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The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, August 28, 2015 2 By Rory MacDonald- Gauthier TV Media T he 2010s decade has been a bloody entertain- ing one so far, that's for certain. In the past few years, we've seen AMC's juggernaut "The Walking Dead" dominate the zombie-apocalypse-surviv- al genre and HBO's "True Blood" sink its teeth into the vampire drama scene. Enter FX's "The Strain," which blends the best of both catastrophes — undead vam- pires have taken over New York City, and in the midst of surviving, a select few are look- ing to cure the epidemic through medicine or flat-out eliminating the night walkers. With season 2 now underway, catch an all-new episode of "The Strain" airing Sunday, Aug. 30, on FX. "The Strain" began as a hor- ror novel trilogy created by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan and was originally imagined as a television series. After countless unsuccessful attempts to pitch it to net- works, though, del Toro decid- ed to adapt the idea into a se- ries of books, and in 2011, graphic novel publisher Dark Horse Comics began "The Strain's" transition into comic book form, with the series run- ning for 32 issues. It premiered on FX last sum- mer, and the premise is pretty straightforward: a genetic dis- ease takes hold of New Yorkers and turns them into vampires. Hundreds of thousands of citi- zens run amok crying for help, but no one outside NYC is will- ing to lend a hand. As with most shows, the first season focused on introducing characters, including epidemi- ologist Dr. Ephraim Good- weather (Corey Stoll, "House of Cards"), looking to save the world through medicine; Eph's close ally, Dr. Nora Martinez (Mía Maestro, "Alias"); Holo- caust survivor Prof. Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley, "Har- ry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," 2001); and nail gun- wielding rat exterminator Vasiliy Fet (Kevin Durand, "Vi- kings"). "A lot of the first season we spent following each character and learning about the biology of the virus and how it com- pletely changes human beings into something completely dif- ferent, grotesque and scary, but oddly kind of beautiful at the same time," said Durand in an interview with "Collider." "That's what Guillermo [del Toro] does. I feel like everything in the second season is just turned up, which might include that fear of losing your favorite character. It's so damn scary. We don't want to lose any- body." Turned up indeed, as this season not only builds on pre- viously established characters through additional timelines and flashbacks, but it also in- troduces new vampire hunters. What's the most ridiculous character you could insert into a horror-adventure show about a vampire epidemic? If you guessed a muscle-bound luchador, you're absolutely cor- rect. A masked crusader named Angel (Joaquín Cosío, "Quan- tum of Solace," 2008) appears in the fray and decides that he's going to relive his glory years as a wrestler — but this time his opponents are the liv- ing dead. Del Toro isn't the only one thinking about the characters. Due to the scheduling of sea- son 1's air date and the begin- ning of filming for season 2, many actors from the show were able to dissect their own characters' performances, which gave them the opportu- nity to hyper-analyze and dig deeper for anything that would boost their performance. With a total of five seasons a possibility, viewers will have no shortage of the villainous vam- pires for years to come. Can't wait for the next season? Pick up the book series! If that doesn't suit your taste, try out the graphic novels — which, of course, are quite graphic. Catch an all-new episode of "The Strain" airing Sunday, Aug. 30, on FX. Robynwood Home 2 x 2 coverstory Mía Maestro as seen in "The Strain" The thirst is real 'The Strain' sinks its teeth into character development By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: Is the series "Wonderland" going to be out on DVD any time soon? A: It depends on which one you mean. Though, in either case, you'd have a hard time finding them. Both shows are obscure, but for very different reasons. There's an Australian prime-time soap opera called "Wonderland" that's a hit down there. All three of the sea- sons it's produced so far are available on DVD, if you're in Australia. There was also an American series called "Wonderland" that originally aired in 2000. Unlike the Australian version, this was decidedly not a hit — it was pulled after just two episodes. As such, it was never released on DVD. So hopefully you're looking for the Australian show. If that's the case, it's just a matter of ordering the DVDs online (or through a store that'll do special orders on your behalf), and then getting your hands on a regionless DVD player. DVDs and DVD players are made for specific regions of the world, so that the studios can control when and where their properties are available. DVDs released in Australia will only work in Australia's region (note that "region" in the video business isn't necessarily geographic — Australia is part of DVD Region 4, which also includes Mexico). Q: Will there be another "Longmire" series? If so, when? A: Fans have been desperate for "Longmire" news since its surprise cancelation by A&E in August 2014, and its equally surprising resurrection by Netflix. The desperation has been tied to the fact that, though the online video-streaming service announced in November that it would produce more episodes, it refused to say when. But it finally has: season 4 of "Longmire" will premiere Thursday, Sept. 10. Netflix announced that the 10-episode season "picks up moments after season 3's exciting finale." In a discussion at the Television Critics Association sum- mer press tour, series producer Greer Shephard offered some details about what's to come in Sheriff Walt Long- mire's Absaroka County. Much as the show has gotten a second chance thanks to Netflix, Shephard said that, "Season 4 is about second chances." Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. 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