Welcome back Helsingers and WormholeRiders!
Season five of Van Helsing is finally here! After a 16 month delay since the fifth season was announced in December 2019, due to the pandemic, fans and this editor went wild when they finally got the good news that the fifth and final season of Van Helsing would be airing on SYFY April 16, 2021!
First, let us recall when we last met in Van Helsing, so long ago before the pandemic. We found what appeared to be Jack (Nicole Muñoz) and Violet (Keeya King) recovering in a hospital after suffering extreme trauma inside the wormhole portal subsequent to their mother Vanessa (Kelly Overton) throwing herself and Dracula, the Dark One back into exile subsequent to an encounter in “The Beholder”.
We met President Archer (Jill Teed) who had arrived to chat with Avery (Anna Galvin), thought to be the President’s confidential aide only to discover that Avery is fact, and has always been working with the new version of the Oracle who has been locked up in an impenetrable cage.
The President is accompanied by Colonel Nicholson (Aaron Douglas) who has, so far, been successful in thwarting the minions of Dracula. This is about to change quickly with the events Dracula, The Dark One has carefully planned to ensure her escape from exile.
Axel (Jonathan Scarfe) and Julius (Aleks Paunovic) are out in the field dealing with Doc (Rukiya Bernard) who is trying to help those injured during the battle with the Dark One. Some like Sam (Christopher Heyerdahl), have gleefully given their all to free Dracula from exile, while others less fortunate have been wiped from existence since “The Rising”.
As we learned in “The Beholder” Violet and Jack ending up sitting down to share what may have been their last meal after being led to the dimly lit location by the voice of Vanessa. As they arrive for the feast, guess who is coming to dinner? Not what they expected, it is none other than the Dark One herself, Dracula (Tricia Helfer).
At a Black-Tec field location, Julius and Axel are nearly overpowered by new slaves to The Dark One who plans to escape from exile and dominate the Earth once again. Sadly, these plans appear to be succeeding. Axel and Julius are wounded only to discover that their wounds are not healing.
In the wormhole reality, Dracula gets inside the Van Helsing sisters’ heads by revealing to them the true story of their origin. Jack, in an attempt to overpower Dracula, gives herself over to the Dark One which turns out to be a huge mistake. Trapped inside the wormhole tomb, Dracula tells the Van Helsing sisters that it was she, The Dark One, not Vanessa, who had been leading the sisters directly into her trap. We are stunned since it is now apparent that Vanessa must be trapped inside somewhere inside Dracula’s tomb!
We segue back to the hospital where Violet and Jack wake up after being brought there by Axel and Julius. Something is not right as Jack seems unfamiliar with her surroundings. We know that Dracula has somehow traded bodies with Jack by shape shifting when she tells President Archer a bald faced lie that the Dark One has been killed.
Violet is observed becoming highly upset telling the staff that she must save Jack from herself. The viewer knows what has happened, Dracula the Dark One has escaped exile by morphing into the body of Jack! Poor Violet, thought to be suffering from her ordeal, is secured.
More bad news, the President, who has taken Jack to a secure location, bites the President while alone inside a room. This allows Dracula to shape shift once again. This time assuming the role of the President of the United States!
After becoming the President, the Dark One stops by the Oracle’s lock up chamber, and using her authority as the shape shifted President, Dracula demands her release. Ivory (Jennifer Cheon) tried to intervene but gets knocked unconscious. The Dark One, the Oracle, and their evil entourage leave the area, free from further interference for the time being.
Ivory wakes up and goes to the hospital where she frees Violet. Meanwhile, out in field, Julius and Axel are having strange reactions to an orange dust that is everywhere. Back at Black-Tec, Violet and Ivory try to stop the Dark One and the Oracle from boarding a helicopter but are shot at by security forces.
That’s when, trapped back inside the wormhole portal, Jack wakes up inside a coffin locked inside Dracula’s tomb setting up the fifth season!
Past Tense:
In an episode direct by Jonathan Scarfe, written by Gorrman Lee and Jonathan Walker, we rejoin Jack in a creepy graveyard where she meets a fellow named Florian (Matus Kvietik) who has been praying for the return of a loved one. Jack’s arrival is a surprise to Florian, in fact frightening the hell out of him after Jack has somehow been transported by wormhole back to the ancient past. We do not know at this point how Jack escaped the coffin in Dracula’s tomb, but believe that Vanessa may be playing a role to help her daughter learn how to defeat Dracula.
Chasing Florian up a hill, and down a path, Jack sights an ancient castle saying out loud “Oh shit!” and “I just want to talk to you”. Jack tackles Florian who yells at her calling “an evil witch”!
A masked vampire, one of the Sisterhood in ancient times appears out of nowhere attacking Jack and group of men who apparently know Florian. Upon seeing Jack’s fighting skills, the masked vampire runs off. Unfortunately, the men capture Jack telling him that she will be killed in the morning after they likely torture and interrogate her!
We learn via flashback that the journey to the past is another power of Vanessa when we witness Jack is still trapped inside the tomb in a stone casket talking to her Mom who tells her that she must “Kill the Dark One”! Jack is able to escape the stone coffin and awakens back in the past imprisoned in a stockade device within the castle. Florian is nearby still referring to Jack a “foul witch”. Jack asks Florian “Any chance you know what year it is”, but received a terse reply; “They will execute you at sunrise”.
Jack uses her Van Helsing strength to break free of the stockade in the castle when the masked vampire appears again to kill Florian and Jack. The vampire disappears when the men who captured Jack appears thinking that she is a witch!
