This review contains spoilers.
The Strain's finale seeks to resolve a lot of plot lines. The heroes have assembled the nuclear bomb and are seeking to eradicate The Master and his vampires once and for all. Eichorst's death has left The master alone with Zach being the only one standing with him. The heroes are dealing with Setrakian's death and the others know they must win or die.
This finale is mostly satisfying. Like the rest of the series, the finale has high production values. The plan to trap The Master is fine and all of the characters belong in the finale. The ending epilogue is satisfying and I am happy the series ended the way it did. I feel the series could not have ended better in its last season due to the somewhat sudden cancellation of the series.
One of the problems with this episode is the ending battle. The characters that are not involved with fighting The Master gun down strigoi like they are scenery. I did not feel tense watching these scenes as the normal strigoi are more like props by this finale episode.
The final battle between Quinlan and The Master is anti-climactic. This is unfortunate as the series had hinted at this fight since Quinlan was first introduced. This should have been an amazing fight but instead it was over after a few minutes. It seemed as if Quinlan should have been able to overcome The Master in Eldritch Palmer's body.
Zach's redemption also seems random and not well developed. Since the end of season two, Zach had been on a downward spiral. He was being groomed to be the next body for The Master, which he seemed fine with. Here in the finale, he somehow reconnects with his humanity and destroys The Master after his dad sacrifices himself. I did not like this switch on Zach's character that seemingly happened for no reason. Even in the earlier episodes of this season. Zach had betrayed his fellow humans and also turned an innocent girl into a vampire. Zach's redemption needed to happen earlier to have any effect.
Overall the series finale is great. Any fan of The Strain should watch this finale.
Grade: B
The Strain Season Four
The below contains spoilers for the fourth season.
The Strain season four takes place months after the end of the third season. The vampires have brought about an apocalypse and vampires can now roam during the day. The nuclear bomb detonated in the end of the third season by Zach is referred to as "Illumination Day". This plunges the world into one that is ruled by The Master and our heroes from the previous seasons are hunted by the vampires. The heroes seek a nuclear weapon to attempt to destroy The Master one last time.
The tone of this season is absolutely the best part of the season. All of the characters know the are nearing the end of humanity if they abide by the world The Master rules. They all resist in different ways and try to reconnect with each other. Eph had become disillusioned with his son's betrayal and now focuses on survival. Dutch is one of Setrakian's closest supporters and she attempts to escape a prison to find Setrakian. Quinlan and Fet attempt to retrieve a nuclear bomb in order to destroy The Master. The last season felt the most focused as there is little filler. This is a great benefit as all of the character arcs are resolved. Eph comes to terms with his son. Dutch and Setrakian make amends for the mistakes they made in the past. Quinlan and Fet must deal with aggressive humans that have surrendered to the new order.
The weakness of this season is still the rushed writing. Zach is not a likable character and the ending with his reconciliation with Eph felt mis-written. I did not buy the shift in his character at all.
The Strain season 4 is recommended. Across the entire series, the episodes provide high quality entertainment in a unique setting with vampires. I would recommend the series as a while.
The entire series as a whole is recommended. The best seasons of the series are the first and fourth seasons. The second season is the weakest with the third season simply a build up to the fourth season. The first season is good because it started out well. The fourth season was able to tie every arc back together in a mostly satisfying way. The main problem with the second and third season is the slow pacing. Nothing about the pacing can be considered good unless the audiences likes the universe of The Strain.
Grade: B
The Strain's finale seeks to resolve a lot of plot lines. The heroes have assembled the nuclear bomb and are seeking to eradicate The Master and his vampires once and for all. Eichorst's death has left The master alone with Zach being the only one standing with him. The heroes are dealing with Setrakian's death and the others know they must win or die.
This finale is mostly satisfying. Like the rest of the series, the finale has high production values. The plan to trap The Master is fine and all of the characters belong in the finale. The ending epilogue is satisfying and I am happy the series ended the way it did. I feel the series could not have ended better in its last season due to the somewhat sudden cancellation of the series.
One of the problems with this episode is the ending battle. The characters that are not involved with fighting The Master gun down strigoi like they are scenery. I did not feel tense watching these scenes as the normal strigoi are more like props by this finale episode.
The final battle between Quinlan and The Master is anti-climactic. This is unfortunate as the series had hinted at this fight since Quinlan was first introduced. This should have been an amazing fight but instead it was over after a few minutes. It seemed as if Quinlan should have been able to overcome The Master in Eldritch Palmer's body.
Zach's redemption also seems random and not well developed. Since the end of season two, Zach had been on a downward spiral. He was being groomed to be the next body for The Master, which he seemed fine with. Here in the finale, he somehow reconnects with his humanity and destroys The Master after his dad sacrifices himself. I did not like this switch on Zach's character that seemingly happened for no reason. Even in the earlier episodes of this season. Zach had betrayed his fellow humans and also turned an innocent girl into a vampire. Zach's redemption needed to happen earlier to have any effect.
Overall the series finale is great. Any fan of The Strain should watch this finale.
Grade: B
The Strain Season Four
The below contains spoilers for the fourth season.
The Strain season four takes place months after the end of the third season. The vampires have brought about an apocalypse and vampires can now roam during the day. The nuclear bomb detonated in the end of the third season by Zach is referred to as "Illumination Day". This plunges the world into one that is ruled by The Master and our heroes from the previous seasons are hunted by the vampires. The heroes seek a nuclear weapon to attempt to destroy The Master one last time.
The tone of this season is absolutely the best part of the season. All of the characters know the are nearing the end of humanity if they abide by the world The Master rules. They all resist in different ways and try to reconnect with each other. Eph had become disillusioned with his son's betrayal and now focuses on survival. Dutch is one of Setrakian's closest supporters and she attempts to escape a prison to find Setrakian. Quinlan and Fet attempt to retrieve a nuclear bomb in order to destroy The Master. The last season felt the most focused as there is little filler. This is a great benefit as all of the character arcs are resolved. Eph comes to terms with his son. Dutch and Setrakian make amends for the mistakes they made in the past. Quinlan and Fet must deal with aggressive humans that have surrendered to the new order.
The weakness of this season is still the rushed writing. Zach is not a likable character and the ending with his reconciliation with Eph felt mis-written. I did not buy the shift in his character at all.
The Strain season 4 is recommended. Across the entire series, the episodes provide high quality entertainment in a unique setting with vampires. I would recommend the series as a while.
The entire series as a whole is recommended. The best seasons of the series are the first and fourth seasons. The second season is the weakest with the third season simply a build up to the fourth season. The first season is good because it started out well. The fourth season was able to tie every arc back together in a mostly satisfying way. The main problem with the second and third season is the slow pacing. Nothing about the pacing can be considered good unless the audiences likes the universe of The Strain.
Grade: B