Guillermo del Toro's The Strain on FX

[ctg]

The Gus scenes with Jamie Hector from The Wire were pretty good and I wasn't expecting Mr. Quinlan to show when he did

I take Mr Quinlan is the name for the faction vampires that showed up to save Gus from the trouble he got himself into. Well, it's interesting name but it hasn't been voiced so far by any of the actors, nor himself. But what him more interesting was the enhanced Batman growling, because it made to jump and think what the heck, can they (the young sirelings) speak now?

"Last Rites" The Setrakian flashbacks continue to be interesting

Those scenes were at the same time sad and scary, because if I would had been in his shoes, a thought of heading into the nest alone would not had crossed my mind. Not in million years, but that is the same madness that made him to head into the another lair as well, even though they could see thousands of vampires between them and the Master. Then again the whole scene explained very well why Secretarian was looking at the heart in the jar with a tear in corner of his eye.

I don't know how much those scenes differs what they wrote in the first book, but I Guillermo follows the original blueprint religiously.


What bothered me was the hacking of encrypted satellites and using the emergency broadcast system, because if they would had done it correctly there's no way they could had shutdown the broadcast in twenty seconds. Just look at the Max Headroom broadcast case as an example as those broadcast incidents lasted way longer and they have never been solved. So the vampires showing few seconds later really didn't fit in the picture. Otherwise the show has been excellent and I as well really look forward the season finale at next week.

 

[Jesse412]

I take Mr Quinlan is the name for the faction vampires

Spoiler

that showed up to save Gus from the trouble he got himself into.

Quinlan is the name of the vampire that rescued the housekeeper and the children a few episodes ago. It looked like it was him that abducted Gus. I have no idea if he was saving Gus or recruiting him or just grabbed him because Gus was working with Eichhorst earlier in the season.

Those scenes were at the same time sad and scary

Some of the more powerful scenes in the series so far.

Spoiler

Just look at the Max Headroom broadcast case as an example as those broadcast incidents lasted way longer and they have never been solved. So the vampires showing few seconds later really didn't fit in the picture.

I've never even heard of that sounds interesting though.

 

[markpud]

I think we've already discussed how just because the Internet has been crippled, people still should have been aware of what's going on around NYC (the body count is piling up) and the TV news would have been enough to warn people to get the heck out of dodge! That point has to be let go, I guess, for the plot to work. Hopefully the finale will show everyone in NY trying to get the "Eph" out

Didn't Del Toro write/co-write the books, rather than just adapt them for TV?

Flashback scenes - more tunnels to crawl through! They had an interview with the actor who plays the younger Setrakian on a podcast I listen to (Afterbuzz TV - they also interviewed the actors who play the Master, Vasily and Zach so worth a listen) and it sounds like he's hoping for more action next season. They filled in the key points of Setrakian's past, so I'm not sure what else there is to show? He gets on a boat, lands in NY, opens a Pawn shop and waits for 40 years while stockpiling silver and weapons!

I'm looking forward to the finale, and to see what Special Ops Vampires (or Mr Quinlan apparently) have in store for Gus.

Spoiler

I gather that Palmer has not been turned - there was just a bit of Master-finger goop rather than a worm

 

[ctg]

Didn't Del Toro write/co-write the books, rather than just adapt them for TV

My understanding is that he developed TV series quite a while ago and he offered it to several channels, but because they weren't interested on giving him a chance to show it to the public he decided to push them out as novels.

 

[Jesse412]

SPOILERS

"The Master" season 1 finale was overall pretty solid and left me wanting more. I wonder if Mr. Fitzwilliams will join up with Eph's group next season now that he doesn't work for Eldritch Palmer. It looked like Nora was about to get revenge on Bolivar for killing her mother. I hope we get to see that next season. Gus gets recruited by The Born and we find out sunlight doesn't kill The Master. I'm really looking forward to season 2!

 

[ctg]

finale was overall pretty solid and left me wanting more

I agree. It was more than solid and just like you it made to want more. So, it's going to be another ten month agony before second season will air in the States unless they'll move the Strain on another timeslot and give Guillermo a chance to draw in other audience as I would believe this would had done much better, if it would had aired spring time.

I wonder if Mr. Fitzwilliams will join up with Eph's group next season now that he doesn't work for Eldritch Palmer

I thought he was determined to get out from New York with his family and loved ones as he pretty much washed his hands from Eldrich and all that sh*t he'd brought on the population. Maybe he'll even hit some very sunny spot in equator before he'll move to north to enjoy wonders of midnight sun. But I'll doubt it and follow your instinct and see him joining the scoopy gang, wherever they'll pitch up their tent as I'll doubt anybody will listen their ravings before it's too late and New York is overrun by the vampire population.

we find out sunlight doesn't kill The Master

Why it didn't kill him is the question. It certainly did hurt him, and if he would had stayed in the same spot for longer period I'd have believed that UV exposure would had burned him crispy. So I guess there's more to him then the audience has been let to believe.