Jack convinces the group that she is not a witch and that the attacker is a vampire who will return to kill them all. Jack promises to help them defend against any vampires and is rewarded with a promise that maybe they will not kill her if she is successful in defeating the evil that has plagued their castle.
A hunting party is formed to track down the vampire when we learn that Florian’s sister Alexandra (Sarah Arató) has been turned into a vampire. Jack tries to save Florian’s sister Alexandra but she escapes into the forest after attacking and biting one of the men in the group.
Jack uses her curative power to save the man bitten indicating it will take some time, but that he will fully recover with time. It is here that we meet Count Dalibor (Kim Coates) who is seen riding to his castle to meet with his wife Olivia who has just birthed their child. We are stunned to find out two things; first that his wife is a younger version of Dracula, apparently before she became The Dark One”.
Second that Michaela (Heather Doerksen) is disguised as a nun midwife that has helped give birth to their son Christof (a German variant of name Christopher). At this juncture, we are now full circle back to when Michaela began the quest to free Dracula from imprisonment in exile and obviously plans to use Olivia for her nefarious schemes to bring the Dark One back into reality!
After saving the bitten man, Jack learns that she is in Transylvania. Florian introduces Jack to Count Dalibor where she explains, much to his surprise, that vampires of old have returned to their lands. Florian shares that his sister has been taken by the vampires and that Jack has cured one of the Count’s men of the vampire curse subsequent to being bitten.
Count Dalibor, concerned that Florian’s sister Alexandra has been taken, assigns a Captain Rasto (Raresh DiMofte) of his guard to track her down, but when Jack explains the complications of The Sisterhood, she is rebuffed by Count Dalibor.
Further, the count orders Jack to not spread such fairy tales of The Sisterhood fearing that it will only spread panic in his kingdom warning Florian to not get “enchanted by magic and monsters” talk sending Florian and Jack on their way.
Back in the castle, a maid (Sofia Novakova), has found Olivia, not breathing, unconscious with a suspicious bottle near her bed. Panicked, Count Dalibor runs to Michaela who is unsympathetic since she has been discharged from her employment.
Count Dalibor begs Michaela to help saying that he will do anything if Michaela will help save his wife! It is obvious that Michaela, who is observed with an evil smile on her face, had poisoned Olivia to secure her position in the castle and convert Olivia to Dracula!
Jack and Florian take leave of Count Dalibor and discuss what has been happening around the castle. Jack is taken to the Counts family portrait room where Florian shows her a painting of Olivia. Jack is shocked to find out that Count Dalibor’s wife Olivia is none other than Dracula, The Dark One herself!
We move to Olivia’s bed chamber where Michaela has provided Olivia with an antidote to whatever poison she had been given. Olivia is revived making Michaela seem like a miracle worker.
As the chamber maid and Count Dalibor leave the room, Michaela snips a lock of Olivia’s hair for the next step in her plan to corrupt Olivia and resurrect The Dark One!
Jack and Florian retire to a local pub where she confides in him why she was sent there, to kill The Dark One. Florian explains that Olivia is a nice sweet person and will Jack wait until they have more definitive information.
Reluctantly, Jack agrees to try and save Olivia before she is turned evil and becomes Dracula.
Olivia and Count Dalibor go into the village together to celebrate the birth of their son Cristof at a local market faire. Jack and Florian are in close pursuit. Jack is very concerned that Olivia may have already been turned to evil.
While Count Dalibor mingles in the community, Olivia decides to get her fortune told by a Tarot card reader where we discover Bathory (Jesse Stanley), another minion of Dracula is the card reader!
Inside Olivia learns that her fate will be decided that could end in her early death. Olivia brushes off the card reading saying that she is familiar with Tarot, and that the card displayed does not always mean death. Jack is outside the Tarot card reader’s tent not aware that Olivia is inside.
Upon exiting the tent, and despite her promise to Florian to simply talk with Olivia, Jack decides she cannot wait any longer when an evil tattoo of the Devil appears on her forearm and jumps Olivia stabbing and killing her near the town square stating “The Dark One ends now” as Olivia falls to the ground, Jack is immediately taken into custody for the murder of Olivia!
Meanwhile Michaela and The Sisterhood are meeting to execute their plan to resurrect Dracula by promising to provide The Dark One with a “mortal vessel” to complete their nefarious activities via “darkness will be reborn by feeding on the light”. Suddenly, Michaela screams “No….!” realizing that Jack has struck down her mortal vessel, Olivia.
The exciting episode comes to a conclusion with Jack locked up in the castle dungeon. Michaela pays a visit to Jack who brags that she ended Michaela’s plan before it began stating that “without a host, there is no path back” for The Dark One”.
Michaela brushes aside Jack’s comments by stating “The game will be played, just without you” and that Jack will be executed at dawn as Jack strains against the bars of her cell!
Questions to consider?
Will Jack survive and will she ever be able to return to the future?
Will The Sisterhood substitute Count Dalibor or his son Cristof for Olivia to become The Dark One?
Tune in to find out the answers to these questions and watch the entire series on SYFY or watch on Netflix. In the meantime, we also suggest that you tune to SYFY at 10p/9c each week to watch the exciting season five concluding episodes. You will not be disappointed and will enjoy Van Helsing as much as we do!
Please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family by clicking one of the icons below. We thank you for visiting and express our sincere gratitude.
Feel free to visit TeamWHR on Twitter or visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story. I and Team WHR look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side!
Thank you. 
Best Regards,
Kenn of TeamWHR
