The Strain Season 1 Episode # 1 "Night Zero" - Recap and Review

Guillermo del Toro is one of my favorite directors and I love most of his movies (Pan's Labyrinth, Mimic, Cronos, The Devil's Backbone, Hellboy, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Blade II). I have also enjoyed the movies he has produced like Mama, The Orphanage and Julia's Eyes.

Guillermo has also co-authored with Chuck Hogan, “The Strain”, a vampire horror trilogy. The books are being adapted as a FX TV Series, with the active participation of del Toro.

The first episode “Night Zero” aired today. This post discusses the episode in detail. Readers yet to read the episode are recommended to skip the rest of the post, if they wish to avoid spoilers.

In the opening scene, a male voiceover talks about the hunger known as “love” and how it defines us as humans. 

A flight Regis Air 753 from Berlin is approaching touchdown at the JFK airport. One of the flight attendants, Rose (Karen Glave) is contacted by her co-worker, Peter (Adriano Sobretodo Jr.) for immediate help.

Peter is convinced that there is something moving in the cargo. Shortly, a hooded black figure attacks both of them.

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The flight lands at the airport. The ground crew does not receive any response from the flight crew. Concerned with this situation, they decide to call in the official agencies including the CDC.

Dr Ephraim “Eph” Goodweather (Corey Stoll) is the Chief Medical Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He is late again for the last of his court mandated family therapy sessions. His wife, Kelly Goodweather (Natalie Brown) is concerned about his inability to being a good husband and father to their son Zack (Ben Hyland).

Any readers out there seeking marital counselling can check out Regain. Regain is an online relationship counseling platform that provides 24/7 help through licensed and credentialed therapists.

Eph is informed about the Regis Air emergency. He reaches the airport and is met by Dr Nora Martinez (Mia Maestro) and Jim Kent (Sean Astin).

We also meet Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley), an aging pawn shop owner who is more than what meets the eye. He deftly handles a couple of shoplifting street thugs.

Abraham learns about the airport incident on the news and realizes that “He” is back. He has a beating heart stored in a jar and feeds it his own blood to keep it alive.

Eph and Nora enter the plane wearing containment suits. They notice a lot of ammonia present and also that the passengers show no signs of any infection or struggle.

After switching to UV lights, they notice lot of biological stains inside the plane. There are four survivors so far: Captain Redfern (Jonathan Potts), vain celebrity Gabriel Bolivar (Jack Kesy), ambitious attorney Joan Luss (Leslie Hope) and timid Ansel Barbour (Nikolai Witschl).

At the Stoneheart group building, a mysterious Thomas Eichhorst (Richard Sammel) visits elderly billionaire Eldritch Palmer (Jonathan Hyde). Eldritch's right-hand man, Mr Fitzwilliams (Roger R. Cross) hesitates to interrupt his employer's ongoing dialysis.

Jim informs Eph about the discovery of a finely hand carved box about 9 feet tall containing soil. Nora notices that the coffin has an inside latch.

Eph asks Bishop, a ground crew worker to make inquires about the mysterious cabinet. Even as he makes the call, Bishop hears some voices inside his head and is led to a secluded place. He is brutally murdered by the same mysterious figure that attacked the flight attendants.

Eichhorst also visits Gus Elizalde (Miguel Gomez), a Mexican gangster and entrusts with the task of moving the coffin. He offers Gus the reward of having his beloved mother's immigration status cleared in return for his work.

Dr Bennett (Jeffrey R. Smith) performs autopsy of the dead passengers and discovers that their blood has turned white and opalescent. All of them also have a precise incision in their necks.

Abraham meets Eph and Nora and asks them to destroy the bodies of all passengers, whether alive or dead. He further asks them to destroy the coffin as the only way to destroy him. Eph has the seemingly raving Abraham arrested by the cops.

Eph and Nora realize the importance of the box and rush to investigate it. The box is missing and Eph orders Jim to ensure that it is not carried out of the airport. Gus, with Jim's help is able to get the coffin out of the airport.

The corpses come to life at the CDC and feed on Dr Bennett.

Gus is happy with his latest assignment and calls to check on his mother. He does not seem to be as concerned with his brother, Crispin (Francis Capra).

One of the dead passengers, Emma Arnot (Isabelle Nélisse) returns to her father Gary (Steven McCarthy) and he happily embraces her.

The episode closes with Abraham Setrakian's voiceover quote: “Love is our grace. Love is our downfall”.

