VAN HELSING – Season 1 Episode 13 – SPOILERS

The sight of Vanessa tied to a table in The Citadel immediately brings to mind Elena Michaels similarly restrained by Aleister in episode 2.4 of BITTEN. Like Elena, Vanessa is to be the subject of an experiment designed to transfer some of her powers, but vampire Dimitri is less mystical than was the warlock Aleister. Dimitri wants to harvest Vanessa’s eggs and fertilize them (at least some of them) with his own genetic material.

The genetics involved is a bit hazy. Dimitri tells Vanessa that her mother hid her away after she learned something about Vanessa’s father. The implication is that Vanessa’s powers stem from her dad’s DNA, and that he might well have been a vampire. (Van Helsings have been hunting vampires for centuries, Dimitri tells us. There is no indication that Vanessa’s ancestors had superpowers; only that they bore a persistent grudge.)

Here is a relevant part of what Dimitri (Paul Johansson) said to the restrained Vanessa: “I have known you, your kind, for as long as I can remember. And now here you are. The last of them. Well, almost. You are a kind of royalty, and you deserve to know the truth. You are one of them. You are a Van Helsing. But this will not save you. Perhaps you can take comfort as your life leaves your body, and you can say over to yourself as you pass on to the next life: ‘I am a Van Helsing.'”

Dimitri’s casual reference to an afterlife makes one wonder if these vampires adhere to some traditional religion. Dimitri occasionally speaks Romanian (Vlad Dracula was also Romanian), and the most widespread religion in that country is Eastern Orthodox.

Dimitri also wants to see what happens if Vanessa drinks blood. It turns out that blood is to Vanessa what spinach is to Popeye. It adds super-strength to her list of powers. The drinking of it also triggers her memory of her true identity.

Dimitri later tells the captive Vanessa about her mother. “Your mother was…a real warrior, until she became full with child. Then she became more fearful and secretive. When she learned the truth about your father, she even tried to stop the birth. When she could not do this, she did the next best thing. She hid you. Right before she died. She hid you away from all of us…She even gave her life for you, so you could live in peace.”

If Vanessa’s father had been a vampire, wouldn’t a Van Helsing have noticed that? If he was not a vampire, what was it that Vanessa’s mother learned about him?

Just like Sheema has been working for Rebecca, her brother Mohamad has been in the employ of Dimitri. Mohamad regrets what he has been doing. (He did it in hopes of rescuing his sister.) Sheema regrets nothing. (She did it to improve her standard of living.) Mohamad disapproves of Sheema’s motivation, and tries to force her to leave with him so she konks him on the head a couple of times with a candlestick.

At Dimitri and Rebecca’s dinner table, Dimitri’s sister Anastasia (Gia Crovatin) makes her second VAN HELSING appearance. The three spoon fresh human blood from soup bowls. (Interestingly, no servants are visible.) It is clear that Rebecca does not like either Dimitri or his sister. Later we learn that Rebecca is assisting Taka with his invasion plans, with the idea that the resistance will kill Dimitri and she will reign over the vampires of Seattle. She has offered Taka an island where his followers can live unmolested.

The Resistance attack breaks up a fight between Vanessa and Rebecca. Vanessa pursues Rebecca through The Citadel and into a room where Rebecca confronts her with Dylan, who obviously lacks Vanessa’s powers, and is now a vampire.

When Taka finds Dimitri, he lets himself be talked out of shooting him. Why he suddenly believes Dimitri and not Rebecca is a complete mystery. What is certain is that, in the VAN HELSING universe, humans seem much more likely to betray one another than vampires are likely to betray their own.

At the very end, Axel (Jonathan Scarfe) climbs out of a drainpipe, snarls a bit, and starts walking back to the city. Will vampire Axel meet up with ex-vampire Doc? Will Vanessa and Rebecca run away to Denver and raise Dylan together? If so, will they get along with Vanessa’s ex-husband? Who will Sam kill next? Will he bite Mohamed and turn him into a vampire? And whatever happened to the canary from episode eight?

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NOTES

VAN HELSING can be streamed on Netflix Canada beginning 17 December.

Atlin Mitchell (Laura Mennell’s stunt double), who also doubles for Melissa Benoist on SUPERGIRL, will be Crimson Fox in at least two episodes of POWERLESS, the first comedy set in the DC comics universe, about a young insurance adjustor (Vanessa Hudgens) dealing with the destruction that superheros leave behind. A trailer is available on YouTube. POWERLESS will premiere on NBC on 2 February 2017 at 8:30pm.

Laura Mennell, in an interview with Brad and Cort, talked about her character Rebecca, and said that she will guest star along with Anthony Lemke in a Season Two episode of REAL DETECTIVE on Investigation Discovery. (Below is the entire podcast.) — Mennell also appears as ADA Peckham in episode eight of TRAVELERS, a show about time travelers from the future who take possession of the bodies of present day humans. TRAVELERS stars Eric McCormack and MacKenzie Porter, and can be streamed on Netflix (US) beginning 23 December (In Canada, the show can be streamed on the Showcase website.)