Vampire stories have existed for over a century, with various mediums covering various icons of undead bloodsucking. Whether they’re funny, frightening, or somewhere attractively in between, vampire stories are too good to pass up. So if you’re looking to hang out with these creatures of the night, check out this list of the best vampire movies and TV shows! (Sorry Twilight fans, you didn’t make the cut.)

The Lost Boys (1987)

One of the best ‘80s movies ever, The Lost Boys introduced us to David (Kiefer Sutherland), the Peter Pan of vampires. Director Joel Schumacher’s horror-comedy kept vampires terrifying, while also adding the attractive allure that we’ve seen repeated throughout various incarnations. Not to mention, this has one of the best final punchlines a movie has ever landed.

True Blood (2008 - 2014)

Adapting Charlaine Harris’ novels revolving around Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), True Blood is an HBO hit that fans still reflect upon. By the end of its seven-season run, the small town of Bon Temps encountered sultry romance, dark comedy, and terror at the hands of werewolves, fairies, and witches. But the bedrock of this series has always been the social commentary told in a world where vampires are widely acknowledged…and are naturally persecuted.

Interview With The Vampire (1994)

For a performer as versatile as Tom Cruise happens to be, it’s still a disappointment that he was never given the chance to return to the role of Lestat de Lioncourt. Interview with the Vampire’s 1994 film adaptation saw Brad Pitt play the forlorn Louis de Pointe du Lac to Cruise’s chaotic sadist, and the contrast is amazing to watch in action. Also, Kirsten Dunst lands one hell of a breakout performance as Claudia, making this disturbing vampire family complete.

Fright Night (1985)

Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) was your typical ‘80s movie teenager…until Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon) moved into the neighborhood. Director Tom Holland’s vampire classic shows us what happens when a dopey teen squares off with a seductive yet sinister supernatural force; and it doesn’t skimp on the blood or the comedy in the process.

What We Do In The Shadows (2019 - 2024)

Six seasons still doesn’t feel enough for FX’s What We Do in the Shadows adaptation. Expanding Taika Waititi’s 2014 mockumentary into an extended universe of lunacy, following Long Island’s found family of fang bearers (and Harvey Guillén’s Guillermo) became one of those rare cases where the TV version outdid the source film it was based on. From its humble origins, straight through to What We Do in the Shadows’ perfect series finale, the series was a consistently funny delight.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Much as 2024’s Nosferatu strived to be a more modern adaptation of F.W. Murnau’s classic mockbuster, 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula gave fans fresh blood when telling this time-worn classic. Gary Oldman plays the Francis Ford Coppola-directed spin on this character as both a tragic romantic and a vicious adversary.

Dark Shadows (1991)

Reinventing the classic ABC soap opera as a darker, moodier affair, the short-lived NBC revival of Dark Shadows tried to make a name for itself in 1991. As Ben Cross stepped into the iconic role of Barnabas Collins, it’s miles away from the 2012 Tim Burton adaptation, which turned the more gothically inclined story into a silly comedy. It probably didn't help that this dramatic reimagining was staked after a short first season.

Shadow Of The Vampire (2000)

Decades before Willem Dafoe would play for the human team in Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, the Academy Award nominee actually dipped his fangs into the legendary off-brand remake of Dracula through Shadow of the Vampire. A dark comedy that shows us the “real story” behind F.W. Murnau (John Malkovich) and his horror milestone, the plot alleges that Dafoe’s Max Schreck was an actual vampire/movie-making diva.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997 - 2003)

Joss Whedon’s horror/comedy cult classic found a second life as a seven-season TV series, with Sarah Michelle Gellar embodying a more grounded incarnation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The tone wasn’t the only improvement, as some of the best Buffy episodes experimented with form, and gave us impressive guest stars like John Ritter and a pre-fame Pedro Pascal. It was also one of the most effective heartbreakers, thanks to some deaths and romances that didn’t always involve the undead.

Nosferatu (2024)

Robert Eggers is a modern horror master that understands the classics. His 2024 adaptation of Nosferatu proved that fact yet again, thanks to a new spin on director F. W. Murneau’s bootleg classic. Despite Bill Skarsgard’s gross-out latex stories and Count Orlock looking quite imposing, his would-be romance with Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) is as haunting as it is intriguing.

The Strain (2014 - 2017)

Co-creators Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan created a horror literary hit with their trilogy of books telling the story of The Strain. So when it came time to adapt the series to TV, FX gave it a four-season epic that covered this apocalypse from its very beginning. Dishing out vampire lore, while giving us intriguing characters on both sides of the conflict, the tale even gave us one of Stephen King’s favorite TV monster hunters!

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

It sucks that the big twist of Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn kind of needs to be spoiled in instances like this. What begins as a crime thriller that sees the Gecko Brothers (George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino) kidnapping a family as cover for their escape to Mexico turns into something much more deadly. I’m not going to say it’s vampires, but if you know this list, or even know this movie, you know what’s up.

Midnight Mass (2021)

Creator Mike Flanagan delivered an opus of horror and humanity in the Netflix limited series Midnight Mass. “Transformation” is the one word this story could be boiled down to, as the mysterious Father Paul Hill (Hamish Linklater) arrives on Crockett Island just as some interesting occurrences start to take shape. You can expect to be frightened, but don’t be surprised if you end up crying here and there.

Let The Right One In (2008)

A methodically haunting film, Let The Right One In is a vampire movie on its surface. As bullied loner Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) starts to strike up a friendship with Eli (Lina Leandersson), their deepening connection leads to an unintended web of death. But the more you look under the surface of author John Ajvide Lindqvist’s screenplay adapting his own book, the more you’ll see the subtle mix between the disturbing and the melancholic.

Angel (1999 - 2004)

It’s rare that a spinoff can pack as much of a punch as its predecessor, but Angel managed to do just that. The David Boreanaz-led offshoot from Buffy the Vampire Slayer was cut short at the end of Season 5, despite co-star James Marsters noting Angel’s huge audience spike. So if you’re ready for a noir-tinged L.A. adventure that ends rather abruptly, look no further.

Van Helsing (2004)

What do you do when you’ve landed two successful Mummy movies with Brendan Fraser? Well, if you’re director Stephen Sommers, you try your hand at the rest of the Universal Monsters universe in one fell swoop with a movie like Van Helsing. With Hugh Jackman playing a variant of the titular legendary vampire hunter, there are all sorts of creatures that he has to contend with; leading to an adventure that’s just as blood-pumping and hysterical as The Mummy.

Castlevania (2017 - 2021)

Netflix’s adaptation of the Konami video game Castlevania didn’t have to go that hard. And yet, the religious overtones and painted blood both flowed as Dracula himself tried to start a reign of terror in Romania. A terrific video game adaptation, and a hell of a cartoon, the legacy continues in a follow-up series, Castlevania: Nocturne.

The Last Voyage Of The Demeter (2023)

It took decades for The Last Voyage of the Demeter to finally become a reality. Focusing on the chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in which the vampiric menace makes his crossing to England, this ensemble horror show is a beautiful slow burn. Audiences may not have dug this one upon initial release, but director André Øvredal’s richly drawn nightmare is ripe to be discovered by audiences in the mood for something underrated.

The Munsters (1964 - 1966)

Yes, The Munsters technically counts as a vampire show. With Lily (Yvonne DeCarlo) and Grandpa (Al Lewis) making up the fanged contingent of the family, their misadventures with the lovably dopey creature Herman (Fred Gwynne) made for a memorable TV sitcom. And to think, between the debuts of The Addams Family and Batman, network execs somehow thought there wasn’t room for this monstrous slice of life.

Blade II (2002)

People might see the first two Blade movies as interchangeable on a list like this. They’d be wrong, because while Wesley Snipes’ origin story in the Marvel Comics universe is impressive, Blade II really makes him sing. Director Guillermo del Toro not only got to sort of test out his vampires for The Strain through the designs of the Reapers, he also gave us scenes between Snipes and Ron Perlman that only make the action even more...exciting.

Being Human (2008 - 2013)

Can a ghost, a vampire, and a werewolf truly live together? That might sound like the setup to a joke, but the BBC series Being Human did ask, and answer, that very question through five seasons. With the vampire part of the equation being filled by John Mitchell (Aidan Turner) and later Hal Yorke (Damien Molony), creator Toby Whitehouse’s show would eventually be remade in the US, with none of the casting switch-ups of its source material.

Abigail (2024)

Radio Silence’s abilities with comedy and horror are cranked up and given fangs in Abigail. As a bunch of amateur kidnappers wander into a job where they have to grab and babysit a 12-year-old girl (Alisha Weir), the tables soon turn as this older-than-she-looks menace hunts her would-be captors. If you’re looking for more Kevin Durand vampire action, fans of The Strain should give this flick a spin.

Rosario + Vampire (2008)

Vampires can be rather cute if you write them the right way. The two-season anime adaptation of the manga Rosario + Vampire is one such project, as it follows young man Tsukune Aono who accidentally finds himself going to a monsters-only boarding school. Luckily for him, vampire girl Moka Akashiya helps him survive, as she’s not only friendly, but she also has a crush on our hero.

Vampires Vs. The Bronx (2020)

There are two huge reasons vampire fans should watch the ever-charming horror-comedy Vampires vs. The Bronx. The first one is obviously because of the fact that using gentrification as a metaphor for a vampiric conquest is pretty sharp. But another fantastic note to make is that this is a modern flick that establishes Blade as a sacred vampire text. So if you like Wesley Snipes’ Daywalker, this Netflix original is an easy option.

Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire (2022 - )

There is a lot of queer subtext that the movie adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire couldn’t fully dig into in the mid-’90s. So when AMC got its hands on the rights to reinterpret the entire book series, the new Louis (Jacob Anderson) and Lestat (Sam Reid) were able to really sink their teeth into everything fans already knew about these undead foils.

Fright Night (2011)

It’s always amazing when a remake can stand on its own two feet, honoring its source while also doing its own thing. 2011’s revamped version of Fright Night is a beautiful case in point, especially when focusing on the villainous vampire Jerry Dandridge. Played by Colin Farrell, Jerry’s romantic melancholy is replaced with dude bro sociopath energy aimed at Anton Yelchin's Charlie Brewster. Also, David Tennant’s Peter Vincent, heavily influenced by mid-aughts illusionist Criss Angel, is another deliciously R-rated note in this picture’s arsenal.

The Vampire Diaries (2009 - 2017)

If you mix in a little bit of Twilight with a touch of Supernatural and a heaping dose of Dracula, you’ve got the formula for The CW hit The Vampire Diaries. With two spin-offs and plenty of smoldering good looks from cast members like Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev, this is a pure example of what the network was known for in its heyday.

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018)

Kids need to be introduced to vampires at some point, and the Hotel Transylvania series is probably the best way to get youngsters acquainted with creatures of the night. But suppose you really want to go for the comedic gold. In that case, it's recommended you watch Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, as it pits lonely widower Drac (Adam Sandler) against his would-be hunter/potential love interest Ericka (Kathryn Hahn)...the great-granddaughter of the Van Helsing (Jim Gaffigan.)

American Horror Story: Hotel (2015 - 2016)

The fifth season of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story mixed two things that people can’t get enough of: murder hotels, and the creatures that run them. Acting as a web of mayhem, intrigue, and bloodletting orchestrated by the alluring Countess (Lady Gaga), things get as twisted and steamy as you’d expect from FX’s long-running masterpiece of fright.

Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is a movie you should absolutely not take seriously. Unless you take your low-budget musical horror comedies gravely serious; in which case continue as planned. Director Lee Demarbre and writer Ian Driscoll leave it all on the field in a picture that’s so absurd, that no synopsis would do it justice. You’ll just have to trust your heart, and The Lord, and this one.

NOS4A2 (2019 - 2020)

Author Joe Hill’s NOS4A2 is a twisted gem that father Stephen King is probably very proud of. Sharing similar sensibilities to his master of horror dad, vampire Charlie Manx (Zachary Quinto) hunts young children to stay immortal, and uses a sickly sweet Christmas village to do just that. Of course, with a seemingly psychic woman on his trail (Ashleigh Cummings), the playing field is a bit more evened out in this two-season scrap.

Vamp (1986)

If you’re heading out for a little bit of nightlife, you should always keep in mind where you’re headed. The young men at the heart of 1986’s Vamp didn’t get that warning, which is what leads them to the nightclub that introduces them to the enigmatic Katrina (Grace Jones). A night of fatal misadventure follows, as this After Hours style horror-comedy doesn’t let our protagonists off easy.

Have you ever felt like you exist in a post-apocalyptic movie or TV show? Well, before you start building an underground bunker, stock up on non-perishable food, and practice any other survival tactics you know, take a look back at some of the best dystopian movies (and the genre's finest small-screen entries) and see if the potential causes to civilization's downfall that they provide feel at all familiar to you.

Climate Change Experiment Gone Wrong (Snowpiercer)

In Bong Joon-ho's 2014 adaptation of the French graphic novel, Snowpiercer, a diverse group of passengers boards a self-sustaining bullet train right before an experimental attempt to reverse climate change turns the outside world into an uninhabitable tundra. Seventeen years later, the survivors have set up a caste system from inside the train, but some of the impoverished citizens of the caboose, led by Curtis (Chris Evans in one of his most underrated performances), aim to resist.

Global Outbreak Of Post-Fatal Reanimation (The Walking Dead)

Until an explanation was provided in the post-credits scene from the finale of the short-lived spin-off, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, we never knew what caused the "Walker Apocalypse" in AMC's series adaptation of Robert Kirkman's hit comic book. However, the second season did reveal a unique aspect of the zombie virus, in that all survivors are somehow doomed to be reanimated no matter how they die unless their brain is destroyed.

Flooded Earth (Waterworld)

In Waterworld, global warming worsens enough to melt the polar ice caps, causing mass flooding that leaves the entire Earth fully submerged... or so it seems. Kevin Costner stars in the now beloved 1994 box office flop as a mariner who searches for what is believed to be the last of dry land in this anarchic dystopia.

Mystical Tree (Sweet Tooth)

Based on the DC Vertigo comic book series by Jeff Lemire, Sweet Tooth tells the story of a deadly virus that broke out at the same time many infants were mysteriously born as human/animal hybrids, causing suspicion that these unique beings were somehow responsible for the pandemic. In the Netflix fantasy series finale, it is revealed that a unique tree with antlers for branches was attacked by an axe-wielding human, inspiring it to kill the human race and replace them with animal-like beings.

Artificial Intelligence (The Terminator Movies)

The first three Terminator movies are, more than anything, time travel movies set in the modern day that provide hints and glimpses of a future eradicated by sentient machines. The fourth installment, 2009's Terminator: Salvation, is the first to be set entirely in the wartorn dystopia in which a grown-up John Connor (Christian Bale) leads a human resistance.

Nuclear Disaster (Fallout)

The long-running video game franchise, Fallout, and its Amazon Prime original series adaptation involves a unique depiction of a world eradicated by nuclear bombs, forcing some lucky people underground and others struggling to endure the surface. It takes place in the distant future, but one in which microprocessors were never invented, causing technological progress to remain largely trapped in the 1950s.

Sound-Hunting Aliens (A Quiet Place)

The A Quiet Place movies depict the ongoing aftermath of an alien invasion that is easy to survive, as long as you watch your volume. The vicious "Death Angels," as they are called, cannot see but have impeccable hearing ability that makes them a danger to anyone who makes even the slightest peep.

Cordyceps (The Last Of Us)

Craig Zobel developed one of the most acclaimed video game adaptations of all time with his HBO series based on the hit PlayStation game, The Last of Us. One of the most interesting things about the show's take on zombie fiction is that the inciting incident — a Cordyceps fungus that turns humans into grotesque monsters — is scientifically plausible.

Unknown, Psychologically Manipulative Phenomenon (Bird Box)

Even though Josh Malerman's novel that inspired Bird Box was published years before A Quiet Place was released, many audiences compared the 2018 Netflix original thriller to it for somewhat understandable reasons. Instead of aliens that force survivors to keep quiet, Sandra Bullock's character and others must shield their eyes from a mysterious force that has a fatal effect on some and a dangerous psychological effect on others.

Universal Loss Of Sight (See)

Jason Momoa leads the Apple TV+ series See, which foretells a global virus that leaves a mere few million survivors, whose descendants are later born blind. The main setting takes place so far in the future that the sense of sight is believed to be a myth among the people, who live in a more primitive and tribal society. 

Depleting Resources And Economic Collapse (Mad Max Movies)

It is never explicitly stated in the Mad Max movies what caused Australia to become a barren, desert wasteland of fire and blood, but there are clues littered throughout George Miller's seminal franchise. The 1979 original depicts a near future with an increased crime rate while the following films show further decay resulting from a rapid loss of natural resources and a ruined economy.

Disappearance Of 2% Of Mankind (The Leftovers)

Imagine if two percent of the world's population suddenly vanished from the face of the Earth. Tom Perotta's novel The Leftovers and co-developer Damon Lindelof's HBO series based upon it does not bother to ask how or why the rapture-esque event occurs but envisions how it would affect those who remain.

Infertility (Children Of Men)

One of the best movies of the 2000s, director Alfonso Cuarón's adaptation of P.D. James' novel, Children of Men, takes place in a dystopian future in which all women have mysteriously lost the ability to have children, ensuring the human race has an expiration date. However, when the first woman to become pregnant in years is discovered, Theo Faron (Clive Owen) is tasked with escorting her through a wartorn world and bringing her to safety. 

Extraterrestrial Infiltration (V)

While the antagonists of most alien invasion movies are pretty upfront about their intentions, the cult favorite miniseries V (and its subsequent series continuation, concluding miniseries called V: The Final Battle, and ABC's 2009 remake) flips the script a bit. Lizard-like creatures from another world don human-like disguises to gain mankind's trust, but their plans to deplete Earth's resources and feed on humans are later revealed.

Mutated Strain Of Ebola (28 Days Later)

What makes 28 Days Later one of the most realistic zombie movies is that the infected are not the living dead, but are alive and not doing very well at all. In director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland's 2003 thriller, a strain of Ebola evolves into a highly contagious virus that instantly turns people into mindless beings of insatiable fury, leading to a mostly desolate London. 

Technological Breakdown (Twisted Metal)

As the 1990s were coming to a close, people feared that once we entered the year 2000, all technology would fail, which is similar to the cyber attack that created the dystopian society in Twisted Metal. Peacock's series adaptation of the video game franchise stars Anthony Mackie as a delivery man traveling through the dangerous lands that exist outside of the walled-off fortresses where the last of the world's major cities stand.

Darkseekers (I Am Legend)

One of Will Smith's best movies is 2007's I Am Legend, in which he plays Robert Neville, who believes he is the last human being alive, due to a virus that he helped create in an attempt to cure cancer. Instead, it turned those infected into nocturnal, zombie-like creatures referred to as "Darkseekers" that fed on the immune survivors, leading to the lonely Earth the doctor must endure on his own.

Alien Invasion (Falling Skies)

From producer Steven Spielberg, Falling Skies depicts the aftermath of extra-terrestrials coming to Earth and destroying all major cities, with the sole intention of extracting an Earthly resource that can power their technology. Noah Wyle leads the series, which ran for five seasons on TNT, as a former history professor who becomes a leading figure of mankind's resistance.

Evil Robot (9)

Director Shane Acker's Tim Burton-produced, feature-length adaptation of his animated short 9, which came out in 2009, begins after humanity is no more and the only living beings left are a group of nine sentient rag dolls. They were created by a scientist who was also forced by a fascist leader to build the robotic device that would end mankind known as B.R.A.I.N.

Vampires (The Strain)

In most vampire lore, the creatures typically keep to themselves, waiting until nightfall to feed on, maybe, one or two victims at a time. However, Guillermo del Toro and Carlton Cuse's FX TV show The Strain — also based on their series of novels — sees the bloodsuckers attempt world domination, leaving a small batch of unbitten survivors to hopefully bring light back into the world.

Dragons (Reign Of Fire)

We often associate dragons with stories set in a fantasy world and at a time way before modern technology existed. However, Reign of Fire, starring Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale, imagines a near future in which most of humanity has been wiped out by the large, winged, fire-breathing beasts.

Global Loss Of Electricity (Revolution)

Creator Eric Kripke's NBC series Revolution takes place years after a worldwide blackout leaves humanity in a state of violent disarray. It would later be revealed that a highly advanced computer virus is what caused electricity to become extinct.

A Combination Of Things (This Is The End)

The point of the 2013 apocalyptic comedy This Is The End is really just to see celebrities like Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and Emma Watson poking fun at themselves. So, Rogen and co-writer and co-director Evan Goldberg do not harm the story one bit by throwing various doomsday scenarios at you, such as the Rapture, earthquakes, a sinkhole, and giant demons.

Virus Carried Through Precipitation (The Rain)

One of the best horror TV shows on Netflix is a Danish import called The Rain, in which the eponymous, common weather pattern becomes humanity's worst fear. The reason being: that anyone who is touched by rainfall immediately contracts a disease that proves deadly for most, but causes bizarre effects for others.

Zombie Outbreak Via Mad Cow Disease (Zombieland)

Most of the best zombie movies do not even bother to explain how the dead rise from their graves and pass on an appetite for human flesh through bites. Leave it to a horror comedy movie like 2009's Zombieland to come up with a source of the carnage, which Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) reveals in his overhead narration to be a mutated strain of Mad Cow Disease.

Global Animal Attacks (Zoo)

Animals lack ego, ambition, and other qualities that keep humanity at the top of the food chain, but what if they suddenly gain a desire to take the planet back? Authors James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge envisioned this scenario in their 2012 novel, Zoo, which was later adapted into a short-lived CBS series of the same name. 

World War III (Equilibrium)

Writer and director Kurt Wimmer's Equilibrium imagines a society in which, in the aftermath of a brutal third World War, human emotion is medically suppressed by law, in addition to all art being banned. Yet, when John Preston (Christian Bale), whose profession involves maintaining order in his dystopian society, accidentally misses a dose, the emotional response leads him to join a resistance against his totalitarian state.

Overpopulation And High Pollution (Terra Nova)

With the world's population rising rapidly and the environment suffering as a result, an ordinary family searches for a new place to call home. They find what they need by traveling back to prehistoric times and joining Terra Nova, which is the eponymous colony from Fox's short-lived sci-fi series.

Vanishing Technology And Government (The Postman) 

If you missed the opening caption that indicates The Postman takes place 16 years in the future, you might be quick to assume this dystopian sci-fi flick is just another Kevin Costner-led Western. While the initial cause of the apocalypse in the 1997 thriller is never made clear, its lingering aftermath involves the complete erasure of modern technology, leaving people to travel by horse, for instance, and a rise in neo-feudalism.

Deadly Exposure To Sunlight (Into The Night)

In Netflix's Belgian sci-fi series Into the Night, the radiation from the Sun becomes too intense for humanity to withstand, causing anyone exposed to its light to drop dead where they stood. This event forces a group of airline passengers to fly wherever the sun has not risen for as long as they can.

Nuclear Holocaust (The Book Of Eli)

The desolate world from 2010's The Book of Eli was brought on by a nuclear disaster that caused a wide depletion of most natural resources... and religion, too. Denzel Washington stars in the title role of a drifter on a mission to bring the last Bible in existence to the right people, if he can survive the treacherous dystopian landscape.

Monsterization (Sweet Home)

Netflix's live-action adaptation of the webtoon Sweet Home takes place in a version of South Korea eradicated by a virus that turns humans into bizarre creatures in a process referred to as "monsterization." The series' hero, Cha Hyun-su (Song Kang), becomes infected by this disease in Season 1, but is one of the few to maintain human characteristics amid his transformation.

I try not to be a person of many grudges, as those sorts of feelings don’t exactly get you anywhere. But there’s a special place in my heart that harbors a good number of bad feelings pertaining to the cancellation of TV shows I really happened to dig. So pull up a chair and prepare, as I’m about to rattle off 32 TV cancellations I’m still mad about.

Alcatraz

One 13 episode season in 2012 was all we got of this supernatural mindbender, where prisoners that randomly disappeared from Alcatraz returned decades later. When this show vanished, it left one of its leads in a potentially fatal cliffhanger, and deprived the world of weekly doses of Sam Neill. 

The Last Tycoon

Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book of the same name, The Last Tycoon entertained Prime Video subscribers in 2017. Nine episodes was all we got of Matt Bomer’s tragically dreamy studio head, in a series that used old Hollywood to scratch the itch that Mad Men left behind. Scripts for Season 2 are sitting somewhere in writer Billy Ray’s office, waiting for someone to call “Action!”

Resident Evil

When your story depends on jumping back and forth between the present and the future, the gap in the middle is where the fun lies. And for Netflix’s Resident Evil, we’ll never get the full story about what the Wesker family went through between pre and post-apocalyptic events. Though with the untimely passing of Lance Reddick, it would have been daunting to find a new Albert to fill his shoes.

Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip

Aaron Sorkin’s dramedy take on the behind the scenes of an SNL clone failed to capture the energy of actually funny sketches. That could have easily been worked on, as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was a very effective drama, with Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford anchoring an amazing ensemble that included Amanda Peet and Sarah Paulson, among others.

Perry Mason

Perry Mason’s Season 2 finale became a series finale, thanks to HBO’s surprise cancellation. Which means Matthew Rhys’ titular detective will be cooling his heels in prison indefinitely, with no updates on how he picks up the pieces in the aftermath of his latest bombshell of a case. Another period-set beauty that’s been yanked too soon.

Westworld

One more season. That’s all Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy needed to close out Westworld properly. I don’t care if Season 4’s finale seems to tie things off, there was one more season of robot madness to be had, and as a Michael Crichton fan I feel cheated.

Lovecraft Country

While there were some serious rumors behind the possible reason for Lovecraft Country's cancellation, I still mourn what was supposed to happen in Season 2. With a radically different United States forming what Blavity reported to be the story behind Lovecraft Country: Supremacy, Mischa Green’s wild visions were too awesome to cancel this early.

Drive

There was a time when Fox was known for its cancel-happy nature, and 2007’s Drive was caught up in that era. An illegal cross-country race had several pairs of contestants racing for glory and survival, with Nathan Fillion, Melanie Lynskey, and Emma Stone among them. Only six episodes were made, with two being aired as online exclusives, and the overall story remaining unfulfilled.

Castle

You know it’s a problem when you’re an eight season show like Castle and your series finale is still a rush job. I still get whiplash when considering Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) going from a near fatal shooting to a happily ever after, one scene long time jump, set seven years into the future.

Counterpart

J.K. Simmons learning to live with his parallel universe self, in a Cold War-tinged espionage thriller. That’s all I should have to say when it comes to Starz’s Counterpart, which was cancelled after two seasons. This is the type of show that definitely should have had a longer life, even if it was just a five season wonder like Alias. 

Agent Carter

Somehow, somewhere in the ABC boardrooms, Agent Carter just wasn’t doing well enough to stay on the air. Meanwhile, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. went on for seven seasons. Not to knock that other series, but Hayley Atwell’s Sharon Carter deserved a lengthier run that enriched the MCU.

