‘The Strain’ Recap: Corey Stoll & Mia Maestro Witness A Vampire Epidemic In ‘Night Zero!’

In the FX's horror series, The Strain, visionary director Guillermo Del Toro (Blade 2) brings his vampire books to life in the pilot episode, 'Night Zero.' An epic outbreak, one that hasn't been seen in centuries, is about to invade the citizens of the Big Apple.  

In an overseas flight, we meet a few of the passengers as the stewardess is doing her routine rounds. Something is wrong though; there is growling coming from the cargo. The strange noises continue to get louder as the stewardess is trying to keep the doors shut.

When the plane all of sudden lands in New York, with the windows closed, no one knows what to do. Meantime, Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll) finally arrives to couples counseling. Though he loves his ex-wife and son, Eph cannot deal with the new man in her life. Just when he wants to make a point, he is called in during an emergency.

When Eph arrives at the airport, there are already teams of authority figures calling in jurisdiction. Because this is a CDC problem, Eph enters with his teammate Nora (Mia Maestro), while Jim (Sean Astin) stays behind. When they enter the plane, every passenger, except for a few, appears to be dead.

Elsewhere in New York, Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley) is at his pawn shop when two bandits enter. When they try to distract him, Abraham grabs the knife and holds one of the muggers by the throat. After he lets the robbers leave, the old man hears disturbing news about the flight. 

Eph and his team discover a mysterious box amid the cargo. It's a coffin wide enough to fit a person inside and enough dirt to bury someone alive. Later on, we meet the creature hiding inside the coffin and he is a very nasty fellow. This ancient evil, known as The Master, pounds his fists at a human's head until it is beaten to a pulp.

While Eph is trying to keep the surviving passengers quarantined, Abraham arrives to warn everyone about the box. They cannot let the thing leave their sight. When Abraham is arrested for trespassing, the coffin has already been removed.  

Gus (Miguel Gomez) loves his supportive mother, but he has been arrested before. In order to bring her some money, Gus picks up the coffin and drives away with it in a white van. The vehicle is able to pass through inspection because Jim is working for a shadowy group.

In the morgue, the dead passengers rise up by themselves suddenly. The undead men and women gather around the frightened mortician. By the time Eph realizes the coffin is missing, the mortician has already been devoured.

Elsewhere, a grieving father sees his dead daughter staying by the open window. She has arrived home, looking pale and sickly. When the father wraps his arms around her, the little girl only sees him as food.

And so begins the vampire epidemic in The Strain. Readers, what did you think of Night Zero?