Evan Got a Box from FX – <i>The Strain</i> Season 2

Evan Griffin

9 years ago

So, does anyone remember what I thought The Strain was going to be last summer when the series made its world premiere? Because I sure as hell don’t, and I certainly didn’t expect the B-movie/Horror hybrid that was a result.

I had a lot of strong feeling while reviewing the first season of FX’s adaptation of the novel by Guillermo del Toro. The show spent a lot of its first season building lore, building characters, and uniting an ensemble cast in maybe not the most elegant of ways, but in the end it made a generally satisfying thirteen episodes of something a little different for horror fans.

Since October 6th, I’ve spent my time doing things far and away from even thinking about The Strain, but then I was asked if I’d like to review its second season this summer, I’ll admit with a strong enticement of having screener copies sent. When I opened my box sent in the mail by our Editor in Chief, Gabby, my reaction was very similar to those I had throughout watching the show: uncontrollable laughter, confusion, admiration for its ambition, gagging, nausea, and so on. I have to admit, this packaging was incredibly ambitious on FX’s part in attempt to build hype. Just look at it.

Texts soon went out. “What am I supposed to do with this thing?” “uhhh, who wants to watch The Strain with me?” “Did I get the right package?” “Maybe I’ll put up the review in Pig Latin.”

When you open it, it gets more confidently weird.

Inside, SHOCKINGLY, is not a mulch dwelling vampire master, but…illuminati text?

And of course the DVD. Because the illuminati don’t have a Blu Ray budget…wait, what’s this?

A flashlight.

A blue, vampire repelling flashlight.

And so, the ultimate goal of social media happened. Don’t worry, that’s my dog Ben. He was blind already.

Inside was a very elaborate booklet that puts my mysterious subscription to Rolling Stone to shame (seriously, I don’t know who ordered it or why).

To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t expecting anything more than the DVD, and this elaborate set seems inspired by a strong confidence in this series, which is alright by me, but I figured I’d share it with the rest of you in the most legal way I can! So here it is. Let’s see what new heights the alcoholism, hairpieces, squibs, and muppets can take us to this year.

The second season of The Strain premieres on FX on Sunday, July 12th.