Human Target

Watching Human Target was, almost literally, a blast of weekly entertainment. Mark Valley, Jackie Earle Haley, and Chi McBride’s DC Comics action/comedy was light, fun, and packed with thrills. Each new assignment for their team was a treat to behold, and the “mission of the week” style varied things up enough that it was exciting to learn what was next.

Dark Angel

here was a mythos in play in James Cameron's Dark Angel, and plans for a third season of Jessica Alba’s genetically engineered hero Max already in the works. Cameron wrote and executive produced on the show, as well as directed what became the series finale for Season 2.

M.A.N.T.I.S.

Legendary actor Carl Lumbly got to be a TV superhero in M.A.N.T.I.S., and the role fit him like the suit that gave Dr. Miles Hawkins the ability to walk again. A superhero/man of science that flies around in a cool stealth ship and fights crime? And he’s played by Carl Lumbly? This two season epic never got its due, with a bummer ending supposedly closing the loop, and that’s an injustice.

Gentefied

I’m sensing the old fashioned Netflix 28-day viewership rule was what canned Gentefied, a glorious dramedy about the Morales family and their ups and downs in California. Celebrating the Latinx experience, while also focusing on the sociopolitical issues the family faced, it was a heartwarming as it was hysterical. 

I Am Not Okay With This

You shouldn’t legally be allowed to end a series like I Am Not Okay With This on a cliffhanger that massive. With Sydney (Sophia Lillis) moving into an uncertain future with her telekinetic powers, and after that shocking departure of a main character, Netflix’s one season wonder still has me wanting to see the next chapter.

Pen15

I got attached to Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle’s awkward adventures through middle school in Pen15. There was still a lot of ground for the girls to cover, and not having them around makes my Hulu subscription a little less funny.

I Love You America, With Sarah Silverman

Sarah Silverman’s I Love You, America was a mix of sketch comedy and discussion that tackled issues of the modern world in 2017. Running for only one season, it was a great compliment to other shows like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, as it helped us all see the world a bit clearer through laughter.

Free Agents

Remakes of international shows like Free Agents don’t always work. But when they do, it’s usually because of amazing teams like Hank Azaria and Kathryn Hahn. Playing co-workers awkwardly navigating a workplace romance, half of its 8 episodes aired on TV, until its cancellation.

The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien

The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien ended way too soon, full stop. NBC’s decision to revert the show to its previous host, Jay Leno, was one of the most upsetting late night decisions in history. A little over half a year was all Conan got in the big chair, but wow did he make it work. 

The Tick

Amazon’s attempt at making The Tick into a series was absolutely worth the time and energy given to making its two season run. Peter Serafinowicz and Griffin Newman’s The Tick and Arthur were a match made in comedy heaven, and the constant questioning of reality made it all even more enjoyable to follow. 

The Critic

Even before I became a professional entertainment journalist, The Critic was the type of sarcastic animated comedy I have always dug. Jon Lovitz’ Jay Sherman was bounced around between networks, and even got a short lived run of online shorts. None of it was ever enough, as the sharp writing and movie parodies never missed.

Mr. Mayor

NBC’s Mr. Mayor ended after two seasons, setting up the ultimate cliffhanger with Mayor Neil (Ted Danson) and Deputy Mayor Arpi (Holly Hunter) squaring off in a mayoral race for control of L.A. But at least Jayden (Bobby Moynihan) got some good news to close things out, which left me with one last precious laugh before the curtain. 

The Mick

Fox’s two-season sitcom The Mick was flat out hysterical on its own merit, as Kaitlin Olson’s irresponsible aunt made for a problematic babysitter. However, fan theories that it was secretly the show that It’s Always Sunny’s Sweet Dee imagined herself a part of in “The Gang Saves The Day” episode only makes me miss it that much more.

The Millers

Will Arnett, Beau Bridges, J.B. Smoove, and Margo Martindale formed a solid main bench for CBS’s The Millers, and to the show’s credit it did last two seasons. At the same time, that wasn’t nearly enough for me; and this is coming from someone who’s super picky about their sitcom preferences.

Mr. Sunshine

Matthew Perry running a sports arena sounds like a fun logline. The reality lived up to the potential, as one season of ABC’s Mr. Sunshine banked on Perry’s sarcastic charm. Surrounding him with co-stars like Andrea Anders, Nate Torrence, and Allison Janney only sweetened the pot, but the show didn’t even get to air all 13 episodes produced before cancellation.

A.P. Bio

A.P. Bio always seemed to be fighting to make the grade, even after making the jump from NBC to Peacock. Four seasons saw Glenn Howerton scheming to make his life better, while developing somewhat of a heart over time. Unfortunately, this series has sat down and shut up forever.

The Strain

The Strain was supposed to last for four to five seasons, with FX ultimately ending the series in Season 4. Adapting Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s trilogy depicting a vampire apocalypse, the trimmed episode orders and four season run was satisfying to a degree. At the same time, I still wonder what new twists could have happened in that phantom Season 5.

Firefly

Will the cancellation of Firefly ever be forgiven? I certainly don’t think so. Even with the confusing episode order and Fox’s lack of support for the show, the adventures of the Nathan Fillion-led crew of outlaws was pure joy. And no, Serenity didn’t curb my appetite for future chapters; it only made it grow.

The Crazy Ones

Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar as a father/daughter ad exec team was almost like capturing lightning in a bottle. CBS had that lightning with The Crazy Ones, and its single 22-episode season is all the proof one needed. For a sitcom to be this funny, and to have equally funny outtakes to run each week, is nothing short of a miracle.

Dark Shadows (Revival)

It wasn’t NBC’s fault that the Dark Shadows revival happened to debut at the same time the Gulf War was raging in 1991. Ratings were hard to secure, and we only got 12 episodes of Barnabas Collins (Ben Cross) and the supernatural/gothic happenings that surrounded his family. Don't expect the Johnny Depp reboot if you seek this one out, because this revival was closer to the serious tone of the original.

Quantum Leap (OG)

Look, I know we have the new Quantum Leap, and everyone wants the potential return of Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula). That still doesn’t make up for the final episode of NBC’s original series in 1993 ending with nothing but a title card telling us that Sam never made it home. Ziggy tells me that’s still 100% not cool, and needs to be fixed pronto.

And there you have it: a bushel of TV cancellations that still, to this day, has me wondering "what if..." It'll never stop either, as there's always a new series or an ongoing narrative just waiting to be plucked before its time. Again, while I don't like to hold grudges, it's almost a sure-fire conversation starter if you mention one of these shows while I'm around.

“Huluween” may be over but, with all the great horror TV shows on Hulu, it is still one of the best streaming services to subscribe to for a good scare no matter what time of year. If you have already seen all the best horror movies on Hulu but still crave some more lasting chills and thrills, take a look at these freaky series available with a Hulu subscription, which even includes a few new horror TV shows.

The House (2017)

Starring: Various

What it’s about: A house constructed from the wood of a mysterious tree serves as the setting for a series of creepy and strange tales.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Get a quick scare from the short stories presented in The House – a Hulu-exclusive collection of short films connected by the eerie eponymous establishment.

• Stream The House on Hulu

The Fades (2011)

Starring: Iain De Caestecker, Daniel Kaluuya

What it’s about: A young man becomes the only hope for humanity when he sees visions of the end of the world and the evil spirits that will cause it.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: One of Daniel Kaluuya’s best performances before Get Out can be seen on The Fades – creator Jack Thorne’s creepy, acclaimed U.K. miniseries.

• Stream The Fades on Hulu

Parasyte: The Maxim (2014)

Starring: Nobunaga Shimazaki, Aya Hirano

What it’s about: A teenager learns how to coexist with a parasitic alien that has infected his hand.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: One of the most beloved adaptations of Hitoshi Iwaaki’s popular manga is Parasyte: The Maxim – a supremely bizarre Japanese anime series that is not afraid to get a little wacky, too.

• Stream Parasyte: The Maxim on Hulu

Goosebumps (2023-Present)

Starring: Justin Long, David Schwimmer

What it’s about: A group of high school students must overcome their differences in order to stop an evil force they accidentally unleashed in their town.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Hulu and Disney+’s Goosebumps, which is now in Season 2, ditches the anthology route and raises the stakes a bit higher than the target demographic for R.L. Stine’s original book series might be used to.

• Stream Goosebumps on Hulu

Reginald The Vampire (2022-2024)

Starring: Jacob Batalon, Mandela Van Peebles

What it’s about: An underachieving young man gains a new lease on life when he is turned into a creature of the night.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: From developer Harley Peyton, Reginald the Vampire is an endearingly funny take on vampire lore based on a series of books by Johnny B. Truant.

• Stream Reginald The Vampire on Hulu

Helstrom (2020)

Starring: Tom Austen, Sydney Lemmon, Elizabeth Marvel

What it’s about: The son and daughter of a powerful, notorious murderer use their unique skills to search for and destroy dark forces.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Paul Zbyszewski takes inspiration from the Marvel Comics characters Hellstorm and Satana to create Helstrom – a gritty supernatural drama that lasted one season on Hulu.

• Stream Helstrom on Hulu

The UnXplained (2019-Present)

Starring: William Shatner

What it’s about: UFOs, ghost sightings, curses, and other bizarre topics are explored in this docuseries.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: The History Channel’s The UnXplained is an entertaining exploration of various bizarre and unsettling phenomena that experts still struggle to understand to this day.

• Stream The UnXplained on Hulu

SurrealEstate (2021-Present)

Starring: Tim Rozon, Sarah Levy

What it’s about: A team of real estate agents takes on the specialized task of removing evil presences from their clients’ homes in order to make them more fitting for a good sale.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: The clever idea of realtors who double as paranormal investigators is explored in SurrealEstate.

• Stream SurrealEstate on Hulu

American Horror Stories (2021-Present)

Starring: Various

What it’s about: A family experiencing a unique disconnect when moving into a house with a deadly history, a drive-in facing a disaster when screening an infamous horror movie, and a job interview for a doll manufacturer having an unexpected turnout are just some of the twisted tales explored in this series.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Fans of American Horror Story that prefer their anthologies to take things one story per episode will find exactly what they are looking for in the Hulu exclusive spin-off, American Horror Stories.

• Stream American Horror Stories on Hulu

Teen Wolf (2011-2017)

Starring: Tyler Posey, Dylan O’Brien

What it’s about: An average teenager becomes swept up in the world of the supernatural after a fateful bite turns him into a half-man, half-animal hybrid.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Developer Jeff Davis’ much darker reinterpretation of one of the best Michael J. Fox movies, Teen Wolf, would become one of the most acclaimed and most popular MTV original series in recent memory and later inspired a feature-length continuation exclusive to Paramount+.

• Stream Teen Wolf on Hulu

Scream Queens (2015-2016)

Starring: Emma Roberts, Keke Palmer, Abigail Breslin, Billie Lourd

What it’s about: The members of an already dysfunctional college sorority really begin to turn on each other when they are stalked by a masked killer and, later, fall prey to another elusive murderer after they are hired on to the staff of their dean’s new hospital.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: American Horror Story co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk tried their hand at a more humorous and location-based attempt at the anthology horror TV show structure with Scream Queens – a title they earned by casting the most famous of the horror movie Scream Queens, Jamie Lee Curtis.

• Stream Scream Queens on Hulu

Wayward Pines (2015-2016)

Starring: Matt Dillon, Carla Gugino

What it’s about: The search for a pair of missing federal agents leads a Secret Service agent toward a strange small town that soon proves to be harder to leave than one would assume.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: From producer M. Night Shyamalan, developer Chad Hodge’s series adaptation of Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines book trilogy is an engrossingly suspenseful mindbender that fans of Twin Peaks might get a kick out of.

• Stream Wayward Pines on Hulu

Monsterland (2020)

Starring: Various

What it’s about: A socially isolated teen having an unexpected and unwelcome encounter, a successful business executive at risk of losing everything for past mistakes, and a married couple struggling to overcome their own consuming grief are just three of these eight tales about redemption by uncomfortable and especially unexplainable means.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Largely inspired by the stories in Nathan Ballingrund’s book, North American Lake Monsters, the Hulu original anthology series, Monsterland – featuring No One Will Save You star Kaitlyn Dever – takes a cue from The Twilight Zone by exploring the darker sides of humanity through a grim and fantastic lens.

• Stream Monsterland on Hulu

Castle Rock (2018-2019)

Starring: Andre Holland, Lizzy Caplan, Bill Skarsgård

What it’s about: A small town in Maine lives up to its grim reputation after a lawyer (played by Andre Holland) returns to defend a man (played by Bill Skarsgård) secretly held captive for decades, and later when a desperate single mother (played by Lizzy Caplan) makes an emergency stop that sets off a horrifying chain of events.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: The titular community of Castle Rock refers to a fictional place that shows up in many stories by horror master Stephen King, whose most famous characters are either directly involved or cleverly referenced in each of the two multi-episodic arcs explored in this beautifully crafted, prematurely canceled seasonal anthology.

• Stream Castle Rock on Hulu

American Horror Story (2011-Present)

Starring: Various

What it’s about: Witness patients of a sadistic mental hospital fighting for their sanity (and lives), traveling roadshow performers struggling with their own “gifts” (among other things), teenage campers having the worst summer ever, and more stories that boggle the mind and challenge the senses in one of the most acclaimed horror anthology TV shows of all time.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, and others make up the cast of recurring actors who play a variety of characters that span decades, and even planes of existence, in American Horror Story – Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s collection of exhilarating, psychosexual, multi-episodic thrillers which will keep you from looking at the genre the same way ever again.

• Stream American Horror Story on Hulu

The X-Files (1993-2018)

Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson

What it’s about: FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully often have differing opinions of the cases they are assigned, but what neither of them can deny is just how strange they tend to be.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: From UFO conspiracies, cryptid sightings, urban legends, and other various encounters out of the ordinary, The X-Files – creator Chris Carter’s phenomenal marriage of crime procedurals with science fiction and fantasy – never fails to deliver some truly bizarre and harrowing sights that will haunt you long after you finish all 11 seasons.

• Stream The X-Files on Hulu.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan

What it’s about: A teenage girl striving for an average life instead must accept her destiny as a warrior against demons, bloodsuckers, and all forms of evil with help from her friends and the school librarian.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Unlike Mulder and Scully, the title character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer – a darker series update of the 1992 horror comedy movie – chases after the supernatural with a more direct and forceful approach that amounts to a stellar and plenty frightening display of monster-hunting fun over seven hit seasons.

• Stream Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Hulu

The Strain (2014-2017)

Starring: Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Kevin Durand

What it’s about: A CDC researcher is in over his head with the discovery of a virus, originating from a commercial jet that mysteriously appeared in New York, that slowly begins to turn those infected into undead creatures of the night.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s series adaptation of their own trilogy of horror novels (the first of which is titled The Strain), takes a more complex and scientific approach to exploring vampire lore and the cataclysmic effect it would have on humanity.

• Stream The Strain on Hulu

The Purge (2018-2019)

Starring: Gabriel Chavarria, Derek Luke

What it’s about: A not-too-distant future in which all crime, including murder, is legal for one 12-hour period each year is seen through the eyes of several loosely connected Americans just trying to stay alive past sunrise.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: The two-season run of this USA original offers an arguably more fascinating and poignant exploration of the sociopolitical message of the popular franchise of The Purge movies it is spun-off from by its brutal depiction of a society torn apart by its own people.

• Stream The Purge on Hulu

What We Do In The Shadows (2019-Present)

Starring: Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasha Demetriou, Harvey Guillén, Mark Proksch

What it’s about: A camera crew follows a group of seemingly easy-going vampires and their human familiar to examine what life is like for the undead in Staten Island.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: This series expands on the concept of one of the best horror-comedy movies – Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s hilarious mockumentary, What We Do in the Shadows – by offering even more brilliant and insightful satire on the mythology pioneered by Bram Stoker.

• Stream What We Do in the Shadows on Hulu

Bite Size Halloween (2020-2022)

Starring: Various

What it’s about: Get a quick scare with these shorts about a lonely teenage girl discovering she is not so alone at an empty basketball court, a desperate man searching for purpose through a DNA research company, a cruel prankster receiving his ultimate comeuppance, and many more.

Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: As the title suggests, Bite Size Halloween is a collection of films exclusive to Hulu that last mere minutes, but offer enough screams, and even laughs, to last you long after that.

• Stream Bite Size Halloween on Hulu

What do you think? Is Hulu your new go-to hub for a blood-curdling binge, or will it take a lot more than any of these series to scare you?

Resident Evil is one of those horror franchises that I have been following for a very long time, and now that a new series popped up as a Netflix TV show as part of the 2022 TV schedule, I binged all eight episodes within a day. While it’s very different from the video games that I grew up with, I will agree that there are plenty of elements to the show that fans can find in other TV shows as well. 

If you’re like me and got through those eight episodes very quickly - or are just looking for something else with plenty of guts and zombies and monsters - check out some of these great picks. 

The Walking Dead (Netflix)

When it comes to zombies, this is the ultimate show to watch. The hit AMC series, The Walking Dead, has been airing for eleven seasons, primarily following a group of survivors in a world that is covered with zombie-like creatures called “walkers,” and their endless mission to try and survive. 

The Walking Dead has truly become a staple of television, and if you liked Resident Evil for all of those monsters, this is the go-to show to see. From some of its best villains to its most heartbreaking deaths, to the characters we have come to love or the ones that have truly become some of the best ones on television, The Walking Dead has it all. It’s one of those shows that as soon as you turn it on, you won’t be able to stop watching. 

Stream The Walking Dead on Netflix.

Yellowjackets (Showtime)

Next up, we have the impeccable Showtime series, Yellowjackets. This show, taking place between two duel timelines, in 1996 and the present day, follows a girl’s soccer team when they get stranded in the Rocky Mountains - and now, where their secrets of the past could be exposed. 

Let me tell you - from the moment I began watching this show, I was hooked. Like, the definition of hooked. For fans of Resident Evil, you’ll love the survival aspect, but this show is so much more psychological and has twists and turns that will truly make you sit on the edge of your seat. I know I was. And let’s not even get started on the incredible Yellowjackets cast. Truly, such talent.

Stream Yellowjackets on Showtime.

All Of Us Are Dead (Netflix)

I could go on for hours about this new Netflix South Korean horror show. All Of Us Are Dead is a TV series that follows a group of students who are trapped within the walls of a high school as a zombie outbreak begins. Now, it’s up to them to find a way to get help. 

When I first began watching All Of Us Are Dead, I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I did, but I can fully say that this show is one of the best horror TV shows of the last decade, and one of the best zombie TV shows that have come out in a long time - up there with The Walking Dead. The young cast is great, the storyline incredible, and already, a Season 2 is on the way. For fans of those zombies in Resident Evil, you’ll love the ones here. 

Stream All Of Us Are Dead on Netflix.

The 100 (Netflix)

I feel like this is one not a lot of people know about, but I need to talk about. The 100 is a fantastic CW show that follows a group of delinquents - known as ‘the 100’ - who are sent down from space back to earth, hundreds of years after a nuclear apocalypse, to see if it is habitable again. 

For fans of Resident Evil, what really makes this show better than some of the others on here is the dystopian aspect. I love the dystopian world in this show, and it truly has some of the most well-crafted storylines and interesting characters that I have seen the CW do in a long time. The 100 cast is also incredibly talented as well, and some of the action scene are badass. Seriously - Octavia is my queen. Or, rather, Blodreina.

Stream The 100 on Netflix.

The Strain (Hulu) 

Next up, we have the FX show, The Strain. In this supernatural series, a doctor and his team are called in to examine a strange outbreak of a curious virus - a virus that apparently turns people into vampires, dating back ages and opening up more mysteries at each turn. 

The monsters in The Strain are truly terrifying, which is what I really like for fans of Resident Evil. They’re scary, well-crafted, and something that will haunt your nightmares. But I think what I like the most about The Strain is that while it is a scary show at its core, there is so much drama and so much story to it. I mean, it was co-created by a master of horror himself, Guillermo del Toro, so I would expect nothing less. 

Stream The Strain on Hulu.

Supernatural (Netflix)

Now this is my show. Supernatural is an incredible fantasy series that follows the Winchester brothers, Dean and Sam, who end up following in their father’s footsteps of hunting down anything that’s spooky and scary, from demons and ghosts, to vampires and monsters, to anything else you can think of - all while looking good doing it. 

This show ran for fifteen seasons. Fifteen seasons, and it became the longest-running fantasy TV series in America. It was hugely popular, featuring a talented Supernatural cast and monsters that could sometimes rival the terrifying ones of Resident Evil. But what you’ll really like about Supernatural is the comedy and the wit between these two brothers. I swear, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki have some of the best on-screen chemistry I’ve seen in years. 

Stream Supernatural on Netflix.

Z-Nation (Netflix)

If you want a good drama mixed in with some comedy, check out Z Nation. In this show, taking place many years after the initial zombie outbreak, a group of survivors is tasked with getting a man all the way across America - a man who just might end up being the cure for the whole damn thing. 

Z Nation has some great zombies and horror action, which is perfect for fans of Resident Evil, but what I like the most about it is that it’s a lot funnier than some of the other picks on this list - I’d say up there with Supernatural. It’s witty, fun, and enjoyable, and with four seasons to watch, you’ll enjoy it from beginning to end. It almost reminds me of a funnier version of The Last Of Us - which is conveniently getting its own TV show soon. 

Stream Z-Nation on Netflix.

Helix (Hulu)

In this series, Helix follows scientists who work for the CDC and travel down to the Arctic in order to investigate a sudden outbreak that has turned viral, but as they’re down there, they find out that this could be a hell of a lot more deadly than any of them ever thought - and it’s up to them to figure out how to stop it. 

Like Resident Evil, this show does have some pretty creepy zombies, but I think what fans will like more is that Helix leans a little closer into how corporations can impact a zombie outbreak, which is a pretty big theme of Resident Evil. And with two seasons to watch, it’s a great story from start to finish. 

Stream Helix on Hulu.

The Witcher (Netflix)

Next up on this list, we have The Witcher, a popular Netflix original series that follows Geralt of Rivia, a witcher who can slay humans as well as he can monsters - and is soon tasked with taking care of a little girl named Ciri, running into witches, warlocks, and everything in between. 

While The Witcher is way more fantasy than horror, some of the monsters in this are freaking terrifying, which is perfect for fans of Resident Evil. However, I do enjoy the drama, as well as the costumes and scenery, and I love The Witcher cast, as well. It’s one of Netflix’s most popular shows, so you know they’re doing something right with it. It’s a fun one, for sure. 

Stream The Witcher on Netflix.

iZombie (Netflix)

Last but not least, we have iZombie. In this fun dramedy, we follow a doctor who ends up turning into a zombie - but not a complete one - almost a half human/half zombie. However, she ends up using this to her advantage by taking a job at the morgue and eating the brains of the dead bodies - and in turn inherits some of their personality/memories for a little bit, which helps solve murder cases. 

As always, there are plenty of zombie hijinks in this show for fans of Resident Evil, but man I love the comedy. This show is so funny and it’s not even a contest between this and some of the other horror dramedies on here. iZombie takes the zombie genre in a whole different direction and will really make you laugh your ass off. 

Stream iZombie on Netflix.

Zombies, guts, monsters, oh my! All of these picks would be the absolute best options for you to enjoy, and no matter what, you are going to get a hell of a ride out of any one you pick. Now, if you don’t mind me, I’m going to go and re-watch The Walking Dead for the umpteenth time before those final episodes come out. 

Horror has seen several big, lasting trends come and go with varying degrees of notoriety, from monster movies in the ’50s to the height of the slasher in the ‘80s, but the zombie has never been more popular than after the dawn of The Walking Dead. When the series, inspired by Robert Kirkman’s long-running Image comic book series, debuted on AMC on Halloween in 2010, a new generation of fans obsessed with apocalyptic horror dramas spread faster than an outbreak of flesh-eating corpses ever could.

Now, after years on the air, spawning two spin-off series and a movie centered on former series lead Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, The Walking Dead is just one of countless TV shows about zombies, the apocalypse, or both at your disposal. Even if you no longer follow the adventures of Norman Reedus’ Daryl Dixon and the rest of the rotating cast of Walker fighters, there is still plenty of options to satisfy your craving for survivalist drama that ranges from the disturbingly real to the hilariously absurd, even.

Fans of The Walking Dead need not worry when the series will eventually reach its end because there are several TV shows like it available to stream right now. To help narrow down your search, I have 10 recommendations to choose from prepared for you here.

Z Nation (Netflix)

If you are a fan of The Walking Dead, you probably live and breathe fiction revolving around the dead. The series may be the one zombie show that takes the cake in popularity in critical acclaim, but that is no reason to ignore this overlooked gem about a world overrun by reanimated corpses.

Not to be confused with Ulli Lommel’s much lambasted B-movie Zombie Nation, Z Nation takes place three years after an outbreak of undead flesh eaters has turn the United States into a wasteland of carnage and despair, until the discovery of one person immune to the plague sparks some newfound hope for a group of everyday heroes determined to make America a land for the living again. Lasting five seasons on Syfy, this series that is equal parts bloody drama and zany comedy is a breath of fresh air, but if The Walking Dead’s earnestness is what you really crave, try the Netflix exclusive Z Nation prequel, Black Summer. Stream it on Netflix here.

The Strain (Hulu)

Zombies are usually the first creature you think of when picturing a cataclysmic, viral outbreak transforming humans into ravenous monsters. Because, of course, the more sophisticated, suave vampire would never cause the fall of civilization, right? Not in the mind of Guillermo del Toro.

Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan adapted their own book trilogy into this FX series, which lasted four season, about an epidemic that slowly transforms most of humanity into grotesque, animalistic bloodsuckers. Corey Stoll plays a CDC employee who fails the contain the vampiric virus in The Strain and becomes humanity’s last hope in this chilling, complex survivalist horror drama. Stream it on Hulu here.

Dead Set (Netflix)

There are not enough stories these days that act on the potential for zombies to represent an underlying meaning that goes deeper than how far their teeth sink into human flesh, much like Night of the Living Dead and its subsequent spiritual follow-ups did. With that in mind, I guess you can call Charlie Brooker, the creator of Black Mirror and this satirical horror miniseries, the new George A. Romero.

Dead Set follows a group of contestants participating in the British version of Big Brother, unaware of the gory, apocalyptic madness happening right outside their camera-rigged home. In addition to its bloody thrills, the five episodes of this program, which originally aired on the U.K.’s Channel 4 in 2008, also poke fun at the manipulative mastery that takes place behind-the-scenes of shows that just barely earn the right to be called “reality television.” If you like your horror with a dash of ironically funny symbolism, this is for you. Stream it on Netflix here.

The Mist (Netflix)

Where were you when you first witnessed the ending of Frank Darabont’s 2007 adaptation of the Stephen King novella The Mist? Were you like me and thought the shockingly devastating moment was the perfect conclusion to the film chronicling a group of people trapped in grocery store when a mysterious mist hiding a deadly threat rolls into their town, or would you have rather seen things go in a different direction?

Well, you certainly will not find the same ending of in this 2017 series adaptation of The Mist, which takes liberties with a new setting and cast of characters, because Spike TV (now the Paramount Network) cancelled it after one season. Despite its premature axing, like The Walking Dead, this is a boldly intense story of survival that puts the morality of its victimized protagonists into question, keeping you guessing where who the real enemy is. Stream it on Netflix here.

