UK TV review: The Strain Season 2, Episode 1

“You’re a doctor. Find a cure,” demands Eph’s son in the opening episode of The Strain Season 2, but not before uttering a well-chosen swear word. If you can’t imagine the ickle Zach of Season 1 cursing at his pa, … Read More

UK TV review: The Strain Season 1 finale (Episode 13 – The Master)

“The world is not what it was one week ago. What will it be one week from now?”

That’s Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley) getting his voiceover on once more for the finale of The Strain. It feels like a long … Read More

UK TV review: The Strain Episode 12 (Last Rites)

12 episodes in and has The Strain found its pulse yet? That this is even a question that needs asking in a 13-episode season is a sign of how uneven Guillermo del Toro’s story has been on screen.

Nonetheless, … Read More

UK TV review: The Strain Episode 11 (The Third Rail)

“We should think this out. Regroup.” “We’ve got him on the run! We must press on!”

Episode 11 of The Strain is the entire show in a nutshell: a frantic dash through blind tunnels to find the next big confrontation … Read More

UK TV review: The Strain Season 1, Episode 10 (Loved Ones)

It’s never a good sign when a villain randomly decides to unveil his plan. It’s equally worrying when a character created specifically for a TV adaptation of a book is cast aside.

The Strain has always thrived or failed on … Read More

UK TV review: The Strain (Season 1, Episode 9)

How do you follow a claustrophobic hour of tense TV? Expand outwards – and risk undoing all of that suspense. Episode 9 does just that – and, sure enough, the excitement wriggles away like a weird vampiric worm offered a … Read More

UK TV review: The Strain Season 1, Episode 8

The Strain is one of those shows that you can rely upon to be unreliable. When it’s slaying vampires, it’s buff. When it’s recounting the Holocaust, it’s bunkum. Episode 8 sees our survivors struggling to fight off a wave of … Read More

UK TV review: The Strain Season 1, Episode 7

“We kill The Master and all the other creatures die? That makes no biological sense!”

The Strain continues it’s oddly down-to-Earth mix of modern science and old-school critters in Episode 8. Finally addressing the idea of its big bad head-on, … Read More

UK TV review: The Strain Season 1, Episode 6

Weakness and evolution are the two driving forces behind The Strain: the weakness of human biology and the evolution of the species to superior, deadly monsters. It’s that process of alienation, literally making other people alien, that gives the series … Read More

UK TV review: The Strain Season 1, Episode 5 (Runaways)

“Like a… vampire?” asks Eph at start of The Strain this week. And there you have it. It has taken five episodes for someone to mention the word “vampire” in a situation that is clearly reminiscent of all of history’s … Read More