 

[markpud]

That was a great twist, but considering how much emphasis there was on getting his coffin over the bridge before dawn a little misleading. If he can survive in broad daylight for minutes, he should have been OK inside a coffin, inside a van in the early morning shade!

But I'm nitpicking! Likewise why would he stay in Bolivar's attic with blacked out windows rather than in his sewer lair with a thousand minions for backup?

Still I definitely enjoyed the season and am looking forward to the next. Especially to find out about the Ancients and the Special Ops Vampires - like why does he have a nose?!

 

[Jesse412]

The purpose of a coffin isn't to protect vampires from sunlight, although it's certainly been shown to help. Often in vampire lore they draw power from their native soil which is placed in the coffins. I believe Eichhorst mentioned as much earlier in the season when Setrakian was building the coffin.

 

[markpud]

Good point, I'd forgotten that its the soil more than the coffin. And did his minions get off with the coffin remains or do our guys have it?

 

[markpud]

Trailer for season 2, looks like things aren't going well for the residents of NYC!

(apologies this may be geo-locked for some)

 

[ctg]

 

[Idoru]

Can't wait for the second series of this to start!

 

[BAYLOR]

It looks fantastic !

 

[ctg]

"We are going to get back the island one block at the time!" - unknown female.

I think they're going to have a huge problem with the size of current epidemic. It's not like they have extra resources or manpower to do that. The only solution I see is either through the vampire faction or then blowing up the city to expose everyone to the sunlight. No hiding place, no survivability.

 

[BAYLOR]

"We are going to get back the island one block at the time!" - unknown female.

I think they're going to have a huge problem with the size of current epidemic. It's not like they have extra resources or manpower to do that. The only solution I see is either through the vampire faction or then blowing up the city to expose everyone to the sunlight. No hiding place, no survivability.

Definitely bigger and better.

 

[ctg]

Too bad that it's not starting now but 17th of July.

 

[Jesse412]

Season 2 episode 1 "BK, NY" Solid start to the second season.

Spoiler

Interesting flashback to start the episode. The full body special effects makeups used throughout were outstanding. Professor Setrakian getting kidnapped by Quinlan and meeting The Born was pretty cool. I liked the attack on the storage unit and was surprised by the fate of the bus full of blind kids.

Preview for the rest of the season looks pretty good.

 

[ctg]

Magnificent start for the season 2!

Spoiler

Like Jesse said, it was nice to see Guillermo and Hogan using flashbacks to bring life to the past of Setrakian, and reveal a bit about how the Master came to existence. But it was even nicer to see Quilan kidnapping dear professor in order to bring him to be judged at front of the waking Ancients, even though Quilan says: "They are sleeping, for now."

I thought for a minute that they're going to use that same line over and over again till it has ran out of meaning. Instead, they brought the Ancient alive and made us to watch their totally weird feeding habits. I mean, why they could just get over it with their pincers? There was no need for them lashing out and making the victim bleed - unless it was intentional way from Guillermo to say that have some seriously strange habits out of all vampires.

Not only their acts were remarkable, the arrival of new necromorphic creature: The Feelers was notable as these "blind" kids were made in the soup of earth and parasitic worms in a vast pool instead of allowing the victim go through a normal procedure. What makes this especially intriguing is the possibilities of expanding the nocturnal races with new species by using same parasitic worm. If you think about it, you will arrive soon to a conclusion that there could be a myriad number of species coming out from same organism. It is almost as if the "worm" has something to do with "primordial" soup that sprout out life on Earth at the dawn of our solar system. Not only that, but when Professor Sekretarian passed a rag mixed with Master's whites, I thought: 'Stop, you can sell that to Eldrich Palmer for a lot of money!' But no he didn't think of it. And neither has any members in our protagonist party. They haven't even moved out from the city, or driven down to Atlanta to have a real to with the CDC. Even the official response seems to have disappeared as there are no FEMA, Homeland or National Guard units in the city.

One could had thought that since everyone seems to know now that there's something serious epidemic crossing the great Apple, that they would had done their best to get a response in those that need. At least they could started erecting guarantee zones in the area, instead of letting everything flow as if everything's normal. But then again, it's still early in the second season and there's a lot to go.

 

[AC Darling]

This is one of my favorite shows. I actually thought it was the best show last year! Can't wait for tonight.

 

[Jesse412]

Episode 2 "By Any Means"

Spoiler

The way the blind kids walked after being transformed and the sound they made was massively creepy. Interesting flashbacks revealing that Setrakian and Palmer knew each other and showing Setrakian acquiring Sardu's cane. I'm curious to where the search for the Occido Lumen will lead. Vasiliy Fet and Dutch Velders taking out a nest of vampires with the silver grenades was awesome. Seeing Eichhorst vampire out was pretty cool too. Ephraim using that couple as guinea pigs was kind of interesting as well.