Band of Brothers (HBO NOW, Amazon Prime)

The concept of the zombie apocalypse may be one that only exists in fiction, however, the struggle to survive in a hellish environment with death at every turn is a harsh reality for many. That description matches the experiences of the men who inspired Band of Brothers, the Golden Globe-winning HBO miniseries from producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who had previously exposed the horrors of World War II in Saving Private Ryan.

Featuring interviews with the actual veterans who inspired the story, Band of Brothers follows these young patriots, played by such recognizable faces as Donnie Wahlberg, Damian Lewis, and Michael Fassbender, from the beginning of their training to final days of WWII over the course of 10 fascinating and often heartbreaking episodes. It is one of the most acclaimed, authentic, and ultimately upsetting war epics of all time. Stream it on Amazon Prime here or HBO NOW here.

3% (Netflix)

Even after the global collapse of civilization, in The Walking Dead, survivors of the zombie outbreak have managed establish their own functioning communities, some with differing levels of class that certain people are barred from. The concept of a class-based divide in the wake of the apocalypse is also explored explored in 3%.

With themes reminiscent of The Hunger Games, this Brazilian Netflix original series is set on the uninhabitable wasteland that Earth has become, prompting the ensemble cast of young characters to fiercely compete to be one of the three percent allowed entry to the “better side.” With three seasons currently available, 3% is a clever, intense dystopian drama that forces the viewer to ask if they would have what it takes to survive hell. Stream it on Netflix here.

Vikings (Hulu)

In a time of danger, desperation, and distrust, the only thing more important than the battle against the undead is the battle for territory, as survivors struggle to claim the most efficient safe haven as their own no matter the cost. Of course, in the 13th Century, conquering territory was just another day at work for some.

In 2013, The History Channel introduced its first scripted series, Vikings, which initially followed Ragnar Lothbok (Travis Fimmel), one of the fiercest warriors of his time according to Norse legend, as he and fellow Vikings plunder and take control of whatever land they wish. The thrilling series from fact-based drama auteur Michael Hirst (The Tudors, Elizabeth) is currently in its sixth and final season, but an original spin-off, Vikings: Valhalla, is coming soon to Netflix. Stream it on Hulu here.

Deadwood (HBO NOW, Amazon Prime)

In any group of survivors of apocalyptic trauma, there is always an alpha male (or female) to take leadership and, consequently, one black sheep who questions their authority. This theme has been touched upon many, many times in The Walking Dead, from Rick Grimes’ tragic clash with his former friend and partner Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) to Rick’s quarrel with the sinister Governor (David Morrissey), and also runs deep in the western Deadwood.

Inspired by the lives of actual residents of the titular South Dakota town in the 1870s, the central conflict of Deadwood is between lawman Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant), who wants to free the town of the crime and corruption that consumes it, and saloon owner Al Swearengen (a Golden Globe-winning performance by Ian McShane), who is essentially the Devil taking ownership of the Hell that Deadwood has become for its citizens. In three Emmy-winning seasons and a TV movie to tie a few loose ends, this HBO series provided viewers with an intense story and a brutal reminder of why they called it the Wild West. Stream it on Amazon Prime here or on HBO NOW here.

Fortitude (Amazon Prime)

One of the most striking elements of The Walking Dead’s pilot, directed by developer Frank Darabont, is how it depicts society’s transition from an average, picturesque society to a dismal, cataclysmic aftermath in a snap, reflecting how fast the outbreak and its delimitating effects must have seemed to the survivors. The titular town of the Amazon exclusive series Fortitude also falls victim to an unprecedented event that quickly turns life for its citizens upside down.

Fortitude, a peaceful arctic community with a non-existent criminal record, is shaken by discovery of a brutal murder, convincing the viewer that they are in store for a crime thriller, until that crime ends up becoming the first of a series of increasingly disturbing (and very strange) events. Starring a talented ensemble cast, including Dennis Quaid (who joined in the second of its three seasons), this British import is an addictive thriller with a relentlessly grim atmosphere and unpredictable characters that always keep you on edge. Stream it on Amazon Prime here.

Ash Vs. Evil Dead (Neftlix)

In The Walking Dead, hunting formerly human creatures of monstrous ability is an unquestionably taxing, devastating, and thankless task. For Ash Williams, it’s a hobby he takes full pleasure in, especially when equipped with a chainsaw to replace his right hand and a boomstick.

Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead franchise, which ranges from pure terror to cartoonish absurdity, sees its most perfectly executed marriage of horror with slapstick in Ash vs. Evil Dead, which puts Bruce Campbell’s selfish, absent-minded titular hero, accompanied by his S-Mart colleagues Pablo (Ray Santiago) and Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo), in another war with the demonic “Deadites” that lasts three seasons. Campbell actually retired the character of Ash Williams following Starz’s cancellation of the series in 2018, but this irresistibly absurd and unapologetically gory splatterfest is one groovy send-off. Hail to the king, baby. Stream it on Netflix here.

What do you think of our list? Do these series satisfying the Walking Dead fan in you, or did we leave out your other favorite zombie show? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for more updates on the apocalyptic AMC series and additional TV horror here on CinemaBlend.

A little over $19 million isn't a huge amount of money when you're making a film, especially one that's as gorgeous as Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water. But if you're a director who can be good at stretching a budget, and who also happens to be one of the driving forces behind a cable TV show like The Strain, you can get pretty resourceful. Which is exactly what del Toro did with his latest passion project, when he realized he could stretch the budget further if The Shape of Water used sets from The Strain. He said:

This surprising fact came from a Q&A that Guillermo del Toro gave held by Film Independent (via io9) in support of The Shape of Water's eventual rollout nationwide. If you're a fan of FX's The Strain, you probably recognized some of the sets that were showcased throughout the film. Mainly, the OCCAM laboratory control room looks severely close to the layout of the New York Office of Emergency Management set that the Safe Streets Initiative used to hunt the Strigoi menace. For reference, take a look at the following shot from The Shape of Water:

Now take a look at this shot from The Strain:

While not confirmed, when I was watching, I thought the build of the "fishbowl" that Michael Shannon lords over his OCCAM underlings from looks to be the same office that various cast members from The Strain share some particularly tense meetings during season 3. So seeing as the set was scheduled for some downtime between, presumably, Seasons 3 and 4 of The Strain, what better way to keep everything nice and clean than to make a major motion picture? Then again, this sort of aesthetic shouldn't be a surprise, as The Shape of Water's director has always had a smaller budget mindset.

Even as recently as when he was putting together Crimson Peak, Guillermo del Toro has seen that the best way to make a passion project like this is to produce a film that can be made with a lower, more manageable budget. In addition to the assist that The Strain sets and crews lent to the proceedings, del Toro also reused extras throughout the film, as KCRW's The Business reported during their interview with the director. So in one scene, a cast member could be wearing something that looks like it comes out of a Setrakian flashback, and the next they could be wearing a lab coat that looks like it comes directly from a shady medical lab that serves the Strigoi their precious blood supply.

All of this clever repurposing of assets looks to have worked out, as The Shape of Water's modest weeks of debut have almost completely recouped the budget. But more importantly, Guillermo del Toro's film looks to be an awards season frontrunner, with a surprising amount of accolades in its tank. And all it cost was $19.3 million, which by the way, was after del Toro returned $200k to Fox Searchlight, as he came in short of the original $19.5 million funding level. Gotta love a smart shopper!

You can see every penny on the screen, and then some, when you see The Shape of Water, which is currently in theaters nationwide.

The Strain finished its fourth and final season earlier this year, and fans finally got to see the end of the story that was building and escalating for a long time. Fortunately for those fans, the Strain entertainment isn't entirely done yet just because the series finale has aired on FX. The fourth season (along with the entire series) will be available on DVD starting December 12, and it will be packed with all kinds of killer special features. Check out the first look at the gag reel for The Strain Season 4, which manages to put a hilarious twist on the final batch of episodes that weren't exactly chock full of laughs:

The final season of The Strain was intense and intriguing as it tied off loose ends and brought big plots to conclusions, and there wasn't always a ton of time for humor. Luckily, the gag reel reveals that there were still plenty of laughs behind the scenes for the cast and crew.

There's nothing like dropping a prop weapon in the middle of a fight sequence to bring on a case of the giggles, especially when the weapon that looks fierce on the show bounces off a wall in rubbery glory. It's definitely always fun to see somebody in vampire makeup just completely breaking character and cracking up, and what better way to add some fun to filming than by snoring in the middle of a take?

Obviously The Strain got pretty heavy in certain parts of Season 4, so the silly twist on the season thanks to this gag reel clip is definitely refreshing. The gag reel won't be the only special feature on the DVD set either. In addition to the bloopers, you can find deleted scenes, featurettes covering everything from Dutch and Setrakian to the baby factory to the grand finale. A "Coping with This Strain" therapy session special feature will be included as well. If you loved The Strain, the box set should be for you.

All things considered, there's plenty to discover and talk about regarding The Strain, even if the series has come to an end. Fans had a lot to process from the final season. You can get The Strain Season 4 and the Complete Series box set on DVD starting on December 12 from retailers like Amazon everywhere. To relive the journey from start to finish and watch some killer special features, be sure to check the sets out.

For what you can watch in primetime now that The Strain has come to an end, swing by our fall TV guide and our 2018 midseason TV premiere schedule. For the other shows that aired their final seasons in 2017, take a gander at our rundown of all the TV cancellations of the past year.

It's that time of year when we are all busy visiting family, attending holiday functions and, of course, shelling out an exceptional amount of money to show our friends and family just how much we love them. Here at CinemaBlend, we won't tell you what sweater to buy your uncle, what watch would best suit your partner, or what heartwarming gift will bring tears to your mother's eyes. However, we're pretty confident that when it comes to recommending home entertainment sets, we've seen all the good stuff this year, and as such, we're happy to share our (super-opinionated and kind of nerdy) knowledge.

This year there were some big new entries and some rereleases in the home entertainment department. These aren't the type of Blu-ray, DVD and Digital releases that make your average stocking stuffer, but they please those movie and TV lovers who are collector's at heart. In addition, if you'd like to take a look at what we recommended last year, head here.

Firefly: 15th Anniversary Collector's Edition

There are a lot of products out there for avid Firefly fans, including book sets, key chains and tons of similar memorabilia. While it's difficult to believe it, Firefly turned 15 this year (or alternatively got cancelled 15 years ago, depending on how you want to look at it). To commemorate the release, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has given the show the due it really deserves with the Firefly: 15th Anniversary Collector's Edition, which come with a slew of fun extras, collectible packaging and even a quote on the back that reads, 'Find a Crew. Find a job. Keep flying. Fans of the previous 2008 Blu-ray won't have new extras on the disks, but there is a map of the United Alliance of Planets and some fun trading cards. It's the perfect starter set for anyone looking to meet Captain Mal and the rest of the gang. Order your own copy of the set.

Who This Set Is Perfect For: Browncoats, Browncoats, Browncoats. Oh, and maybe the occasional Castle fan.

Transformers: 5-Movie Collection

Paramount's Transformer movies have certainly gone through a lot of changes over time. We've seen casting changes with the humans in the movies and new characters introduced. There have been some intriguing storylines dangled in front of us, as well. If you've ever wanted to see the movies in continuity or watch the flicks over and over again, you can do so with the 5-movie collection, which includes Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Age of Extinction and the most recent entry Transformers: The Last Knight. The movie is basically a repacking of the flicks, and The Last Knight comes with its own bonus disc, but it's certainly a handy way to keep the Transformers movies on-hand. Order your own copy of the set; this one's a stocking stuffer!

Who This Set Is Perfect For: People who are pumped for the Bumblebee spinoff, all your kids, those who want to relive some of the top big budget Michael Bay moments.

Dirty Dancing 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition

One of the truest gift sets this year, the Lionsgate Dirty Dancing 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition is a beautiful set. The packaging is sturdy and opens up to a shot of Baby dancing with Johnny. If you open the set even further you'll find your very own room key for Kellerman's, a slew of dance cards that will teach you the salsa, etc., and even a script for the movie. The Blu-ray is hidden underneath all that fun stuff. Once you "unlock" the key so to speak, there are even more hidden gems, including a satchel, a Do Not Disturb sign and some faux postcards. None of this is practical, of course, but it's still very enchanting. Quotes even adorn the back of the box. If the set has a con, it's going to take up a lot of space on the shelf, but given no restrictions, this set for superfans is a must-buy. Order your own copy of this beaut.

Who This Set Is Perfect For: Anyone who has ever attempted this dance lift, anyone who can quote at least one Dirty Dancing line--and if you don't know "Nobody puts Baby in a corner," we'd be shocked. Anyone in love with this era of eighties movies and Jennifer Grey.

The Strain: The Complete Series

The Strain was always seen as a limited event series, and executive producer Carlton Cuse once stated the FX show was designed to play out across five seasons. It didn't quite get that far, and FX ultimately decided to wrap up the show at the end of Season 4, after being given shortened episode counts that "supercharged" the series. This new collection is coming along with The Strain: The Complete Fourth Season DVD and Blu-ray releases on December 12. So, if you've always been a fan of this well-liked series, this set is certainly time to buy. New bonus features with the fourth season include traditional stuff like a gag reel and deleted scenes. However, 11 featurettes are also included that will give you a look at "The Baby Factor" (their words, not ours) and will even delve into the finale and how the show chose to wrap things up. Don't strain yourself too hard looking for this set; you can find it right here.

Who This Set is Perfect For: Here at CinemaBlend, we have a lot of The Strain superfans. This set is for you, Strain superfans. May the show with one of the grossest promotional posters ever live on through this boxed set.

DC Universe Original Movies: 10th Anniversary Collection

This limited edition set is individually numbered and first hit shelves just a few weeks ago. It's sort of like the comprehensive Bond 50 set that came out a few years ago, although with very different subject matter, and includes 30 animated films and an additional 5 animated shorts. It also has a slew of Comic-Con footage from years past (including a 2017 panel), a full documentary, Mark Hamill footage and plenty of other bonus features on an extra disc. That's just the base facts of this set, though. The fact is, it features well over 30 hours of movies, and is arguably a better box set than anything DC has released in years. If you've been keeping tabs on DC's animation at all, the track record for quality is insane, and the set consolidated a lot of meaty material in one package. I could even gush on and on about the book-like packaging for each of the Blu-rays and the 3-collector coins hidden underneath. (I won't be I definitely could) Oh, and there are coloring pages, because people who like DC also like coloring, OK? The 10th Anniversary Collection doesn't come cheap, but it's also comprehensive. Check it out.

Who This Set Is Perfect For: DC Fans, of course. Specifically, those already up on the R and PG-13 animated projects DC has been putting out. This set is topnotch. It's a pretty damn good holiday gift.

Samurai Jack: The Complete Series

One of the few big box office sets this holiday season that also comes with a Digital copy of the series, Adult Swim and Cartoon Network's comprehensive Samurai Jack: The Complete Series set comes with all five seasons of the series, a feat made possible despite the fact the show took a hiatus of nearly 15 years and switched to Adult Swim upon its return. Previous releases of the early seasons of Samurai Jack have also been DVD offerings, making this High Definition release more enticing. If that's not enough, there's new cover art for each season, and the set comes with cool original metal plate artwork. Here's how you can nab a copy.

Who This Set Is Perfect For: Avid Adult Swim watchers, anyone excited for Samurai Jack's big return earlier this year, anyone who gets suckered in by some cool artwork, etc.

The Godfather Trilogy: Omerta Edition

Another limited edition set with a shiny gold number on the front, Paramount's latest release of The Godfather Trilogy. The trilogy of movies have been previously released with the same in-depth special features, but similar to some of the other gift sets in this holiday gift guide, it's some of the exclusive fun new collectibles that make this set so shiny. Well, that and the beautiful gold typeface that will make this set look good on any shelf. As for the collectibles, there's new magnetic poetry, an "Anatomy of a Scene foldout," and even fun new trivia cards that should make a holiday get-together a bit more amusing. Character cards with quotes are also included.

Who This Set is Perfect For: Anyone who has ever quoted The Godfather to you and doesn't yet own The Godfather trilogy, anyone who is enticed by gifts with shiny gold font.

The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Series

Warner Bros.' The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Series has been a long time coming. The long-running CW series made it through eight seasons of a changing cast, which later included a spinoff in The Originals and characters who grew and changed a lot through the show's run. Julie Plec built a fanbase through characters like Stefan, Elena, Damon, Klaus and more. Although the set in question is basically a repacking of all eight seasons of the popular supernatural series, the complete series set makes for an incredible fun re-watch, illuminating exactly how much changed as time went on in the show. It might make you feel a little old, but in a good way. Conjure up your own copy of the full series on Blu-ray and DVD.

Who This Set Is Perfect For: Those who love to binge-watch, anyone who capably knows what Stelena, Delena, Steroline, and Janna means.

The Amazing Spider-Man Limited Edition Collection

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is all about the famous wall crawler this season. Earlier this fall, the studio released the 4K edition of the Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone-led series. If 4K isn't enough to entice you to buy in, the set also comes with Blu-ray and Digital copies, 15 featurettes Sony describes as "rare," nearly 10 hours of special features, and a full color, image-filled booklet that really goes into the behind-the-scenes of the making of the two films. It's a nice set, even without the 4K. And if that's not your cup of tea, Sam Raimi's trilogy of movies is also available in 4K with the similar Spider-Man Limited Edition Collection. It's not too pricey to own, either.

Who This Set Is Perfect For: Spidey completists, anyone still 'shipping Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, and 4K fanatics who love a pristine picture on your TV screen.

December is a month for spending time with family members, and especially for gift giving, so it should come as no shock that the major studios are throwing out some pretty exciting Blu-ray, DVD and Digital releases in the coming weeks. Let's be honest though, December is also a month where the weather is a lot colder and you aren't out and about with your partner or your kids as much. In fact, I am very willing to bet you spend a lot of nights around the holidays not spent with your family just vegging out on the couch and binge-watching random crap to your heart's desire. So, keeping that in mind, there's also plenty of stuff coming out this month.

If you are looking around for some fun gifts, there were also plenty of exciting releases in November, and you can take a look at our list here. As usual, Digital releases are listed on the day the Blu-ray and DVD are out, unless a movie or TV series also gets an early Digital release in December. Be sure to take a look, below.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017 Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Releases

Despicable Me 3

Fargo: Season 3

American Assassin

The Simpsons: The Eighteenth Season

Twin Peaks: The Return Season 1

Better Watch Out

Singularity

Crash Pad

The White King

Santa Stole Our Dog!

Conor McGregor: Notorious

Valley of Bones

Straight Outta Oakland 2

The Crucifixion

Dementia 13

The Osiris Child

Tuesday, December 5, 2017 Early Digital Releases

Little Thief (December 4)

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

mother!

Victoria & Abdul

Stronger

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Boston (narrated by Matt Damon)

Tuesday, December 12, 2017 Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Releases

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Game of Thrones: The Complete Seventh Season

The Strain: The Complete Fourth Season

Home Again

Detroit

Wolf Warrior II

Fuller House: The Complete Second Season

The Trip To Spain

Zoo: Season Three

All Saints

Luke Cage: The Complete First Season

Viceroy's House

Cops and Robbers

Tuesday, December 12, 2017 Early Digital Releases

Dunkirk

The Lego Ninjago Movie

Flatliners

Tuesday, December 19, 2017 Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Releases

Dunkirk

Stronger

The LEGO Ninjago Movie

mother!

Victoria & Abdul

Leatherface

Salvation: Season One

Stan Lee's Lucky Man: Season One

Blood Money

Tuesday, December 19, 2017 Early Digital Releases

American Made

Tuesday, December 26, 2017 Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Releases

The Mountain Between Us

Jeepers Creepers 3

The Recall

Killing Gunther

Tuesday, December 26, 2017 Early Digital Releases

Marshall

Warning: Spoilers for The Strain series finale are in play. If you haven't watched "The Last Stand," please bookmark this story and come back after you've caught up.

It's been a long road for humanity's potential redemption, as four seasons worth of The Strain have seen a ragtag group of well-intentioned humans trying to defeat the rising threat of The Master and his vampiric hordes. But tonight's series finale, "The Last Stand," ended the dark adventure with a pretty sharp exclamation point, playing out similarly to how we thought things would go. But even with the major variances that came into play, the endgame was the same: humanity has now been saved and given a second chance for renewed civilization, but it came at the cost of a father and a son.

Contrary to how things shook out in The Night Eternal, the final book in The Strain series (and basis for this fourth and final season), it was Zach Goodweather who set off the nuclear bomb that took out The Master. The biggest twist in this final hour of televised adaptation, though, was that Eph Goodweather was the final conduit for that ancient evil to inhabit. This personality shift came about after a battle between Quinlan and The Master left He Who Was Once Eldritch Palmer with a gigantic gaping throat wound, and Quinlan was then dispatched by his father's human form via several stomps to the head.

However, at some point between last week's massive betrayal and this week's ultimate showdown, young Zach somehow grew tired of being given the life of a posh vampire's pet, warming up to his father again after The Master turned him with his traditional (though not particularly appetizing) worm vomit ritual. His defeat of The Master was a very simple one, as he showed genuine love for his father in their final moments; and much like Eph did with Kelly, Zach released him by setting off the nuke, while holding onto him as the blast obliterated the tunnel where this final battle took place.

Just as Professor Abraham Setrakian had predicted, both in previous episodes of this current season, as well as in a new flashback scene set during season 1's time frame, the end came with a great personal sacrifice. Only, it was the younger Goodweather that actually pulled the trigger. Was it the best decision, as far as The Strain's story is concerned? Well, that's a discussion for another time. However, what this did accomplish was definitively ending The Master's reign of terror, quite possibly for the rest of time. Though, considering the fact that there's still some Strigoi being held in storage at one of the country's strongest disease labs, who knows if humanity will ever be totally safe. (Perhaps a limited season down the road would fix that, eh, FX?)

As for the rest of our band of heroes, some big payoffs came their way after five years of recovery and revamping, as it were. Gus split from the group to liberate the rest of humanity while also trying to find Aanya, his would-be love interest from Season 3. Dutch, on the other hand, actually stayed in New York to help undo all of the chaos she did to the Internet that helped lead to the rise of the vampires in the first place. She even looked like she'll land a steady boyfriend...and it's good old Fet, the Rat Catcher! The series ended with the two reuniting for a walk on the water on a beautiful day that saw the sun shining once again, with the main pests returning to New York being the garden variety kind.

So there you have it, Strain fans. The grand and epic tale that Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan, and Carlton Cuse have overseen for the past couple of years has concluded. The strain itself is now eradicated, and those who survived are working towards a brighter future than they ever saw during that initial outbreak, and all that followed. The Goodweather family, as well as Abraham Setrakian, may have paid the ultimate personal price, but the mission was completed, and even though humanity at large doesn't know it, the world owes its continued survival to them.

Thank you, FX, for sticking with the journey that The Strain had to offer, and thank you to you dear readers, for keeping up with the coverage we've had to offer. If we have any pieces of advice to leave you with, after all we've seen, it's this: save your silver, and watch the rats. As well, head to our fall premiere schedule to see everything coming to the small screen in the near future.

Warning: The following is speculation based on information from The Strain's book and TV incarnations. Spoilers are present, so if you're not current, feel free to come back once you've caught up.

This weekend marks the end of The Strain, as the final episode of the series is set to air on Sunday night. With everything coming down to one last call of action and drama, The Master's hours would be presumably numbered. After all, the death of the greatest vampiric evil in the world has been the goal for the show's resolution, ever since it started back in 2014. But just how can you kill a being that's already been attacked by silver, sunlight, and pretty much anything else that's been thrown at him? Well, there's a pretty good chance we know how, thanks to the events of Season 4.

Unpacking the potential demise of The Master, Season 4 of The Strain has turned back to the sacred text of the Occido Lumen, the mysterious book that details the history of vampire lore and how to defeat them. For a while, there was talk about "the face of God" being the force that destroys the head vampire in charge. Naturally, with Fet's quest in the west to procure a nuclear warhead, the big assumption has been that this biblical sounding revelation is hinting towards a force of great devastation. With the right yield on the device now smuggled into New York, this would be pretty damned easy.

But a couple of weeks ago the story of how The Master would die took a bit of a turn, as Professor Abraham Setrakian was convinced that this prophecy may have been wrong in its prediction. Before he died, Setrakian mentioned that an act of self sacrifice was going to be the key to destroying the entire vampire hierarchy, almost completely dispelling the notion of an atomic bomb. This sewed dissent among the ranks, and ultimately the worth of said nuclear warhead has been disputed. But if you turn back the knowledge of The Night Eternal, the final book of The Strain trilogy, both of these halves match up to show a picture of the end.

In the third and final part of the literary source, a nuclear bomb is still the ultimate force of destruction that takes out The Master. But this comes after a confrontation that sees him wounded badly which involves Quinlan, Zach, and Eph. After turning Quinlan to a full Strigoi, The Master goes to turn Zach into his new earthly host, but not before Eph flips the switch and nukes all involved out of existence. One last touching moment where Zach calls out for his dad, and Eph realizes how much he loves his son, is all that remains before the explosion takes them all out.

So right there, in the story of The Night Eternal, the "great personal sacrifice" already exists, and the nuclear warhead does end up coming in handy. But, just to be sure, let's take a look at the preview for the finale, and see what we can pick out for ourselves.

There's some key details that look like they support this hypothesis of The Strain's ending from the book series being used. We see Quinlan collapsing after some sort of an attack that weakens him, as well as The Master preparing for the ritual where he vomits worms on his next form, in order to transfer the special "Master Worm" to his chosen vessel. But most telling is the sad goodbye that looks to be happening between Eph and Dutch, which is followed immediately by Fet looking down at the camera, and later by Dutch crying, and the two remaining hunters trying to stop something from happening.

So how's The Strain going to end? Here's what it looks like will happen: the sub-level of New York will be the final playground of destruction. Quinlan, Eph, and the nuke will descend into the killing field, and ultimately the confrontation of fathers and sons will take place. Quinlan and The Master will fight, with Quinlan being overtaken by The Master, and Eph and Zach will more than likely fight before The Master tries to turn the young man. Eph will trigger the nuke, set to just the right yield that only takes out our key players underground, and his tremendous sacrifice will save humanity.

Of course, this could be proven wrong when The Strain airs its final episode, "The Last Stand", this Sunday at 10 PM EST on FX. But whether we're right or wrong, we're ready to see just how this ends.

Warning: Spoilers for *_The Strain _are in play. If you haven't watched "The Traitor," please bookmark this story and come back once you're current.*

Tonight was the penultimate episode of The Strain's fourth and final season, and boy did it feel like it. Everyone's cards are now on the table, as one major character's true colors were revealed, and by the end of the episode, the biggest showdown of them all reached peak imminence. And all that's on the line are New York City, the fate of humanity, and whether or not the thermonuclear device on Manhattan Island actually hits its target. If the ending of tonight's episode, "The Traitor," is any indication, the series finale is going to be one crazy bloodbath.