This episode was directed by Guillermo del Toro and his touches can be felt throughout the episode -  the way the episode has been shot and colored, the character development, the humor and the focus on the very human emotion of Love

Eph's description of the way a virus is transmitted was done well.

Acting is solid across the board. I liked Corey Stoll (Eph), David Bradley (Abraham Setrakian) and Miguel Gomez (Gus Elizalde).

Miguel has some of the best lines in the show and looks to be the standout performer.

This is Guillermo doing what he does best: a character driven piece with aspects of horror thrown in for good measure.

Hats off to him for successfully bringing the book to life. I look forward to Vasiliy Fet (Kevin Durand) making his appearance on the show.

This is one of the best 90 minutes of TV show I have seen. The recently concluded Fargo was another very well done show (also from FX Networks). If the show maintains the same level of quality, FX has another massive hit on their hands.

A must watch for fans of Guillermo del Toro/Horror genre. 

Click here to read the review of the next episode, “The Box”.

Trivia

• The folk song “Maggie” can be heard playing on the radio in the first scene with Abraham Setrakian.
• The song “Sweet Caroline” can he heard playing on the radio, when Dr Bennett is attacked by the dead flight passengers at the CDC.

Click here to read all my posts related to Guillermo del Toro. Click here to read all my posts related to The Strain.

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Image Sources: FX Networks, DelToroFilms.com

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Fargo Season 1 Finale Episode # 10 "Morton's Fork" - Recap and Review

This post discusses the episode in detail. Readers yet to see the episode are recommended to skip the rest of the post, if they wish to avoid spoilers.

After seeing his second wife getting killed by Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton), Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) decides to go to Lou's Coffee Shop.

The local cops soon converge on the crime scene as does Deputy Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman).

Lester pretends to be innocent of the circumstances surrounding his wife's death. Molly and the FBI Agents Pepper (Keegan-Michael Key) and Budge (Jordan Peele) interrogate Lester.

Lester under the pretext of being affected by the death of his spouse, gets away.

Lou Solverson (Keith Carradine) informs Molly about Lorne's visit and Lorne's conversation with him about Lester's whereabouts. He personally keeps vigil outside Molly's home to protect Greta Grimly (Joey King).

Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks) also sets out to help Molly and spots the red BMW he saw Lorne driving earlier.

Lorne abducts a car salesman and makes him follow the FBI Agents as they escort Lester to his house. Lorne kills the agents shortly and proceeds in his attempt to kill Lester.

Lester has laid a trap used to catch animals and Lorne's leg get struck. He is able to inflict injury on Lester, before escaping to safety.

As Lorne painstakingly performs some home grown techniques to set his injured bones straight, he realizes that he has become the prey to another predator lurking nearby.

Gus informs Lorne that he has figured out his puzzle about shades of green before proceeding to shoot him multiple times, ensuring his death.

The police arrive shortly and Gus shows Molly the tapes maintained by Lorne. Molly listens to the call made by Lester to Lorne on the night he murdered his first wife.

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A couple of weeks later, authorities catch up to Lester Nygaard in Glacier National Park, Montana. He tries to flee and falls to his death as the icecaps break around him.

Molly becomes the Chief of Police, Bemidji and Gus gets a citation for bravery.

This was a exciting finale to one of the best TV shows I have seen in a long time.

The acting has been consistently good right from the start and this episode is no different. Billy Bob Thornton continues to lead the ensemble cast in acting honors. Lorne Malvo is one of the most memorable characters and all credit to Billy Bob. His final scene with Gus Grimly was epic. A fitting farewell to a classic character.

Martin Freeman, Allison Tolman and Colin Hanks continue to get lion's share of the screentime. All of them are exceptional actors and are believable in their roles.

In addition to these main players, Keith Carradine as Lou Solverson, and Keegan-Michael Key and Budge Jordan Peele as the hapless yet hilarious agents get their share of the limelight.

Keith has some great character moments with Molly, Gus and especially with Greta. 

Bob Odenkirk as Bill Oswalt has a nice scene where he accepts his inability to perform his job and expresses his intention to recommend Molly for his position.

The cinematography is superb and the music too enhances the gripping quality of the show.

This was a great show and a worthy tribute to the original by the Coen Brothers.

A must watch for fans of the Coen Brothers/Fargo/Thrillers.

