The Strain |OT| Guillermo del Toro's new show for FX - Sundays 10/9c
- Thread starter TheOddOne
- Start date
- Status
why do you call it hatebash? i'm starting to love this show's stupidity.
lovebash would be a better term.
ohhhh yeaaaaah, I totally forgot about that!
Just looked at the last page... Seems there's a lot of negativity. Is the show worth watching at all?
I liked the usual stuff Lost, Dexter, BB, Hannibal, Penny Dreadful, GOT (for a while) and I still watch boring crap like Walking Dead because I like zomies.
Is it worse than, better than, or about the same as Walking Dead?
I liked the usual stuff Lost, Dexter, BB, Hannibal, Penny Dreadful, GOT (for a while) and I still watch boring crap like Walking Dead because I like zomies.
Is it worse than, better than, or about the same as Walking Dead?
I really liked the episode. The flashbacks of Setrakian were cool, seeing that German dude was also interesting, the way The Master moves around is awesome. I like how they incorporated him in the holocaust.
Everyone is nitpicking on stuff and that's justified but what if Setrakian is sort of immune to the disease and got some kind of slow aging stuff from it? It's probably not that but it could be.
I like the show for what it is. The next couple of episodes are going to be all out I think. Vasili encountering those vampire was a tense moment too.
Everyone is nitpicking on stuff and that's justified but what if Setrakian is sort of immune to the disease and got some kind of slow aging stuff from it? It's probably not that but it could be.
I like the show for what it is. The next couple of episodes are going to be all out I think. Vasili encountering those vampire was a tense moment too.
If I remember the book correctly, he's supposed to be 16 in 1944.
And the show is trying (and not really succeeding) to show that newly made vamps are supposed to be somewhat weak, and easier to kill. That's part of the reason why Setrakian is sucessful. New vamps die pretty easily.
Older vamps... well.. we'll see later...
You mean the same guy that works for and has been close to the Secretary of Homeland Security. The same lady who has a personal meeting with Eldritch Palmer at the Stoneheart Group and basically says she owes her career to him and would do anything he asks?
Yeah, I'm sure he's on the level and has his priorities straight.
The lady was the Secretary of Health and Human Services, which the CDC belongs to.
So yeah, her being in tight with Palmer should raise all sorts of flags about the priorities and allegiences of those in power.
Ansel dies in the first book, but what I think you are remembering is the Eph Diary page at the beginning of Book 2 that talks about the video and what they did with it.
I could totally see them doing that diary page, with Eph reading it, as the intro for the 2nd season.
But there's some chronology problems with when the diary page was written and when the events of Book 2 happen.
Overall I enjoyed this episode. Lots more vamps, out doing their thing. The pacing and timeline is a little disjointed. But they couldn't do so many jumps of location in the first coupel of episodes.
Lots of stuff from Book 2 happening though, so it'll be interesting to see how much happens this season vs. next.
One little quibble.
Setrakian in this ep talks about going house to house, killing vamps and finding allies. That is significantly different from his course of action in the book.
Book spoiler!
In the book he says you can't contain the outbreak by killing the new vamps, you have to go after The Master, which is what they end up doing. I imagine the last episode will be the "assault" on The Master's house and the attempt to kill him
Fun Factor
Formerly FTWer
Effects, scares & atmosphere are through the roof, but the acting is incredibly corny.
Think Pacific Rim acting, but more hammy.
Doctor Decimate
Member
watched the episode. i feel like the novelty of the vampire stuff is wearing off; none of what we saw here did much for me. i think the show needs to be inventive about that to hold my attention, and this episode really wasn't.
a secret-boss
Banned
this is the first overall good episode.
u still have some dumb dumb characters
u still have some dumb dumb characters
RatskyWatsky
Hunky Nostradamus
Holy shit, this show is awful. No one (outside of the nanny) actually behaves like an actual human being and the writing is total shit. Wow.
Thank you! Oh my god that was so dumb.
I was wondering about that as well. There should have been dog and neighbor blood all over the snowy ground. I have no idea how the prop continuity person (or whatever) missed that.
Not really. It's worse than all of those shows (aside from Dexter, which I haven't seen).
Thank you! Oh my god that was so dumb.
I was wondering about that as well. There should have been dog and neighbor blood all over the snowy ground. I have no idea how the prop continuity person (or whatever) missed that.
