Rewatching and forgot how much Season 3 end infuriated me… I don’t even know if I want to continue season 4 lol

Hey guys just wanted to stop by to say FUCK ZACK little twat.
I need reassurance that I will see him pay someday

This is a show that has been on my radar for quite some time, but I always kept putting it off, until recently. I spent the last few weeks binging all four seasons and I have to say I thought it was pretty rad overall. When it is good, its GOOD, but when it stumbles, it can get hella frustrating.

WHAT I LIKED (SPOILERS AHEAD):

• The cast is incredible. The main players all do a great job. Corey Stall, Kevin Durand, Ruta Gedmintas, David Bradley, Richard Sammel, Rupert Jones, Jonathan Hyde & Miguel Gomez all were fantastic!
• I found most of the characters to be thoroughly fleshed out. I sympathized greatly with Eph, and loved seeing him evolve from a skeptic to a true vampire killer. Fet was my favorite character in the show; he was badass, funny, and it's probably Durand's best performance of his career. Bradley was great as the professor. He did a phenomenal job being the father figure of the group, and his demise at the end of season 4 was easily the saddest death in the series. Quinlin was a badass and a fun character that I was glad to see he was in most of the show. He and the Professor are tied for 2nd place in my book for best characters. Loved seeing his backstory fleshed out more in Seasons 3 & 4. Dutch was a solid character in her own right; even if some of her romantic relationships felt underwritten, I grew to really like her, especially in season 4. But Eichorst, played brilliantly by Sammel, was a terrific antagonist. There's a good portion of this show where he just steals the scene, and not a second went by that I wasn't waiting for them to drop the axe on him; great villain, much better than the Master in my book. And the scene where The Professor finally slays him was one of the most satisfying moments I've experienced in a show for quite some time. Palmer was fun too. He felt like an in universe Lex Luthor and Hyde's performance is to be commended.
• I'd say my favorite parts of the show were the interactions between Eichorst and the Professor, both in the past and the present; the two characters were so well written and seeing them spar off against each other was always a joy.
• Loved the build up in the first season; despite the budget not quite being what it should be, the showrunners did a great job slowly reeling you in to how this vampiric virus is spreading, and I loved the idea of treating the spread of Vampires like a viral infection (like Blade 2, which was directed by Del Toro, who produced this). The mystery of that first season was handled beautifully.
• I dug season 1, but 3 & 4 is where it really got good for me. The momentum was stronger, it didn't have as much filler as the previous two seasons, and I really liked that they just went with a nuclear holocaust as the backdrop of season 4. You could tell they got a bigger budget in the last two seasons because the cinematography, set design and special effects are all much stronger.
• I liked the world building. Sure a bigger budget would've helped, but for what they had I say they did a fine job of getting you wrapped in this environment.
• The finale was really solid. Played out a little differently than I'd thought; I was certain Fet was gonna die, along with Gus and maybe Eph, but thought they'd keep Quinlin around. But I am happy with the way it panned out (thank god they killed Zack. He’d killed more people than anyone else in the show lol).

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:

• I'll get the worst out of the way: Zack. I am so happy to see that pretty much everyone is in agreement that this character is the worst in the show. He is arrogant, stupid, and utterly worthless, outside of being used as a bargaining chip in season 3 to get Eph to turn over the Lumen. Outside of that, what purpose did his character serve other than to annoy the shit out of the audience? Practically every decision he makes ruins the lives of those around him. He sees his mother turn into a blood sucking hideous vampire, but decides to go with her? Even though I like how they handled the nuclear winter, I hate that it was Zack that jump started it. So his dad kills his infected mom to save him, and he throws a hissy fit and decides to blow up New York because he's a momma's boy? Jesus fucking christ.  And then he goes full incel in season 4 and gets a girl killed because he thought she was into him when in reality she wasn't so he threw another hissy fit. He was somewhat bearable in season 1 but in season 2 and beyond he is written so poorly that I can understand why people just tuned out halfway through the second season. And the thing is, I don't blame Max Charles. He did what he could, but not even the best kid actor in the world could make this material work. Worst character in the show and one of the worst characters in TV history.
• Season 2 was an incredibly messy one; sometimes it was great, like when the neighborhood stood up against the vampire horde, and the final episode with the train was also a fun watch, even if Zack's decision at the end (which cost Nora's life) kind of taints it. But then you have Zack doing his dumb shit, Eph fucking off and hooking up with another chick only to have her killed an episode later, other weak romances and for a good chunk of the season, it just felt like filler.
• Most of the romance in the show didn't work for me and I thought was kind of cringe. The only couple I really bought was Eph & Nora. Fet & Dutch could've been much better, but the whole Dutch's ex getting in the way just felt pointless, and it didn't go anywhere in the end. Sometimes they tried to be spicy but due to it being on cable TV, it just felt horribly cheesy. The worst one was when Palmer hooked up with his aide. One of the most useless romance arcs I think I've ever seen in a show.
• Sometimes characters get introduced and you grow a little attached to them, but then they are killed in very anti-climatic fashions, like Justine in Seasons 2 & 3, Angel in Season 3 and Alex in Season 4. Part of me wants to like how quickly they dispatched Justine, because at that point in the season, characters were dropping like flies and it would've been an implication that no one was really safe, but she was a good character that I felt deserved a better demise. Alex in season 4 was shaping up to being a solid side character but then Eichorst snaps her neck and then she's almost completely forgotten about.

