The Strain

So how do you explain the Star Wars prequels?

I dunno, the director has final say on the take. If he consistently accepts a poorly acted scene as “in the bag” doesn’t it all fall back on him?

The weaknesses of bad actors like Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman isn’t obfuscated. even acting against green screen and dealing with other production nonsense, the better actors are fine.

Portman is a great example. She’s an awful actress, but capable directors have managed to make her look decent. Her inability to act is apparent in every movie not directed by someone capable of hiding her lack of range and inability to make anything other than short sentences not seem wooden.

I just finished up the last 4 episodes. It wasn’t horrible, but the ending left me wanting more.

If anything I’d rather watch a show of Setrakian vs Eichorst over the 50 or so years they have known each other.

For sure. It’s telling that the #2 villain and the #2 hero are both more interesting than the leads.

Absolutely!

I would watch that only if they covered the years the Master spent with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew.

Setrakian, F, the Fearless Vampire Hunters, and their opponents all return this week. Let’s hope for better writing and F’s bloody demise!

All of the problems with this series stipulated, it’s managed to make vampires scary again. Well, except for the Master.

Huzzah!

Ha ha, yes. The Master gets a little sunburn and he scuttles away like a startled crab. So scary! He also has the power to make his minions walk backwards!

Anyway, hoping it’s better. I wonder if New York is going to continue to be schizophrenic, one moment people calmly riding the subway to work, grabbing a hot-dog from a sidewalk vendor, going about their business, and the next moment everyone fleeing in terror from vampires, all without the rest of the world knowing that something is really screwed up in New York?

But don’t you agree that the biological nature of the vampiric transformation really is pretty freaky? It gives me the willies.

Yep really enjoyed the show except the Master who needs to be scarier.

I liked the master personally and thought he was scarier.

The master is strong, but not invulnerable. He “conquers” by infiltration and turning people (either through promises or literally Turning them). I was surprised enough that he managed to survive the end of last season. They did all of that to find him and lure him out and he still survived his supposed greatest weakness. It leaves you wondering if there is any way to kill him.

I really liked the first season and i can’t wait for the second.

I also liked F. It is nice to see his growth from some typical scientist to a vampire hunter who does what needs to be done.

You’re dead to me.

F? Is that you?!

F is an everyday man (i think/hope that is the term) and generally a pretty good guy. Is he perfect? No, of course not, but nobody on this show really is. Obviously he has made missteps and poor choices, but then nobody in this show is a saint.

He is also not a vampire slayer/retired seal/etc. He is just a normal guy who initially doesn’t believe what he is seeing and eventually, with the help of his new mentor, is slowly transformed in to someone who can fight back against the Master and his minions (both undead and human).

It also helps that he isn’t quite as dumb as some of the other central characters who can’t really handle the… strain of fighting The Strain and just break.

He reminds me a ton of the protagonist in Helix, but more likable.

F is a really terrible actor who drags down the show, most of all. The acting is generally terrible on the show, so that’s saying something.

I dunno, the guy playing Setrakian isn’t too bad. I only watched a bit of last night’s show so I don’t know if he bought the farm or what (hope not).

I enjoy the guy who was in Lost, the rat exterminator. Setrakian is ok. The rest of the vampire fighters are pretty lame.

And F is stupid. He bends down to remove stuff from a vampire corpse after already knowing about the little worm things. He doesn’t use gloves or anything. The guy is a doctor who works with infectious diseases! Plus, as Desslock said, he’s a bad actor. That’s his biggest sin. I can forgive stupid scripting to some extent.