plan for Season Two, since I am a Comic Book Junkie, was to re-read the The Fall series of the Comic Book adaptation, but I am not going to do that anymore. I am pretty confident that the remaining seasons will be top notch programming.
I know how you feel bud. Like I've said, I think one of the reasons is the fact that the Pilot ate up over 50% of Book One, stretching thin the remaining source material for 12 episodes. I really think you will enjoy Season Two, however.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it! It had its ups and downs and now we look toward Season Two.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you mean, but I really think you will enjoy the series more starting with Season Two. Totally up to you, of course, but in my opinion the story gets exponentially better from this moment in the books going forward.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the kind words! I really appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your comments too! It is so much fun for me to write the Reviews and have a dialogue about the episodes.
The first season was not horrible, but I had a feeling it would be difficult to set up this story. Like I mentioned to another commenter, in the books the story gets exponentially better from that moment in the Finale (The final scene battling The Master) moving forward. I don't know if most fans (or non-fans) realize that this story is an Epic Apocalypse story told from its origins. I'm excited to see how they translate the remaining source material to the TV.
Very good points and I understand what you mean by their only defense. It's important to know there are different 'classes' of vamps and the ones we saw on Sunday night were the 'lowest' tier. But still they need to be more of threat.
ReplyDeleteI think the show will pick up the pace and the stories will be much better come Season Two.
I don't think so. Even if the source material is better, that doesn't mean the show will be better. They have horrible writers for The Strain.
ReplyDeleteI too have read the books, and books are always much better. Some things are just better in your "vision" of a book . . . . With the Strain tv series they did a decent job bringing it to life. . . .
ReplyDeleteI have been Waiting for Quilan n Co & now am forced to wait even longer - Not nice Not fair! I hope it's worth the wait.
Thanks for the reviews George
yes lets hope they do next season..this could turn out to be a really great show..
ReplyDeleteYour Welcome!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing about Mr. Quinlan and The Ancients...I've been waiting for them and now that they are here we have to wait.
I totally agree with your review, even though I haven't read the books. It felt kind of lackluster, but I'm hoping season 2 will be better! Thanks for your reviews, though! They were quite enjoyable and insightful. Hope you'll get to them again for next season! Thanks a lot.
ReplyDeleteToo many time-jumps backwards, sideways, and generally all over the place this season, which seemed to interrupt the forward momentum. But given the big names helming this show, I'm guessing they'll have things smoothed out by Season 2. It will be interesting to see if they follow the storyline in the books, or pull a "Walking Dead" and sneak in some big surprises. YES to the Ancients looking like they were strapped to utility carts. I kept waiting for them to break into song. This isn't a vaudeville show guys, it's the vampire apocalypse! There seems to be some similar weirdness going on with the Master. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but the longer you see his face, the sillier he looks. Much cooler when they show him whooshing around in the dark (or down the side of a building in broad daylight) and leave the rest to our imagination. YES, also, to Eichorst and the minions. Wouldn't walking backwards in slo-mo be a typical hero's cue to, like, start swinging? In fairness, though, the actor who plays Eichorst does a pretty awesome job with the role -- wonder if they just wanted to keep him around to add a little menace. All the same, I would have traded about 32 minions to have Sean Astin back ... RIP Jim Kent. Keep up the great recaps!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review! I feel the same as you, the season was just average. The Ancients/Quinlan arc saved the finale because the entire showdown with the Master was sloppy and disappointing. Even downstairs when the others were holding off the German and the vampires, nothing really happened. A lot of standing around waiting for some action. You have a room full of vampires and blah. I agree with many other posters here, bad writing. I am looking forward to season 2 and hope the writers do a better job because the actors are great.
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