Question: I know you’ve been tough in the past on Nick (Frank Dillane), the most aggravating character fans love to hate in the disappointing Fear the Walking Dead spinoff. But he’s a keeper compared to Zach (Max Charles), the brat on The Strain who set off nuclear winter in Manhattan in the season finale just to spite his dad. Is there a worse kid character anywhere on TV? — AJ
Matt Roush: Not that I can think of. Freud would have a field day with the Oedipal fixation Zach had on his (now blessedly slain) vampire mother Kelly, and the moment the kid snatched the detonator I feared the worst. But even I couldn’t have imagined how ridiculously it would play out, with Zach blowing up the Statue of Liberty (another mother figure?) with an “I hate you!” after watching his dad take down his forked-tongued ex. Well, Zach, we hate you more. And not in a good way. Even for all of Nick’s whiny and self-centered ways on the surprisingly dull Fear, you don’t sense he’s actually bad for humanity. There really is no redeeming this child, and watching papa Eph still screaming for the boy to come back to him reminds me of poor Kiefer Sutherland trotting along after his gifted boy on Touch. I still enjoy The Strain‘s cheesy pulp-horror melodrama for the most part — it’s lots more fun than Fear was this summer — but Zach is awfully close to a deal-breaker.
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