Summary
The season final forThe Last of Uspremiered on August 02, 2025, and fans are already eager for its second season. While it’s not an entirely unique story, it is a compelling one that drew fans in immediately. Even those who didn’t play the original video game found themselves in love with the TV show. The entire cast was phenomenal in their roles, bringing the cast of the game series to life. Now, HBO has the audacity to make audiences wait until 2025 for its second season.
In the meantime, there are many similar shows fans can watch to quench their thirst. One of which is the vampiric procedural thrillerThe Strainwhich aired on FX for four seasons. It features a large cast of talented actors and delivers a unique vampire story not seen before. One unique aspect of the show is the slow and methodical destruction of civilization. Then there’s the new vampire design it employs, which is reminiscent of those fromBlade 2. It also comes from the fantastic mind ofGuillermo del Toro.
Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan
Cast
Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Kevin Durand, Jonathan Hyde, Richard Sammel, and Ruta Gedmintas
46 (4 seasons)
Finale Date
June 26, 2025
While the production value ofThe Strainis considerably lower thanThe Last of Us,The Strainis still a very solid television series. This FX series shows the gradual downfall of civilization as a virus takes root and slowly infects the entire U.S. population. Unlike the cordyceps inThe Last of Us, though,The Strain’svirus is very much a strategizing monster. The end result of contracting thevirus is vampirismof the worst kind.
The biggest difference inThe Strainis that the audience gets to see the actions of its antagonists. The series doesn’t just tell the audience to hate the vampires and root forEphraim (Corey Stoll)and his group of fighters. In fact, it would be easy to dislike Ephraim. He’s an incredibly flawed character.The Strainpresents evidence as to why Eichorst, Palmer, and the Master are on the wrong side of morality. It does this because other humans in the show fall for their machinations and manipulations. Even some of the protagonists nearly fall for the Master’s false offerings.
The show introduces the audience to Ephraim “Eph” Goodweather, a scientist for the CDC and head of its Canary team in New York City. He investigates an incident on an airplane that killed everyone on board. This leads him to cross paths with a motley crew of people, most notably Professor Abraham Setrakian. Setrakian is a holocaust survivor who witnessed absolutely horrific things and had his entire worldview flipped upside down.World War II showedProfessor Setrakian that there are things that go bump in the night.
The show slowly builds up the threat that the vampiric virus presents. At first, only a small group of people know about the vampires inhabiting New York City and they hunt down the facilitators of its spread. Eventually, government officials know about it. They start quarantining off entire districts of New York City. Of course, they don’t believe it’s vampirism because why would they? These are realistic people, after all. Eventually, the big honcho vampire outsmart the little resistance that exists, recruits human loyalists to spread the virus faster, until finally, they set off an atomic bomb that weakens humanity’s chances of defeating the vampires.
The final season shows a completely dystopian world where some humans fight each other for survival and the others are carted off as vampire food. It’s this version of the world that closely resembles that seen inThe Last of Us.
The Last of Us
The Strain
Shows the fall of civilization but mostly takes place in a dystopian future
Gradually shows the downfall of civilization
Deals with a fungal virus
Deals with a vampiric virus
Creates zombie-like creatures
Creates vampire-like creatures
Adapted from a video game
Adapted from a book
Girl immune to disease who everyone wants
Boy who everyone wants
As stated,The Strainshows agradual descent into darknessthat all started on an airplane.The Last of Us, on the other hand, shows the world before its collapse at the very beginning of its first season or through flashbacks. It doesn’t spend much time showing the world Joel lived in before because it comes secondary to the overall story. The bulk ofThe Last of Usoccurs in a world where people are trying to rebuild and survive.
Both shows deal with spreading disease where the infected transform into a modified monster from classic folklore. The virus inThe Last of Usturns the afflicted into zombie-like creatures that have no control over their faculties. They’re controlled by the cordyceps, whereas the afflicted inThe Strainbecome vampires. Its vampires are slightly different than traditionalones like Dracula. Their lower jaw opens up and a giant tongue-like stinger shoots out from their throat to drink blood and simultaneously infect humans. Small capillary worms infect the human’s blood and turn them into a vampire.
Coincidentally, at the center of both properties is a child that everybody finds important.The Last of Ushas Ellie who is immune to the fungal disease, and one group wants to use her to create a vaccine.The Strainintroduces Zach, who has nothing particularly special about him other than being the son of Ephraim Goodweather. The master vampire wants to use him as a host body when he’s old enough. Otherwise, he uses Zach as a pawn to manipulate Eph throughout the series.
Both shows tell deeply nuanced stories and present three-dimensional characters that the audience can fall in love with. Even if living in a collapsing world isn’t the aspect of thestory one likes aboutThe Last of Us, the story about family, not knowing who to trust, and fighting for what’s right can be found inThe Strain.
The Last Of Us
Based on Naughty Dog’s popular PlayStation game, HBO’s The Last of Us takes place decades after a fungal infection eradicated most of humanity. When a teenage girl named Ellie is found to be immune to the disease, Joel agrees to smuggle her across the United States.
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