TLDR: The frustrating parts I feel were easily fixable, and I don't get what the writers were thinking when they took certain directions for the story. Zack should've been killed off in the first or second season, and his death should've been a catalyst for Eph to get back at the Master. But I found it to be a very enjoyable show, one that I was not never invested in, despite how messy season 2 was. I liked how it mostly unfolded, the cast was incredible, the action was fun, and they did a decent job of the world building. Certainly would recommend this to horror fans, but would urge them to stick with it if they feel like the show is losing them in season 2 because the final 2 seasons are damn good. My grade of the show:

Season 1: B+

Season 2: C-

Season 3: A-

Season 4: A-

Overall: B+

Top 10 in the entire series!

Go get 'em, Setrakian!

This show never gets old...

The music between chapters was the biggest thing I remembered when I listened to the book a few years back. And yep still as dramatic as ever I wish all audio books had this.

When Quinlan and the professor meet it is very clear the professor has never met this guy a day in his life before. So no my biggest question is when the professor was going after the master in the 1960s where was Quinlan. They were both assumedly in Europe so on the same continent it is not even like the professor was on North American like how he was when the master resurfaced in modern times. If two people where vampire hunters and went around following myth and folklore they would have ran into one another. So it is just really strange how they had never meet. Also another thing how did Quinlan not know something really weird was happing in New York until the master almost died and he felt it. Doesn't he watch the news. The professor instantly when he heard about the airplane knew it was the master but Quinlan nowhere in sight until the master basically got cooked.

I'm not nitpicking I love this show and the books. This small things just bothers me a little.

SPOILERS for the whole show ahead:

Currently, I'm on probably my fifteenth (maybe?) full rewatch of the series, and I've been wanting to create a running list of the things which I think are plot or character points best served by watching the show in a binge setting rather than week-to-week, as originally released.

One of the most common complaints I've heard about the show was that viewers who originally saw it on network felt that there were a lot of subplots and zigs and zags which might have felt big at the time, but "didn't seem to go anywhere."

One of the examples I'd hear of this was the "CDC pirate broadcast" angle...

Now, I didn't originally watch the show week-to-week, so I didn't deal with a lot of these issues, and don't know how much (if at all) they affected the viewing experience. Because I first watched the show in 2021 or 2022, I believe, and just saw the episodes one after another. So, I never thought that stuff like the "pirate broadcast" was that big of a thing to see and brush off.

Anyhow, I also think that it can be a huge positive to watch a TV series in a streamed manner. Because unlike a lot of episodic stories, serialized shows often depend on the viewer retaining a lot of what they previously saw to fully engage with the current episode.

So, where a show like Law & Order will just move on, and you don't really need to get a "previously on..." segment to tell you that there's a new, weirdly attractive assistant DA in the cast, some shows really benefit from not having a near-weekly "reset" to help anyone who missed the previous installments "catch up."

(Anybody thinking of The X-Files right now and all of the problems that show had trying to both maintain forward momentum and keep sporadic viewers engaged without them needing to go catch up first probably gets the differences here...)

Obviously, if this is something which doesn't interest you, it'll be easy enough to just ignore it - but if you are interested in adding your personal observations to this list, I'd like to hear them.

I'll probably do a more thorough watch-through soon, anyhow, complete with timeline detailing and that way, I can more accurately draw connections between events/dialogue from there.

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So, example number-one:

Zach distorting his discussion with Nora about Mariela's ashtray being a "reminder of the good things" in Season 1, Episode 11 into his willingness to risk his own safety to retrieve his phone in the bodega and then everybody else's later by faking an asthma attack really sets up his tendency to pervert rational, reasonable thinking in order to keep finding a reason to remain attached to his infected mother throughout the series.

Really, I think everything about Zach's "turn to evil" tracks much better when you are watching the entire show in close sequence...

But this specifically really seemed to click together nicely on rewatch: Zach tells Nora that "maybe it's better she remembers the good times at all," even though they're obviously causing a lot of confusion for her (and danger) rather than not remembering anything - and at first, this seems reflected in his clinging to the phone he drops while on the roller-ramp, and then later with his "asthma attack" to get the photo album.

Obviously... I probably don't need to spell out how Zach's "clinging to even possibly distorted 'good times' with loved ones" habit causes problems in the future.

Example number-two:

Nora and Fet seem to pretty clearly be in the midst of forming a bond throughout the middle of Season 2 - including to the dismay of Ephraim - which coincides right with his and Dutch's relationship falling apart.

