1.1 Night Zero I was somewhat concerned that in the first couple of minutes this show managed to deliver at least two WTF moments. But before I get to them, it’s worth noting that the arrival of an aircraft travelling from Germany to the USA where everyone is dead isn’t the most original opening for a TV series. Because that’s exactly how Fox’s Fringe started, as I recall. I’m hoping that’s a good omen of sorts, because that series was inspired in places. Yet this one starts so poorly that I really began to wonder if ‘Billy’s curse’ had stuck once more. My knack of finding diabolical shows to review is legend here at Geek. First, we’ve got an air traffic control guy who thinks that when a LCD screen shows you something wrong, you can fix that by tapping on it. I thought that notion of variable instrument readability went out with the Flying Leathernecks, but it is making a comeback it seems. He’s also confused why a plane might be cold after being at 35,000 feet, which begs the question should they really let someone that stupid direct air traffic. He’s introduced as the first main character with seven minutes of the show already run, and my first reaction to him was to dislike his personality intensely. I didn’t care for his wife either, which wasn’t a good start. Perhaps I’m old fashioned in thinking that you should make some connection with the main characters of a show as early as possible. When he gets to the aircraft with the co-worker he’s having a relationship with, Nora Martinez (Mia Maestro) they manage to elevate the tension well, though seem determined not to pass a certain threshold of creepiness. It’s not until we get the cut-away of Van Helsing-inspired Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley), that the pieces start to fall into place, and the supernatural aspect to The Strain becomes more evident. Bradley can act there is no doubt, but his abilities are put under some strain trying to deliver some of the tough dialogue he’s given here. He has five times the personality of any other character, but that still doesn’t deliver enough to make his persona truly accessible. (It’s interesting to note that John Hurt was once attached to the Abraham Setrakian role in the pilot, and even Roy Dotrice, who both previously worked with del Toro on the two Hellboy movies respectively.) Another good actor that makes an appearance is the Australian Jonathan Hyde, who you might remember as the father/hunter in Jumanji or Bruce Ismay in Titanic. All his scenes are very reminiscent of the Vampire elite ones in Blade II, directed by Guillermo del Toro, where there are global plans at made in palatial penthouses to put people on the menu soon. That’s one influence, and the hand-carved coffin is a bit reminiscent of The Shadow, and the death of The Sarge is Hellboy-gory, unsurprisingly. I presume the creature destroyed his head so that he could become him later, maybe. In the meanwhile, those aboard the aircraft who died seem determined to come back to some form of life, possibly driven to do this by the musical choices of the guy chosen to dissect them. Anyone who does that job to Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline deserves what happens to him, I say. The premise seems curious enough, and there is certainly enough creative talent behind and before the cameras to make this work. But they need to write some dialogue that doesn’t deliver quite so stilted, and having a main character called Ephraim whom everyone calls ‘F’ was a really F-ing dumb idea, unless he gets promoted to The Men In Black. Fox has already proven with Sleepy Hollow that you can make the supernatural work well on a mainstream TV show, but it’s critical that the audience rapidly develops some empathy with the characters or putting them in jeopardy or killing them has little impact. Many shows have very wonky pilot episodes, so I’m a long way from writing The Strain off just yet, as it’s sufficiently gothic to keep me watching for now. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