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Image Sources: Chris Large, FX Productions, MGM Television, FX Network

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BBC Sherlock Season 3 Episode # 2 "The Sign of Three" - Recap and Review

At the end of “The Empty Hearse”, Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and John Watson (Martin Freeman) are back in business at 221 B Baker Street for new cases. A mysterious figure was seen, watching the recorded video of Sherlock rescuing John Watson.

Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade (Rupert Graves) and Sergeant Sally Donovan (Vinette Robinson) have been working hard to solve a series of bank robberies. Just as Lestrade is about to make the arrest, he gets a phone call from Sherlock, asking for his immediate presence at 221 B.

Overriding Sally's objections, Lestrade rushes to Sherlock's apartment with heavy backup, in attendance. Concerned by the urgent nature of Sherlock's request, Lestrade is prepared for almost any contigency.

But to his surprise, Sherlock merely asks for his assistance to draft the Best Man's Speech at the wedding of John and Mary Morstan (Amanda Abbington). This scene sets the tone for the rest of the episode: a fun and light one, featuring a Sherlock as we have never seen before.

On the D-day, Sherlock makes a very interesting speech, comprised of recollections of previous cases and their stag night among other details.

Some of these cases include The Poison Giant, The Matchbox, The Mayfly Man, The Bloodied Soldier, The Elephant in the Room, The 3 husbands. The Poison Giant is a reference to The Sign of the Four. The Matchbox alludes to The Thor Bridge, in which Dr Watson mentions in passing about Isadora Persano.

The one involving the Mayfly Man is the most significant one from plot perspective and occupies a significant amount of screentime.

Sherlock and John get heavily drunk during the stag night. Sherlock almost comes to blows with another bar patron. Back at 221 B, Sherlock and John play the game of 20 Questions, with Sherlock being Sherlock Holmes and John being Madonna. This scene has couple of great Canonical References via the questions asked by Sherlock.

A client, Tessa (Alice Lowe) shows up, asking for Sherlock's assistance about a mysterious man she dated. Sherlock passes out at the apartment, where the Mayfly Man dated Tessa. Sherlock and John end up in jail and are bailed out by Lestrade.

Another case is that of the Bloodied Soldier, that Sherlock leaves unsolved.

As Sherlock continues to deliver his Best Man Speech, he hits upon a clue to solve the Mayfly Man case. Sherlock discovers that the Mayfly Man is present at the wedding itself and is about to murder someone.

Sherlock deduces that the intended victim is Major James Sholto (Alistair Petrie), John's former commanding officer. Major Sholto has been living in anonymity following the deaths of several men under his command.

Sherlock captures Sholto's potential killer, Jonathan Small (Jalaal Hartley) the substitute photographer for the wedding.

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Based on the novel, The Sign of the Four (SIGN), this episode has been written by Steve Thompson and directed by Colm McCarthy. Steve has made some significant changes to the original story - In SIGN, Major Sholto was the friend of Mary Morstan's father, Captain Arthur Morstan. In this adaptation, it is John who has served under Sholto. Similarly, Jonathan Small in SIGN, wanted revenge on Major Sholto and Captain Morstan for stealing the treasure that duly belonged to Small and his three Indian friends. Here, Small is hellbent on killing Sholto for the death of his brother. Small cleverly works up his way among Sholto's workforce, by dating the women as the Mayfly Man until he figures out that Major Sholto will be attending John's wedding. Small even practices his modus operandi on Bainbridge (Alfie Enoch) to make sure that his actual murder attempt on Sholto is completed successfully.

This episode is a big step up from the previous one, “The Empty Hearse”.

Benedict Cumberbatch gets to show his versatile acting talents to great success. Sherlock's reaction to Molly's description of her physical intimacy with her current boyfriend, Tom (Ed Birch) is hilarious. Despite taking on the role of the Best Man and delivering the speech against his own wishes, Sherlock does an amazing job.

As John Watson writes in A Scandal in Bohemia: “It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in crime.” Full credit to Benedict for bringing life to these immortal lines of Arthur Conan Doyle. 

Benedict's rapidfire delivery of the line: “The who, the what, the when, the why, the where?” in response to Archie's theory about the invisible man was amazing.

Benedict has a good chemistry with Yasmine Akram as Janine, the bridesmaid. I liked his confession of his love for dancing and the subsequent little “dance” routine he performs for her.

