I had two
shows to watch last night. I had the season two premiere of The Bridge on the DVR, and series
premiere of The Strain to catch live.
I reviewed the season two premiere of The
Bridge last night. Click here to read that review. Now I have The Strain to review.
In my review
of The Bridge, I said that I felt the
episode was very good, but as good as the series premiere. I think this episode
of The Strain is as good as the
series premiere of The Bridge. This episode
was great.
It comes
from the talented writer/director Guillermo del Toro, the writer/director of Pan’s Labyrinth, one of the best
fantastic films ever made. He directed this episode, and was the co-developer
and co-teleplay for the script of the show, but also co-wrote the series of
novels this series is based off of. And here, with the direction and the
writing, Guillermo del Toro delivers. Although he may not deliver as much as he
does on the big screen (probably because of the lower budget television has),
he uses what he has to make a great episode.
The look of
this episode is fantastic. The color scheme is so well realized in the visuals.
del Toro was always good with the visual aspect of directing a movie. The production
value also easily bought me. The locations all look great and the sets look so
well thought-out.
Guillermo del Toro was also great at getting
the shots framed how they should be framed. It really looked like no shots were
off-center or framed a bit too close. All of them were great. And Guillermo del
Toro’s style really works here. There are not as many cuts as there are in a
normal television series. And sometimes del Toro chooses to cut between the
actors while they’re talking, but it always works. del Toro knows when to cut
and when to hold a shot.
Another great thing about this
episode is the feel of it. From beginning to end, there is this dark, creepy,
closed-in feel of violation and discomfort. This episode definitely has its
creepy moments. And one thing about those moments that makes them so creepy is
how surprising they are, because this is a very unpredictable show in the plot
and what will happen in the scene.
So far, this is a very original
show. The characters might not be incredibly original, but the plot of the show
is very different. We have seen things like this show before, but never really something
that has the same plot points that this show does.
The writing of the show is also
great. A lot is fit into this episode; we have character development and
action. And sometimes we get to know the characters through the action. We
learn about some of them because of what they do in certain situations and
their reactions to what happens. Efraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll) is a man that
isn’t around much for his family, but is very good at his job, but thinks that
his word is right and is not very open to suggestion but other people. Nora
Martinez (Mia Maestro) is also good at her job, and is open to other things.
She will listen to other people, and is possibly easily manipulated by them…
The dialogue is also great. It sounds
like human dialogue, and it’s original as well. There are no clichés in the dialogue
here, and it does seem in-the-moment and not written before-hand. It is
realistic, but it is also very entertaining and compelling. It is not tedious,
incredibly classy dialogue that the common person will not connect with.
As I said about the season two
premiere of The Bridge, this episode
does what it needs to do. It develops all the characters while also kick
starting the plot and setting up what could be a very cool season (or series).
This is a thriller with many thrills. It is a very original sci-fi show. And it
is a horror show with many creepy moments and a disturbing feel to it. I
really, really enjoyed this episode and will be eager to see where the show
goes.
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