Not really. It's worse than all of those shows (aside from Dexter, which I haven't seen).
Barack Lesnar
Banned
I agree with the "srsly?" sentiments but the show is just fun to watch. I really enjoyed that last ep. Shit is really hitting the fan now. There doesn't seem to be any hope at all for the good guys with how fast it's spreading and how the higher ranks of the CDC and possibly the government could be infiltrated by the vamps or at least on the take ($$$).
dead souls
Member
Yeah, I just can't take shows where almost every single character acts completely unrealistically regarding some crazy situation that is going on.
Im usually a stickler about character behavior making sense, but theres this *something* the show has that makes me not care. I love it.
I really dig how over the top it is, and I almost think it works that the only characters who have their shit together are in no position to fix anything. Shit is so ridiculous and now it seems like people are inconvenienced to the point that they dont want to acknowledge it- its just easier that way.
I really dig how over the top it is, and I almost think it works that the only characters who have their shit together are in no position to fix anything. Shit is so ridiculous and now it seems like people are inconvenienced to the point that they dont want to acknowledge it- its just easier that way.
I think the show will improve a whole lot once the vampire threat gets a bit more out into the open and the characters start acting more decisively, aka hopefully from this episode on.
A lot of the (justifiable) complaints are coming from people acting illogically or plain old inaction, and I think much of that comes from the writers having to establish characters, motivations, and some history in the same timeframe that they're dealing with what would be a tremendously fast outbreak in the span of a few days of show-time. Plus, there's clearly a lot of interference being run from high up (yeah okay CDC boss, put Ephraim on burn notice but don't raise a quarantine despite the video and... oh yeah, having the vampire body he autopsied). Basically, the inaction/illogical action is them buying time to set the stage rather than having to dive right into combating the outbreak head-on with barely a sketch of the characters.
Not that it excuses hacker gurl or that fucking lollipop black clothed cleaner jackass, but I do expect things to start moving forward more quickly and logically in short time.
And it's better than the Walking Dead, if only because it's fresh. Hopefully most of the stupid deaths will be phased out pretty soon, but even the ones that have occurred have all been better than ninja zombies apparating behind characters. There's been that same recurring theme from TWD of love and personal connections leading to people acting irresponsibly (stupidly) and paying for it, but I think it's a ton more acceptable than in TWD so far given the early nature of the outbreak and the show itself.
A lot of the (justifiable) complaints are coming from people acting illogically or plain old inaction, and I think much of that comes from the writers having to establish characters, motivations, and some history in the same timeframe that they're dealing with what would be a tremendously fast outbreak in the span of a few days of show-time. Plus, there's clearly a lot of interference being run from high up (yeah okay CDC boss, put Ephraim on burn notice but don't raise a quarantine despite the video and... oh yeah, having the vampire body he autopsied). Basically, the inaction/illogical action is them buying time to set the stage rather than having to dive right into combating the outbreak head-on with barely a sketch of the characters.
Not that it excuses hacker gurl or that fucking lollipop black clothed cleaner jackass, but I do expect things to start moving forward more quickly and logically in short time.
And it's better than the Walking Dead, if only because it's fresh. Hopefully most of the stupid deaths will be phased out pretty soon, but even the ones that have occurred have all been better than ninja zombies apparating behind characters. There's been that same recurring theme from TWD of love and personal connections leading to people acting irresponsibly (stupidly) and paying for it, but I think it's a ton more acceptable than in TWD so far given the early nature of the outbreak and the show itself.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
They seem to be incredibly faithful to the books at all the wrong times and they diverge at all the wrong times.
Setrakian's speech about vampires is, in the book, given to Gus in jail. That doesn't matter here. What does matter is the exchange was supposed to be:
"Your friend is turning."
"Into what?"
"Imagine a cape, fangs, a funny accent. Now take away the cape and the funny accent. Take away anything funny about it."
The bolded is a great line, and they butchered it by cutting it off at the first sentence.
Setrakian's speech about vampires is, in the book, given to Gus in jail. That doesn't matter here. What does matter is the exchange was supposed to be:
"Your friend is turning."
"Into what?"
"Imagine a cape, fangs, a funny accent. Now take away the cape and the funny accent. Take away anything funny about it."
