‘The Strain’ Showrunner Carlton Cuse Talks What to Expect in Season Two

The Strain returns for a terrifying second season this Sunday, picking up in New York where the vampire infestation is running rampant and can no longer be ignored.

When we left Eph, Setrakian, Fet and the gang, they had just waged an all out attack against The Master, but when we return, it seems as if The Master will have regained the upper hand, as vampirism is running rampant throughout the city.

Audiences will also be treated to a special prologue that co-creator Guillermo del Toro directed, that gives some interesting backstory on the Strigoi.

Keep reading to find out some of what Cuse revealed about the new season during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter:

On Guillermo Del Toro’s prologue

“We held that very purposefully from the first season. We thought it would just be cool to save that critical piece of mythology, and it felt like the start of the second season was the perfect place for it. It contextualizes everything that’s going to happen this year — and it actually has more relevance than you will be aware of in the first episode. We’re telling this epic story and to start with this epic historical prologue, as directed by Guillermo del Toro, was the best way to come out of the gate. And then we transitioned into the rest of the episode, which was very nicely directed by Gregory Hoblit.”

On Setrakian and Fet’s relationship

“We’re going for them to be bonding, that’s for sure. They both place value on the powers of extermination. They end up working together this season to find this mythical book that may or may not exist, but that they hope will kill the master and his vampires. So their quest this season is really about is this book. Their relationship has such terrific character and dynamic to it that all of us in the writers room wanted to write more stuff for them this year.”

On The Master’s current status

“The Master was definitely injured as a result of his encounter with Setrakian, and that battle has consequences. We’re playing the story forward. It would be wrong to think that just because the master escaped at the end of last season, that nothing was achieved by that whole thing. Something significant from that will play out in the season.”

Read more of what Carlton had to say about the what’s ahead in the new season over at THR.

The Strain returns Sunday, July 12 at 10 p.m. on FX.

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