I always meant to go back to "From" but some changes in my circumstances meant that there was a bit of time between viewing that first run and coming back for this. I slotted back in pretty easily though, and whilst I quite liked this season, I don't think it has quite as much horror as the first did.
Having been warned about his wife's digging in the basement, Jim (Eion Bailey) rushes home to find Tabitha (Catalina Sandino Moreno) gone, but in time for the house to collapse, pinning him, and two other residents underneath. This coincides with the arrival in town of a busload of new residents who are confused and (naturally) disbelieving as to what they've entered into - at least until night falls. Boyd (Harold Perrineau) is having an unreal experience of his own, transported to a dungeon and meeting a chained man, who transfers a blood parasite to him, before disappearing.
It's perhaps more creeping terror in this series that some of the specific horror moments of the first run. The creatures get their fill on the first night but after that, as is perhaps more typical of a zombie story - the real threat becomes other people. The new arrivals put a strain on the town's resources, so stress levels rise further. The return of murderer Sara to the town, with Sheriff Boyd only makes things worse - as does the paranoia of new arrival Randall. There are some scenes with the creatures, but many more of them are dream sequences this time.
The shows real problem remains that of a looming shadow of another big four-letter mystery series. As much as I loved "Lost" it was certainly guilty of occasionally seeding plot twists it has no way of paying off. We'll never know, until this series has ended, whether "From" will commit the same sin, or whether it is all planned out. My guess is that the last twist, (no spoilers) in the final moments of this series, isn't what's actually going really going - but we'll see. Onwards to season three.