The bolded is a great line, and they butchered it by cutting it off at the first sentence.
Mgoblue201
Won't stop picking the right nation
I think that's viewer logic, though. The viewer already accepts the premise of the show, but the characters necessarily don't. And in this case, I think the show is assuming that most people would try to ignore or reason away the bizarre and unbelievable circumstances in which they find themselves. If I thought I had seen a monster, for instance, I would probably doubt my own recollections. It's much easier to convince yourself that you had seen something else than to believe that someone whom you know is now a vampire. And the short glimpse she got of it was probably ambiguous enough to lead her to that conclusion.
I don't know anything about the writers' intentions, but apart from all of the genuinely creepy horror stuff I think the series works really well as a satire about the petty, short-sighted things people would do during the apocalypse (which doesn't excuse some of the clunky exposition and a few genuinely stupid moments, of course).
There's also some missing book-background, where you learn that Rocker guy is very much a shock-rock kind of guy and has been constantly one-upping himself andpushing the envelope further and further.
She may have just thought "omg, he's finally gone crazy".
There's a bunch of internal monologue stuff that doesn't translate to the screen.
They had to add the concentration camp buddy guy, just to give Setrakian someone to talk to.
And they added the secretary woman at the rat-control place, to give Visily someone to talk to.
Quite a lot of the books is the characters talking to themselves in their heads, and not to other people.
Dead Prince
Banned
show is amazing for all the wrong reason.
they should have kept ansol alive. he was chained anyways. make him be like ed from shaun of the dead.
at least now it's a witch hunt.
they should have kept ansol alive. he was chained anyways. make him be like ed from shaun of the dead.
at least now it's a witch hunt.
Deified Data
Banned
By the sound of a lot of the criticism in this thread your average gaffer looks like this...
...so it's not hard to imagine why they're up in arms over characters acting "stupid". Show your average gaffer a blood-sucking tentacle and their first instinct is "kill it with silver!" The average gaffer kills family members at the first sign of illness, sensitivity to light, weird cravings. They never doubt the weird or supernatural things they see, because when you're a badass vampire hunter you can't afford to.
im somewhat liking the show, it has potential
that said, I just can't sustain much disbelief on people watching others have ALIEN THINGS COMING OUT OF THEIR MOUTHS AND SUCKING BLOOD and just calling a random guy and saying "he hurt someone" for example
I mean c'mon
same with suicidal wifey and pretty much every other character.
SPECIALLY her husband DRINKING BLOOD and going "im ok I dont wanna go to the doctor hun im just gonna get rest".
What the fucking shit.
nobody freaking out about anything is just bullshit in a show that so far has been really in your face and isnt afraid to show you stuff
it also suffers from "I dont give a shit" plot lines issues
oh hey show me this latino family, this girl with her grandma
I dont care. There's an old guy with a fucking sword slicing NAZI VAMPIRES. Show me more of that.
ffs
so yeah lots of script errors but im hoping they tighten it and realize where the strength of the show is
that said, I just can't sustain much disbelief on people watching others have ALIEN THINGS COMING OUT OF THEIR MOUTHS AND SUCKING BLOOD and just calling a random guy and saying "he hurt someone" for example
I mean c'mon
same with suicidal wifey and pretty much every other character.
SPECIALLY her husband DRINKING BLOOD and going "im ok I dont wanna go to the doctor hun im just gonna get rest".
What the fucking shit.
nobody freaking out about anything is just bullshit in a show that so far has been really in your face and isnt afraid to show you stuff
it also suffers from "I dont give a shit" plot lines issues
oh hey show me this latino family, this girl with her grandma
I dont care. There's an old guy with a fucking sword slicing NAZI VAMPIRES. Show me more of that.
ffs
so yeah lots of script errors but im hoping they tighten it and realize where the strength of the show is
Doctor Decimate
Member
this is something that i had a problem with in the AV Club review. the critic made a big deal out of the "like vampires?" line because she says this show has to be set in a universe where vampire lore does not exist for it to not be stupid that nobody immediately recognizes vampires.
now a few earlier missing "what, like a vampire?" lines aside, the conclusion your average human being jumps to is not "hey, supernatural creature! let's kill it!" and there's really nothing in this show that has made me believe the characters could reasonably say "look, we're dealing with a vampires" until now
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
BlackNMild2k1
Member
A simple line of "WTF was that...!? I don't know what that was, but I can not be connected to this anymore... after this, I'm done!!" While she is tripping down the stairs, and just before she makes her phone call, fixes the whole situation.
