[The show] succeeds through clever writing, top-flight cinematography and, crucially, smart casting. The psychological drama of The Strain is largely carried by Corey Stoll and Kevin Durand, savvy, naturalistic actors who give emotional weight to the melodrama.

The three episodes provided for review seem to signal volcanic larger story arc that is uncomfortably bleak and a bit dour at the outset but slowly builds toward a final showdown with The Master, which is sure to be nothing short of cataclysmic.

For the first time since the series’ strong start in 2014, The Strain delivers propulsive drama and world building. In the final season, the talented cast, the gorgeous effects, and the singular cinematographic aesthetic are matched bold narrative moves and satisfying character beats.

In its fourth season, The Strain feels like it struggles to maintain any momentum generated by the final episodes of season 3 that had some grip and immediacy. The early half of season 4 is somewhat chaotic and stumbles with its storytelling and its insistence that every person you've gotten to know for 3 seasons is somehow immeasurably important and must have a storyline that is focused on. This leads to a little bit of ADD when watching events unfold and characters progress. The Zack storyline couldn't be more annoying and useless in the series and while I understand the intention and can see where the writers thought maybe this could go somewhere fun and create more drama I don't think it really ever mildly **** significance and it tends to bring the series down. In season 4, Zack gets a little more focus and his storyline creates a noticeable drag whereas the other characters have something of importance despite being split up early on. It's not a waste of time but season 4 really doesn't do a great job of capitalizing on the climatic events that closed out season 3. It shouldn't come as a surprise because after season 1 this show didn't sell me as well and I get the feeling that many other viewers weren't as excited for the Strigoi background stories to be such a focal point of the show. Still, I persisted and found enough enjoyment in The Strain to soldier on and make it to the final season. Season 4 has moments but I found myself questioning the significance of a lot of content from start to end and wonder how so many decisions came to be in The Strain's series finale.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The final season was a bit 'meh'. It was hard to care about any of the characters after the pitiful last season.......................................