We're down to a limited number of players this week, and after two very intense interrogations that took up most of tonight's proceedings, Eph Goodweather and our merry band of heroes found themselves on the streets of New York City, ready to lay nuclear wasted to The Master's current nest within the Empire State Building. This is literally the moment The Strain has been building towards, with Eph, Fet, Dutch, and Gus manning their van, while Quinlan was ready to use the detonator to send his father sky-high. Of course, since this is The Strain, the odds are slim that it'll be that simple.

Sure enough, the final moments of tonight's episode saw the once-empty streets flooded with Strigoi soldiers ready to tear the team limb from limb. And, as Quinlan learned, The Master actually vacated the Empire State Building earlier than expected. In fact, he was able to find his way to our heroes' base of operations, leaving Zach Goodweather's crush, along with another horde of Strigoi, as a going away present for his more virtuous son. Signing off with a promise that he and Quinlan will fight it out, bloodsucker to bloodsucker, The Master proceeded to order his minions to take their best shot at the man we've come to know as "The Born."

It was all part of a ruse that was engineered last week, when Zach was returned to his father. In fact, one of the two big interrogations that The Strain engaged in this week was with the young Goodweather boy, who was recovered by his father, but obviously not immediately trusted. That other interrogation involved the now-deceased Sanjay Desai, who was ready to sell out everyone and anyone he could in order to cover up for leaking The Master's location to Quinlan, Fet, and Dutch. When The Master arrived at the heroes' base, he saw right through Desai's lies and took out both him and his wife; not before the cowardly hospital administrator tried to sell his life mate down the river for protection, though.

For anyone wondering who "The Traitor" in this week's episode was, it's none other than the character everyone loves to hate, Zach Goodweather. He not only led The Master to the heroes' base that contained his own father -- thanks to a self-inflicted cut on his thumb and some light bloodshed -- but he's also the one who ratted out Sanjay for that character's treachery. That said, the folks behind tonight's episode of The Strain really did have us going, as there was some serious doubts on whether or not Zach had genuinely succumbed to the Strigoi cause. By the end of tonight's episode, there was no question his villainous turn was legit, and it's going to be part of why the final episode next Sunday just may be the most explosive Strain yet.

For four years, there has been a dance between the humans and the vampires, and The Strain has not let either side off too easily, slowly building to the moments we'll see unfold in a week's time. We've lost a lot of friends, but a good number of villains have bitten the dust as well. With all bets off as to who'll live and who'll die, The Master and humanity each have one last move on the board. That last move just happens to be a Hail Mary of all-out warfare, which means that while tonight laid the foundation for the series finale, the last hour of the show's lifespan just might tear the world apart beneath that foundation. Let's just hope that whoever wins, it's a finale to remember!

The Strain will return for one last time, next Sunday on FX at 10:00 p.m. ET. To see everything else that'll hit the small screen when The Strain is over, head to our fall TV schedule.

Warning: Spoilers for The Strain are in play. If you haven't watched "Extraction," then come back after you're current, so you can enjoy our coverage.

Just when you thought things couldn't get any more intense in The Strain's final season, the creative team went and kick-started the countdown to the end game. Case in point: both sides' final strategies are in play, as the nuclear bomb is now in New York, and The Master has send Zach to find his father. After tonight's episode, only two more installments of The Strain are left, so every moment is going to count. But sadly, those moments won't include

In terms of the heroic side of operations, there's a source of contention as far as what to do with the nuclear bomb, since Quinlan wants to continue with the plan to use the device to wipe out both New York and The Master. Of course, Eph isn't exactly a fan of this plan, as there are still plenty of people (collaborators or not) on the island of Manhattan, and one of those people he's thinking of is undoubtedly his son. Zach is still firmly in the clutches of evil, and he seems to now be a fully entrenched operative on the side of darkness.

After all, the only reason that Zach Goodweather seems to be looking for his lone parental unit is because The Master has entrusted him with some sort of task requiring him to do so. Odds are, Eph and Kelly's formerly protagonistic kiddo is going to be tasked with luring his father back to The Master's HQ, and in turn, he will be offered the choice between dying as a a human, or living with Zach as his eternal Strigoi protector. It's a decision that hinges on Eph being the weak link in The Strain's heroic machinery, but a key fact revealed by Professor Setrakian has kind of spelled out where things are going from this point.

Our dear friend the Professor tried the best he could to decode the Occido Lumen's recipe for the destruction of The Master, and his instructions spelled out some sort of selfless sacrifice as the key. If the final Strain novel The Night Eternal is any indication, that final sacrifice is going to be Eph and Zach incinerated in a nuclear blast that takes them, and The Master, out for good. Predictably, there is still some mystery left to this prophecy, as our dear friend and translator Abraham Setrakian didn't have enough time to finish briefing our heroes, as he was killed out of mercy before succumbing to the infection Eichorst gave him during their final showdown last week. Let's all have a moment of silence, shall we, while also hoping that Fet can carry on the torch to end things successfully.

We started this final season with more heroes, and more questions than answers, but The Strain is narrowing down the path to the end in game-changing ways. And as we saw tonight, everyone is expendable, eventually. We'll see just who survives after the next two weeks of episodes, which will both unfold on Sunday nights on FX, at 10:00 p.m. ET. To see everything else that'll hit the small screen when The Strain is over, head to our fall TV schedule.

*Warning: spoilers for *_The Strain _are in play. If you haven't watched "Ouroboros," come back after you've caught up.

It's been beaten into our heads that Season 4 of The Strain is the end of everything as we know it. FX's horror series has been setting up the resolution of the vampire outbreak that started back in 2014, and tonight's episode saw two of the most formidable forces of good and evil square off. After a decades-long grudge match, Herr Richard Eichorst and Professor Abraham Setrakian finally had it out, and the Professor won a resounding victory. But while Eichorst (and others) may be dead -- huzzah! -- we might not have the professor for much longer either.

After being sprung out of The Partnership's big B-positive medical center, the professor has been having some medical problems. For most of The Strain's final season, he's been out of the picture, and his return tonight left him in worse shape. Going for several months without a dose of his non-viral mixture of Strigoi blood, also known as "The White," the 95 year old is finally starting to act his age. While the downside saw him suffering from a stroke, the upside has shown him the way to decode just what the Occido Lumen says, which will spell destruction of The Master. This was just about the time that Eichorst snuck up on the Professor, challenging him to duel to the death.

Setrakian edged out Eichorst by overdosing with blood thinners, and the inspiration for the good Professor to best his long time adversary came from the same strategy that Eph used to take down a hive of Strigoi in Philadelphia. Of course, this presents one of the two problems that besets the future of Setrakian's existence in The Strain: he's overdosed to the point that he's probably bleeding internally. And if that doesn't kill him, there's a big chance the bite that he suffered from Eichorst has infected him. Either way, it feels like Setrakian is on borrowed time, and the clock is ticking faster than ever.

Of course, in addition to Eichorst's swan song, two other characters paid the ultimate price: Alfonso Creem, who was killed by The Master when trying to bargain in exchange for selling out our heroes, and Alex, Eph's partner from the Philadelphia resistance, who came back to New York with him. Three big deaths, and the reunion of all but Fet and Quinlan's contingent have occurred, and only three episodes are left after tonight.

With New York sealed off (thanks to the bridges and tunnels being destroyed) and a nuclear bomb now within striking distance of The Master, all of the game-ending pieces are back on the home court. And The Strain is about to come to a violent, epic denouement. Let's just hope Abraham Setrakian survives long enough to see the destruction of The Master.

The Strain continues its home stretch to the big finale, next Sunday at 10 PM EST on FX. For all the other shows that'll be hitting primetime when the horror drama has wrapped up, check out our fall premiere schedule.

Warning: Spoilers for The Strain are in play. If you haven't watched "Tainted Love," come back after you're current.

For a television show delivering its sixth episode in a ten-episode run, it's probably not the most ideal time for a flashback, and it's an even less likely time if it's the show's final season. Lo, that's exactly the scenario that FX's The Strain is currently playing out, yet we got not only a genuinely strong flashback-filled episode, but also some serious narrative traction for two of the other important storylines in need of closing by the final curtain. The thread that wove those stories together is, to quote The Princess Bride, "Twue Wuv."

That big flashback sequence again came courtesy of Mr. Quinlan's Victorian adventures, with his romance came coming to a tragic end in his anti-Master quest. It was all the more sad to see him heartbroken, because we've seen him take a more human appearance over the course of the last two weeks, showing the striking Rupert Penry-Jones in his natural form. But since his beloved Louisa and her daughter were released by Quinlan's own hand, he no longer felt the need to wear the metaphorical mask that he donned in the name of love.

It's an experience that has stuck with him to the present day, as he continued to assist Fet and his team in transporting the nuclear warhead that could end The Strain's entire vampire problem. Of course, what would this quest be without some interference, and who knows how to ruin a good day more than Herr Eichorst himself? Making his way into the heartland of America, the Nazi vampire gave it his all to try and stop our saviors from taking off from that private airfield.

However, Fet's beloved Charlotte turned this potentially threatening situation into the action movie remake of Casablanca. While she stayed behind, since joining a suicide mission wasn't in her best interests, she made sure to kick some ass in order to allow her man to escape unscathed. Here's lookin' at you, kid; and here's hoping we see you in the series finale.

Meanwhile, in the first and final destination of The Strain's lore, teenybopper Zach is turning to some darker tendencies after his own serious heartbreak. While it looked like he and Abby might be getting closer to each other in these Strigoi-controlled times, the twist here was that she already has a boyfriend. (Gasp!) So all of this meet-cutery was for nothing, and when the time came, Zach let his personal Feeler bodyguard turn Abby into his own vampire girlfriend. (Another gasp!) His conversion into a full-blown baddie seems to be progressing rather well, and knowing the public's not so loving perception of the character, it's honestly a wise move to lean into that evil curve, rather than try to resist it.

The brilliance of "Tainted Love" is the fact that it plays on a theme that The Strain has spoken to since day one: the enrichment, as well as the perversion, of people through love's hold on them. Every move, from the initial wave of infection to taking back of New York City to the eventual plunging of the world into a nuclear pall, has been motivated by people's feelings towards each other. We're now left with only four more episodes of The Strain, and the show is still running that thread, which means the finale is looking to be a strong and equally moving conclusion to this dark epic.

The Strain's story's still progressing in the present, of course, but just as the show has always been able to do, it turns digressions into its backstory into a true strength. Knowing that there are limited hours left in the show's existence, it'd be nice to see the full fandom checklist achieved, with maybe a bottle episode and some extended action sequences to close out The Strain's long and eventful journey.

That's all for this week, but come back after The Strain revisits us all on FX -- next Sunday at 10:00 p.m. ET -- to see where the story has taken us then. In the meantime, if you're planning to plot out your replacement once The Strain has reached totality, you should check out our fall premiere schedule. Oh, and this shouldn't come as a surprise to any of you Strain fans, but we urge you to be careful during tomorrow's eclipse. The last thing you'd want is to become a Strigoi; or possibly worse, a blind Strigoi.

Warning: Spoilers for The Strain are in play. If you haven't seen "Belly of the Beast," then feel free to check out our other coverage and come back when you've watched.

This week was an interesting one when it comes to The Strain, as a lot of action and backstory have been laid into what serves as the midpoint for the final season. But by the end of the episode, a pretty big bombshell finally went off, and the name on the side was "New Horizons." As promised, the truth was revealed, and it was just as bad as we thought. For even though New Horizons kind of lived up to its promise as a farming community, the crop wasn't what its citizens thought it was, and that's a problem.

As it turns out, New Horizons is, in fact, a concentration camp; or as Eph put it, "The Master's final solution." The Partnership has gone full Nazi, as foreshadowed all throughout this season, and that future for the B-positive babies we predicted last week isn't exactly as we'd thought either. As it turns out, those babies are harvested shortly after birth, as they're something like veal to the Strigoi higher-ups. So much for giving humanity a chance to prosper in mutually beneficial circumstances.

With all of the circumstances on the table, both Eph and Dutch have helped piece together the Strigoi machinery for us, the audience. While we haven't seen Eph enact any big moves as of yet, Dutch helped disrupt the wheels of progress in the name of humanity by starting a riot in the clinic she's been kept captive in. And, as an added bonus, it looks like she's sprung Professor Setrakian from the bone marrow testing clinic that he's been kept in, and from the very same building. We'll more than likely see Herr Eichorst back on his feet again next week, though, since being set on fire surely isn't the worst fate he's been subjected to.

There's a lot going on with The Strain, as humanity is moving in for the kill against the Strigoi partnership. With Eph poised to liberate New Horizons, Dutch bringing Setrakian back to the world of the living, and Fet finally recovering the vital part to the nuclear warhead he's been seeking, it all looks like it's coming together. But with Eph's son still proven to be a sore spot, as well as a bargaining chip between himself and The Master, the human race is far from safe.

The Strain will head back to our screens next Sunday at 10 PM EST on FX, with only four episodes left to close out this massive story. If you've wondering what else is coming to the small screen soon, check out our summer TV schedule and our fall TV schedule.

Warning: Spoilers for this week's episode of The Strain in play. If you're not current, please come back after you've experienced this week's episode, "New Horizons."

After a couple of weeks reintroducing us to the world of humanity and its fight against the now-powerful Strigoi, the world of The Strain seems to be pulling the threads of fate ever closer. Last week ended with Eph and his Philly crew finding a lead on some potential blood trafficking going on underneath the surface of The Partnership's ever-friendly facade. Not only did we get more information on that very scenario in this week's episode, but our heroes are slowly uncovering a new threat to humanity. One that will more than likely set up the next two acts of the story that is Season 4: it looks like the next step for humanity is to be herded into blood producing camps.

This revelation came during the latest installment of The Strain, "New Horizons," in which we spent a lot of time split between two pieces of the Season 4 story arc. One piece was with Eph and his team in Philly, as they were subject to a raid by one of The Partnership's black buses of Strigoi enforcers, which left Eph and his Resistance partner, Alex Green, as the surviving members of the Philadelphia contingent we met a couple episodes ago. Our pair had some heartfelt moments dissecting grief in a time of Strigoi rule, and eventually we saw them wandering around the streets of the city, where they happened to stumble upon something rather interesting.

Apparently, The Strain named this week's episode after a new settlement that the Strigoi are creating for their human "partners" to start giving back to the community. With Eph and Alex discussing how The Partnership's current efforts feel like a stepping stone to something bigger, the knowledge of these new communities has gotten them to thinking that the bright future New Horizons represents may not be the shining beacon that The Partnership is selling them. Which leads to the other big thread of this week, as our cliffhanger ending dealt with Dutch getting herself into only the biggest jam possible.

Initially, she seemed okay with the possibility of playing ball with Sanjay Desai's request for her to comfort the B-Positive mothers at The Partnership's facility, if only to help her own survival. However, she uncovered the fact that the babies born in this facility never get to see their mothers, and are ferried off to a new set of parents somewhere away from their birth mother. Lighting the spark of rebellion anew, Dutch threatened Sanjay's life, and made a run for the exits, ending the episode with Dutch finding the blood harvesting plant that Eichorst has been building since last season.

So what's the big deal? Well, with New Horizons being a new settlement for humanity's role in The Partnership, and these new babies needing somewhere to live, it sounds like those babies are heading to the New Horizons facilities. There they'll probably be taken care of, as humanity lives inside what we all know this facility to be: a vampire run concentration camp. With Eichorst already ordering Sanjay to harvest the babies sooner, and up the production schedule of his facility, these new children can live in these facilities, meet other B-positive people as they grow, and ultimately become B-positive breeders themselves.

In essence, New Horizons is a self-sustaining farm community, serving only the best B-positive blood, while at the same time keeping humanity under a tight watch. Whoever can't provide the best blood for The Master and his minions, will be used as workforce, while others will be pampered and made to serve with their very life essence. Should this be true in the world of the series, it will mean a big return to the world of the books, as The Night Eternal delved into a very similar concept, with a still very much alive Everett Barnes replacing Sanjay Desai, and Nora Martinez serving as sort of an analog for Dutch.

Humans were never going to be free range for long, and with a sedated, co-operative society, this plan will be as easy as ever to execute. That is, if our heroes fighting in humanity's corner don't find a way to derail these plans, what with both Gus and Fet looking to arm up in the fight against the vampiric menace. The bigger threat to their way of life is becoming ever clearer, and there's just six episodes left before The Strain takes its final bow. Join us next week, as The Strain will continue to provide thrills and scares in equal measure, next Sunday at 10 PM EST on FX.

Warning: Spoilers for this week's episode of The Strain are in play. If you're trying to avoid being spoiled, come back after you're current

Last week on The Strain, there were some bold moves made by both the heroes and villains central to the long game known as survival, which only made this week's episode all the more active, as humanity made the first major advance against all Strigoi kind. Two contrasting things happened as a result of this bold move: humans got a momentary win, while Eichorst and The Master experienced a renewed drive towards destruction.

Eph and his revolutionary cohorts in Philadelphia were responsible for the big move that helped humanity, albeit in the short term. Over 2,000 Strigoi were killed, thanks to Eph's bright idea of mixing rat poison in with a tanker full of blood. It was a crafty solution to a more immediate problem, and it was powerful enough to send shockwaves back to New York. Upon hearing about the poisoning of the Philly Strigoi, Herr Eichorst was convinced either Setrakian or one of his associates was responsible. With this in mind, the big villains are set to resume the hunt for the intrepid vampire hunters of The Strain, who look like they're about to do some hunting themselves.

In a transportation center linked to The Partnership's operations, there was a wall chart of various zones that the Philadelphia Strigoi are operating in. Notations on that chart listed "units" being shipped between these locations. The team was left to stew over what these units could be, but it seems pretty clear that there's only one answer for what's being transported: humans. Now, we're not sure whether they're the B+ humans, like Dutch, that the Strigoi absolutely love to drink from, but seeing as a tanker could hold many hundreds of units of blood in them, it's reasonable to assume that people are being transported for the means of blood production.

Of course, we could totally be wrong, and that's kind of what's so wonderful about this last season of The Strain. With nuclear warheads, revolutionary destruction, and the development of a maturing Zach Goodweather, there's a lot of caution being thrown to the fallout-laden wind. Now that Fet and Quinlan finally found a nuclear warhead, things are obviously going to only get more amped up. With only seven episodes left of the entire series' run, a lot will be happening in the coming weeks in order to close the book as effectively as possible.

For this week, the book is closed, but The Strain will returns next Sunday night with an all new chapter at 10 p.m. ET on FX. To see when other new and returning series are premiering in the coming weeks, check out our summer premiere schedule.

After a certain point, a TV show's creative team has to start thinking about how to end things. For a show like Lost, it kind of just happens as it goes along, but in the case of FX's The Strain, the end has always been in pre-planned sight. Four or five seasons was always the goal, and with this year being the final run for Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan's vampire epic, there's a promise to pull out all the stops. Star Cas Anvar spoke with CinemaBlend about Season 4, and he assured me that promise will be fulfilled.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Anvar, whose Sanjay Desai joined The Strain last year as an ally to the Strigoi cause. As Sanjay helped sneak in the nuclear weapons that kicked off the apocalyptic finale for Season 3, as well as helping Richard Sammel's Eichorst with various concerns, Sanjay was in the background, moving pieces towards the ultimate endgame that was The Partnership. But with season 4, it looks like Cas Anvar's character is a more important figure, as some trailers and clips have shown him presumably taking a position in the medical apparatus of The Partnership's infrastructure.

Of course, seeing as Anvar's Sanjay is a character created specifically for the series, with some leftover parts from the literary source material making up a good portion of his season 4 arc, things are all the more exciting, as we're not completely sure what to expect from Mr. Desai's actions. This is yet another example of why this last season, as well as any innovative adaptation of a literary source, is exciting to Cas Anvar, who you probably also recognize as ace pilot Alex Kamal in SyFy's The Expanse. In the spirit of that subject, I also asked Mr. Anvar about how he felt in terms of TV shows adapting, and sometimes diverting, from their literary sources. In his eyes, the following statement is what makes shows like The Strain exciting on the whole:

Authors Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro have both been involved with The Strain since the beginning. Hogan has written quite a few episodes throughout the series' tenure, and del Toro's directed episodes and sequences, while also approving where the show's course takes things. So while the end may be near, and the wheels are undoubtedly going to come off in the next nine episodes, it's all in the spirit of the three books that started it all. A spirit that's lead to Cas Anvar playing a pretty crucial part to this final season's events.

You'll learn more about the return of Sanjay Desai, as he makes his season 4 debut on The Strain, this Sunday at 10 PM EST on FX. Special thanks go out to Cas Anvar, as his time and remarks are invaluable to kicking this season off right. To see when everything else is heading to the small screen in the near future, head to our summer TV schedule.

Warning: Spoilers for tonight's premiere of The Strain are in play. If you're not current, feel free to come back when you've seen the episode.

With The Strain's Season 4 premiere comes the beginning of the end. The bloody horror drama will take its bow following the current 10-episode run, meaning a lot of big moments are going to have to happen in order to close out the series' run with any sort of satisfaction. If tonight's events are any indication, then we're going to get just that, as The Master needs to go down for good, and it sounds like the only way it'll happen is with another nuke!

During "The Worm Turns," we learn that the whole team has been scattered after the events of the season 3 finale, which have come to be known as "Illumination Day." With the human population mostly treated as cattle by the Strigoi, there's not a lot of hope on the streets. And yet, former-rat-catcher-turned-Strigoi-slayer Vasilly Fet is in pursuit of a nuclear bomb. The big reasoning is that, as we see in a dream of Fet's, only "the face of God" can kill The Master. For those of you that don't speak arcane prophecies, that's code for a nuke.

It's kind of interesting how a nuclear bomb triggered this whole mess at the end of season 3, and yet another such weapon is supposed to be the thing that's going to save everyone. But if the series is following the original blueprint of Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro's last book in The Strain series, The Night Eternal, that bomb is going to be used at the site of The Master's "birth," which is the only way to kill the vampiric bastard. Of course, if Fet does get his hands on the nuclear weapon he's on the hunt for, there's still one person that could screw all of this up: Ephraim Goodweather.

The Master, now inhabiting the body of his former lackey Eldrich Palmer, has Eph's son Zack, which is his trump card against the forces of good. So long as he possesses Eph's son, The Master will be an unstable element that could throw things off, causing the already unhinged Eph to once again betray his survivor group in the name of his family unit. Zack will be another party to watch out for, though, as he's being groomed to become the new Master, and the sweet life seems to have started to change him. You know what else changes things? Nuclear explosions.

The Strain has returned with a premiere that assures fans that the end won't be far off from where the series began. Indeed, it feels like the show is preparing to tie everything together into a satisfying end that rewards all who stuck it out for the four year run. We'll see where this path leads, as The Strain continues its countdown to the end over the next nine Sundays at 10:00 p.m. ET, only on FX. To see when other new and returning series are premiering in the coming weeks, check out our summer premiere schedule.

It's becoming more and more common for networks to cancel shows but to do it in a way that is less shocking than in previous years on TV. The best way to accomplish this is to cancel a series and then give it one more season to finish out the story. This has several positives. It means that the creative team gets the chance to finish out a series in the way they wanted and it means that fans are not blindsided when their favorite show gets cancelled. Still, it can be hard to keep track of what is ending and what is not. To help you out, we've compiled a handy list of the shows that we know--so far--are ending in 2017. Take a look. And do expect more cancellations to come down the pipeline as the TV season wears on.

Grimm, NBC

Grimm had a nice run on NBC on Friday nights. The series has really been the show that has ushered in an era of supernatural content on network TV at the end of the week, as Friday nights are now home to The Vampire Diaries and Sleepy Hollow. However, its ratings have dwindled over the years and last season NBC renewed the series for the 2016-2017 season, cancelling the drama at the same time. Give the show a watch while you still can, as its looking more and more likely NBC is going to have to blow up its Friday night lineup next year.

Bones, Fox

Unlike a lot of the shows on this list, Fox's Bones has been on the air for years and years. In fact, many fans have been on the page that the show hit its peak years ago, but Fox has still been rolling out new episodes, even after the ratings started going down. Last TV season, the show was moved to Fridays in what we thought was the final death knell. However, Fox surprised us with a renewal--albeit for a shortened season--and the last set of episodes is airing this winter. Catch the final episodes on Tuesday nights.

Bloodline, Netflix

Up until recently, Netflix was not really known for cancelling shows. Sure, Lilyhammer was axed at one point, but really most Netflix shows have been going strong and continually getting renewed, some of them for many seasons. Then Bloodline, a critically acclaimed but seemingly under-watched program, got cancelled. The good news? The series was also given one final season to wrap up its story. Expect new episodes later in 2017.

Black Sails, Starz

Another show that airs in the winter, Black Sails was the first in a string of more prominent originals to hit the schedule on Starz. While Black Sails had a big splash at Comic-Con and was noted for its larger budget, it hasn't been the ratings bringer like Power and Outlander have. Season 3 of the drama began the long journey of wrapping up the Treasure Island prequel, and it wasn't a huge shock when Starz stated the show would be ending after Season 4. Catch the final set of episodes starting in January.

Turn: Washington's Spies, AMC

AMC has a lot of well-received shows that haven't really earned high ratings. The period drama Turn is one of them. Despite sporting Jamie Bell and Angus MacFadyen and having a really cool premise about a Revolutionary War spy ring, the show has never been a big winner in total viewers. Turn is getting 10 more episodes to tell its story in 2017, but that will be the end for the series. We'll let you know as soon as the network gets the final series on the calendar.

Girls, HBO

HBO's Girls is one of the comedies that has put the network on the map in terms of original comedies, along with Veep and Silicon Valley. While new seasons of Veep and Silicon Valley are on the way, Girls will be wrapping up with a final season that is starting this weekend. The show will make us laugh and make us cringe for a few more times before it finally says sayonara on the cable network. Not too shabby for the show that figured out the line in terms of sex scenes that HBO will accept.

Pretty Little Liars

Pretty Little Liars has been a bit of a phenomenon during its run on ABC Family and the brand new Freeform. The show has an extremely avid fanbase and that has propelled it into a long run. However, Freeform has been reworking its lineup since the network changed names, and Pretty Little Liars will be ending in 2017. Catch the delicious drama while you still can.

Longmire, Netflix

Longmire possibly has my favorite trajectory of any series on this list. Originally, the show aired on A&E, where it was pretty popular. So popular, in fact, that we were all really surprised when the network opted to cancel the show. However, fans loved the show enough to petition to keep it, and Longmire is one of the rare times that has worked out. While the show is ending this season, on Netflix it was able to be a little more experimental and darker in tone with its content and the pick-up has been really great. We hope to see the show end on a high note.

Bates Motel, A&E

Bates Motel is one of A&E's first scripted originals, and it certainly survived for longer than Longmire managed to on the network. The show will be ending after Season 5 and production recently wrapped on the drama. However, Bates Motel will most definitely be going out with a bag, ending with Marian Crane and a lot of memorable moments from the original Psycho film. Tune in when the show returns on February 20.

