The Strain is a horror thriller that tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. As the strain spreads, Eph, his team, and an assembly of everyday New Yorkers, wage war for the fate of humanity itself. The first episode kicks off when a commercial airliner lands and stands silent, Goodweather investigates the plane to find that the passengers are infected by a vile plague, setting up the chaos that is to come.

The television show is based on the 2009 vampire horror novel by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan which has three volumes released. Its been since adapted into comic books released by Dark Horse Comics. While I haven’t read the books it’s all based on, I have read everything Dark Horse has released so far, which is nice to compare it all to, as both that and the television series have a visual component. While they share a lot, the comic fans will have something to enjoy as the television’s pilot episode expands a bit upon what was in the comic, but is familiar enough.

The series, which airs on FX, is pretty brutal, with some gruesome scenes that I was shocked to see even on the channel. That’s great, as it tells me the viewer to not expect the series to hold anything back. What’s interesting though is seeing these characters, who I’ve only read their dialogue, play out on the screen. The personalities I envisioned were there, with some characters I thought being dicks, being portrayed exactly that way.

What the series really does well is handle the viral aspect of it all. The idea of vampire as virus has been handled in numerous stories before, but this one really does it well, especially with the use of the CDC as one of the driving forces. The idea of the virus, and terror of one spreading unforeseen is present throughout much of the episode, it’s a dread that works beyond well ramping up the tension with each passing minute.

What’s also nice is the series basically lays it out there as to what’s going on. The big bad is seen, how this particular pathogen is spread is somewhat explained. There are some dots that need to be connected, but overall, it’s there for us from almost the beginning. While we know what’s going on, part of the fun, and entertainment, is seeing how Goodweather and his team figure it out for themselves…. as well as seeing the greater conspiracy.

Much like a virus the episode sets up the seeds to grow and expand with a few plot lines and enough characters to keep us entertained and looking forward to where the series goes. As a debut goes, there’s more than enough to get me to come back for more.

Overall Score: 8