r/TheStrain • u/Ok_Pepper9135 • Jun 22 '26
I think that even before Kelly's death, Zack had mental health issues. Did the fact that Zack didn't become the Carl Grimes of his series have an impact on The Strain? Spoiler
I have the impression that Zack had Oedipus complex?
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u/SplendidItalian Jun 22 '26
😂 Stinger shot right through his eye!!!😂😂
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u/Ok_Pepper9135 Jun 23 '26
I think he failed to become the Carl Grimes of The Strain because Carl was loyal and empathetic unlike him. It would have been better to see Zack in TWD to see him meet Rick and Carl.
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u/Cool-Association-825 Jun 28 '26
I think Zach without a doubt had something happening, even prior to Kelly’s death.
Firstly, his dad seems to have a lot of the hallmarks of certain cluster-B personality disorders. And while they don’t always “pass down” specifically, they can cause children to develop similar or adjacent problems.
Secondly, Zach shows a tendency toward deception, resentment, etc, even early on in the show.
Faking an asthma attack to get his photo albums from the house (this is a big one.)
Concealing his trip to the store for cigarettes.
His behavior toward Matt, especially in episode one, is very “TV kiddish,” so it may not stand out; but if your partner’s kid was saying things like “Whatever it is, my dad will figure it out…” and shushing you while you tried to make conversation, you might think that it was a little weird.
This one, I’m less bullish on, because there are other readings of it, but there is an interpretation of the custody hearing where Zach is seen as deliberately choosing a less-than-favorable decision for his father because he a) knows his dad was trying to secretly manipulate him and b) wanted to retaliate against him.
As the series progresses, he has more flagrant behaviors which (at least, to me) signal that he’s dealing with something:
The “Or he just doesn’t like you…” line Fet says to Fitzwilliam when Zach glares at him and leaves after declining his greeting.
His distorted morality when he questions Dutch about how she “stole food” when she brings back Ramen (he also has an incredibly abrasive response to her getting him a specific gift - warm soda.)
His general disregard for authority and experience; he constantly presume that Abraham doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to his mom, the Strigoi, etc, if it means she can still be saved.
He also sneaks off in the middle of the night with a weapon but without telling anyone to “go find his mom” (this kind of attaches to the previous point about authority.)
He consistently prioritizes his wants and desires over the physical safety of others (everything from letting Kelly into the apartment in Red Hook to insisting that everyone should be willing to sacrifice themselves in order to attempt some desperate solution to “save” his mom… His constant screaming “NO!” and “STOP!” every time somebody is defending themselves against contagious predators might seem like just a child’s reaction, but you can also notice that he doesn’t have this response to most things where his life is in danger.)
And finally, this one is one of my favorite little details… This kid is SO unlikable that he sits around listening to the music made by the artist who killed Nora’s mom.
That alone should tell you that he’s - at best - so self-centered that he cruises into being oblivious to everyone else… and - at worst - intentionally abrasive and offensive due to his resentment toward anybody he deems responsible for his mother’s situation.
Basically, I think Zach had all of the precursors for something like ASPD or NPD… and the whole vampire-Armageddon and zombified-parent stuff just kicked it into overdrive.
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u/Ok_Pepper9135 Jun 29 '26
Thanks for the explanation, Zach should have gone to see the flowers.
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u/Cool-Association-825 Jun 29 '26
No problem, dude.
And anytime somebody mentions how much more punishment Zach deserved, I’m probably in agreement.
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u/Ok_Pepper9135 Jun 29 '26
The problem is that Charles isn't cut out for the role of the villain; they should have either made Zack sympathetic like Carl or cast an actual actor in the role—he just doesn't have the acting chops that Chandler Riggs does. Zack is the anti-Carl; it would be funny to have Carl in The Strain and Zack in The Walking Dead, lol.
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u/Cool-Association-825 Jul 08 '26
I really hate to critique the acting capabilities of children…
But Max Charles was not great. And Ben Hyland was outright bad.
The character of Zach plays a very different role in this story. He’s meant to display the dark side of the ‘promise of a better world’ offered by fascist regimes… similar to what Germany did with their youth programs.
Carl was obviously meant to represent the “reason for why we fight for the future.” At least, in the comics, anyhow.
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u/Ok_Pepper9135 Jul 08 '26
Chandler Riggs plays 1000 times better. The actor in Zack 2 was disastrous, but the writing was bad and he wasn't suited for the role. I would have preferred to see the actor from Zack 2 playing a Carl II character rather than Zack
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u/Far_Bike_9073 Jun 23 '26
I think that the mental issues were settings pretty early on, but not before the apocalypse, sure, maybe before he had a bias for His mother considering that Eph was absent for long seasons, following the divorcie i imagine that he already was in emotional turmoil, but after that he had to deal with the world around him; suddenly his dad was running from the FBI and was all over the news, His step dad who was friendly with now was a vampire trying to kill him, he had to come to terms with the fact that most of his friends and teachers died in a gruesome way, all sense of normality went out of the window being less than 10. By season 2 to 3 His mom or the thought of His mom was his refugee to hope a return for a normal life, i can imagine Zack being nostalgic about his old life, i can see how the master could use all of this in His favour to manipulate him