Halt and Catch Fire, AMC

Another under-watched AMC drama, Halt and Catch Fire has followed a ragtag group of rebels as they've tried to navigate the world of business and technology in the early age of computers and the World Wide Web. AMC has a knack for deep writing and great performances and it all can be found in Halt and Catch Fire, which will sadly be ending after its fourth season. Expect new episodes to land in the schedule sometime later in 2017.

Workaholics, Comedy Central

Workaholics has always had a small niche fanbase, and the show managed to earn an impressive seven seasons with that small audience. Unfortunately, when Season 7 was announced, so was the show's cancellation. You can catch _Workaholic_s' swan song on Comedy Central right now, as the final set of episodes is airing on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET.

Orphan Black, BBC America

Tatiana Maslany has played multiple characters on BBC America's Orphan Black for four seasons, and a fifth is on its way. It's got to be exhausting to play multiple clones, and now that the girl has some awards nominations under her belt, she's really done all she can do to put the sci fi series onto the map. While not a huge ratings bringer, the show has developed an avid following over time and will really be missed. There's even a sweepstakes to appear in the final season, should that interest you.

Episodes, Showtime

Episodes is just the show that keeps on giving. I've thought the Matt LeBlanc starrer had ended a couple of times, especially as it has been off of the air since 2015. However, it has been renewed for a fifth season and we will be getting one final set of episodes sometime in 2017. (There's probably an Episodes episodes joke in there somewhere but I just can't quite reach those comedy heights, or maybe lows.) We'll let you know as soon as the show is back.

The Vampire Diaries, The CW

The CW has a track record of airing some shows well beyond their peak. In fact, if they do well at the network, they tend to keep airing for a long, long time. The Vampire Diaries has chugged along ever since Nina Dobrev left the series in 2015. At the end of the network TV season, however, TVD will be wrapping up. There is some light at the end of the tunnel. Elena will be making her comeback before then.

Switched At Birth, Freeform

Switched At Birth's trajectory has been a little confusing. By all rights, this show should have ended already, but then the cabler kept it off the schedule for some time; in fact, the last set of episodes aired in 2015. The show finally hit the schedule in January and will be wrapping up its storyline soon. It's cancellation is part of an overall push by Freeform to take its programming in a new directions. That's why ABC Family became Freeform in the first place.

The Strain, FX

There was a time when supernatural dramas were all the rage on TV and at the movies. While vampires are less of the rage these days, there are a few shows on the air that are still distinctly supernatural dramas, including FX's The Strain. The show has introduced us to the Strigoi and a rich world with lots of political nuance. The show has had plans from the start regarding where it wanted to end; however, ratings have only give The Strain one more season to catch up. Stayed tuned for reactions from CinemaBlend!

The Leftovers, HBO

Lost's Damon Lindelof gave us an HBO series that is deep and dark and emotional with The Leftovers, but that is still filled with the twists and confusion we've come to expect from a Lindelof production. For many reasons, this one didn't take off as a ratings winner, but it's a drama that's totally worth catching up on, even though you might be an emotional mess afterwards. Catch the final season this April.

Warning: Spoilers for "The Fall" are in play. If you haven't watched the episode yet, bookmark this page and come back later once you're current.

Last week on The Strain, Eldritch Palmer looked to be making his turn to the light side, with the systematic betrayal of Eichorst and the acquisition of the second suitcase nuke smuggled into New York aboard the Aurora Cutlass. With one last play for the fate of our species in mind, Palmer was readying to meet with his former rival, turned teammate, Abraham Setrakian. Unfortunately, that meeting never took place, setting off a chain of events leading to the explosive finale of Season 3. We must issue one last warning at this point, as spoilers are very heavy throughout this story, and tonight's events are so shocking that they're best experienced fresh.

The Master finally revealed where he'd been hiding this whole season, as Palmer and his men were ambushed by two of the surviving Navy Seals turned Strigoi from earlier this season. Surprise surprise, one of the Seals was the temporary host of The Master, who did not vanquish his turncoat lackey, but rather rewarded him with the eternal life he'd always wanted. Eldritch Palmer is now The Master, and this ruse looked to have pushed the game between humanity and vampire into a stalemate, until two powerful reversals took place: Palmer was concealed in the lead lined coffin designed to trap The Master, and that second nuclear bomb was detonated.

After a whole season of strategic conquest, The Strain's central power struggle has made a gigantic shift. Despite humanity's best efforts, The Master has not only taken a new form, but he's also got a willing apprentice that looks to be on the path to greater, darker things. In one instant of violent hatred, Zack Goodweather doomed all of humanity to a prolonged existence of pain and strife with the flick of a switch. Whether you hated him or not, it's clear now that Zack is nothing more than a bitter little shit, and may his death be just as painful as the darkness our species is about to fall into.

While this is a beautiful way to play into people's pre-existing hatred of the character, it's also the end of a bitter custody battle, as the action to finally set the Goodweather child off was Eph's killing blow to Kelly, the mother of his child and estranged wife. While it didn't look obvious in the execution, it appears that Eph slit her throat, thus incapacitating her and allowing her to bleed out. Her death confirmed, Zack slipped into such a rage that he triggered the nuclear device hidden under the Statue of Liberty, thus consigning New York, and the world, into the night eternal. If you want to sum up the third season of The Strain in two words, they are the following: "We're fucked."

The bomb was powerful enough to blot out the sun, causing the second occultation Professor Setrakian read about in the Occido Lumen. Meaning that all of the munchers hiding under NewYork City are now allowed to run around the city at will, seeing as sunlight is going to become very scarce. It's not as devastating as the original story line from the books, in which a chain of nuclear reactors owned by Stoneheart were deliberately sabotaged to meltdown worldwide, but it's enough for the show's purposes. It was certainly enough to release Palmer from his prison, and turn the entire city into a buffet for the vampiric horde that has been lying in wait.

Read on to find out what we know about what could be coming up next!

From this point on, we've only got 10 episodes left in the life span of The Strain, unless the powers that be decide to extend this final season's episode count to make up for the fact that the originally proposed fifth season was scrapped. While the reduced episode order was intended to supercharge the storytelling, it has led to a slight disadvantage to the storytelling that the show has been known for. With those three extra "filler" episodes reinstated into the season, there could have been more time to flesh out some of the underdeveloped plot lines from this season, in particular the story between Gus and Angel. Yes, this season was full of shocking revelations and mass character death, but the end result feels just a little rushed when compared to the two seasons that came before.

I'm a little afraid what next season will bring, as a lot of pieces need to fall into place, and just as much resolution needs to be granted. What I'm not afraid of is being a fan of The Strain, as it feels like this show has constantly been overlooked in the name of other, more shambling efforts being offered on television. Even through this shortened season, I've tuned in with gleeful abandon, as the story has taken some exiting twists and turns that the novels never did. Some folks may still be drying their eyes over a particularly tragic game of baseball last week, but I'll be sitting in this corner here, worrying about how humanity will recover from a greater menace than barbed wire around a baseball bat.

Thank you all for joining us in this corner of Cinema Blend, and we hope that you'll be back with us next year for the fourth and final season of The Strain on FX. Until then, you owe it to yourself to watch that other amazing show Sunday night has to offer, Westworld.

Warning: Spoilers are in play for tonight's episode of The Strain. If you're not current, bookmark this story and come back once you've watched "Do or Die."

With next weekend serving as the season finale of The Strain, something big was bound to happen tonight. But little did we know that the huge event would be a systematic takedown of several characters that have featured importantly throughout the last two seasons. The Master's minions have taken several of our comrades from us, and as such we must have a moment of silence.

In one, explosive confrontation, the remaining seven members of Counselwoman Feraldo's once proud Safe Streets Initiative were wiped out by the Strigoi who stood in the way of their escape to Jersey City. This includes Justine, who finally was a victim to yet another worm to the eye, and went down with her right hand man, one of the only people to stick with her through it all. Unfortunately, Angel's number was up in that same explosion, as he was straight up bitten by another beast stalking the grounds. Luckily, Gus survived the encounter, and is ready to rejoin our group of hunters who are about to find themselves with a bit of a surprise on their hands.

As it turns out, Eldritch Palmer found the cargo of the Aurora Cutlass, and as luck would have it it was a device very similar to the one that Herr Eichorst used on Quinlan and The Ancients last week. For those of you who had, "suitcase nuke" in the betting pool, congratulations - you've won! In a clever nod to the series' source material, nuclear weapons have made their debut in The Strain universe, and have presumably taken out The Ancients, but not Quinlan, who rejoined the now mostly reformed group. Though back to the subject of Palmer for a moment, he is officially this week's MVP, as his backstory was revealed in a similar fashion to Fet and Gus from the past couple of weeks, and it looks like he's about to join the team of our heroes.

His deception and presumable besting of Eichorst towards the end of this week's episode could serve as his initiation, as he somehow fooled The Master's lieutenant into thinking he was still old and infirm. But hiding under that blanket was a shotgun full of silver, and Palmer's determination to right the wrongs he'd helped unleash upon the world. We may just see his redemption by the end of this season, if not some time during next year's final season, but for now it looks like his cunning may have bested his undead handler.

Though with next week's finale, "The Fall," promising the return of The Master, Eichorst may have gotten that promotion he's so desperately wanted. One thing's for sure, New York City is on the chopping block, and it looks like we're all just one step away from becoming vampire food. Join us next week, as we dissect The Strain's season finale, after it airs Sunday night at 10 p.m. ET on FX!

Spoilers for Sunday's episode of The Strain are all over this article! If you haven't caught the episode, yet, feel free to check out one of our other other articles.

Last week on The Strain, Central Park became a very crowded festival of vampiric activity, as the attack on the nest underground was a diversion meant to distract humanity's war effort. The failure of the plan, devised by exterminating badass Vasily Fet, has lead to some further planning, and in the case of Fet himself, some more introspective thinking. Which leads to the meat and potatoes of tonight's episode, "Collaborators," which revealed the fact that Fet has a bit of a connection to none other than Herr Thomas Eichorst.

The prompting for all of this delving into the Fet family's backstory is the payoff for a plot point we saw in a Season 1 episode of The Strain, entitled "Occultation." Against Vasily's very wishes, his father did not leave the city as he had implored, which lead to both his mother and father becoming infected -- which also left the elder Fet with no choice but to kill himself and his wife. While Professor Setrakian tried to comfort Vasily with the fact that his father took "the soldier's way out," this caused our normally stone cold rat catcher to break down a bit.

As it turns out, Vasily was hiding the fact that his grandfather, who changed the family name from "Fetrovsky" to "Fet," did so because he was a collaborator in a German concentration camp. As a Ukranian soldier conscripted to fight for Russia, Fetrovsky and a friend volunteered for "special duty" in a camp run by Herr Eichorst himself. Overcome with shame for actually collaborating with the enemy, Mr. Fetrovsky changed his name, and eventually committed suicide when the guilt was too much. This fate, so eerily close to his father's in its method of execution, is what stirred Fet into an emotional state this week.

Fet's emotional journey, played pitch perfectly by the superb Kevin Durand, is something The Strain has always handled perfectly throughout its three-season run. While there has been plenty of gore and action to keep viewers on the edge of their seats, the personal stories about sacrifice, honor, and defeat have filled the universe with bloodshed and supremacy, making the show a living, breathing animal in and of itself. It's not overwrought or melodramatic in its undertaking; merely it gives the really big moments of spectacle the dramatic counterparts they need to create a show that really does have it all. Seeing Setrakian--a man who sadly lost any chance of having a family himself to the vampire menace--comforting Fet is a moment that proves the humanity of our intrepid heroes and their quest.

Hope you've had enough of a breather with this week's antics, because next week looks to be intense. With just three episodes left of The Strain's third season, Palmer has his strength back, the cargo from the Aurora Cutlass is revealed, and The Master's voice is more powerful than ever. "White Light" shines brightly upon us all next week, and if that title's any indication, it looks like things might be booming in NYC - and not for the better.

Join us next week after The Strain, which airs Sundays at 10 p.m. EST on FX, as we'll decode the latest chapter in the supposed decline of humanity! Though if you want a little more action before next week's outing, you can watch "Under Siege," the companion web series to The Strain.

Spoilers for Sunday's episode of The Strain are all over this article. If you haven't caught the episode, yet, feel free to check out one of our other lovely articles.

Last week on The Strain, it looked like humanity had found it stride, and a plan was being devised to take New York City back from the still absent Master and his Strigoi minions. Though something in the back of our minds did seem to indicate that a decisive victory would be simple and clean at this point in Season 3's run, and sure enough tonight proved our gut feelings right. While "The Battle of Central Park" did take place, it really wasn't much of a battle, and the victory certainly wasn't ours. As we found out the hard way, humanity had been duped, and New York is once again in mortal danger.

If things had gone according to plan, Fet's silver bombs would have crippled the Strigoi next under Central Park, thus giving Justine Feraldo and her Safe Streets Initiative the upper hand they needed in order to take the city back decisively. Fet's end of the bargain did work out, as the silver bomb did seem to take out the nest, as intended. However, the unforeseen peril was in the hordes of Strigoi that bum-rushed several barricades throughout New York, as well as filled what looked like the entirety of Central Park.

This bait and switch is undoubtedly thanks to Herr Eichorst and, to a certain extent, Kelly Goodweather, as the two have become the power couple of the Strigoi left behind after The Master's temporary death. As if to pour salt into the wound, Eichorst toyed with Eph Goodweather, who finally received the sign he's been looking for all season: he now knows that Zack is alive and well, at least for the time being. While Thomas lost his hand during his game against Dr. Goodweather, he's still sitting pretty after his successful maneuvering around humanity's search for a quick fix.

New York City's chances of survival are undoubtedly looking pretty grim. While there's still some knowledge to be had from the Occido Lumen, and the partnership of Eldritch Palmer and Abraham Setrakian could find some backhanded way to subvert The Master's plans, it's not like all options have been expended. Though if we're being honest, it seems way too early for any sort of optimism to be triumphing in The Strain, as the ever present darkness seems to be having its way.

With four episodes left in the season, The Strain looks like it could be setting up for something big. If you're a fan of the books, you might have an idea where things are heading, though there are certain key pieces that need to fall into place in order to deliver the crushing blow that met fans when they finished "The Fall." Even more pressure is on, considering the recent announcement that there's only one more season left in the series' life span, which makes us wonder how truncated the plot will become, considering the previous plan called for 20 episodes worth of story to finish things up.

For now, we'll be taking things one episode at a time, as The Strain will be coming back to FX next Sunday at 10 PM EST.

The Strain has brought a special kind of horror to FX over the past few years with its weekly vampiric scares. The series can be partly credited with making vampires properly scary again after projects like Twilight and The Vampire Diaries and even True Blood humanized them to a less-than-terrifying degree. We now know that the series is officially coming to an end after a fourth and final season. Still, fans shouldn't be too upset for one very big reason: The Strain wasn't actually cancelled by FX.

FX President of Original Programming Nick Grad revealed today that The Strain's executive producers Carlton Cuse, Guillermo del Toro, and Chuck Hogan are set to wrap up the story after its fourth season. The network is simply letting the team bring the show to a natural conclusion rather than forcing them to continue it indefinitely. The Strain was always designed as a limited-run series; we now know just how long that run will be.

The team behind The Strain has been able to map out the story for a limited run series thanks to the source material that inspired the series. The show is based on a trilogy of novels by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, so there's no one better to make the page-to-screen decisions. Changes have been made to the source material, but the show has benefited from the framework of the novels as it has progressed over the last three seasons.

The Strain was originally designed as a project that would last for three seasons, one for each book of the trilogy. Once the show premiered, the plan shifted with a new goal of five seasons. Carlton Cuse explained during Season 2 that the first season covered the events of the first book, the second and third seasons would cover the second book, and the fourth and fifth seasons would cover the last book. The decision to end The Strain after Season 4 indicates that the team has found a way to fit the rest of the trilogy's major twists into one last season instead of two.

Chuck Hogan revealed to CinemaBlend before the premiere of Season 3 that the change from 13-episode seasons to 10-episode seasons has "supercharged" the storytelling of the series, which likely played a part in how the end of The Strain has been set to conclude sooner than anticipated. News of the fourth season also being the final season is undoubtedly a bummer for fans who have been holding on to the five-year plan, but everyone should take solace in the knowledge that FX is letting The Strain come to a natural conclusion rather than prolonging it until the excitement fizzles out. We'll get a full story in four parts out of The Strain, and that can only be a good thing.

Season 3 of The Strain is still on the air, so you can tune in to FX on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET to see what's in store for the humans as they continue in their battle against the vampires. Season 4 will hit the airwaves in summer 2017. Check out our fall TV premiere schedule to see what you'll be able to watch in the meantime.

Last week on The Strain, Quinlan decapitated The Master, and it looked like the great game was over between vampires and humans. Unfortunately, nothing could have been further from the truth, as the hordes of the undead didn't die as planned. If anything, the supposed death of The Master has made the vampiric underworld a bit more dangerous. So where exactly does this seem to leave the rest of the third season of FX's horror-drama?

Well, since The Master's "death", the Strigoi out in the world haven't died as they were foretold to. Rather they've lost their hive mind, which was always controlled by the lord of darkness himself. Under traditional vampire lore, all vampires created during The Strain's run should die, along with Quinlan himself. Scratch another rumor off the list, as the Strigoi are not only still alive, they're now feral! Without a network of control, the creatures of the night are now as aggressive as they are disorganized, leading the turned to attack without thought of consequence.

Apparently, to truly "kill" The Master, you need to take out a special crimson worm. Should that worm survive, The Master survives along with it. So the quest to take back New York is going to be rather interesting, considering we're practically waiting for The Master to take his new form. And if this week's events are any indication, it looks like Eichorst could be the new person to take over, considering his latest gambit in the name of vampire supremacy.

Inspired by the leadership crisis in his ranks, Herr Eichorst summoned up some of that trademark Nazi charm, and formed a small team of Strigoi suicide bombers. Hitting several checkpoints throughout New York, about 60 people were killed or injured, and an undisclosed number infected. One such victim was Justine Feraldo, the leader of the Safe Streets Initiative herself. Lucky for her, Fet zapped the worm that was about to infect her, and Eph gave her a clean bill of health.

Still, the damage was done, and morale may weaken the human side of the war to the point The Master's full resurgence could deliver a strong blow against humanity. While he's down right now, he's certainly not out for the count, as he shows up at the end to taunt Eph. Humanity continues to be on the edge of extinction, and our heroes on the brink of sanity.

We'll see what happens next as The Strain will return to our TV screens once more, next Sunday at 10 PM EST on FX. In the meantime, feel free to enjoy the show's companion web series, Under Siege, at the link included.

Despite existing as a TV adaptation of a pre-existing book series, The Strain hasn't let that fact get in the way of defying the expectations of those who followed along with Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro's trilogy of novels. Nowhere was that more prevalent than in tonight's episode, "First Born," as Quinlan and The Master's eternal beef came to a presumable end as Gabriel Bolivar's beheading had been accomplished.

As a fan who's read the trilogy of books, seeing Bolivar beheaded at the end of tonight's episode was a huge surprise, considering that the series of novels saw the former rock star turned vampiric overlord surviving to the end of the series. However, series co-creator and the writer of tonight's episode, Chuck Hogan, saw Bolivar's death as a huge opportunity for the show to move forward with a renewed sense of energy. As I recently sat down to speak with Hogan, he informed me of the reason he took such a left turn with the adaptation of the plot he helped create, as he made the following statement:

Nobody could have expected Bolivar to bite the big one tonight, as he was being set up as the big bad of the series from the early days of Season 2. Of course, now that The Master's recent vessel has perished, the big question on everyone's minds is, ''When will The Master return?'' Surely he can't be dead, as the planned five season arc of the entire show is hitting a mid-point that promises to be full of twists and turns the audience won't see coming. Chuck Hogan himself promised as such, as prodding about The Master's eventual return gave him the opportunity to tease the following:

Curve balls seem to be the specialty of The Strain as of late, as season 2 saw the show kill off yet another character that crossed the finish line in the novels, Dr. Nora Martinez. So if Chuck Hogan and his fellow writers can be that merciless with the good guys, he surely can be just as devious with the villains of the piece. But perhaps seeking the new Master isn't so hard after all, as Hogan's ''curve ball'' remark does seem to disqualify certain candidates. Most specifically, we can expect The Master right hand man, Thomas Eichorst, to be eliminated from the line of succession, as he's the only other candidate we've ever seen considered for the job. In fact, after tonight's episode, two candidates seem to be at the head of the list.

With Kelly Goodweather serving as one of The Master's top lieutenants, and with Zach Goodweather already being groomed as The Master's next human vessel, it would only make sense for the lord of all things dark to screw with Eph's head even more. Already this season, we've seen Kelly being used to convince Eph to steal and deliver the Occido Lumen into his possession, so the good doctor is clearly the weak link that can most easily be exposed. Either would be a nice, hard turn of the screw, but if we had to settle on one character, we'd say that Zach would be the most surprising candidate for the job of freaking out the viewers.

We'll have to wait and see what The Strain has in store for the Goodweathers, as well as the rest of New York City, as it continues its third season run Sundays at 10 PM EST on FX.

One would think that Stephen King is so busy writing novels, short stories, poems, essays and columns that he wouldn't have time for anything from a visual medium. But the Master of Horror is a big fan of TV and movies, and he's always good about sharing his thoughts on what he's watching. Understandably, King watches a lot of genre TV, and he made quite the claim about the coolest monster hunters on the small screen.

Now, that wasn't "quite the claim" because Stephen King happened to misspell the name of Norman Reedus' redneck warrior Daryl Dixon on The Walking Dead, although I'm sure some fans had a fist to shake at the author for the typo. It's simply the fact that he narrowed it down to two, since TV has arguably never had as many monster-fighting characters before. Horror is alive and well on the boob tube, and there is no shortage of supercool weapon-toting badasses putting evil down.

Really, though, namechecking Daryl was kind of a no-brainer, since The Walking Dead is one of the most popular shows on TV, with Reedus hovering around the top of the fanbase's favorite elements of the series. Even though a crossbow isn't a wonderful weapon for the post-apocalypse, it's visually appealing and makes him look smooth as hell when popping bolts off in zombies' skulls. And being able to ride away from a situation on a motorcycle never lost anyone any cool points.

Similarly, The Strain's Vasiliy Fet is the kind of guy you might not necessarily hang out with on a normal day, but is a goddamn blessing to have around when the world has been taken over by vamp creatures. He's brawny, he's solid with the weaponry, and he's got a wicked sense of humor to go along with it. Sadly, we might not get to see him as long as we've seen Daryl, but he still stands above most as a force against dastardly creatures.

But in sharing this opinion on his Twitter page, Stephen King just invites jerks like me to get wicked pissy while hollering out others that stand up to the monster-fighting test. "But what about Ash vs Evil Dead's Ash, Mr. King?" I would ask. "Or the Winchester brothers on Supernatural? Aren't they all cool enough for you?" And accordingly, he would then ignore me and go about continuing to wow millions of readers with his extensive imagination.

You can currently catch Fet doing his dirty deeds on Season 3 of The Strain, which airs Sunday nights on FX. Meanwhile, The Walking Dead is gearing up for Season 7 to begin on AMC on Sunday, October 23. For all the other TV shows on the way, monster-filled and not, check out our fall premiere schedule, and don't forget to keep an eye out for the Stephen King-adapted projects coming to TV and theaters over the next year.

It's hard to believe that The Strain is already heading into its third season, with tonight's premiere bringing the vampire action in New York back to our screens for the first of the presumed last three seasons. With just 30 episodes planned to end the series, the creative team has their eyes on the prize, with a clear beginning, middle, and end always planned out. However, as co-creator and writer Chuck Hogan will tell you, the path to that ending is ever evolving.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Hogan and his work on The Strain, the series that he'd co-created with horror / fantasy mastermind Guillermo del Toro. With the move to a 10 episode season comes questions of why a series would scale back its production, and in the case of FX's vampire action-drama, the move to a shorter season was made to jump-start the charge towards the end. Hogan explained the motivation as follows:

With earlier seasons of The Strain setting up the world and the lore of the Strigoi, the Ancients, and The Master, you could consider those first two seasons as "Act I" to The Strain's overall story arc. Which means that Season 3 is poised to stand as the "Act II" arc that propels the action and gives "Act III" the momentum it needs to finish strongly. Should the television adaptation stay loyal to the original source material, that ending will be strong indeed. Also, trimming a show's episode order from 13 to 10 episodes can decrease the reliance on "filler" episodes, trimming the story to a lean and mean through line that's easier to follow.

Though, much like the ever evolving adaptation has shrugged off some of the original twists from The Strain's printed incarnation, the plan to adapt the three book series into five seasons of TV may not always stand firm. Even Chuck Hogan knows this, as even he doesn't know exactly when the drama will end. In fact, the original plan to bring The Strain to TV screens wasn't even that extensive, as he recounted the following path to production:

While the end has always been in sight for Chuck Hogan and those involved with The Strain's production, it's comforting to know that while the events to close the show are already plotted out, the pitfalls and obstacles that will line the path are enough to keep the journey interesting.

The Strain returns to infect your Sunday nights, tonight at 10 PM EST, only on FX.

Last week on The Strain, a lot of various events went down. If you're interested in what happened, you can read last week's recap, because there's A LOT to talk about this week. One gigantic twist changed the course of the series compared to that of the books, and it was the most heartbreaking event in the history of The Strain. A moment of silence, for our fallen compatriot.

”It's done.”

Dr. Nora Martinez: dear friend, brave scientist, and love of Ephraim Goodweather's life, has died. Following a face off with Kelly Goodweather, after a massive train derailment courtesy of a legion of strigoi, Nora found herself infected with the vampiric worms that started it all. What initially looked like it was just a very tight grip on Nora's hand was actually something much more fatal. By time Eph got to her, it was too late, and after saying somewhat of a sentimental goodbye, Nora disposed of herself by electrocuting herself by using the electrical rail in the tunnel. Of course, Nora wasn't the only person Eph lost that night. Zach, the reason Nora was even in the tunnel to begin with, also ran off with Kelly.

During last week's episode, it was mentioned that Kelly's parents were alive and well in Georgia. The plan was for Zach, Eph, and Nora to get onto a train out of the city. Of course, plans are for fools when dealing with the vampire apocalypse, and with Kelly's direct line to The Master, everything was thrown out of balance. Ultimately, it was Zach's pleas that threw Nora off of her game with Kelly, and stopped her from outright killing Nora. The price was his co-operation with Kelly's grand plan to steal Zach away from Eph, and take him to The Master. Though, that's not the end of The Master's winning streak tonight, as another was taken in his name.

”In order to defeat The Master, we must be as cold, ruthless, and savage as he is. And yet, without becoming monsters ourselves.”

Coco Marchand was Eldritch Palmer's price for disobeying The Master. While the two looked to be the latest and greatest power couple in New York, it clearly wasn't to be, since she was sucked drier than a juice box. It was Palmer's action, at Marchand's urging, that lost The Master his bid on the Occido Lumen. So instead of the book's original option of ripping him in half, we got to see Coco lose her life and Eldritch claim her heart in every literal sense. Like his rival Abraham Setrakian, it looks like he'll be keeping her heart in a jar for the years to come.

