Van Helsing Season 2 Episode 6

[Hyun Orth]

VanHelsing is a fantasy horror drama television series. Kelly Overton plays the titular character of the series,[1] which was inspired by Zenescope Entertainment's graphic novel series Helsing. A commercial-free advance preview of the pilot aired on July 31, 2016 on Syfy ahead of its September 23, 2016 premiere.[2][3][4] In December 2019, Syfy renewed the series for a fifth and final season which premiered on April 16, 2021,[5][6] and concluded on June 25, 2021.

Van Helsing is set in a post-apocalyptic near future. Vanessa Van Helsing, a descendant of Abraham Van Helsing, awakens from a coma after her supposed death to find herself in a post-apocalyptic world, three years after an eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera had blanketed the world in ash, blocking out sunlight and allowing vampires to overrun humanity. She is humanity's last hope, as her unique blood composition gives her the ability to turn vampires back into humans. With this secret weapon, Vanessa becomes a prime target for the vampires. She is protected by a Marine ordered to keep her safe, and the doctor who saved her, so she can lead a resistance against the vampires that plague the world's survivors.[7]

In the second season, Vanessa journeys east towards the safe haven of Denver, Colorado and discovers her long-lost sister Scarlett, who has been trained to kill vampires since birth. In the third season, Vanessa and Scarlett hunt the Elders, the original vampires, in order to defeat them for good. Following Vanessa's apparent death in the fourth season, the series switches focus to her long-lost biological daughters Violet and Jack as they face a new "daywalker" breed of vampires as well as the "Dark One" and ruler of the vampire species, Countess Olivia von Dracula and her brides, a former countess of Transylvania and de facto President of the United States.

Syfy acquired Van Helsing from Nomadic Pictures in November 2015, with a 13-episode order beginning production in January 2016, and a series premiere scheduled for Fall 2016.[13] On October 14, 2016, Syfy renewed Van Helsing for a 13-episode second season,[14] which premiered on October 5, 2017. It was revealed during San Diego Comic-Con 2017 that series star Kelly Overton was pregnant during the production of the second season of Van Helsing.[15]

On December 19, 2017, Syfy renewed Van Helsing for a 13-episode third season,[16] which premiered on October 5, 2018.[17] Syfy renewed the series for a 13-episode fourth season on December 18, 2018. After three seasons, Neil LaBute stepped down as showrunner, with series writer Jonathan Walker taking over as showrunner for season 4.[18] On December 17, 2019, Syfy renewed the series for a fifth and final season.[5] The fifth season premiered on April 16, 2021.[6]

It was announced on May 14, 2019, that Tricia Helfer had been cast as Dracula in the fourth season, and that Richard Harmon, Nicole Munoz, Keeya King and The Big Show will join the series in its fourth season, in undisclosed roles.[19]

The series was originally slated to premiere in Canada on Super Channel,[83] but because of Super Channel's ongoing bankruptcy proceedings,[84] the series was ultimately dropped from their schedule and instead premiered on Netflix on December 23, 2016.[85]

The series' pilot episode received 4.5 stars from Den of Geek.[86] In his review of Van Helsing, Keith Uhlich of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "It's pretty good... or is at least, to quote that old critic's saw, 'better than it has any right to be'."[87]

It's an intriguing parallel between Susan and Vanessa when it comes to their ability to handle firearms: Vanessa from her ex-husband, Susan from her hunter father - both repugnant men that were at least good for one thing. Was this intentional from the start or did it organically present itself during production?

We loved the majestic image of Strider the horse followed by the nightmarish moment of the noble beast being felled by Susan's feral father. Did anything in particular inspire this dark fairy tale moment? And what inspired Strider's name?

Wow. What a roller coaster ride, from Sam killing Susan, to Sam being left to die in the woods, to Sam becoming a vampire (and one that can hear!). This episode was definitely the most 'horror movie' of the season so far. Do you have a favorite memory from the production side of this episode?

So I started this series today (I know, pretty late) and I am currently at episode 5. What disturbed me the most for now, was that rape (yes, rape!) scene from Vanessa and her "human lover" (how it gets described on this side). Sorry but why isn't that just stated as rape? She tied him up, used him and killed him after. That is not a lover. That is abuse and rape. I hope that this can get changed in the description of Rebecca. Or is it just me?

I just finished the series on Netflix and ofcourse looked up if there would be season 6 or sequels. I'm disappointed that there wasn't, there is great potential for atleast a mini series to tie things up. Does axel bring Vanessa back or do they build a suitable vessel? Is Ivory right and the bitten vampires never turned back? Her story can be followed. It was just a good show and maybe I just didn't want it to end but that's my take.

Production has resumed on the fifth and final season of Van Helsing. The first three episodes were shot in Slovakia before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a shutdown. The 13-episode Season 5 is expected to keep its premiere date.

In other news, Kim Coates, Ali Liebert and Steve Bacic have joined the cast. Coates will play Count Dalibor, the husband of Olivia, who, despite his best intentions, makes some disastrous choices. Liebert will play Nina, a vampire with a colorful past that involves Julius and a hidden agenda that entails a lot of death. Bacic will portray the father, a wild vampire who dresses in animal skins and has been hiding in an abandoned mine with a child.

