The Strain
Season 1 Episode 1: “Night Zero”
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Written by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
Starring: Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Mia Maestro, Sean Astin, Kevin Durand, Richard Sammel, Jonathan Hyde, Miguel Gomez, Natalie Brown, Jack Kesy, and Ben Hyland
FX
Air Date: Sunday, July 13, 2014, 10pm

“Hunger……” is the opening word ringing in ominous tones. An airplane at JFK gone dark and filled with corpses. The Strain, one of the most highly anticipated shows debuting this Summer, is an apocalyptic take on vampirism caused by an ancient virus. The vamps are not pretty a la The Vampire Diaries or True Blood. They are not those sexy yet misunderstood vampires trying to blend into our world. They are ugly, gory, hungry, and spreading.

Episode 1, “Night Zero,” finds the CDC racing to the plane to try to figure out what potential epidemic they face. Headed by Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (House of Cards’ Corey Stall), a man losing his family because of his work, and assisted by Nora Martinez (Mia Maestro) and Jim Kent (Sean Astin), the clock is ticking and containment is necessary. A mysterious old man with a sword and a disturbing pet (Harry Potter’s David Bradley) knows what it is and knows what must be done.

Based on the book series by Guillermo del Toro (is he bad at anything?) and Chuck Hogan, that was followed by a comic book series, The Strain‘s first episode has plenty of blood, innards, parasitic worm squirming, scary things down hatches (Hmmm…Carlton Cuse IS one of the producers/writers), and jump-out-of-your-seat-right-before-the-commercial-break moments. I watched a few parts with my hands in front of my eyes, peeking out between two fingers in anticipation of being frightened or grossed out. The anticipation was rewarded.

What else can you expect without giving anything away? Stoll plays torn like a champ and Bradley is perfect casting. “Night Zero” has less exposition than most pilots, which means you spend less time being fed the back story, and more time unraveling what happened alongside the characters. Next week’s preview will include a little recap of this one.

Enjoy!