For the entire first season, The Strain was biding its time, holding out until the very end to unite all of its disparate characters into one vampire-fighting entity. By the end of last season, the sides had been created, the vampire hunters finally went head-to-noseless-head against the vampire master known succinctly as The Master, only to realize that the plan they’d had all along just didn’t work. They believed they were on to something, yet when the moment of truth came, our heroes really didn’t have anything.
With The Strain back in “BK, NY” it becomes abundantly clear that this show’s creators know that they’re much like the vampire hunters; they’re close to a plan that works, but they don’t quite know how to manipulate the idea they have into something that will actually work. “BK, NY” is The Strain’s attempt at trying to fix the show and reintroduce it to the world, but it never feels like it’s making the right steps.
As we catch back up with our characters, they each seem to be in their own stages of doubt. Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll) understands that his wife Kelly (Natalie Brown) has been turned into a vampire and the family he fought for at the beginning of last season will never be whole again. Now Eph is drinking again and he’s on his way to shattering his relationship with his son as well. Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley) believed his plan against The Master would work, but as we saw last season, his attempt at killing The Master only worked to piss him off. Eldritch Palmer (Jonathan Hyde) believes himself to be a sort of co-head with The Master, when he’s actually just a pawn, as Thomas Eichorst (Richard Sammel) is keen to point out.
Besides the slight speed bump that occurred at the end of the first season, what exactly has changed in this second season? Everyone seems just slightly more desperate and concerned that they’ve been heading in the wrong direction. The majority of the big changes in this season premiere come from Goodweather’s family.
After the atrocious performance of Ben Hyland as Zach Goodweather last season, he’s been replaced by Max Charles. It’s one thing to recast a character, but with this change in casting, Zach’s attitude has also made a complete 180. Hyland played Zach as a naive and innocent child, willing to stupidly go into a zombie-infested New York in order to help an Alzheimer’s-ridden old woman. Charles’ take on Zach is far more confrontational, especially when he’s placed in a scene with his father. If these two Zachs were ever to meet, it’s very clear that Charles’ Zach would absolutely bully Hyland’s Zach, then probably light up a cigarette.
Also getting far more attention already this season is Kelly, who has been chosen by The Master for some unknown purpose. This episode, she is given back her voice, which will almost surely become a way to make Eph and Zach question their difficult emotions towards their vampire wife and mother. While Kelly’s importance will make the story far more compelling for Eph, it’s the choice to actually give her a group of minions that seems incredibly strange. Eichorst has tricked an entire school for blind kids to literally drive a bus of their students into his hands, in order to turn them on his side. It’s such a weird idea that Eichorst was like, “Gotta get Kelly some of those sweet, sweet blind kids,” even if, as he hints, their lack of sight gives them “special abilities.”
But what’s really holding back The Strain is a lack of importance and forward momentum. The people of New York City don’t even seem that worried that their entire city is riddled with vampires, ready to suck their blood as soon as night falls. Eph has gone back to the drawing board, and after deciding that the “ground game” wasn’t for him, he and Nora Martinez (Mia Maestro) focus their efforts on trying to find a cure. Meanwhile, Eichorst and Palmer spend most of the episode working on real estate deals. Considering both sides ended last season with a fight that highlighted their weaknesses, there is doubt on both sides, but not worry.
Still, some of the episode’s advancements do hold promise. For example, Gus (Miguel Gomez) has now aligned himself with a secretive group of vampires that want to work with him to also take down The Master. Gus enlists Setrakian for help and together they all form an unlikely alliance. This group of vampires was by far the most interesting aspect of the end of last season, so their deeper involvement only leads me to hope for good things.
The Strain is trying hard to correct course, but like other horror TV show (like The Walking Dead), it’s hard to up the ante when your show’s main villain is mostly more hordes of the same creatures we’ve already seen. The Strain has this huge cast of potentially interesting characters, but an uncertainty about what to do with them or how to make them compelling. Last season built to one supposedly gigantic moment, but now, as we’re dealing with the aftermath, it’s almost as if our characters and the show itself just don’t know what to do.
Ross Bonaime is a D.C.-based freelance writer and regular contributor to Paste. You can follow him on Twitter.