First off, I saw the promo, it looks interesting but wtf really, why isnt vanessa in the promo? If that is the last episode which it very well could be, you're telling me you cant even feature the main star? That is either poor marketing or they pulled some swerve and killed vanessa off screen which confirms that kelly overton probably quit which I hope that didnt happen, I want to see vanessa even if its one last time. I actually can work around her not being shown lately but a finale without vanessa?, that isnt right.

Um some closure to the remaining characters. I would expect doc to get back with whats her face, flesh and his family seen, and maybe vanessa lives with her daughters, idk. Maybe jack and ivory get married or become girlfriends. Some closure basically. Hopefully barry the burier shows up too and abraham freed from his prison.

If dracula is legit dead, then I guess?, its not like the whole thing of where you take out the main vampire and the sireline turns human or dies, cause there is a vampire seen in the promo the resistance is shooting at. So idk what to think right now.

To me this show never lived up to the potential it showed in early season 1. Just the premise of the vampires waiting for a big event like a volcanic eruption to come out of hiding was fairly interesting. But I agree that Netflix did make the final season a little better than season 4.

By the way, if you're interested The Legend of Vox Machina (on Amazon prime video currently) has some vampires that show up within the first 3 episodes (not in the first episode though).

Thanks for that... yes watched the first 3 episodes of The Legend of Vox Machina and will look to blog once the series is fully out and I know how much is vampire facing. But thanks for the heads up, its always worth highlighting new releases

Season 4 kicked off with an unofficial two-parter, 'Dark Ties' and 'Dark Destiny,' which saw Vanessa's journey after her confrontation in the maze with Sam and The Oracle continue, while Julius and Doc's storyline in Denver was also furthered along.

With Axel not appearing at all in these first two episodes, as well as, the departure of Van Helsing's two most charismatic and humorous characters - Mohamad and Missy Peregrym's Scarlett (whose death still doesn't make any sense - you kill me and you become the light? OK?) - the Dark two-parter did feel a bit dry.

Granted, there were some exciting action sequences like the opening fight between the Van Helsings and Sam, in which we saw Lillian damn near behead the Fourth Elder, before he rose, put his head back on, threw some punches, and gouged Vanessa's eyes out.

Thankfully the Oracle had a plan that ultimately stopped him from killing them both.

After escaping, Vanessa had some bonding time with her newly resurrected great-great-grandmother, Lily, as they ventured out to retrieve the Van Helsing book. It seemed like they were building up the Van Helsing ancestor as a replacement for Scarlett, someone for whom Vanessa could play off of while also getting mentored. But alas, Lily gets killed off randomly by a bunch of feral vampires to end the premiere.

The death happened way too quickly - at least another episode would have helped achieve a better bond between Vanessa and her great-great-grandmother, thus making Lillian's death more impactful. However, in her limited time resurrected, the Van Helsing ancestor did help give some fresh perspectives on the situation, while her death fueled Vanessa's anger even more.

All the while, the resurrection of The Dark One aka Dracula looms.

Finding herself alone again, Vanessa's journey in 'Dark Ties' saw her getting closer to understanding her role as 'the light.'

The episode opened with the Van Helsing descendant saving a group of survivors, led by Jack (Nicole Munoz) while giving in a few pointers on vamp killing.

The cold opening had me questioning why Vanessa keeps killing these vampires, especially as brutal as she did in this scene. It does tie into her lust for blood and her aptitude to savagery, which we have seen throughout the series, but at the same time, it makes her a hard protagonist to like, knowing that she can easily turn these vamps back into humans.

However, kudos to the writers as this scene was a build up to the the overarching theme of the episode. Vanessa admits to Jack during a heart-to-heart that she "can't keep killing." The vamp hunter realizes her true role as "the light" when she rescues Tabby, bringing her back her humanity. It all amounts to Vanessa giving her sword to Jack claiming that she now "saves." This is a character arc that is long overdue, but it comes at a time when the darkness is more prevalent than ever.

Elsewhere, in Denver, Julius' confrontation with Scab that the Season 3 finale teased essentially amounted to nothing. Julius did manage to severely injure his former underling, but I think this would have been the perfect time to kill Scab as his character has long served his purpose on this show.

The bulk of Julius' time in these two episodes though was spent training Violet, the adopted daughter of Hansen and apparently another Van Helsing? This storyline so far serves a purpose in giving Julius a storyline to bite his teeth around, but whether introducing this character is really necessary remains to be seen until we get to know Violet a little better.

While Julius was training Violet, Doc was playing a chess game with Hansen at the Denver compound, trying to get in the good shoes of Hansen, and thus Avery - the more reasonable, if not, the more supportive of the two - who has files on her friend's whereabouts.

The pairing between Doc and Julius has been a smart pairing - one using her brains to help them survive, the other his sheer strength and physicality - and over the course of the Denver storyline, the two have developed a strong chemistry.

Overall, Dark Destiny and Dark Ties set up the season well, albeit with many dry moments - the charisma of Axel, Scarlett and Mohamad was missed. Vanessa, Julius, and Doc are all in interesting positions we've never see them in before with Vanessa embracing her role as a saviour, Julius becoming a mentor to another possible Van Helsing, and Doc, well, she's still being Doc but imprisoned for running her mouth as usual.

The main story of The Dark One, who we know is Dracula, and everyone converging to the point of her rise loomed over these two episodes, adding plenty of intrigue to this season's narrative.

7/10

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