Okay, all you Strainiacs out there, everyone can breathe easier as FX announced today that it has renewed The Strain for season 3, set to premiere in the summer of 2016. This is pretty amazing, considering the series is only 4 episodes into season 2, which should be a big testament of the network’s confidence in in the fantastic writing team, creators and trilogy authors Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, and Showrunner Carlton Cuse.

However, there were some that were worried about a season 3 pick-up given the drop in ratings compared to the show’s freshman year. Yet, even with the lower ratings, the series continues to be strong in the adults 18-49 demo and to deliver solid DVR gains. So far this season, The Strain is averaging 3.1 million weekly viewers and a 1.8 demo rating (per Live+7 playback data), ranking eighth in the demo among all cable programs airing in 2015.

In a statement on the renewal, FX Networks president of original programming Eric Schrier said: “Guillermo and Carlton have delivered two thrilling seasons of The Strain that are captivating and visually arresting, doing justice to the original novel trilogy and meeting fans’ high expectations in the process. We’re excited to see them carry this powerful story into a third season on FX.”

The Strain  airs on Sundays at 10/9c on FX.

Sunday’s episode 2.05 is titled “Quick and Painless,” and you can find my Advance Preview of the episode by clicking here.

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