The season finale of “The Strain” aired Sunday night on FX, and I watched it diligently — through the cracks between my fingers.
I’m an avid fan of the horror genre, so it’s not often that a TV show or a film makes me turn away in fear. A psycho killer attacks a coed with an ax? Sure, sign me up. A suburban teen is possessed by the devil? Not a problem. The zombie apocalypse takes over the world? Sounds like fun.
What makes “The Strain” different from all of these horror-sequence cliches is that it seemingly takes the most terrifying elements of the genre and combines them into one 45-minute TV show. There are dark corners and alleyways, the villain moves quickly, attacks can happen from a distance, and, most importantly, they don’t really care who stands in their way.
If there really are any vampires out there, they should be celebrating — for the first time in a long time, vampires are something to be feared.
For too long, vampires have been depicted as little more than a human being with a penchant for drinking blood. They can live among us, unnoticed, and develop personal relationships with people along the way. They take the moral high ground when it comes to survival — living off the blood of “bad people,” animals or, in some cases, not ingesting it at all.
These portrayals are everywhere. In “Twilight,” not only does Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) abstain from attacking humans, but he falls in love with, marries and impregnates one as well. His skin even sparkles in the sunlight!
“True Blood,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” — the list goes on and on. Though a rogue vampire attacks every once in a while, they are, for the most part, a peaceful race.
But let’s get real. They’re vampires! They’re blood-sucking, life-ending, totally terrifying vampires! And “The Strain” reminds us of that.
“The idea of sort of reimagining the vampires, going back to the roots of what vampires are — that they are scary, dangerous creatures — that was something that was incredibly compelling for me; the idea that when you see these things, it’s not good,” co-producer Carlton Cuse told reporters during a press call in July.
These vampires don’t blend in with the rest of the crowd. When they turn, they lose their hair, their heart, their personality — even their genitals. They actively hunt the people they used to love — spouses, children, parents. They’re swift, creeping out of the shadows unnoticed. They can attack from a distance, thanks to the 6-foot-long stingers that emerge from their mouths. And they needn’t even bite you to infect you — their bodies are riddled with worms that, if they enter a human body, will infect the host.
So how can Eph Goodweather (Corey Stoll) expect to destroy such a terrifying species? Turns out, the answer may be the vampires themselves. As Goodweather and his band of vigilantes flee Manhattan, another group of vampires, one that has decided to live peacefully among humans, is gearing up for a war. The Master, the vampire responsible for the epidemic in NYC, has strayed from the pack, and the others are not happy.
And when vampires battle vampires, the viewer is sure to win.