Van Helsing - S1E10 - Stay Away

Previously on Van Helsing, “Help Out”

Van Helsing - S1E10 - “Stay Away” | Starring: Kelly Overton, Jonathan Scarfe, Christopher Heyerdahl, Rukiya Bernard, David Cubitt, Vincent Gale, Hilary Jardine, Aleks Paunovic, Alison Wandzura

Images: Syfy

It doesn’t take long for the group to fracture following Axel’s death. They come upon a community with an enigmatic leader named Micah (The Flash’s Tom Cavanagh). They’re thriving due to an arrangement they have with a vampire named Magdalene (Gwynyth Walsh); they supply her with what she needs and she doesn’t kill them.

The cult-like atmosphere draws Vanessa’s suspicion, but once Micah reveals the abundance of pregnant women in their group is so they can supply the Resistance with members, she, and the rest, are a bit more at ease. Flesh in particular takes a liking to the community, and Micah, confessing his past as a vampire.

Of course, all isn’t as it seems. Vanessa discovers the newborn babies are actually given to Magdalene, and she promptly shuts.that.shit.down. Feeling betrayed, Flesh kills Micah after the truth is revealed to everyone in the community Then, he agrees to stay to help them truly turn the place into what Micah claimed it to be. And all isn’t totally lost as this place just happens to be where Mohamed’s new friend lives, and he’s reunited with the group.

However, Flesh isn’t the only one not traveling on and that brings me to the most frustrating development. Doc tells Vanessa that she locked the doors on Axel, afraid that if she didn’t, she’d have been killed as well. Vanessa is disgusted by this, and understandably so. She tells Doc she’s no longer welcome to travel with them.

What is hard to comprehend is Doc’s change in character. The little we saw of her pre-apocalypse portrayed a competent, smart woman, who asked questions and did what she thought was right. Being a vampire - and then not being a vampire - is sure to affect anyone, and possibly not for the better, but she’s the only “re-turned” character who seems to have completely lost it.

First, we see she’s licking blood and liking it. When she finally breaks down and explains to Axel that the distance she placed between them was due to guilt, I’d hoped this meant Doc was turning a corner. This was especially possible since Axel immediately forgave her and took part of the blame. Yet, in the very same episode she allows Axel to die when she didn’t truly have to. After the group leaves, Doc seeks out Magdalene and tells her of the change in leadership in Micah’s community and about his death. She takes this news hard since she was married to Micah when she was human. Then, Doc begs her to turn her back into a vampire. She feels as though she was never meant to be human again. Magdalene acquiesces, but spits out Doc’s blood after one bite and warns her to stay away.

In two episodes they’ve turned Doc into someone unrecognizable and not all that likable. It would be one thing if they showed that each person turned back went through a rough period of adjustment, but they’ve not done that at all. And that makes no sense considering of the three we’ve met (Doc, Flesh, and Susan), Doc’s the only one who didn’t have to kill humans to survive. Yes, Flesh had a lot of guilt about what happened - and he confessed to Micah that he’d had thoughts of killing his family before he was turned - but he’s made it a point to be a participating and helpful member of the group and has tried to adjust. Unless he’s the one who was murdering folks at the hospital, and then I take it all back.

Hopefully there’s a point to it all, and with just a few episodes left to the season we’ll get it to it soon. Otherwise, they’ve turned a strong woman of color character into an irredeemable mess.