Everyone in this show is doing stupid shit, except for that nanny. She did exactly what I would have done, and GTFO ASAP without setting off alarms. Grab the kids and go. Figure out what I just saw later, but get away from it now.
CDC guy not not raising all the alarms and going above heads and hopefully attempting to hijack a news broadcast to raise awareness at some point is just crazy. With such proof of what's going on, you would think he would go above and beyond bypassing all the red tape and politics. can't out it I the internet, but the need can broadcast it for you.
They might think you're crazy, but you are from the CDC... flash a badge and connect the dots for them, they will air exclusive LIVE.
Shit just got loose though in the last episode, so we'll see how plays out. But I cannot write everything off to "viewer logic" though.... some of it maybe, but not most of it.
This show had been pretty bad with details, but I'm willing overlook most of it as long as it stays interesting to watch.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
I wonder if the network will allow them to go batshit crazy and keep
Ground Zero as The Master's lair. Can you imagine the shitfit the internet would make?
Doctor Decimate
Member
i was kinda worried about that earlier. Eph telling himself they're saving lives this past episode doesn't really do much to make the transition seem convincing, but i'm very willing to overlook it since going around killing vampires is so much better than.....well, not doing that.
I would like to think you are smart and reasonable enough that you would call the police in the event of witnessing a murder. Even if I bought the fact that she might not have noticed the bloodsucking appendage (MASSIVE LOL), the manager literally had no reason whatsoever to cover up a murder. All she had to do was call the police.
This show is full of plot holes and illogical characters. I've literally been bitching about them since I started watching this shit. The next episode will be the last chance this show gets from me.
Deified Data
Banned
The bolded is the easiest part to understand about her motivations. She doesn't want her career to sink after she's associated with a murderous client. The show explained that clearly, or so I thought.
the show is so bad at dealing with the realization of what's happening and believable reactions/actions that at this point for it to be good I need it to jump to season 3 or something when all this shit is already established
thankfully it's moving fast. That old people home scene where everyone saw the monster made me go "phew, okay"
thankfully it's moving fast. That old people home scene where everyone saw the monster made me go "phew, okay"
lazybones18
Banned
SniperHunter
Banned
^awesome
I am REALLY loving this show. Most of the characters are super cool! I especially like the old man and the brown muscular guy. And the main monster looks rad, the WWII bits were super creepy
I am REALLY loving this show. Most of the characters are super cool! I especially like the old man and the brown muscular guy. And the main monster looks rad, the WWII bits were super creepy
Deified Data
Banned
My prayers are answered!
I hope it gets as many seasons as it needs to tell the story it wants to tell.
SniperHunter
Banned
indeed
More_Badass
Member
You know a show is good when you can't remember the characters' names
SniperHunter
Banned
You know a show is good when you can't remember the characters' names
I am not good with names or telephone numbers...
Yay for renewal!
Unlike seemingly most here, I'm enjoying the slower set up before full on apocalypse. There are too many apocalypse movies and shows that jump ahead to when everything is already done. I'm very interested in watching the panic and society crumble at such a crazy event.
Unlike seemingly most here, I'm enjoying the slower set up before full on apocalypse. There are too many apocalypse movies and shows that jump ahead to when everything is already done. I'm very interested in watching the panic and society crumble at such a crazy event.
More_Badass
Member
Sorry, didn't mean to offend
Seriously, really enjoying this show as well, happy to hear it got renewed
bobbyrawlins
Banned
I dislike everybody in this show except Setrakian and Fet.
I want more Fet, dammit!
I want more Fet, dammit!
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
I don't think it's a spoiler to say that things disintigrate rather quickly in this series.
Are you talking about Eph? Because the CDC bigwig is obviously working for the Stoneheart group.
The Giant
Banned
Great news.
a secret-boss
Banned
Good. Started enjoying the show
I was wondering the same thing. Book spoiler!!
The problem being that the "bathtub" isn't really there any more.The museum and memorials are there now, it's not a giant construction site like it was when the book was written. So they'll have to move it somewhere.
Very nice to hear about the renewel for Season 2. Woo!
Good, good.
- Status