Of course, Setrakian isn't having a much better finale himself, as he was hunted down by Gus and The Ancients to recover the newly won Occido Lumen. With the Ancient's backing, the pawnbroker / vampire hunter now has the one text that details everything you wanted to know about vampires, but could probably get killed trying to learn about. This, of course, was after Thomas Eichorst made a desperate attempt at recovering the book by mobilizing a mob of eager Strigoi to attack him on his way home. As if losing some of their teammates wasn't enough, the Wilson's Bread truck they tooled around in was demolished with a homemade explosive trap.

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So where does “Night Train” leave the various factions of The Strain? For Setrakian, Fet, and Gus, a new team of vampiric ass kickers has been formed, with Mr. Quinlan at the head and Angel along for the ride. For young Zach, it leaves him with his loving mother and a whole new world he'll be exposed to. Poor Eph, and even the normally wretched Palmer, are also left without the women they loved--and nothing else left to lose. Most importantly, the city of New York, as well as the rest of the entire world, is hanging by a thread – and a sinister plan is looming over everyone, waiting for a moment of weakness.

Season 2 of The Strain has indeed topped Season 1's stellar origins. While there were some lulls, and plenty of Zach moments to make you want to tear your hair out, the show continues to be living proof of how a book-to-series adaptation is done right. With Season 3 greenlit by FX, and the unexpected death of Nora Martinez changing everything book fans knew about the series' future, the dark territory ahead will assuredly be full of twists and turns that will keep everyone guessing. Thanks for spending your time with us this season, and we'll be looking forward to seeing you back hear next summer when The Strain returns to infect our Sundays with thrills and chills in 2016.

Last week on The Strain, a close call with evil almost left Dutch and Setrakian out of the game for good. Thankfully, both were recovered by the end of last week, despite the fact that New York seems to be getting worse for the wear. With next week's season finale looming, “Fallen Light” actually takes us into territory that makes this week's episode refreshing yet relevant.

”I know it's hard to believe this, but I never stopped loving you. I still love you.”

For a show that focuses on the impending apocalypse and vampirism running rampant, The Strain had a sequence of flashbacks that felt like a completely different show, and for all the right reasons. We saw the rise and consummation of Eph and Nora's love affair, from the moment they first met to the night Eph's wife filed for divorce. As an added bonus, we got to see Jim Kent alive and well in the early days of the Canary team. Of course, everything came crashing back to the here and now, and that means Eph's dalliance with Leigh Thomas is back in play. They end the episode in a very questionable spot, but they aren't even the biggest heartache of the night.

That honor goes to, surprise surprise, Dutch and Fet. After our hacker was friend rescued from the clutches of Herr Eichorst by the rat catcher she once loved, Ms. Velders decided once and for all that her heart belonged to Nikki. Fet took it pretty well, and his state of near zen about it all was more heartbreaking than if he got into a blow-out fight with her. Of course, the other shoe dropped when Nikki broke Dutch's heart again, as she was seen leaving town with her mother when Dutch came to reclaim her lady love. Look on the bright side, there's one couple that's still got it going on: Eldritch Palmer and Coco Marchand!

”If you do not provide the funds for the Lumen, you will never get another drop of The White.”

The path to the Occido Lumen winds ever narrower, as Elritch Palmer and Abraham Setrakian are both locked into a bidding war with Alfonso Creem's criminal enterprise on Governor's Island. On the Palmer side of the equation, he and Coco tried to defy the orders of The Master – orders which send Eichorst to the auction, with Palmer's credit line open to him. Just when they thought they had him by the short hairs, Eichorst reminded them that they are the ones who still have the hair in this scenario. If they disobey, then they get to die a natural death as they would have without “the Master's gift.”

Setrakian, on the other hand, now has 24 hours to deliver to Creem an offer that could beat Palmer's best price. It also has to be brought in Gold, so it's not like there's any pressure or anything. But the old man has agreed to the price, and he's got The Ancients' blessing and backing for the bidding war. Of course, the catch is that once the book is won it will go straight to Quinlan – who will deliver it to the ancients. As a back-up plan, Mr. Quinlan enlists his greatest human ally as the kill switch – Gus Elizalde. If Setrakian even thinks of double crossing The Ancients, Gus has the order to kill the old man and bring them the book.

”I don't want us to have to fight on the way out. I don't want to lose anybody that we don't have to.“

The bigger portion of Gus' story took place in jail this week, although he was on the right side of the bars this time. With the help of Angel, Gus freed all of the un-turned prisoners from Riker's Island and enlisted their help in hunting some bloodsuckers. Of course, the criminal element being what they are, this didn't go as smoothly as planned – as the last remaining guard was killed, another prisoner challenged Gus' leadership. Both mistakes were paid for in blood, as a vampire attack and Angel's shotgun solidified the rest of the group into a somewhat unified army, much like Councilwoman Ferraldo's Safe Street Initiative. Unfortunately for her, the strength of her own forces might be fractured sooner than we think.

As if enough wasn't going on with Season 2's plotline, a big mystery that might play into Season 3 was dropped towards the end of the episode. With Justine Ferraldo and Mayor Lyle locking horns over the 1% protection tax that she put into place for the Upper East Side, it is the worst possible time for the Mayor to be found dead. Yet there he is, in the morgue with a gunshot to the head, and Ferraldo left as the prime suspect. So now the big question is, who killed George Lyle, and are they in any way linked to Ferraldo's ranks? Something tells me we won't find out next week.

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Are Ferraldo's hands as clean as she says they are? Will Eph, Nora, and Zach make it to Georgia in one piece? Whose hands will the Occido Lumen find its new home in? Next week, we board the “Night Train” and find out where Season 2 of The Strain will leave us. We'll see you next week for the thrilling conclusion, but if you're ready for some more fun then head on over to Page 2 for this week's Nitpicks, Notes, and Nods.

Nitpicks

We never got the flashbacks into Nora and Eph's past, much less anything dealing with Jim Kent past Book 1. As previously mentioned, the auction was to take place at Sotheby's. Kelly's parents were never contacted, and Georgia was never an option.

Notes

Ferraldo is being set up by Palmer big time. I don't know how, or what the end game is, but Palmer's promotion of his greatest for to Special Director Of Security for New York has an underlying current of evil to it.

Nods

On another note, Ferraldo looks ready to start taking a turn for the worse with her public image. Setrakian's musing about the usage of the word “Homeland,” as well as the tone of Ferraldo's speech seem to set up a rather Nazi-ish vibe. Come to think of it, what if Ferraldo's methodology is eventually the prelude to what's to come in The Night Eternal?

Last week on The Strain, Eph tried to end the war with one shot, and ended up landing Dutch in more peril than ever before. With his accomplice in the clutches of Herr Eichorst, and with Setrakian in the clutches of an unnamed figure, the forces of light are facing down what looks like a “Dead End,” but is all truly lost?

”Tommy, your problem is you have no fire in your belly.”

We learned A LOT more about Thomas Eichorst's past tonight, and it was the absolute highlight of the action this week. Through flashbacks, we saw that Eichorst was a lowly radio salesman before falling for the powerful lure of The Third Reich. We even saw him lose a woman he loved just as the Nazis were starting to rise to power, all due to her being of Jewish descent. That sensitive, kind Eichorst with no power or authority wasn't the one we saw with Dutch Velders this evening, as he has shown that not only does he have both of those qualities in spades now, but he can drink alcohol and even try to please a lady!

While he imbibed in the first vice, he was stopped pretty effectively before he could even touch the other; as Nora, Fet, and Eph arrived shortly after Dutch sprayed Eichorst in the face with some pepper spray. While Tommy escaped without too much of a scratch - though a bit of a messed up makeup job - it looks like Dutch was extremely happy to see Fet. This all came after the trio's missing person's search that took up most of their time on screen this week. If only they'd thought to check in with the home base, they'd have seen that another one of their numbers was missing.

”People would say you couldn't even find Tahiti on the map, Rudyard. But I am going there now, and this is my silver ticket.”

Sure enough, Professor Abraham Setrakian found himself in the clutches of Rudyard Fonescu, the current possessor of the Occido Lumen, and the survivor Setrakian himself saved from a monastery back in 1960s Vienna. While Setrakian was trying to offer Rudyard any price he could think of in the name of the Lumen, Mr. Fonescu was not having it. Greedy with the power of “protecting” the Lumen, as well as the money he could possibly fetch for it, he was off to sell the book to the highest bidder.

That highest bidder, surprisingly enough, was Alfonso Creem. You may remember him as not only the gangster that Gus was working for in Season 1, but also the man that Setrakian had put in a standing order with for the Lumen's possession. With Creem ready to buy the book, one has to wonder if he'll live up to his word with Setrakian and deliver it, or if he'll find himself on the side of greed and try to fence the book to a higher bidder. If he had his former business partner to consult with, the decision would be easy. However, Gus has his hands full at the moment – romantically and professionally.

”This...this is The Silver Angel.”

So Gus and Aanya, faced with the prospect of splitting up for survival, finally did the deed. In the face of everything standing against them, the young lovers came together and had a moment of solace before their separation. As part of his deal with Quinlan, Gus and Angel escorted the Guptas to the border and sent them on their way. However, Angel broke his promise to Gus and stuck around to join the team. The Silver Angel has risen once more, and the forces of good might have the firepower they need to fight the vampiric menace that's threatening New York – and humanity.

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“Dead End” kept the train going after a really big momentum spike a couple of weeks ago. With just two episodes left in The Strain Season 2, there's still a chance that one false move could derail all of the work that's gone into pushing things along in the back end of the sophomore season. We'll see if the streak's still alive next week, as we set our expectations high and observe the “Falling Light.” But if your thirsts could use a little more slaking, then pull up a stool as we get into our Nitpicks, Notes, and Nods.

Nitpicks

Nothing from the books, though there's A LOT of new back story from Eichorst's previous life.

...Where was Zach all this week? For a kid that's basically the number one target for The Master and his minions, you'd think there would be some sort of mention of him being in someone's capable care.

Notes

Seriously, if there was any testament to how much Richard Sammel can carry The Strain on his back, it has to be the 1930's flashback sequences. I want more of that back story, but at the same time the vagueness that's present is a pretty sweet thing too.

Much like the story structure of the books, I love how the series adapts the transition between flashbacks and present day story lines. Everything stays fresh and exciting, and it helps pad out the series.

Nods

Eichorst's character trajectory is mighty similar to that of Agent Nelson Van Alden's in Season 3 of Boardwalk Empire. Except, Van Alden never became a Nazi. Or a vampire.

Reading Assignment: None.

Last week on The Strain, the battle to end all battles occurred in Red Hook. As the sun rose, the citizens and the New York Safe Street Initiative stood among the corpses of their foes, ready for the dawn of a new day. It looks like humanity has a fighting chance, and it’s all thanks to Justine Ferraldo and our usual gang of Strigoi exterminators. If only Eldritch Palmer were as easy to take down, for Eph Goodweather took his shot this week, and he came up short.

”God I wish I’d succeeded in killing you. The world would thank me.”

A couple weeks ago, Eph swore that he’d kill Eldritch Palmer. To a certain degree, his attempt was successful, as his shot did manage to hit someone. Unfortunately for him, Palmer wasn’t the victim…it was his girlfriend, Coco Marchand. Mortally wounded, Ms. Marchand ended up hanging on by a thread, with her life in the balance. After all of his careful planning and surveillance, the good doctor only managed to hurt Palmer’s emotions; and make him desperate enough to turn to The Master’s help once more.

Much like Palmer’s rejuvenation towards the end of Season 1, Coco was “blessed” with The Master’s blood - sans worms - and brought back into the color of health. All at once, Palmer confessed to her that he was working with The Master as his “partner,” and that he too had been saved by his dark gift. This was a huge jump from the beginning of the episode, when Palmer was at Coco’s doorstep, begging her to take him back. While Palmer thinks what he’s done was out of love, Coco might see it a bit differently - which is the sort of conflict picking up steam between another pair of warring factions.

”Across the river in Brooklyn, the good citizens of Red Hook rose up and fought shoulder to shoulder with my men, they paid with their blood. Something tells me the Upper East Side would prefer to pay with their wallets.”

Much to her chagrin, Councilwoman Justine Ferraldo’s Safe Street Initiative is now coming to the Upper East Side, per Mayor Lyle’s request. In true Ferraldo fashion, she’s complied with her political master’s demands, but at a cost. For just 1% of their real estate value, Ferraldo and her crew will clean out the Upper East Side for all of the rich donors’ pleasure. Naturally, this is something that they balk at, which in turn caused Mayor Lyle to turn to Eldritch Palmer for help. Of course, before any “help” could be given, Eph’s shot found its way into Ms. Marchand’s shoulder, scuttling the meeting and causing Eph and Dutch to be apprehended by the NYPD.

If the rest of the NYPD is as cooperative against the good doctor as the detectives that apprehended him and his assistant, then Ferraldo might want to watch her back. In true cop-movie fashion, the cops escorted Dutch out of the cell and allowed Eph a fantastic one-on-one with Palmer. Eph gets to be a badass prisoner, Palmer gets to be the cold-calculating psychopath; it’s the stuff good drama is made of. However, just to get the point across, a roving gang of Strigoi take out all but one of the cops in the station, leaving Eph to be rescued by Nora and Fet, both of whom broke away from Professor Setrakian to bail him out.

”Nothing is more important than The Lumen! We must find it before someone else does!”

Following up on the lead from a couple of weeks ago, in which Rudyard Fonescu was named the current possessor of the Occido Lumen, Setrakian, Nora and Eph found four entries for “R. Fonescu” in the phone book. After following up on all four, and encountering a good amount of Strigoi along the way, the good Professor finally found the Lumen!

Only, he found himself knocked out by the butt of a pistol before he could revel in his victory. Not only that, but as the episode ended, we found Dutch in the worst place possible - Eichorst’s play room/feeding chamber. Hearing the familiar clank of the chain apparatus that he uses to secure his victims, we closed out this week with Dutch looking primed with fear for her first time under Eichorst’s “care.”

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“The Assassin” may have missed his mark, but the episode was a satisfying continuation of last week’s momentum. With only three episodes left in Season 2, The Strain will hopefully make a long drive straight through to the finish. Next week, our heroes are in peril as they face down a “Dead End.” We’ll see you here for more fun next time, but if you’re up to take another shot, you can join us for this week’s Nitpicks, Notes, and Nods.

Nitpicks

Nothing from the books this week, though the whole quest to find the Lumen never took this turn. So it looks like the Sotheby’s auction might have been replaced after all.

You would have thought that if Fonescu had “an apartment above his place of business,” that the team would have researched what the name of his business was. Town Hall and the Hall Of Records must still be open, or easily accessible through the chaos.

Notes

Dubstep vampires? I knew there was a reason I loved this show, besides the intriguing drama.

Eph and Palmer’s confrontation tonight was pretty damned amazing. This show excels at one-on-one confrontation, as well as enhancing side characters from the book. The enrichment of Eldritch Palmer is astounding.

Also, a lot of credit goes to Jonathan Hyde, proving why he’s still one of the best character actors on the scene.

Oh Fet… your one liners make me feel right at home, man.

Nods

If the rich knew what was in store, particularly in the prologue to The Night Eternal, they’d probably cough up that 1% more readily than they would while oblivious to the truth.

I have a really nagging feeling that Ferraldo is going to meet an untimely end at some point, possibly at the end of this season or during the next. Palmer is in a vulnerable position right now that he’d strike out in such a way.

Reading Assignment: Nothing this week.

Last week on The Strain, Kelly got pretty damned close to taking Zach back in her clutches, and in the process. started to lose her shit hardcore. With Eldritch Palmer and Abraham Setrakian both making a play for the Occido Lumen, and both getting pretty close without the vampires knowing it, it felt like a lot of the pressure from this season was coming to a head. Tonight, it did, and The Battle Of Red Hook did not fail to live up to its name – making itself the best episode of Season 2, as well as the series on the whole.

”It is time for them to see our true power.”

Eichorst and his undead army made a bold play to quash the efforts of Justine Ferraldo's Safe Street Initiative to cleanse the city of vampire scum. Using the old “bribe a human to get us across the water” gambit that started this whole mess, a group of 20 bloodsuckers – including Eichorst and Kelly Goodweather - were brought over to Red Hook via the docks. In addition to sneaking behind enemy lines, they also cut the power supply to that section of Brooklyn, thus knocking out the UV lights that allow Ferraldo's men to detect who exactly is a vampire.

Humanity wasn't completely unprepared though, as Kelly's previous incursion has Setrakian and company on high alert. If it wasn't for her failed attempt at taking Zach, the group wouldn't have left to warn Justine and her task force about the possibility of a coming invasion. While the battle for Red Hook did have its fair share of casualties, it would have been a total shit show without warning – as well as Councilwoman Ferraldo's rallying the citizens of Red Hook into the fight. If there's enough of a New York left come next election cycle, or if she isn't assassinated by some Stoneheart goon, then she's pretty much got carte blanche for whatever office she sees fit.

”There are no quitters here, Doc.”

It wasn't all warfare and gunshots this week though, as the more personal angle did take its place amidst the madness. Dutch's struggle to decide whether she should follow her heart to Fet's open arms or Nikki's madness is still raging, and for once it didn't feel painful to watch. Dutch is understanding herself, as well as her draw to Nikki a lot better than she has previously, and Fet is becoming more even-tempered in his longing for the woman he's become so deeply attached to. Though that's not enough to stop the showrunners from letting Fet and Nora get a couple moments in that tease a possible connection. That is, if Nora manages to survive.

As she's starting to question Eph at an increasing rate, Nora has also made herself a bit of a target for Kelly Goodweather, as she's become a sort of surrogate mother for Zach. Which means that when Kelly sees Zach running to Nora during the human efforts to restore power to Red Hook, she obviously goes out of her mind. With young Zach at a very crucial period of believing whether Nora or Kelly is the one to trust, this obviously isn't the best choice of action if she wants to win her son over. However, with the increasingly erratic behavior that's being shown on his father's side, Zach might have a harder decision than he thought.

”Remaining human at all costs is very important, even when dealing with murderers.”

So Eph tried to take down Eichorst tonight, and while it wasn't a success, it did lead to an intense cap to an already action-packed episode. Herr Eichorst, as usual, played with his food a bit too much before going in for the kill; and for a moment it looked like had Fet on the ropes. But thanks to a Setrakian sneak attack, Eichorst was wounded and ran off with his stinger between his legs. It was a good fight, but thankfully the good doctor wasn't too boozed out of his mind, and had a good second to back him up. He might want to work on that shot before taking on Eldritch Palmer though.

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By the time morning came, Red Hook was saved and for a moment, everyone felt good about themselves. “The Battle For Red Hook” actually lets you believe in that feeling, if you want to. Of course, there are four episodes left in Season 2 of The Strain, and considering next week's is entitled “The Assassin,” either Palmer or Ferraldo might be in the crosshairs, which would definitely ruffle some feathers in New York. Come back to us next week, dear ones, and we'll have a chat about Episode 10 at the usual time and place. Of course, if your thirst runs deeper, then might we suggest a quick trip to this week's Nitpicks, Notes, and Nods.

Nitpicks

*This whole episode is off book, and there's not a damned thing wrong with that! A centerpiece such as the Battle For Red Hook could have helped The Fall elevate itself a bit from the standard “middle installment” template. (Which isn't to say the book isn't aces. It's just that this episode was THAT good.)

Notes

*The revamped credits sequence is not only a good history refresher for the past year or so of the show, but it's well-animated. Definitely more exciting than the usual sequence, and it helps sell tonight's episode as a cinematic experience. Something tells me this is a special flourish to the episode, much like the season premiere credits showing the eclipse, so enjoy it while you can.

*Richard Sammel is MVP again tonight, as he doesn't chew scenery so much as he politely eats as much as he can and doesn't engorge himself too much. I'm starting to think we need a night in the life of the vampires as an upcoming episode.

*For as much as the show has lagged in pace the last couple of episodes, the slow build actually feels like it's paid off tonight. The only thing that could have made this episode better is if it was a feature-length brawl, with Gus and Quinlan cementing their partnership over a heap of Strigoi corpses.

Nods

*Eichorst and Setrakian's little scuffle this week is reminiscent of a scene towards the end of The Fall where the two face off in more dire circumstances. One could assume this is a set up to that event, and a damned fine one at that.

*If the series sticks to the books as well as it has so far, this won't be the only time you'll see vampires in a power plant, as The Fall drops a huge set piece at a nuclear power plant.

Reading Assignment: None, but feel free to rewatch the episode with a drink and a lot of cheering.

Last week on The Strain: romance was having its way with New York City, as Palmer and Coco were getting closer just as Fet and Dutch were drifting apart. Yet amidst the personal dramas, vampires were still hunted and the mysterious Quinlan entered the great game. By the end of the hour, Eph swore he’d do what greater hunters before him had attempted: to kill Eldritch Palmer. While last week’s episode lacked the action and intrigue The Strain does best, it all came back in tonight’s episode - “Intruders.”

”Eph? Give him to me. You never wanted him anyway. Let’s let Zach decide who he wants to be with. I wonder who he’ll choose?”

Tonight’s biggest surprise was the fact that Kelly Goodweather was cured! At least, she looked and sounded like she was cured. The Master’s plot to abduct Zach called for mother Goodweather to be given a boost in the cognitive ability to speak and act closer to her former self that she acquired at the beginning of the season. Unfortunately for her, the act wasn’t powerful enough to shake Eph’s skepticism, and after dispatching her pair of Feelers, she escaped into the night. Just as Eph was starting to connect again with his son, a traumatic event like this had to happen to shake it all up again.

Earlier in the day, Eph had to operate on a black market connection Fet set him up with. In exchange for performing surgery on a shopkeeper - with his son as his triage nurse - he walked off with a shiny new rifle. While the good doctor hopes to take out Eldritch Palmer with his new rifle, his straight shooting with Nora has now caused a rift. Eph admitted not only to killing Palmer, but also implied the truth about his momentary relationship with Leigh Thomas. Kelly’s intrusion was enough to prevent any sort of further discussion of his activities in D.C., but it wasn’t the most disruptive vampire attack of the evening. That honor goes to our beloved Herr Thomas Eichorst.

”I prefer to think of it as recovering a stolen artifact, but yeah… we’re gonna rob the son of a bitch.”

The Occido Lumen is still in play, and Cardinal MacNamara has given his life in service to the book - whether he wanted to or not. Both Palmer and Abraham Setrakian put in high-value bids, in gold, for the sacred text - and both parties are going to be extremely disappointed as they’re going home empty-handed for the time being. Herr Eichorst found out about Palmer’s bid on the book, which was kept a secret from him earlier in the episode, and he vamped his eminence in order to link his mind to The Master. Lucky for him, an angel released his spirit to God - and that angel was Professor Setrakian.

The Professor killed Cardinal MacNamara, as he and Fet were infiltrating St. Benedict’s Cathedral. Hoping to steal the book before Eldritch Palmer could get his hands on it, Setrakian and Eichorst learn that the book isn’t in the Cathedral. Surprisingly, Cardinal MacNamara has been trying to sell the book for another party - and it’s someone from both Setrakian and Palmer’s past! Remember Rudyard Fonescu, the child with the burnt ear who escaped the vampire attack back in 1966 Vienna? He is the true seller of the book, and only Setrakian knows this. At least, that should be the case if he stopped The Master’s hold over the Cardinal's mind in time.

”I gave you every chance. You want to keep your secrets to yourself, then that’s exactly what will happen.”

Of course, you don’t just set a bunch of romantic subplots into motion, only to forget them just as quickly, and two pairs of lovers may have split for good tonight. Apparently, Eldritch Palmer’s lack of experience with relationships has shown in a big way as his secretive life looks to have finally pushed Coco Marchand away. Sad is it may be, seeing as the old stoneheart was starting to loosen up a bit, this could only fuel him in his quest for immortality. Let’s just hope Coco is far away by then, lest she end up on the wrong end of the rich man’s wrath.

More importantly though, we finally saw Gus’ budding romance with Aanya Gupta play out with an all-too-brief kiss. Just as things were looking up and Gus was ready to shepherd the Gupta family - as well as his new friend Angel - out of the city, someone showed up to draft Gus back into the fight against The Master. Book fans: Gus has finally met with Quinlan, and if next week is as action-packed as we hope it will be, this could be the start of the kick-assed anti-vampire squad we’ve been hoping for ever since the series began. It’s just unfortunate that Mr. Quinlan has warned Gus he should break up with poor Aanya until The Master is dead.

The Strain is back on track with this week’s episode, so let’s hope the momentum continues to chug down the tracks, instead of getting shoved outside of the train. If you thought “Intruders” was a promising episode title, next week’s episode of The Strain is writing a big, fat check that it can hopefully cash: “The Battle For Red Hook.” “Nitpicks, Notes, and Nods!”

Nitpicks

Kelly wasn’t sent undercover with her human make-up in the books. In the book, the Occido Lumen is auctioned at Sotheby’s; though it looks like that auction may have been supplanted by the dealings with Cardnial MacNamara.

Notes

So they knew that Kelly wouldn’t be able to speak or act as fluently human as she once did. Couldn’t Eichorst and The Master have either started this plan earlier, or trained her a couple weeks more before they released her?

No, your eyes did not deceive you - a quick cut of Kelly’s eyes in close-up briefly flashes before this week’s title sequence.

That Eichorst / Palmer sparring match this week was one of the best moments of this whole season. These two need more time bitching at each other on screen!

Come to think of it, Eichorst in general is a stand out character this season, as Richard Sammel is relishing in the delightful evil his character represents. His monologue on God with the Cardinal is compelling stuff.

Nods

Check out Subhumans Of New York before every week’s episode. In addition to being a great look into the world of The Strain, it holds clues and nods to stuff that’s happening on the show. For example, if you want to see what the real Jonathan Crowley looks like, entry 57 reveals it all.

R I have to wonder if the writing staff of The Strain are big fans of history, as not only Justine Ferraldo’s name seems to harken back to a real life politician, but Cardinal MacNamara seems to invoke a comparison to former Secretary Of Defense Robert McNamara - who was quite calculating himself.

Reading Assignment: None This Week

Last week on The Strain: Eph made a beeline to Washington D.C. as New York City was starting to solidify its plans to fight the evil vampire menace. With the help of Fet, Nora, and Dutch, Councilwoman Ferraldo was clearing Red Hook of as many vampires as possible. Yet the likes of Eldritch Palmer and his evil compatriots were not quaking in their boots just yet, obviously holding cards that they would play this week.

”That’s one of the more difficult things about fighting this disease… it fights back.”

Eph is in more hot water than he possibly ever could have imagined, and it all seemed to be going so well. Using Rob Bradley, his contact in Washington D.C., the good doctor had his plan to mass produce and disperse the bioweapon that he and Nora developed in New York. With the help of Leigh Thomas, a contact at a private sector company that can help in the mass production department, things look like they’re going well for the survival of mankind. We even see Eph falling for Leigh a bit as the two of them become romantically entangled. But by the end of this week’s adventures, we find out that The Stoneheart Group really is that good at quashing any threat to its plans, as an assassin took out Eph’s friend and new crush.

