The Strain (TV Series) The Worm Turns (2017) User Reviews

The Partnership

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 27 January 2019]

Nine months after the Illumination Day, the vampires dominate the USA and there is a partnership between humans that must pay a blood donations and the vampires. Eph moved to Philadelphia and is living alone. Zach is living with Eichhosrt and The Master that sees dark potential on the teenager. Fet, his new mate Charlotte and Quinlan are looking for a nuclear missile silo to get a nuclear bomb to stop the vampires. Out of the blue, Charlotte and Fet are abducted by a gang of women.

"The Worm Turns" is the beginning of the fourth and last season of "The Strain". The episode shows a totally different scenario for the humans nine month after the explosion of the nuclear bomb that has blocked the UV from the sun and now the vampires can freely move along the days. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "The Worm Turns"

A dark beginning

[anselmdaniel · 8/10 · 19 September 2020]

This review contains spoilers for the first episode of the fourth season of The Strain entitled "The Worm Turns".

The Strain season four opens with the story beginning months after "Illumination Day". This day being the day the nuclear bomb was set off by Zach Goodweather. The world is plunged into darkness where vampires can roam around during the daytime. The heroes have separated and gone into hiding from the vampires. The vampires finally begin creating a new world order.

The time jump in this episode made me feel as if The Strain is a new show. This time jump revitalized the show as it is now cool seeing the strigoi finally enact their order and what the world would look like. This is not a happy series and this season would remind the viewer about that. It is however funny that elements of unintentional humor slip in when a vampire commercial plays with strigoi that were once aggressive taking a passive guard role and helping humans.

All of the previous season's characters are here but are changed due to the jump in time. Eph has once again taken up drinking and has separated from Setrakian. Eph is distraught over his role in preventing Zach from detonating the nuclear bomb and is focused on survival. Vasiliy Fet and Quinlan are trying to find a nuclear bomb to neutralize The Master once and for all. Dutch has been captured by the strigoi and is in a holding facility.

Of all the characters, Eph has changed the most. It was not comfortable watching a character that had given up the fight against the vampires and The Master. Eph meanders around scenes as he simply tries to survive the new order.

Vasiliy Fet and Quinlan's story was the most interesting stylistically. I feel that these two characters have great chemistry together. The story arc they are on is also fun to watch. They are on a mission through the post apocalyptic countryside of the United States. It was fun to watch this play out as it was a fresh setting after three seasons in an urban area. The characters that Vasiliy Fet and Quinlan encounter are cool and feel distinct from previous characters.

Overall I would recommend the premiere episode of the fourth season of The Strain. The episode may not attract new audiences but it has the freshness the series needed as it nears the end of the series.

Grade: B

A short review of the Season 4 premiere of "The Strain"

[ericrnolan · 7/10 · 23 July 2017]

(THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR PAST SEASONS OF "THE STRAIN.") I love "The Strain." It's weird, it's wacky, it's usually creepy, and the screenwriters seem to want to throw in everything but the kitchen sink in order to please horror fans. It's also the most ambitious horror show on television — it endeavors to depict nothing short of an entire vampire apocalypse, from its inception back in Season 1 to what appears to be a complete victory by the monsters at the start of its fourth (and apparently final) season. Only the outstanding "Fear the Walking Dead" has attempted something like that. And although "Fear" is the better show, it can't match "The Strain's" epic storytelling goals and its level of detail.

The writers' energetic efforts almost always pay off. Part of "The Strain's" appeal is that you never know how far they'll go. And they do push the envelope so creatively that they sometimes hit upon ideas and story points that are grotesque and darkly creative. I'm still enjoying this show even after I predicted back in Season 1 that the plot- driving creatures themselves would grow boring after our repeated exposure to them. (I'm happy to be proved wrong.)

Regrettably, the Season 4 premiere suggests that the writers are now reaching too far, too fast. It continued the show's pattern of brave creative choices, but it was sloppy. There were enormous changes in story and setting with insufficient exposition. We jump nine months forward from the close of last season, when a nuclear explosion devastates New York, and our heroes are scattered. We're offered little information about how our protagonists arrived at their respective new junctures, and that is forgivable. (It's a convention of serialized storytelling like this that things can be explained in subsequent episodes.) But the enormous changes in the overall milieu left me a little confused.

Following the nuclear conquest of New York last season, why would Philadelphia and other cities also be ruled by the vampires? I understand that the nuclear winter is to blame for this, because the bad guys can move about by day. But would a single bomb cause a sufficient nuclear winter to affect the entire Eastern Seaboard? (Yes, I am aware that I am illustrating my ignorance of this subject.)

Or … is it the entire continent that's affected, or the entire northern hemisphere? Have other cities been bombed or not? Why are the vampires seeking out more nuclear devices? (We are given confusing information about these things through new story elements and dialogue.) Furthermore, why is Vasiliy Fet (the likable Kevin Durand) trying get his hands on a nuke on behalf of the human resistance? Is he planning on nuking an entire city, with both vampires and their human slaves? If he neutralizes "The Master" in the remains of New York City, will it be worth it?

These are important plot and story elements that left me scratching my head. What's more, the season opener was further marred by some pretty spotty scripting and direction. (The action sequence at the end was poorly done.)

The episode was still fun enough. I'd rate it a 7 out of 10. I'm just surprised that an episode that seems so hastily developed served as the season's opener.

Good Way to Start the Season But I Expected More [8/10]

[panagiotis1993 · 8/10 · 30 August 2023]

Reaction / Review for The Strain Season 4 Episode 1 ''The Worm Turns'' (S4. E1): Season 3 was pretty good, I hope the final season is the best. Wait do humans and strigoi live together? That's so dumb. Strigoi Palmer, this will need some time to get used to. Fet with a full beard? Looks good. Quinlan being bad-ass as always, that's my boy! Fet has a new girlfriend, that's cute. Another season with Zach in it. This kid ruins the show. Is Kelly alive? Oh okay it's just the Master pretending to be Kelly. Nice im glad she is dead. Seems like Strigoi have become more intelligent. Finally we see Setrakian. Where is Dutch though? Where is Gus? Oh come on, it was a nightmare? I wanna see Setrakian! Overall a good episode, my rating is 8/10.