This is truly one of the most tragic plot-points - and one I'd insist was not always planned, but rather, was adjusted on the fly to accommodate Mia Maestro's exit from the show and her ensuing role on Scandal.

There are a number of times where Nora seems to be looking to Fet for comfort/security (after nearly being killed by Kelly and her step-kids in Season 2, Episode 6) as well as the little "jokes" Fet makes, which Nora seems to find funny - even though Eph appears to find them overly childish or dull or whatever (the example which always comes to mind is when they're discussing how "1-out-of-every-4 Americans are medicated for being mentally ill" and Fet mentions his "invisible friend, Donny.")

Obviously, it's not as if I just intuited this potential plot-development on my own: it does happen in the book...

But we almost get, like, a diet/leftover version of it with Dutch in Season 3, which I have just never liked.

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Anyway, I don't think any of this stuff is truly "new information." And I'm not pretending that I'm discovering any "secrets" in the show or even necessarily building new theories about possibilities.

I'm more so just interested in what works better from a story or character direction when you truly have all the details fresh in your mind from not having to wait a calendar year between seasons.

I'll probably be posting more of these observations later, so like I said, if it interests you, feel free to help out.

Only half way through but when the dude got bit in the leg- if done quick enough, could amputation not have saved him?

Brother I don’t think I’ve ever hated a character so much like I do this kid I don’t mean the actual kid I mean the character he plays brother i would had fed the kid that the vampires on episode one lmao 🤣 annoying little fACK YOUR MOM IS COOKED BRO AND YOUR GETTING PEOPLE SCREWD ALL THE TIME I SWEAR I JUST WANA GIVE HIM THE OMNI MAN TREATMENT 🤣🤣🤣honestly I think the master would hate to have this kid around

I don't understand the whole they have a preferred blood type thing. Like it doesn't make sense from a predator's stand point because if you had a B+ person and an A+ person why would you prefer to go for one especially the one with a considerably rear blood type (only 9% of the global population has B+ blood). Like as a predator wouldn't you want to go for a more common blood type like O+ (that up to 42% of the global population has) or why would you even be picky in the first place.

And another thing I did the maths and roughly for both the professor and Dutch be to B+ and to randomly meet and work together work together out of a group of 10 people give or take of the course of the mission it is a 8.3% chance don't take this a fully factually I don't work in statistics bit still pretty unlikely but not unheard of.

3rd watch through, these two carry each scene with little effort 🥰

Am I wrong in thinking that there’s still one ancient that’s encased in the silver box? I remember Setrakian thought that’s what was in the box that ended up containing the nuclear bombs but I don’t remember them ever saying that ancient was dead.

I really like the ideea of the master being bloated with all the worms inside of him, kinda like how a termite queen's body is bloated with eggs. I wish the show doubled down on the tick like massive body of the master.

I think that's what they were going for when making the master have a special worm that makes him the most important vampire. The way in which the other vampires would protect the master with no regard for their own survival is very similar to how eusocial insects protect their queens. The way the crimson worm is explained fits pretty well with the misconceptions about how in eusocial insects the queen controls the hive, even if her only actuall role is to make more workers.

I just finished a rewatch and noticed that Fet was walking around with his signature rebar rather than Setrakian’s cane/sword. Am I the only one disappointed he didnt have the cane?

was there really just a sudden timeskip where the whole world is now infected or am I misinterpreting what setrakian was saying at the start

Just watched the first episode, in the middle of the second episode now and I can't bear the plain ignorance everyone has. plain survivors having a dinner with bloody eyes and pale skin, looking like corpses out of a possible plague and no one cares. The autopsy guy takes his gloves off when his body is infested with fucking parasites, monsters fucking eat him and just walk out ? isnt there anyone to hear or see? and they are acting all normal when there are all these signs that it's obviously an intelligent mind behind all these events with all the cuts and ammonia all over the place. Then there's the ignorance of goodweather not even considering how when the jew knows all about the corpses and the coffin, and some more stuff I cant think of right now.

does it just go like this for all seasons? i like the vibe of the show tho so i would like to continue

Ozryel is described as having infinit tongues and infinite eyes, representing the spreading of thier plague. The comics already mamaged to do the infinite eyes thing (having eyes on their wings), and i think the episod lot 36 from cabinet of curiosities showed how to do the infinte tongues part. I would have angels have no face, and as ozryel is being tempted their head starts to crack, eventually bursting with tentacles

Omg, I just watched season 3 finale and Zack just blew up a nuclear bomb????? Is this useless kid serious??? I have no words how much I hate this child ...you are not supposed to hate a child I know.

Also, how come people are still alive and not getting radiation sickness or burn?

I never liked that boy, he is about 13-14, he should be smart enough to realise what his mother become and realise he couldn't help her. But nooooo, he is dumb. Hope he dies a painful death riddled with guilt.

That's it really. 🙃

I have the impression that Zack had Oedipus complex?

In season 2 episode 7, Quinlan has a flashback the shows he found the Cane. It's a good weapon against strigoi, how and why did he lose possession of the weapon?