The Strain: Night Zero

"Night Zero" is the title to the premiere episode from season one of the vampire horror series The Strain. It is based on a trilogy of novels by the same name. The episode was directed by franchise creator Guillermo del Toro with a script written by Del Toro and co-creator Chuck Hogan. It first aired on the FX Network on Sunday, July 13th, 2014 at 10:00 pm. In this episode, Ephraim Goodweather of the Centers for Disease Control is called in to investigate an aircraft that mysteriously landed with all but 4 out of 210 passengers and crew members found dead.

Notes & Trivia

 * The Strain was created and developed for television by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. It is based on a series of novels by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.


 * "Night Zero" and " Night Zero" serve as shortcuts to this page.


 * This episode is rated TV-MA. It contains strong language and acts of graphic violence. Viewer discretion is advised.


 * This episode is production code number XSN01001.
 * This episode had a viewership of 2.99 million viewers in the United States upon its initial broadcast.


 * This episode is included on The Strain: The Complete First Season DVD and Blu-ray collections. The DVD was produced by 20th Century Fox and released in Region 1 format on December 2nd, 2014.


 * This premiere episode had a running time of two hours (with commercials). 1 hour and 45 minutes actual time.


 * This is the first, and only episode of The Strain directed by franchise creator Guillermo del Toro. It is also his only work as a writer on the series.


 * This is the first of five episodes from season one written by Chuck Hogan. His next episode is "Gone Smooth".

Allusions

 * Jim Kent uses the phrase "Through the looking glass" in this episode. The phrase is taken from the works of author Lewis Carroll, who wrote the children's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865, and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There  in 1871.


 * Augustin "Gus" Elizalde refers to someone as double-oh-seven (007). This is a code name attributed to the British super-spy James Bond, who was popularized in a series of fiction novels by author Ian Fleming. The novels became the basis for a series of action films about the character.


 * The song that Doctor Bennett is listening to on the radio as he becomes infected with the vampire parasite is "Sweet Caroline". The song was recorded and performed by Neil Diamond and released as a single in 1969. The song reached #4 on the Billboard chart and eventually went platinum

Bloopers

 * Voice actor Lance Henriksen's name is mis-spelled as Lance Henricksen in the end-title credits of this episode.

Quotes

 * Abraham Setrakian: Listen very carefully, son! I know your little friend has a gun and the hammer is cocked, but I don't care. I can control your entire body weight from this pressure point and this knife is pointing straight at your radial artery. By the time he clears his coat pocket, your artery will be punctured and sliced wide open from top to bottom. You fall down bleeding, I go under the counter and your friend starts shooting at an empty space. I can guarantee you this, you will bleed out before the 911 operator answers the phone. That is option one. Option two is you release the bills, your friend gives me the gun - he can keep the bullets, I don't care - and you leave this store. Now, son... you have a choice.

....
 * Abraham Setrakian: Love, you see, is the one force that cannot be explained, that cannot be broken down to a chemical process. It is the beacon that guides us back home when no one is there, and the light that illuminates our loss. Its absence robs us all pleasure of our capacity for joy. It makes our nights darker and days gloomier. But when we find love no matter how wrong, how sad, or how terrible we cling to it, it gives us our strength, it holds us upright. It feeds on us and we feed on it. Love is our grace. Love is our downfall.

....
 * Abraham Setrakian: He's back. I... I don't know if I have the strength to do it all over again. This time, I cannot fail.

....
 * Ephraim Goodweather: You don't like terrorists, try negotiating with a virus. A virus exists only to find a carrier and reproduce. That's all it does and it does it quickly. It has no political views, it has no religious beliefs, it has no cultural hang-ups. And it has no respect for a badge. It has no concept of time or geography. It might as well be the Middle Ages, except for the convenience of hitching a ride on a metal tube flying from meal to meal to meal. That's how a plague begins.

....
 * Thomas Eichorst: Three rules. You will not examine the cargo. You will not make any stops. And you will cross the bridge back into Manhattan before daybreak. Do you understand? In English then, the three rules.
 * Augustin "Gus" Elizalde: Screw you. Suck my dick. I'll get it done.

Crew

 * Guillermo del Toro - Executive producer
 * Carlton Cuse - Executive producer
 * Chuck Hogan - Executive producer
 * Gary Ungar - Executive producer
 * J. Miles Dale - Producer


 * Checco Varese - ASC, A.M.C. - Director of photography
 * Tamara Deverell - Production designer
 * Sidney Wolinsky, A.C.E.
 * Ramin Djawadi - Composer
 * April Webster - Casting, C.S.A.

Episode links