The Strain: The Complete Fourth Season - DVD Review

[Michael Scott]

The Strain: The Complete Fourth Season

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
The Strain is back for one final season, and I for one am actually glad that they are wrapping up the series this year. Not because I don’t like how its going, or enjoy the series (I obviously do from my rating), but because the powers that be wanted a tight and concise series with an end in sight instead of going on forever. Or at least until the series runs out of fuel and then just cannibalizes itself trying to keep going until the ratings make it unprofitable (*cough*How I Met Your Mother*cough*). Del Toro’s little creation has been a wildly enjoyable series from the time the first season dropped, and I for one am sad to see it go (despite glad they wrapped up the series nicely). The continuation of making 10 episode seasons in stead of 13 is a boon to the show. Allowing them to keep the series lean and trim, and not so much filler.

Season 4 has our heroes in a nasty predicament. The war has been almost lost, and the Strigoi are in control after the devastating events of last season’s finale. The end of the world is here, and the bombs have been dropped. Now humanity (which was hanging by a thread) has been are all but slaves to the Master (Robin Atkin Downes). The nuclear winter has blocked the sun’s UV rays from coming through the clouds, making it so that the Strigoi no longer need to hide in the darkness. They can now come out into society and exert their power. Humanity has attempted to “partner” with their new masters, promising peace and prosperity, but ultimately leaving the majority of humanity struggling to get by while their new masters are in control of their future.

Season 4 decided to not keep our heroes relegated to New York’s underground arena like “The Fall” hinted at last year, but instead scattered them all over the countryside. Goodweather (Corey Stoll) is out in Philly, Charlotte (Rhona Mitra), Fet (Kevin Durand, and Quinlan (Rupert Penry-Jones) are out in the country trying to track down a nuclear missile, and Zack Goodweather (Max Charles) is now under the Master’s tutelage under more sinister design. The big benefit to splitting up the crew around the country is that we get to see how the rest of the nation fared after the great darkness came about. Rednecks, resistance fighters, all create a more varied tapestry for the 10 episode arc. The downside is that it also takes a few episodes to really gain momentum with each and every character having at least part of an episode for us to catch up what’s been happening to them. The first 5 episodes are a bit slower than expected after last season’s hints due to the fact that we have to get everybody back together for that big final rush to take on the Master.

Despite the sluggishness of the first half of the season, it builds up to an epic second half that is emotional, and impactful to our heroes. Ephraim Goodweather has to mourn the loss of ALL his family, while Fet and Ephraim still have a bit of a grudge due to Dutch and their little love triangle. Although, it’s quite exhilarating to finally see all of the petty differences that kept the characters apart quickly fade to the background as they come together with one common purpose. The one negative to the whole show, though, is Zack. Zack is EASILY the King Joffrey of The Strain. He’s disliked by fans everywhere, and pretty much hated by most of the humans in the show. I mean, when you set off a bomb killing thousands just to spite your daddy, and then become the pet of The Master you kind of deserve some hatred. Now he descends into even weirder stalker like behavior when he gains a love interest of his own (which is more of a predatory thing considering her status with The Master), and the weak writing that has hampered his character since season 2 continues. Zack SHOULD be the focal point of the whole series, but somehow Max Charles’ one note performance as the kid hampers those aspirations quite a bit.




Rating:

Rated TV-MA by the MPAA




Video:

The Strain: The Complete Fourth Season follows in the third season’s footsteps by only getting a DVD release instead of a Blu-ray one like the first and second season did. While it IS disappointing, it was expected after the last year, and the DVDs look quite comparable to season 3. The show is heavily shadowed with amber and blue color grading used heavily throughout the series. Fet and Charlotte out in the wilderness show some more natural coloring, but that heavy amber or blue grading is the standard for most of the season (and series in fact). The disc is clean of any real issues, with black crush and some mild softness being the only real noticeable issues. Details are excellent for the most part, and shadow detail is good considering the crush. The colors are well saturated and the minimal digital noise in the pitch black scenes are fleeting. An overall well done transfer.







Audio:

Same as last year, the 5.1 Dolby Digital isn't a full lossless DTS-HD MA track, but it does the job quite well. The series is less cramped this year, as the varying locations that our heroes are scattered across tend to not be underground like before. The dialog is well defined and perfectly intelligible at all times, and evenly balanced with the more action oriented bits of the season. Directional ques are excellent, with the rushing of the strigoi, or the whisper of Quinlan's lightning movements shifting from one end of the sound stage to the other. LFE is tight and clean, but never overly deep and heavy duty. It comes and goes when needed and adds weight to gunfire and other heavy lifting.

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Extras:

• Coping with The Strain: A Therapy Session
• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel

Final Score: ​

The Strain has a been a very fun ride throughout the 4 season run, and I’m genuinely sad to see it go. The characters have made something more than just a horror/action show out of the Del Toro experiment, and everyone (except Zack) has made an impact on the show in a positive way. The final season is definitely a bit slower starting than expected, but it ramped up steadily to a very satisfactory conclusion by the time they met up with The Master. 20th Century Fox’s DVD set looks and sounds exactly like last year, with great audio and video, but sadly fewer extras than ever before. For fans of the show, its definitely worth picking up if you’d like to complete the series (although sadly this season and the last didn’t get a Blu-ray release). Definitely a fun watch.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Kevin Durand
Created by: Guillermo Del Toro, Chuck Hogan
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 MPEG 2
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Rated: TV-MA
Runtime: 440 Minutes
DVD Release Date: December 12th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Good Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will try and catch the series.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Fantastic cover art!

 

[tripplej]

Speaking of cover art, if one didn't know any better, one would think the Strain as a rock and roll heavy metal band..

 

[Michael Scott]

lol so true. It does have a bit of a 2000 era meets 80s metal vibe to it.