Why We’re Looking Forward to The CW’s Containment

We are just days away from the series premiere of The CW’s quarantine drama Containment, based on the original Belgian series created by Carl Joos for Eyeworks.

With so many great people behind and in front of the lens of the new show about a mysterious and deadly epidemic break out, OMFGTV decided to compile a list of the many reasons why we’re looking forward to the limited series.

Julie Plec | Also known as the Queen of The CW, showrunner Julie Plec has a lot on her hands. In addition to spearheading the new outbreak drama, she’s also juggling between her two other wildly successful shows The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, both of which have been renewed for the 2016-17 season.

“I love to tell stories about love, friendship, family, loyalty, grief and loss,” she tells OMFGTV. “And I like to drop people into extremely, extremely vivid and specific circumstances.” Her love of these types of storytelling is why we fell in love with her two vampire dramas. Even without all the supernatural-ness on her shows, viewers tune in for and are very much invested in the relationships. We can’t wait to see the many great relationships and circumstances she cooks up in the new series.

Marguerite MacIntyre | Mostly known for her role as the late Sheriff Liz Forbes on The Vampire Diaries, a lot of fans may be surprised to know that Marguerite MacIntyre does a lot of work behind the scenes as well– specifically in the writers’ room. MacIntyre is responsible for writing some of our favorite episodes of Diaries‘ spin-off The Originals— and on Containment she serves as Co-Producer and writer. Not only did we love and mourn the character of Sheriff Forbes, Marguerite MacIntyre is an absolute doll in person, so it’s easy to root for any project she’s attached to.

Chris Wood | We were first introduced to Chris Wood on his first big role, playing opposite AnnaSophia Robb, in the Sex and the City prequel series, The Carrie Diaries. We were instantly drawn and attracted to Wood’s role as Carrie Bradshaw’s love interest and playwright Adam Weaver. Bottom Line: He’s dead sexy! Wood then joined the cast of The Vampire Diaries and was almost unrecognizable as Kai Parker. His easy-on-the-eyes good looks along with his menacing agenda made it hard to hate his character, even though he undoubtedly was the most evil villain on the show to date. We loved his performance as Kai Parker and we’re thrilled he’s sticking with the Plec universe in Containment!

“It’s the best,” Wood told us about working with Julie again. “There’s no better. Julie is fantastic to work with and she’s such a visionary woman and so creative.” We also love that his new role as Officer Jake Riley is a complete opposite of the villainous Kai. And hey, we’re not complaining that a lot of his scenes on the new show have him in tight-fitted tank tops.

Claudia Black | When watching the pilot for the new series, we couldn’t help but recognize Australian actress Claudia Black. During her scenes as Health and Human Services official Dr. Sabine Lommers, it was hard to point out and put our finger on where we’ve seen her before. Then mid-way through, we got that “A-Ha!” moment. How could we forget that she played the deliciously devilish Dahlia on The Originals? As with Chris Wood’s Kai Parker on The Vampire Diaries, Black’s Dahlia was also the most terrifying foe on the vampire drama spin-off. Just the raising of her arms to incite fury is enough to give us the chills. She’s a terrific actress and we’re looking forward to seeing Black more in blonde.

Other Familiar Faces | Chris Wood and Claudia Black aren’t the only familiar faces you’ll see from the Plec Universe. There are others who make an appearance– one of whom is shown in the early promos for the show. Since Containment doesn’t take place in the same world as Vampire Diaries and Originals, there is ample opportunity to see some of our favorites pop up in the Atlanta-set show. These little Easter eggs are always fun to catch, and we hope for more throughout the series’ limited run.

Genuinely Disturbing | Last summer, OMFGTV had the opportunity to watch the Containment pilot at the San Diego Comic-Con during its panel presentation. Not only was I seated in the same row as Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre, but I was also seated right behind Claudia Black and Christina Moses (Jana Mayfield). There was one part in the pilot (which I won’t spoil here) that made me jump out of my seat and scream! Naturally, my shriek made Claudia and Christina jump as well followed by laughter. Yes, it was embarrassing, but I’m guessing they loved to hear that a scary moment garnered such a reaction.

Not only that, but Containment is genuinely disturbing. And even more so because out of the three series from Julie Plec, this is the one that is the most real and could actually happen! I left the screening very cautious and alert, and for the rest of the day, whenever I heard a sneeze or a cough, that prompted me to take a step back in fear of catching something. “Four to six feet,” is a common phrase you’ll be hearing from the series, and one you’ll find yourself repeating over and over again.

Bottom Line: With so many great people working on the show and the lasting effect the pilot had on us, we can’t wait to for Containment to premiere, and to find out who will and won’t survive.

Containment premieres Tuesday, April 19, at 9pm on The CW.