I also liked his quick jump over the table. He projects Sherlock's physical vitality effortlessly. As John Watson writes in The Sign of the Four: “He mounted the steps, and, seizing a rafter with either hand, he swung himself up into the garret. Then, lying on his face, he reached down for the lamp and held it while I followed him.”

The rest of the cast get their own share of the limelight.

Rupert Graves (when he bails out Sherlock and John), Una Stubbs (while explaining her whirlwind romance with Mr Hudson to John), Louise Brealey (during the aforementioned scene with Sherlock).

Alice Lowe makes a great guest star. Hope to see more of her in the upcoming season(s).

However, it is Mark Gatiss who steals the show as Mycroft Holmes. His scenes with Sherlock, where he mentors him about coincidences and especially, his advice to “narrow it down” were simply superb. It is a great choice to expand on Mycroft's screentime and Mark completely justifies this decision.

Click here to read all the Canonical references in the episode. 

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Image Sources: Hartswood Films, BBC Wales, Masterpiece theater

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X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Recap and Review

This post discusses the movie in detail. Readers who wish to avoid plot spoilers are recommended to skip the rest of the post.

The movie opens in a futuristic world, where mutants and the humans who support them are systemically eliminated by mutant hunting robots called Sentinels. Most of the mutants have been captured/killed.

We get a measure of the Sentinel's effectiveness when they attack a bunch of mutants. Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), Blink (Bingbing Fan), Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), Sunspot (Adan Canto), Warpath (Booboo Stewart), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and Bishop (Omar Sy) are no match for their nemeses. The sentinels adapt quickly to their opponent's powers and easily subdue them.

As Kitty explains to Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Storm (Halle Berry), her ability to transport a fellow mutant's consciousness back in time helps avoid these attacks.

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Professor Xavier decides that the only way to prevent this grim future is to stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from assassinating Dr Boliver Trask (Peter Dinklage), the scientist who developed Sentinels. This 1973 incident sparked the outrage against mutants. Mystique is captured shortly thereafter and her unique shapeshifting abilities are used to make the Sentinels a highly adaptable and undefeatable mutant killers.

Wolverine volunteers to be the time traveler due to his healing abilities. Wolverine enlists the help of the younger versions of Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, played by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender respectively.

The younger Charles has since lost his way after the incidents in X-Men: First Class. Hank McAvoy/Beast (Nicholas Hoult) has devised a solution that helps Charles walk, but in return suppresses his mutant powers.

Magneto is being held in a prison stronghold under the Pentagon, after being implicated in JFK's assassination. Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff (Evan Peters) helps release Magneto in a dazzling rescue mission.

The rest of the movie deals with the group's attempts to stop Mystique from her single-minded mission to kill Trask. The climax alternates between the aforementioned event in 1973 and the future, where the Sentinels have tracked down the mutants.

Bryan Singer returns to the comic book franchise, he started way back in 2000. He has always focussed on the analogy between X-Men and the persecuted sections of human society. This time, he also highlights the fact that we are what we make of ourselves. Our lives are dictated by the choices we make.

As finely executed the action scenes are and the humor is enjoyable, this crucial message is the best aspect of X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Another enjoyable aspect is the number of nods to the previous movies (X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: First Class). It is quite understandable that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was completely ignored.

The movie has a large ensemble cast (even by the usual Bryan Singer's X-Men movie standards).

To Singer's credit, he does an excellent job. Each character and actor gets their fair share of the limelight. Obviously, not all of them get the same amount of screentime. Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore as well as the newly introduced set of mutants are more like extended cameos.

I liked the teamwork between Storm and Ian McKellen's Magneto in the climax. It was a rare collaboration and an epic one at that.

Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence get a lion's share of the screen time. Hugh Jackman provides most of the humor through his one-liners. His work as Logan in this movie is a return to form, as seen in the first two X-Men movies (also directed by Singer, no coincidence I am sure).

Jennifer Lawrence is adequate as Mystique. I personally prefer the Rebecca Romijn version. Rebecca made Mystique the classic femme fatale and a genuine menace. Jennifer does not have the same impact in her performance.

James McAvoy gives a poignant turn as the mentally tortured Charles Xavier. Like the previous movie, he has the more underplayed role (compared to Fassbender's Magneto) and he continues to make a great Prof X.

Equally good but criminally underused is Evan Peters as Quicksilver. As noted in other reviews, his rescue of Magneto is quite possibly the best scene in the movie - superbly conceptualized and executed. Evan's performance is amusing and hilarious. It is a shame that he is written off so quickly. Hope we will see more of him in the upcoming sequel: X-Men: Apocalypse.