Meanwhile, in New York, a potential long-term ally has been eliminated, as Reggie Fitzwillams fell afoul of one of The Master’s Feelers and took a bite to the leg. In short order, Professor Abraham Setrakian released him in the church that Nora and Zach were hiding out in. It was quick and easy, after Reggie made Abraham promise he’d tell his brother that he tried his best. This was a result of a rather intense chase between Nora and Kelly, as both women were engaged in a battle for young Zach’s fate. The youngest Goodweather will have a hard choice to make should the battle lines be drawn again, as not only does he love his mother but he’s also warming up to Nora as a mother figure.

”I will stop him, by for my own reasons.”

Meanwhile, in the darker corners of New York City, not all is lost for the heroes of humanity. Mr. Quinlan (if it’s really him this time) has arrived in New York and hooked up with the Ancients. After a good tongue lashing that addresses how the Ancients failed to act on The Master’s misbehavior in the past, Quinlan promised that he will take down The Master. All he needs is human hunters on his side, and lucky for him, Gus is still alive after the fiasco at Palmer’s penthouse. Even better still, Angel Guzman Hurtado (aka “The Silver Angel”) has finally been convinced to accept his past and it looks like he’s still able to kick some undead ass. He might be slow, but he’s still fierce, and it’s only a matter of time before these two sides meet up - which is good, because some big changes are going on with the forces of evil.

”The great transformation is imminent, Gabriel… you are blessed to be invited to witness it.”

The Master has chosen his rightful successor, and it is none other than former rock star Gabriel Bolivar. Re-enacting the ceremony we saw at the beginning of the season, where Sardu inherited his dark and eternal curse, Bolivar received The Master’s blessing and became the most powerful dark vampire known to humanity. Naturally, this is going to upset a couple of people, and we already saw one of them cursing the futility of their situation. Thomas Eichorst was on hand to see the transformation, and just when he was getting used to calling himself Master. For now, he still swears fealty to the forces of darkness, but don’t count on a man like Eichorst to stay subservient for long.

With “Identity” in the books, we’re almost halfway through the second season of The Strain. The Master is ramping up his efforts, and now Eph is going to have to figure out how to get home while avoiding the net cast to catch him. Hopefully he’ll be in time to prevent any further casualties on the side of good, and especially before Kelly tries to make another move for custody of Zach. Join us next week as we tackle another hour of darkness in episode 7 - “The Born.” However, if you want to stick around for a little more spoiler action, head over to the next page for “Nitpicks, Notes, and Nods!”

Nitpicks

The Master does not transfer from Sardu to Bolivar until the end of The Fall. Another big change from the books is the fact that Everett Barnes has been reported dead, thanks to his run in with Eph on the train last week. In the book series, Barnes survives as one of The Master’s lieutenants, and aids in a lot of what’s to come.

If memory serves correctly, Fitzwillams doesn’t flip sides, nor does he succumb to a vampire attack.

Notes

It’s still weird to see Corey Stoll’s natural baldness on display, especially after getting used to Eph with his head of hair.

Zach seemed to lighten up a bit this weekend, especially with his scenes involving Nora. Where the hell was Dutch this week? Also, there was too little Fet or Gerraldo tonight. Something tells me those two will end up together, should Dutch get vamped in the next season or two.

Nods

The consistent mention of The Stoneheart Group’s plans and real estate purchases are building a lot of what you’ll see in the last two seasons of the show, provided it sticks to The Night Eternal.

Reading Assignment: None This Week

Last week on The Strain, there was a good amount of flashbacks and dour character development. While this serves the slow burn of the series' three-book storyline, viewers have been complaining that “nothing” was happening, which usually equates to a lack of action. This week, the action and emotion are turned up in equal measure – making this week's episode title all the more appropriate. Time to get this recap over, “Quick And Painless.”

”I'm making the decision this time, Eph. You're going to do this alone.”

Eph made a huge move this week, as he procured a new ID and gave himself a new look to get out of New York City. With his plans for mass dispersal, and a sample of the new pathogen he and Dr. Martinez created in hand, the good doctor adopts a false name and heads on a Government transport straight to the heart of government. Unfortunately for him, his former boss and Stoneheart collaborator Dr. Everett Barnes is also on that train. While he tried to skulk about and avoid Everett's gaze, the two crossed paths and gave us a close quarters brawl that livened things up this week. Eph made it to DC safely, but he didn't make this week's biggest action sequence.

That honor goes to Fet, Dutch, and the Justine Ferraldo's New York Safe Street Initiative, as they finally teamed up and went on a muncher hunt! The experienced vampire hunters schooled the n00bs in advanced weapons and tactics, treating them to a show that culminated in a silver grenade attack on a cluster of bloodsuckers sleeping at the bottom of an elevator shaft. Having some experienced personnel is just what Ferraldo's task force needed, as they've suffered some losses trying to clear out the Red Hook neighborhood and are still having a problem screening potential carriers of the plague. Unfortunately, the loss reaches a level even the Councilwoman was unprepared for.

”I've been asking my own people to be okay with this. I can't even do it.

While helping update the New York Safe Street Initiative's screening process, Councilwoman Ferraldo has Nora screen her cousin Mikey, whom we last saw unveiling the anti-vampire “monument” in Staten Island, before watching him get knocked down some stairs during this week's opening raid. Sure enough, the little nick on Mikey's neck was a signal of infection, leaving Justine with a tough choice to make. After seeing friend and co-worker Jim Kent (as well as her own mother) succumbing to the change, Nora is more ready than most others to help end Mikey's pain. Up until this point, it's been politics for Justine – but now it's personal. Though she's not the only person who's experiencing some changing personal fortunes.

”Denial is a special privilege of the rich.”

An interesting turn of events occurred this week, and while the evening started with dinner and ended with dancing between Eldritch Palmer and Coco Marchand, the middle of the festivities saw a rather odd occurrence happen in said fine dining establishment. Palmer and a dear friend of the New York Catholic diocese had a rather vague conversation about an “object” he was looking to acquire. Just like the old days, Abraham Setrakian is also looking for this “object,” which is undoubtedly the Occido Lumen that's served as a huge narrative thrust for this season's activities. While Palmer has the clergy on his side, Setrakian has Gus's former business partner Alfonso Creem on his side, as well as the recently resurfaced Mr. Fitzwilliam.

Though by the look of this week's final act, it appears one more ally may have surfaced in the war against The Master and his children. A private plane lands in New Jersey, with its client already departed by time airfield security comes to check up on him. We see a car pull up to the chain linked fence of the airfield, and a rather pale man of vampiric classification get into the car. His human familiar asks him if he's good to go, and we end our episode with the affirmative. After all this waiting, and a false positive in the middle of season 1, it looks like we've finally met the legendary Mr. Quinlan!

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We saw destruction and devastation, with a touch of romance in the course of the breezy run time for “Quick And Painless.” Next week looks to be even more insane, as the supposed Mr. Quinlan is swearing to take out The Master, but for his own reasons. Joins us next week, as we recap “Identity,” the sixth episode of The Strain Season 2! If you're dropping off at this moment, we'll see you next week for the recap. But before you go, please join us in celebrating The Strain's recently announced pick up for Season 3. And if you're in for a little more time in the lab, then head on over to this week's Nitpicks, Notes, and Nods.

Nitpicks

Eph and Barnes never had that little moment in the train. There was no train ride, and the two men never fought. If anything, Barnes was always a jerk who hid behind his post, and had others do his dirty work.

Notes

You know, if the Police teams had UV lamps, they'd be able to determine vampires from people. But then again, they'd have to be working with the right people.

Holy shit! A natural Corey Stoll emerged tonight, no doubt freshly sheered for his role in Ant-Man.

For as much as I despised the man in the book, this new romance is somewhat endearing the monster that is Eldritch Palmer to me. That one moment with him and Coco has me hoping he can redeem himself before the end, but I still highly doubt it.

Nods

The opening sequence is straight out of the first few pages of The Fall, though it occurred before the Feelers were even in the picture and the vampire was a teenager.

Reading Assignment: P. 77 - 132

When you have a TV series that’s based on a pre-existing set of novels, audiences aren’t going to be completely happy until the entirety of the source material has been exhausted. FX is well aware of that, and so it comes with little surprise, but much fanfare, that the network execs have decided to renew The Strain for Season 3. We’re going to assume that The Master wasn’t the puppeteer guiding FX’s actions.

According to TVLine, the renewal was announced at the TCA press event, and comes just as Season 2 of The Strain is starting to heat up. The premiere aired less than a month ago and took viewers back into the past, giving Abraham Setrakian’s quest an origin story of sorts. Three episodes later, and we’ve got explosions, luchadors and monster suicides. I can’t imagine that audiences would have reacted kindly to FX has they decided to cancel The Strain before taking on the rest of the story arcs laid out by showrunner Carlton Cuse and creators/novel authors Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. We need to watch Kevin Durand’s Fet kicking ass for years to come.

Thank goodness FX is almost always willing to keep shows on the air despite not having massive ratings. (Terriers is still a tender wound, guys.) Throughout Season 1, The Strain usually pulled in well over 2 million viewers during its live airings, but those numbers have definitely dipped in Season 2. That’s not so hard to understand, since Sunday nights are arguably the best night for quality TV, even in the summer. Plus, The Strain has been doubling its initial ratings when Live+7 has been accounted for, and its stellar 1.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic has to make FX happy.

Cuse & Co. have previously stated that they’re looking to keep the show on the air for three to five seasons in order to best tell the story of these ragtag vampire hunters and their endless attempts to save the world. You gotta love a series that has an endgame in place and has no intentions of stretching things too thin.

It wasn’t just horror-related series that FX was busy with at TCA. They also put in a 10-episode series order for the Louie companion series Better Things, co-created by Louis C.K. and Pamela Adlon, the latter of which will star as a single actress struggling to raise three daughters. And Archer fans will no longer be able to see new episodes of the show on FX, as the hilarious animated stalwart is moving to FXX, and it’ll be paired with the new series Cassius and Clay, a post-apocalyptic animated comedy starring Childrens Hospital’s Lake Bell and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Kaitlin Olson.

Expect The Strain Season 3 to hit FX in the summer of 2016.

Last week on The Strain, the past started to catch up to Eldritch Palmer and the forces of humanity launched their opening gambit against the vampire horde that is overtaking New York City. On the ground and in the lab, the side of good has made some progress against those that would make them a living buffet line. This week, “Fort Defiance” is not only the name of a former Revolutionary War stronghold for fledgling America, it's also a fitting tag for those trying to keep people safe.

”We're gonna kidnap Eldritch Palmer.”

This week, Gus and the Ancients' vampire SWAT team put it all on black as they launched an attempt to kidnap Eldritch Palmer from his stronghold in Manhattan. If they'd done this before last week's attack at the Palmer Freedom Center, they might have had a shot. But with a new security detail and some Del Toro-esque gadgets built into his penthouse office, Eldritch Palmer is still in play and the SWAT team looks to be down for good. While Gus may have struck out this week, Counselwoman Justine Feraldo has hit a fantastic home run in Staten Island.

In a public ceremony, and through watching Mr. Fitzwilliam return home to his brother's house, we see that Staten Island not only has some impressive screening processes, but they're also 100% vampire free. And they intend to stay that way, as Councilwoman Feraldo unveils a monument of sorts to signify their commitment to a vampire-free island. Though to be fair, there's still enough people in the crowd that booed the sight of several beheaded vampires on display, but what are you going to do? All that matters at this point is the Mayor wants Feraldo to replicate her success in New York City, and it looks like she's ready for some dodgeba... um, vampire hunting.

”You took my wife, my son's mother. I'm gonna take hundreds, thousands of yours. I'm gonna work my way all the way to the top. To you.”

Speaking of vampire hunting, Eph and Nora finally have a viable virus to infect and disable the vampires roaming the city. While Mrs. McGeever's strain of the virus worked too quickly and killed its host, the new and improved strain tested on Mr. McGeever worked like a charm. Eph actually shows off his handiwork to Zach, and in a particularly intense moment, he tries to sort-of scare some sense into Zach that this is what his mother is now. Lab testing now complete, the plan is to release the pathogen into the wild and pray for the best.

Though before they do anything, they might want to confirm with master of Strigoi biology himself, Professor Abraham Setrakian. This is especially important after tonight's episode, when we realize that the reason the good Professor has lived to the ripe old age of 94 – while maintaining the ability to wield a sword – is all because of a special regimen he cooks up from Strigoi blood. Apparently, if you boil the blood of a Strigoi, crush the worms, and mix in some of your blood – you get a solution not unlike the worm-less blood Palmer was fed towards the end of Season 1.

”When you violate someone's heart like that, the Universe remembers it. Life's coming for you, sweetheart. Count on it.”

On the personal side, we have two lost souls looking for that certain someone who's roaming the streets. In the case of Dutch, she's looking for ex-girlfriend / possible vampire Nikki. This leads her to a heated exchange with Nikki's mother, who is less than thrilled that her daughter's girlfriend has shown up out of nowhere without any information on her daughter's whereabouts. And boy, does Nikki's mother really let her have it during their conversation, pulling out all the stops and calling her everything from a vampire to a potential target for karmic retribution. It looks like her only real fan is Fet at this point, and she certainly showed her appreciation for him once she got back to the truck.

Perhaps the hardest personal conflict this week is Zach Goodweather's story. He wants nothing more than to see his mother. Even after his father's hard knock lesson showing his son what she's become, the audience can't help but know that he's going to want to see his mom again. He's already tried to run away once in this week's episode, and we're probably not going to see the end of that yearning just yet. It's funny, the vampires are the ones who search out their dear ones, but in the case of Zach and Dutch, the feeling is mutual.

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“Fort Defiance” was another interesting installment of this season of The Strain, but it felt a little light when it came to actual action. Still, enough pieces have moved that next week we should see some serious stuff about to drop. If you're leaving us now, tune in again next week when we revisit Dr. Goodweather and his companions, as they battle the forces of darkness and try to keep their necks unscathed. As for the rest of you, follow us into our lair as we begin to discuss this week's Nitpicks, Notes, And Nods.

Nitpicks

Setrakian definitely didn't use his special concoction in the books. The most medication he was on was his heart pills. What's interesting is we've seen this sort of twist before, most noticeably in Dracula 2000.

It's exceedingly interesting to see how many people are accepting the existence of vampires so early in Season 2. At this point in the book, the vampire threat was still pretty under wraps.

The Ancients operated out of Nazareth, Pennsylvania in the books, but it looks like they're based in New York City in the series.

The kidnapping attempt on Eldritch Palmer did not happen in the books. The producers are really living up to the pledge that “80%” of this season's events are off book. It's refreshing, and in the cases of what they're doing with the gaps thus far, it seems to help address some questions folks may have had - i.e. Setrakian's longevity.

Notes

Why do I have this sneaking suspicion that Eph and Nora's new plague is going to somehow backfire on a genetic level?

I'm calling it now: Nikki is going to vamp Dutch in either Season 2 or 3, leaving Fet grieving & possibly falling for his literary mate.

Coco Marchand is slowly being exposed to the world below Stoneheart's public front. I wonder if she'll be repulsed, or if she'll comply. Looking at this week's behind the scenes video, shown above, it looks like Palmer is going to give it the college try and woo Ms. Marchand; so this could go either way.

Why didn't the Ancients put their hoods up in Palmer's lair? They've hunted in partial daylight and used protection before.

FINALLY, someone took care to Luma lamp the arterial spray of a Strigoi! They still seem to be playing fast and loose with slaying vamps and not sterilizing the area, but at least there was one instance of doing so. There's hope yet.

Nods

“I will not fade away as a weak old man.” - No you won't, Professor Setrakian. You are most certain about that.

Eph's promise of “I will kill him, and I will kill myself before I let you turn us into anything like you,” is an ominous piece of foreshadowing for the rest of the series.

Reading Assignment: None This Week

In the new season of The Strain, the pieces of vampire and human dominance are set to once more battle over the fate of New York. With Setrakian making some interesting allies, Palmer and The Master set their second phase of planning into motion. As the storm gathers, and war seems inevitable, Eph and Nora are fighting to find a cure to the vampire scourge – in hopes of ending the fight before it leaves the city. Of course, it doesn't help that the recently vamped Kelly has been given an army of Strigoi children. Which brings us to the events of tonight's episode, “By Any Means.”

”Of all the evils a man faces, growing old is the one I cannot do anything about.”

Setrakian and Palmer faced off for the first time in years tonight, as Palmer opened the first of a line of “Palmer Foundation Freedom Centers” that would supply the city of New York with food and supplies. All the citizens need to do is give their personal information, blood type included, and they'll be entitled to the supplies they need. Of course, we were given even more background into the history of the two men as we saw another Young Setrakian flashback.

This time, we saw Setrakian's history as a Professor in Vienna 1965. This is where a young Elritch Palmer would meet Abraham for the first time, sending him on a hunt for the wolf's head cane once belonging to Count Sardu. A Nazi hunt and a thrilling chase later, we see him obtain the cane before its promised buyer, Herr Eichorst, could purchase it. While Setrakian may have thought he'd won, we learn it's his actions that set Palmer up with The Master, kicking off the chain of events leading to today.

”There's only one way to solve this problem. Screw the Government, we handle it ourselves!“

A new character emerged this week, as councilwoman Justine Feraldo was introduced telling the top brass of New York where they can put their ineffective plans. Her aim is simple: she wants to seal off Staten Island, and clear it of bloodsuckers, so people can have a safe haven. Her game is that elusive “ground game” that Eph doesn't really play, but that Fet and Dutch are all too good at waging. If only Feraldo would be in the loop regarding their similarly-minded activities, there might be a better chance of securing New York City proper.

Though she'd have to duck out for the post-slaying activities of the exterminator and the techno terrorist, as they came quite close this week--the closest two people can get, really. OK, so they had sex in a swimming pool, and it was kind-of cute to see those two getting closer and wittier with each other. Both are showing a vulnerability that could either be an effective human story, or could slow things down story wise. So far, it's working to the story's benefit.

”Let me be perfectly clear: untreated you will both die slowly and painfully. The virus will re-animate your corpses. It will then seek out and infect anybody you love. Is that what you want?

The search for a cure took an interesting turn this week, as Eph and Nora grappled with the ethics of using live test subjects in their work. After a little bit of misdirection, they finally admit to the McGeevers that they're basically vamped, and the most they can do is serve as human guinea pigs for a treatment to infect the vampires with a strain that will kill them. Though the real moral battle seems to be waged between Eph and his son Zach. The father wants to shield the son, but the son is starting to get a little bit rebellious.

Which really complicates things as we end the episode with Kelly intensifying her hunt for Zach, as she uses her new army of Feelers to do her bidding. Kelly gathers Zach's clothes and feeds them his scent, commanding them to find her son. The mother is hunting her baby, and it might be for purposes other than a mere family reunion.

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With Palmer continuing to make himself look like a savior, and Eph's fall from grace picking up speed, things are going to get more and more complicated for both the forces of good and bad. Next week, things are bound to get even more interesting as “Fort Defiance” promises action just in the title alone! If you're dropping off from us for the week, we'll bid you adieu until next week's recap! But if you're ready for some extra innings, then we've got a new installment of Nitpicks, Notes, And Nods waiting on the next page!

Nitpicks

There was never a fight to be The Master's new vessel in the books. One person was selected after the events of The Fall's finale, and they were simply made The Master.

Counselwoman Feraldo is a product of Season 2's scripting, but I'll be damned if she shouldn't have been in the book!

Dutch and Fet didn't happen in the books, but that's a natural observation as Dutch didn't appear in the books. Instead, Fet had a romantic entanglement with someone else in the final book, The Night Eternal.

Eichorst was first mentioned in Setrakian's Nazi/Vampire hunting activities in The Fall, around the same time Dr. Dreverhaven. Though his role as Setrakian's so called boss in Treblinka was fulfilled by a different character.

The Freedom Centers didn't exist in the books.

Notes

Eichorst v. Bolivar looks to be a fight that we'll get to see in the future, seeing as the former feels he's already been selected for succession and the latter doesn't seem to sit so well with that fact. Though if the video above is any indication, it looks like Thomas will be in a different line of work after Season 2.

Feraldo's tactics seem to be a good precursor to the roving bands of off duty cops that are seen in the first pages of The Fall, clearing out blocks of bloodsuckers. Let's hope her methodology gets them a little further than it did on paper.

The Freedom Centers are also a good indicator of some future events being built into the foundation of the TV series. Let's just say that comment about the blood type runs pretty deep.

Nods

Is it just me, or is “Justine Feraldo” an obvious sound-alike to evoke the memory of former Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferarro?

Reading Assignment: P. 1 – 73

Last season on The Strain, life as we know it became a thing of the past the moment that Regis Air International Flight 753 touched down in New York's JFK airport. While Dr. Ephraim “Eph” Goodweather and his team of experts at the CDC were lead to believe that pathogen had caused all but four passengers to die mid flight, it turned out to be something much more insidious. A vampiric plague broke out, and with the help of exterminator Vasily Fet and vampire hunter/pawn broker Professor Abraham Setrakian, the root cause of this outbreak was traced.

Alas, it was too late to stop it by that point, and with the team losing more than they gained by the end of Season 1, they were primed to fight back against the darkness threatening to envelop New York City. Which brings us to “BK,NY”: the premiere of The Strain Season 2! There's a lot in store for the future of humanity, but before any of that gets started, we're treated to a long awaited history lesson.

”Evil lurks in the world, Abraham. In many forms, some familiar, some not. You must stop it... we all must.”

We begin Season 2 of The Strain with some background information involving The Master, as well as the vampire SWAT team from Season 1. As it turns out, the vampire race has seven elders that sort of run things. At least, they did until the seventh went rogue and became The Master. With a thirst for power, The Master has taken various human forms until they wither and die. Which means, we get to see his current form's origin during a young Setrakian flashback. A fairy tale tells us of the ritual that transfers The Master's essence from one body to another, and only two sources have such information: Setrakian's grandmother, and the sacred text known as the “Occido Lumen.” After Season 1 left him singed and worse for the wear, The Master and Eichorst aren't playing around anymore. Vengeance, and a new body, are The Master's new priorities, but don't be mistaken. He has some really effective lackeys doing his dirty work on other fronts.

”We must prepare for my revenge... and my succession.”

Eldritch Palmer is in a significantly better position than he was in Season 1, with most of his health restored by The Master's blood. With his physical state allowing him to be up and about once more, he's back in business in the literal sense. Not only has The Stoneheart Group bought up some mysterious sounding properties, complete with functioning drains that can dispose of human waste, they're also getting into the business of charity. Specifically, they're sponsoring the evacuation of a school of blind children, as well as giving the city of New York an unlimited line of credit! Of course, the catch is that those children have now been turned into bloodsucking radar detectors known as “Feelers,” and who else is leading the pack but former mother herself Kelly Goodweather. Meanwhile, while Setrakian is brokering a deal between his lot and the ancients, and The Master is shoring up his hold on the world at large, Eph and Nora are doing what they were trained to do.

”Well seeing as how as a vampire hunter I'm a total shit, I'm gonna go back to being a doctor.”

The good doctors are preparing to fight the vampiric scourge on a biological level, and thanks to the hairy scenario at the storage unit, they have two viable specimens to experiment on. Nora's certainly changed, as she's no longer flinching from the conflict ahead. Eph, on the other hand, looks like he is going to become obsessive with trying to reverse this epidemic. With his son upset, and the world going to shit, Eph has only his work and his liquor to keep him together. We'll see which one breaks him first, as this isn't a viable lifestyle for any recovering addict, especially during a vampire apocalypse.

Rating:

So Season 2 of The Strain is underway! The series that became a runaway hit last year hasn't missed a beat, and while it's mostly doing its own thing in this first episode, there's a lot of bread crumbs for the future. You'll see what we're talking about on page 2 in the Nitpicks, Notes, and Nods section, but if you're not making the jump with the rest of us we'll see you back here for next week's installment. Evil is scheming and Good is doing its homework. The only thing that unites both sides is that they'll try to achieve their aims “By Any Means.”

Nitpicks

The young Setrakian flashback was actually taken from the beginning of The Strain's first book.

Ms. Marchand is a new character that was not featured in the books, so her romance with Eldrich Palmer never happened.

Mr. Quinlan is not the head of the Vampire SWAT team, as we'd previously thought in Season 1.

The recasting of Zack kinda regresses the character a bit. The original incarnation seemed more capable and intelligent, while the new incarnation seems a little younger and a bit whinier than before.

Notes

It looks like that couple that got infected in the storage unit will be one of the vamps we saw restrained in the lab in the Season 2 trailer. If I didn't know any better, I'd say there's some moral quandaries ahoy.

Eph hitting the sauce in the books didn't seem to give him a sense of humor, but the show seems to be going in that direction. Which is great, because it feels like Corey Stoll is being given a little more room in his character than he was in Season 1.

Going back to the young Setrakian flashback, two noteworthy bits about that: first, we've seen the first of the sequences Guillermo Del Toro directed for Season 2! We're not getting a full episode this year, but we'll be seeing his fingerprints in moments like this, as well as a black and white Mexican B-Movie that was shot for a character we'll meet this season.

Second noteworthy bit about the Setrakian flashback is that while it opened the first book, it looks like it works much better at the beginning of Season 2. Children and their parents are shaping up to be an even more important theme if this premiere is any indication.

The Storage Unit sequence is some of the best action we've had since Season 1's “Creatures Of The Night”. That sequence is definitely a top 10 contender for best Season 2 moments.

Nods

If I were the mayor of New York City, I'd be extremely wary of that unlimited line of credit offered by the Stoneheart Group. I'd also be looking into those real estate purchases Eldritch Palmer has been making, but then again this is probably why I'm not the mayor of New York City.

The Palmer/Marchand connection is either going to be a really interesting way to replace Mr. Fitzwilliam, or it's going to be a possible complication that makes him regret his ways for the briefest of moments. Either way, it's well played so far, as Jonathan Hyde's natural charm shines through.

Stocks for Wilson's Bread Company must be soaring right about now, considering vampires start to disappear whenever a certain bread truck shows up.

There are numerous reasons that posters for television shows get banned and censored. Nudity and obscene phrases are often--but not always--the culprit, although TV posters don't usually push boundaries in quite the same ways as their movie counterparts. Still, TV posters can often be scandalous or cringe-inducing and these banned posters are definitely worth a look. From Heidi Klum to vampires we'd like to fuck, here are the 10 greatest banned TV posters of all time.

Project Runway, Lifetime

As a show about the making and modeling of clothing, it’s hard to imagine Project Runway could do anything that would earn the ire of the censors, except, say, have a bunch of nude individuals proffer themselves in front of Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn. The Lifetime drama put together a poster for Season 12 that was banned from going up anywhere in the City of Angels. The curmudgeons in this case? The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, who decided the imagery was too “obscene” for buses, billboards and bus shelters. I have no idea how most of the American Apparel posters in Los Angeles haven’t suffered the same fate.

