This is the way I see it, you could have toned it down, lighting is a art.
You can't set up a strobe on a boom, point it and shoot--its nothing fancy about that.

When I look at this photo, its looking like a deer in headlights. If I were to use this, I'd have flagged some of the light off from the talents right side of there face.

I would have taken a white board, walked down a bit and shoot the strobe off the white board to give your subject some light in the BG.
I'd also like to see maybe a gradient of light, could also have a more defined edge too.

Don't take what I said to heart; I looked at the photo and I knew where you placed the strobes way before I seen the behind the scene photos.

I'm not saying what you did is wrong, I just think you went out and did it the easy-way. Be more creative and artistic and try to expand on what you can do. Think about it from a creative perspective and elaborate with the idea.