All said and done, the movie belongs to Michael Fassbender (at least in my humble opinion). He is magnificent as Magneto and takes the movie to a whole different class (no pun intended) by his sheer presence.

Fassbender's Magneto goes berserk in the climax and this will be a feast for any fan of the Master of Magnetism.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Peter Dinklage's portrayal of the movie's main antagonist, Dr. Boliver Trask. The movie does not present a clear explanation for Trask's drive to develop the Sentinels to get rid of mutants.

In X2: X-Men United, William Stryker had similar ambitions, but at least Brian Cox managed to leave an impression in the role. Interestingly, a younger version of William Stryker is played by Josh Helman in this movie. He is kind of a right hand man to Dinklage's Trask and is equally lifeless in the role, just maintaining a smug/angry expression throughout.

There are also cameos by James Marsden (Cyclops), Famke Janssen (Jean Grey), Kelsey Grammer (Beast) and Anna Paquin (Rogue) in the closing scene, as Wolverine wakes up in the X-Mansion.

The latest X-Men movie shares its name with the 1981 storyline, written by Chris Claremont and John Bryne. There are significant differences between the two. In the original story, Kitty Pryde travels back in time to stop the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly (played by Bruce Davison in the 2000 movie X-Men) by Mystique and her Brotherhood of Mutants. In the movie, Wolverine is sent back by Kitty to stop Mystique from killing Dr Boliver Trask.

Though the movie gets chatty and slows down considerably at some points, the climax and Fassbender's performance make up for these lapses.

Highly recommended for fans of Michael Fassbender/Magneto.

PS: Do not miss the post credits teaser for the sequel: X-Men: Apocalypse. The scene shows a group of people chanting “En Sabah Nur” and worshipping a hooded figure as he assembles a huge pyramid using the powers of telekinesis. The mysterious figure is revealed to be a grey skinned young man. Also seen in the background are the four Horsemen of Apocalypse.

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Image Sources: Bad Hat Harry Productions, Marvel Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Dune Entertainment

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Fargo Season 1 Episode # 5 "The Six Ungraspables" - Recap and Review

Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) is forced to reveal the name of Lorne Malvo to his cellmates Mr.Numbers (Adam Goldberg) and Mr.Wrench (Russell Harvard). He further reveals that Lorne took his car to Duluth.

Deputy Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) is still on Lester's heels. She has obtained his phone records on the night, his wife and the ex police chief were killed.

A call had been placed to the motel where Lorne was staying. This piece of information finally convinces Chief Bill Oswalt (Bob Odenkirk) that something is amiss.

Deputy Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks) has his daughter Greta (Joey King) look up Pastor Peterson from Baudette.

Lorne is back to Calamity Joe (Roger LeBlanc) to get a police scanner. He visits Don Chumph (Glenn Howerton) and prepares to extort the ransom money from Stavros Milos (Oliver Platt).

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A guilt ridden Gus shares his anguish with his neighbor, who advises him that only a fool tries to solve all the world's problems.

Stavros's son, Dmitri (Gordon S. Miller) does some investigation of his own and discovers that the troubles plaguing his father are very much man-made. However Stavros is too much into his religious beliefs and refuses to heed Dmitri's advice.

Molly revisits Lester's house for clues. Lester is taken to the hospital, where Molly learns that the pregnant Ida Thurman (Julie Ann Emery) has just given birth.

Molly checks in on Lester in his hospital room. Lester pretends to be asleep and Molly leaves the room.

This was a good episode. The writing is sharp and witty. The casting continues to be solid with a couple of new additions and there is not a single weak link in the chain.

The show is at its best whenever Billy Bob Thornton is onscreen. His conversations with Calamity Joe and especially with Stavros during the ride is hilarious and amusing. Equally good is his discussion about house safety precautions. The concerned neighbor calls him “Se'irim”, the term for demon in the Hebrew Bible.

The shooting scene at Lester's place was beautifully shot. The attention to details and the graphical rendering was superb. Kudos to the technical crew.

The hapless Lester undergoes considerable torture and Martin does a great job with his American accent and acting.

Molly's “Yeah” in the hospital reminded me of Frances McDormand's character from the 1996 original.

Recommended to fans of thrillers/dramas/Coen Brothers.

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Image Sources: FX Productions, MGM Television, FX Network

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