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Early Review: The Strain - Not Your Typical Vampires

The StrainTonight FX premieres its new 13-episode drama series The Strain, based on the book trilogy of the same name by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. The thriller follows Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll), the head of the Canary Team at the CDC in New York City. When a plane lands with appearingly no survivors and a mysterious viral outbreak, his team is called in. They will fight for humanity against this virulent strain that looks to be connected with ancient vampires. Helping Goodweather are team members Dr. Nora Martinez (Mia Maestro) and Jim Kent (Sean Astin).

Pawnbroker Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley) races to catch up with the team to tell them what he knows about the dangerous virus and where it came from. They will soon discover he is not the addled old man he appears.

The StrainPilots often feel like they move slower while they introduce the characters and explain the gist of everything going on, but this was definitely not the case with The Strain. The pilot, written by del Toro and Hogan and directed by del Toro, was very fast paced and left you wanting more. Even though it is technically an introduction piece, you really feel like you are in the middle of the action.

The characters are well developed, and as much as the virus and that drama are the most engaging part of the series, I still was interested to know more about Eph and his broken marriage, as well as discover what is going on with Setrakian and his past dealings with the enigmatic character of The Master. Kent's motivations I also found quite intriguing.

Without giving anything away, I will say that the first four episodes are quite a ride. I was riveted and ended up watching them back to back as was not my original intention.

The StrainThe quality of the scripts as well as production value are very high. The effects were down right creepy and often times very disturbing and graphic (in the best way, of course).

This is not a light story. The vampires are not sexy and romantic and certainly don't sparkle. They are the scary as hell evil kind that you would not want to meet, and definitely not become, as well as a kind you've never seen before.

If you are looking for something dark and unique that will keep you on the edge of your seat, The Strain is something you will enjoy and quickly crave more of.

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