Six Feet Under, HBO

While The Walking Dead releases more gruesome imagery every season, these Six Feet Under posters were banned in the U.K. for depicting dead people. Everything about the angle of the woman’s neck is wrong in this poster, and the bright little image of the “wound filler” in the top right corner just makes the Six Feet Under advertisement even more grotesque. The UK banned the posters for causing “undue stress” for the consumer. Although I’m not sure this woman looks any more dead than the average person getting on the subway early in the morning.

Family Guy, Fox

Seth MacFarlane’s always been a man to push boundaries. Back in 2012 during Emmy consideration season, his team took out an ad that seems like an innocuous picture of the non-PC character Peter Griffin, until you read the text. Newspapers refused to publish the poster, which states, “Come on, you bloated, overprivileged Brentwood Jews.” The Family Guy team may have been dissuaded by the newspapers, but they reportedly still sent out the ads to Emmy voters. That’s one way to handle controversy, I guess. Interestingly, this South Park poster made it through the censors.

The Strain, FX

You’d expect there to be plenty of nudity on this list, but nudity is certainly not the problem that FX’s The Strain Season 1 poster dealt with. The series follows a CDC crew looking into an outbreak that causes vampirism, and the big poster for the drama featured a long worm working its way through a human eyeball. There aren’t enough cringe-inducing adjectives on the planet that can capably describe the feelings this poster induces. The gory, stomach-churning poster grossed out plenty of people in Los Angeles and other areas, and the network was forced to take posters down in a number of locations. One thing’s for sure: That poster is certainly a conversation starter.

Skins, Channel 4

While the American version of Skins was cancelled quickly, the British version stayed on the air quite a bit longer, occasionally causing controversy as it moved forward. While promoting the second season of the drama, the creative team came up with a poster featuring two of the leads on the show engaging in an orgy with a bunch of other teenagers. The channel said the series planned to “explore the consequences” of “hedonistic” lifestyles, but the Advertising Standards Authority banned the kinky poster, nonetheless.

The Girlfriends' Guide To Divorce, Bravo

While Bravo’s Girlfriends' Guide To Divorce is a cheeky ad, it doesn’t actually contain nudity or obscenities, preferring to just wink at them. The show is about a woman who writes self-help books and has to declare them a lie after getting a divorce herself. In the poster for the show, Lisa Edelstein is seemingly giving the finger to the camera, although it’s her ring finger rather than her middle finger. And the poster’s tagline is “go find yourself,” which is apparently too close to “go fuck yourself” for comfort. New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority banned the poster, and other locations across the country, including Los Angeles’ The Grove shopping center, followed suit.

Spartacus, Starz

Sometimes dudes who appear in tight or scanty costumes end up with promo images that end up being a bit controversial. Arrow’s first promo notoriously had to be edited and an early Andy Whitfield poster for Spartacus: Blood and Sand suffered the same fate. The loincloth was banned and replaced with a much more demure belted costume.

True Blood, HBO

While True Blood was known for nudity and gore during its seven-season run on HBO, the poster that really got controversial was the simple one above, which has no imagery and simply says VILF. The acronym, of course, is for “Vampire I’d Like To Fuck.” The London Tube system really didn’t appreciate the True Blood posters and banned them so British eyeballs didn’t have to look at them. For the record, fangy, sexy posters asking fans to “do bad things” are totally cool, though.

Paisean Faisean, TG4

Ireland’s TG4 channel came under fire for this Paisean Faisean series poster, which looks as if it came straight out of a Britney Spears video. Paisean Faisean's a dating show featuring potential suitors buying clothes (mostly) for women, but the lingerie-oriented poster was objected to as degrading to women. I also don’t think the slogan relating to that particular outfit or the fact that the woman is supposed to be an educator of young minds really helped. After the poster came under fire, the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland got involved, banning the poster for being “against code.” That outfit is certainly against dress code.

Red Band Society, Fox

Fox’s Red Band Society didn’t last long on the network, but it lasted long enough to get its first poster banned. It looks pretty innocuous, right? Apparently, people objected to the words “scary bitch” that are over Octavia Spencer’s head. The Academy Award-winning actress played the taskmaster and mentor of a lot of the kids on the show, but Metro Los Angeles yanked the ads after getting complaints regarding the foul language used. For the record, Los Angeles, you can say “bitch” on network television.

This poll is no longer available.

As a genre fanatic, it’s a dream come true to be able to bring together this Top 10 of horror series without exhausting every current example on TV. Opinions are only worth so much, of course, but I’d wager that there are only one or two really, really abysmal horror shows on TV and streaming right now, which is about as good of a ratio as one could hope for. And I’d rather watch a shitty scary show than a shitty hospital drama any day of the week.

So let’s kick off the year's best with dickhead Sean Astin unwittingly unleashing an apocalypse upon the world.

10. The Strain

One’s enjoyment of FX’s moody and theatrical series The Strain will be in direct relation to one’s enjoyment of Guillermo del Toro’s work, though it woefully lacks his playfulness for the most part. (Kevin Durand’s Fet is one exception.) Adapted from the novel trilogy written by del Toro and author Chuck Hogan, this modern-day vampire (Strigoi) tale is steeped in shadows, with danger literally around every corner at times, and centers on CDC higher-up Dr. “Eph” Goodweather and Strigoi-fighting Holocaust survivor Abe Setrakian (David Bradley) leading a small group through a New York City teeming with dead-eyed bloodsuckers whose aim is more terrible than 1980s action villains with automatic weapons. The atmosphere and bonkers special effects make up for the abundant self-seriousness, and that first episode in the airplane was one of the TV highlights of 2014 for me. Here’s hoping Season 2 is even better.

9. Z Nation

Z Nation is exactly what one would expect from a zombified horror-action Syfy series produced by The Asylum. Eschewing layered drama for a barrage of heightened catastrophes, Z Nation is like a season’s worth of The Walking Dead in each episode, which comes with an equal number of faults as championable qualities. Tom Everett Scott leads a squad of post-plague survivors across the country in transporting this total dickhead to a California medical facility, for they’re the only ones who can use his cure-all antibodies to save the world! And because traveling isn’t hard enough, this squad also has to deal with a cult, cannibals, DJ Qualls and bizarre weather-related zombie phenomena like a zombie tornado. (!!!) Because it wears its gore-loving goofiness on its chewed and bloodied sleeves, Z Nation is more enjoyable than it probably should be, especially with the right people and the right atmosphere. Or while doing the laundry.

8. The First Few Episodes of American Horror Story: Freak Show

October doesn’t really seem so far back, but it feels like forever since American Horror Story: Freak Show had a forward storytelling thrust that meant anything. The first few episodes, introducing Jessica Lange’s sideshow act with fun prosthetics, zany musical sequences and an antagonistic clown with a penchant for balloon animals and grunting. All episodes since have been melodramatic mishmash, with oddball performances doing much more to carry the weight of Ryan Murphy’s plot treading than the shocks and scares. But those first few episodes were as exciting as those from Season 1, and I truly thought Sarah Paulson’s conjoined twins Bette and Dot were going to be a TV revelation of sorts. Novelty TV at its finest.

7. In the Flesh

One of the most intelligently written zombie stories out there, In the Flesh’s more horrific situations aren’t filled with blood and guts but with society’s narrow-mindedness. The double-length (six episodes) Season 2 series keeps the focus on Kieren Walker (Luke Newberry), a former zombie who has been rehabilitated and introduced back into the normal world via a government cure, and his relationships with those around him. But this season also broadens the story to show how not all of the human population can so easily allow Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS) survivors back into their lives without some ultimate penance to be had. Not since George Romero’s early Living Dead films have zombies and political messages mixed together so frightfully well.

6. Penny Dreadful

Pop culture crossovers and mash-ups are as popular as they ever were, and Showtime’s Penny Dreadful is a surprisingly realized take on horror literature’s most iconic characters. The wraparound thread of Season 1 involved a search for Mina Harker, believed to be taken by vampire creatures. Hunting for her are adventurer father Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton), demon-conjuring best friend of sorts Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) and American sharpshooter Ethan (Josh Hartnett). Along the way, they cross paths with Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) and his creature, the egotistical sex addict Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney) and more. With the use of flashbacks (particularly in one focused episode) and monologue-ish scenes, Penny Dreadful is thankfully far more invested in these characters and their relationships than the task at hand. Created by Skyfall screenwriter John Logan and produced by Sam Mendes, this series mixes sex and bloodlust with dark literary fiction for a bitingly fun time. Bring on Season 2!

5. Bates Motel

Bates Motel is one of the most batshit crazy series on the air right now, adding a soap opera spice mix to one of horror’s most legendary characters: Norman Bates, played with an enjoyably immature madness by Freddie Highmore. (I would love to see where this series would go if it had complete freedom from networks, budgets and realism.) Season 2 finds the Bates Motel thriving, along with Norman’s blackouts, Dylan’s (Max Thieriot) ties to horrible people and Norma’s (Vera Farmiga) attention to keeping her son safe from himself. There are secrets to hide, others to be discovered, and a new love interest for Norman that hits a little too close to home. (That’s not even a comment on the creepy incestuousness lurking behind certain scenes.) What seemed like a gimmicky idea for A&E has become a unpredictably wacky story of murder, madness and taxidermy.

4. Black Mirror: White Christmas

Even though this special just aired on Christmas Day here in the U.S., Black Mirror: White Christmas immediately became one of the most frightening things I’ve seen this year. The U.K. series Black Mirror is technically “cautionary near-future sci-fi” if we’re getting technical, but creator Charlie Brooker is a fucking mastermind at spinning technology and human behavior into some mesmerizingly haunting stories. White Christmas presents a trio of interwoven tales shared between Matt (Jon Hamm) and Joe (Rafe Spall), two men having an uncomfortable Christmas meal together. One story features Hamm as a surrogate Romeo, guiding a shy male through a night out via camera and microphone, while another is a depressing tale of being physically “blocked” from someone’s life, similar to how social media works. But it’s the middle section, where Oona Chaplin plays a woman who gets a new form of smart technology, that sent shivers from my spine to my brain and back again in an endless loop. Had there been an entire season of Black Mirror this year, I’ve no doubts it would have topped this list.

3. The Walking Dead

When The Walking Dead is at its best, it’s one of the most compelling series on TV, mixing terror and tension without necessarily guaranteeing anyone’s safety. The show is sadly inconsistent with moving things at a steady clip, though, without many ways to deliver interesting character development in a world without pop culture to bond over. Still, the Season 4 march to Terminus (and then subsequent march away from it in Season 5) delivered some series highs, introducing new characters like Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and broadening existing ones like Beth (Emily Kinney), who grows close with Daryl (Norman Reedus). Some have complained about the way Season 5 branched its characters off, giving them each their own episodes, but I think that’s how the show should have been established since the beginning. (Carl doesn’t need his own episode, though.) And it’s going to be hard for this series to do something better than Zombie Demolishment by Fire Hose, because that was awesome.

2. Hannibal

Before anything else, let’s take a moment to reflect on a Bryan Fuller series not only making it to a second season, but getting an order for Season 3, deserved more for critical acclaim than huge ratings. Miracles happen! Season 2 begins with Will (Hugh Dancy) still locked up, suspected of being the Chesapeake Ripper, in a story that takes up half of the season. Things then take an even more dangerous and disgusting turn when Lecter’s new patient Margot Verger (Katherine Isabelle) and her abusive brother Mason (Michael Pitt) are introduced. Anchored by exquisite performances from Mads MIkkelsen, Hannibal imbues what might have otherwise been a stale cops-and-killer drama with imagination, dense writing and the artiest horror on network TV.

1. Darknet

I’m probably going to get a bunch of shit from people for putting the Canadian quasi-anthology Darknet on top of this list, but I’m willing to bet that the majority of those people haven’t experienced this maddeningly freaky series. Each of the first season’s six episodes tells different expertly interwoven tales of sadism, murder and mayhem, and there isn’t a stale short in the bunch. The connective tissue here is an underground website called Darknet, where you can find the worst videos on the Internet, including ones about a psycho phone installer, a twisted Peeping Tom victim, cyberpranking teens and a suicide hotline. With a central squad of writers and directors, including Cube and Splice’s Vincenzo Natali, Darknet is like a condensed version of every film and TV horror anthology that’s come before it, stripped of excess and delivering only the most frightening of situations. Turn off all the lights and phones and find it on Netflix here. You’re welcome.

What were your favorite horror series of 2014?

When The Strain hit FX this past summer, audiences had no clue what to expect from the TV nightmare co-authored by Guillermo del Toro. Of course, if you were a huge del Toro fan before the show started, you've probably been able to tell that a lot of his previous work influences the novel-based series. We spoke with the visionary director ahead of this week's Blu-ray release of The Strain, and he shared which of his past works has an extremely heavy influence on how The Strain turned out: the ass kicking 2001 epic, Blade II.

Del Toro shared that the design of the Strigoi and the design for the Reapers from Blade II shared a common origin. Here's where he says it all began.

If you compare the two sects of vampires, you'll see that the stinger concept is the core to Del Toro's spin on vampires; the only big difference is that The Strain's Strigoi can unhinge their jaws, while Blade II's Reapers actually have a separating neckline and various appendages. You can see a Strigoi from The Strain in the image at the top of the page, while the photo below depicts a Blade II Reaper.

As much as Blade II has influenced Guillermo Del Toro's work on the series, the 1997 sleeper hit, Mimic is also important to the genesis of The Strain. While Mimic barely resembles the original Del Toro pitch, The Strain's improvements on both Mimic's story, as well as Blade II's monster design seem to denote that Guillermo Del Toro sort-of used The Strain as a second draft of concepts he's really in love with. If you mix together Mimic's epidemic-heavy storyline with Blade II's vampiric Illuminati trying to undermine all human authority, you have a blueprint for the war that's being waged on the streets of New York in the world of Ephraim Goodweather and his companions.

When you look into the thematic elements of Blade II and The Strain, you'll also see the concept of the ruling class of vampires using human familiars to arrange the world at large to suit their feeding needs. While Blade II featured more of a vampire aristocracy controlling the higher-ups in the human world (with a lot of low level enforcers), The Strain has one singular rogue vampire that just so happens to be friends with the richest man in the world. It's the same plan but different execution, and ultimately different endgames are in play.

Considering that Guillermo Del Toro is still going to be very involved with second unit and cleanup work on Season 2 of The Strain, we'll probably see more references to Del Toro's work when The Strain new episodes begin airing sometime in 2015. In the meantime, The Strain: The Complete First Season is available on Blu-ray and DVD today.

Warning: Season 1 of The Strain is spoiled in this article. If you're not caught up to at least Episode 10 - “Dear Ones”, certain plot points are going to be spoiled. You've been warned.

Earlier this month, FX's The Strain hit New York Comic Con with a party celebrating the Blu-ray release for Season 1. While there, I was able to interview Natalie Brown, the actress playing Kelly Goodweather - ex-wife (and now ex-human) estranged from Corey Stoll's Eph Goodweather. Some would think that the most horrifying fate on a vampire show is, of course, being turned into one of the undead. However, it sounds like we've had it wrong all the long, as Kelly's fate meant that Brown was heading to the one place actors dread: the makeup chair.

The makeup that's required to turn countless actors into the many Strigoi on The Strain involves quite a labor intensive process, and while it's a pain to get all of the pieces glued and layered, Brown says it is all worth it.

However, all of that artistry is meant to last a whole day of shooting, which means that when it's time to go home, it's going to take a lot of effort to turn Brown and her undead colleagues back into someone who can go home at night without getting weird looks from strangers. Confirming as much, Natalie Brown says, “The removal process is not so fun."

Although Natalie Brown has been on Syfy's occasionally makeup heavy Being Human, she has also always played a human. So despite the arduous process of application and even more nightmarish removal, she was still "very excited to finally have the opportunity to explore the dark side" and get her "monster on."

As for whether we'll see the continuing adventures of Kelly Goodweather: Maternal Bloodsucker, Natalie Brown couldn't say anything “officially.” Unofficially, she knows how big of a part Kelly plays in the next two books, through both possible flashbacks and her service to The Master in trying to lure Zach into their clutches. So yeah, there's a good change that Brown will see the makeup chair yet again when The Strain goes back into production for Season 2 at some point in the near future.

The Strain will be back at some point in 2015, and if the show's schedule follows this year's trajectory, we'll probably see it during the summer. In the meantime, you can re-watch all of the episodes on FXNow, as well as purchase season 1 on Blu-ray and DVD on December 2nd.

Last week on The Strain, we began to ramp up to the grand finale, which is scheduled for next weekend. While it was a slower-paced episode that seemed a little lackluster compared to weeks past, it also posed itself as a first-act set-up for the overall finale. Which leaves tonight's episode as a really good second act, as it not only tells us more about where we're going, but also fills us in on what's already passed.

”I brought you a win.”

The wheels are in motion for the first battle for the fate of mankind, but this is old hat for Abraham Setrakian. In fact, we got to see his continuing origins as a badass vampire hunter, as well as some of the home life he lived before his wife's death. While Setrakian went off the rails last week when he lost his chance at killing The Master, we saw exactly why that death is one he's so eager to enact. Redemption, as well as vindication, are what's on the menu for Abraham, and it's good to see not only his past but also a glimpse into his future. His apology/acceptance of last week's events put him square with the house.

Also aboard the house-squaring bandwagon is Dutch, as she comes back to hack the Emergency Broadcast System for Eph to send a message across the city. Of course, this also means that Fet gets to turn on the charm yet again, which only further highlights how an ensemble character who took more of a backseat in the book has been turned into an equal. Dutch's plan works, and Eph does his best “doctor during a crisis under lockdown” spiel before the signal gets shut down. Whether it'll be enough to prolong the darkness has yet to be seen, but odds are we'll be seeing that play out in season 2.

”I knew you would not be able to resist such an inviting trap. ”

It was also about damned time that the Vampire SWAT team showed up again, and this week was as good a time as any. With Gus taking one of his stolen motor buyers hostage in exchange for guns and ammo, he was soon rescued and abducted by said SWAT team. But not before a shootout that had Gus taking aim against his captive, as well as a cargo container full of suckheads. Maybe those moves are what got him abducted in the first place. Or maybe someone's going to teach him a lesson about hunting Strigoi.

Tonight was capped off by some major losses for our heroes. On the human front, Nora lost her mother to, out of all people, Gabriel Bolivar. This loss leads to the second, as Eichorst turns out to be the leader of the raid against Knickerbocker Loan And Curios, thus robbing our heroes of a safe hiding place/armory. While Setrakian and company give up the ship, as well as the heart of Setrakian's beloved wife, Eichorst notes that this is not going to be enough. The scales turn towards the side of evil, as Eldritch Palmer is finally granted an audience with The Master, and is rejuvenated by his blood.

Something about the old German's words ring true at the end of “Last Rites”, as this week seemed to be an even exchange between the forces of dark and light. Next week, it's time for a good old fashioned showdown as everything goes to hell, and the gang takes another bite at the apple that is slaying The Master! The Strain's puts season 1 in the ground next Sunday with episode 13, “The Master”! You've stuck with us this long, so we'll see you here next week to finish the job! If you're still interested in some vampire facts, this week's Nitpicks, Notes, and Nods is only a click away!

Nitpicks

* You know, for being The Master's “favorite son,” Bolivar sure has been absent from the proceedings.

*Again with the worms, guys?! Do we not remember the scene in the book where a worm slithers across the floorboards, up a woman's leg, and forcibly enters through a lower orifice? UV Lamps. Slice 'em, and fry 'em guys.

Notes

*The recurring theme of Love vs. Survival showed itself multiple times this week. Dutch's story about her family problems, Setrakian's flashback about his wife, and Nora's vanquishing of her mother all put this thread to the test. In each case, what had to be done was, in fact, done.

*Holy shit! Stephen “Nite Owl” McHattie is Quinlan? You really can't tell with the makeup and voice modulation.

*I kind of like consolidating the Setrakian flashbacks/Nora's mom subplots into The Strain, as the first book kind of just zooms towards the finale after a certain point. This helps even the story out, while ensuring that the next couple of seasons can streamline and focus on the Occido Lumen plot /Quinlan's origin story.

*Please let the writers include more Eichorst next season, as he's actually in The Fall and engages in a bidding war with Setrakian for the Occido Lumen – a book that sheds some interesting light on the whole subject of vampirism.

Nods

*A lot of material from The Fall has been shifted into this episode. Primarily, the Young Setrakian Chronicles, featuring his wife, were taken from interludes in the second book. Strangely enough, they leave out the fact that Setrakian met her while he was a professor, and was eventually disgraced by his relationship with her, his student.

*Palmer doesn't really figure into the rest of the second book as much as he does in The Strain on TV.

*Nora's mother also dies in The Fall, which is where she was introduced in the first place.

*Gus eventually becomes part of The Clan, as he's employed by its leader, Mr. Quinlan – one of oldest vampires in existence.

Last week on The Strain, we saw someone going through the process of turning into a vampire, brutal phase by brutal phase. By showing us kids and their mothers getting vamped, The Strain seemed to be gearing towards its finale – set to occur after next week's episode. While this week is a more subdued episode of this eventful first season, it still provides some good moments of character and action.

”Every man for himself. That's what The Master's counting on.”

Two “B” characters got their moments in the limelight this week, as Gus and Zach respectively showed off some impressive vampire-hunting skills and really good street smarts in a world that's slowly going to hell. In the case of Gus, he arrived home to find that his older brother Crispin and his dear mother had both been turned into vampires. After disposing of his brother and leaving his mother alone, Gus leaves to take care of that landlord that harassed him towards the beginning of the season. This puts him on the same path as Zach, who's big mission of the season is getting Mrs. Martinez some cigarettes.

It's a ridiculous fetch quest that puts Zach in danger for thrills, but what's so good about this plot line is that his logic for running this errand, as well as how he goes about it, is very sound in logic. Zach knows that any comfort Mrs. Martinez can derive will keep her quiet and inside the building. Normally the kid characters are the ones that are put in danger for no good reason, just to generate drama. Thankfully, the danger was real, while at the same time moderately sensible and vital to the plot.

”You've been waiting for this your whole life, haven't you? Congratulations on the Vampire Apocalypse.”

Another big happening this week is the official start of the Eph/Fet rivalry that looks like it's been brewing for a couple of weeks now. The two would-be apprentices of Abraham Setrakian have very different skill sets, and thus two different methods of fighting off the vampire hordes. However, while Fet is looking more badass as the days go on, Eph is starting to look rather ridiculous, with this week's Kelly-themed trap making him appear even more ineffectual. This week's proceedings culminate in a standoff with The Master that is a little smaller in scale than some would have expected; but as any good gamer will tell you, you can only get a couple of hits against the big boss before going on to the final round.

Thankfully, Fet's ultraviolet light bombs (another Del Toro-ism The Strain has copied from Blade II) helped scare The Master off and saved Eph's life in the process. Life-saving as it may have been, Setrakian is pissed that The Master left with only a couple of scratches and a couple fewer minions to show for it. Out of frustration, Setrakian sledgehammers the coffin he built so many decades earlier. As he goes to town on his own craftsmanship, he declares that since he won't rest until The Master is dead, neither will his vampiric menace.

“The Third Rail” works as a great first act in what looks like a three-week finale event. Next week, we'll be recapping the intense looking Act II of The Strain's unofficial three-part closer. Join us next Sunday for episode 12, “Last Rites!" If you're still hungry for more bloody excitement, then stick around for this week's Nitpicks, Notes, and Nods.

Nitpicks

*Those worms haven't been as much of a problem in the show as they have in the books. No one seems to worry about them once they've beheaded or dismembered a vampire.

*Zach and Gus never have a reason to meet, thus they never do.

* Eph seems to be a little less battle-ready than he was in the books. As a matter of fact, it feels like Fet's role has been stepped up in the show, just for that reason.

Notes

*The whole subplot with Gus and the Vampire SWAT team looks like it's coming back next week. It's about time, as that was started weeks ago, and could have used some minor development here and there in the past couple of outings.

Nods

*The leadership crisis really didn't hit the group until The Fall.

Last week on The Strain, evil was tightening the noose on our intrepid band of would-be vampire hunters. All the while, Eph Goodweather was navigating the rough waters of love and responsibility. With his son safe, but Kelly missing and Matt turned, Eph had to settle for the "two out of three" special. This week, he learns just what's happened to Kelly, which leads us to one of the harshest moments of this season.

”Zach? Sweetheart, where are you?”

While Eph doesn't receive a hint until the end of the episode, we learn that Kelly has officially gone full vampire. While killing Matt, she accidentally gets infected, and we get to see the progress of infection through Kelly's timeline. She becomes disoriented, looks worse for the wear, and even makes a friend with another vampire as she slowly searches for Zach, her dear one. By time she get to her (annoying) best friend Diane's house, she turns fully. Which leads to tonight's MVP moment: she not only feasts on Diane, but on her son as well!

Taking a cue from the Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem school of caring for child characters, The Strain actually shows us a child being vamped! Now, this show hasn't shrugged off any unpleasantness in its first season, but this was a pretty damned cold moment, and it only furthers the attitude that no one is safe. We've seen others at the moment of the turn, but we've never seen as full of a representation as we have this week, seeing Kelly go through the various stages of subhuman transformation.

”If we're going to his building just to borrow his WiFi, you're wasting my time.”

The second big arc of the week belonged to Fet and Dutch, as they tried to infiltrate Eldritch Palmer's lair. To a degree they were successful, as Fet's ladykilling charms put in some overtime this week, winning over not only a receptionist but also Dutch herself. Of course, the big bad millionaire was on his guard and knew a threat when he saw one. While both were detained, Dutch was the one that Palmer chose to give a monologue to on how he sees vampirism as the ultimate hack to human DNA. Surprisingly enough, Mr. Fitzwilliam isn't on board with the whole world domination thing, and lets our two captives go unharmed. Fet and Dutch get to live to fight (and flirt) another day.

That is, if Dutch ends up coming back, since she and Eph had that verbal sparring match resulting in her departure. While his attitude wasn't the best, you can see where the man was coming from. By the end of the day we see probably the most emotionally resonant ending to an episode of The Strain that we've ever witnessed. We see Zach retreat to his room and watch a video of what we can assume is his last birthday. The Goodweathers are determined to be a family again, but that's never going to happen. All that's left now is to see who breaks through to that fact first.

Next week, the tunnels of New York City are about to get even more unfriendly! Come back to us next week, dear loved ones, as we recap The Strain episode 11, “The Third Rail”!

Nitpicks

*Kelly's transformation isn't confirmed until the end of book 1.

*This week was another week of off-book adventure, and is especially disruptive of Fet's original romantic trajectory.

Notes

*We got to see VAMPIRE VISION this week!

*Watching Kelly's progress from infection victim to Master's lackey is something that actually improves on the thematic arc depicted throughout all three books. It feels like The Master sees that Eph is the weak spot in the group, and he's taking full advantage of it.

*Fans of the original marketing materials for The Strain must have loved how Kelly's infection reflects that same image.

Nods

*This isn't the last time we'll be seeing Kelly Goodweather. She's in the rest of the series, working for The Master.

*If this show isn't squeamish about showing children becoming vampires, then we're probably going to see that whole busload of blind children that get turned during The Fall