VAN HELSING – Season 4 Episode 1 – SPOILERS

Sam (Christopher Heyerdahl) wants to kill both Lily (Julie Lynn Mortensen) and Vanessa, but The Oracle steps in, and tells him he must leave one of them alive. (It seems they need to perform a ritual involving a live Van Helsing, the blood of the Dark One, and a five pointed black star.) Sam does not take orders well, but The Oracle tosses him against a wall (she has telekinetic powers), and when that just makes him more combative, she tries a softer approach, explaining that long ago she had been drawn to his darkness and had chosen him for greater things.

“Why me?” he asks, and she tells him: “Salvation of the Dark One, through you, entwined in you. Let me show you what you can become. But first, you must surrender your will to me and do as I say.” Sam starts to get enthusiastic about the entwining thing, and it appears the two of them are about to kiss, but they don’t. “Let me guide you, be yours until the end,” she says, and Sam responds with surprising zeal: “Tell me what I must do.”

The Oracle (Jesse Stanley), starts speaking in Latin, transmitting a message to Ivory (Jennifer Cheon Garcia), who articulates it in English. “Return to the beginning. Prepare for the awakening. Mother of your sisters, bride of my beloved, bear witness and bow down as the darkness consumes the light.” Understandably, Sam asks for clarification.

SAM: “Who is she, the mother who will arise?”

ORACLE: “Beloved of the Dark One. The second of three.”

SAM: “Teach me everything.”

ORACLE: “I can give you the greatest gift you have ever known. The ability to be more than you ever thought possible. Perhaps to become the Dark One yourself. But your loyalty must remain with me always. Can you make that pact? [She takes the form of a younger version of herself] And in return I can teach you to be anything you wish; have anything you desire. Would you like that? Then come, my love. Our fates must become entwined.”

They drink one another’s blood. (Lily and Vanessa take advantage of the interaction between The Oracle and Sam and escape. Vanessa looks for her sister’s body, but finds only a pile of her clothes and her sword where the body should be.)

We find out that, for reasons Lily can’t explain, the amulet containing the Dark One’s blood refills itself if emptied, and Vanessa suggests that some sort of spell is responsible. (This could explain why the blood inside hasn’t decomposed despite being at room temperature for quite some time. But one wonders, is the replacement blood teleported from inside the Dark One, or does the container have the power to replicate its original contents?) Vanessa admits to Lily that it made no sense for her accumulate the totems of dead Elders instead of destroying them. Lily is then killed while fighting daywalkers. The last time Lily was killed, she didn’t stay dead.

Meanwhile in Colorado, Evil Corporate Guy, aka Hansen (Neal McDonough), abandons the Denver Safe Zone, taking Doc (Rukiya Bernard) and Julius (Aleks Paunovic) with him. He gives orders for the deployment of nerve gas to destroy the remaining humans there to prevent their becoming daywalkers or daywalker food. Hansen’s original plan was to make Doc use Julius as a lab rat to discover what makes him heal rapidly, but when he sees Julius fight he changes his mind and gives him the job of sparring partner for his daughter Violet.

If the nerve gas was deployed as ordered, Callie is probably dead. She might still be alive if the canisters malfunctioned, or if someone refused the order to deploy them, or if Jolene and Phil returned to Denver in time to save her. One might also hope that the disappearance of Scarlett’s body means that she is still alive.

NOTES

Toby Levins (Bosworth) will be Clark in “What To Do When You Land”, Episode 3.1 of the dark comedy GET SHORTY, which stars Chris O’Dowd as Miles Daly, a man who once worked as muscle for a Nevada crime syndicate, but decided to become a film producer instead. As the second season ended, Miles’ friend Rick (Ray Romano) agreed to wear a wire for the FBI. According to Deadline, “In season three, Miles embraces more ruthless methods as he settles scores and attempts to climb the Hollywood ladder.” Season One is available on Netflix. The third season of GET SHORTY will launch on Epix Sunday 6 October at 7pm .

Naika Toussaint (Sheema in “Little Thing“) is Mia in OVER THE MOON IN LOVE, the story of professional matchmaker Brooklyn (Jessica Lowndes), who tries to set up an old high school friend (Devin, played by Wes Brown) with the lead writer of a lifestyle magazine, with whom he has little in common. In a strange, Cyrano-like twist, Brooklyn feeds the woman lines that she knows will work with Devin, so that the match will succeed and she will get herself featured in the magazine. Too late, Brooklyn realizes that Devin is her one true love. Nelson Wong (Nguyen) appears in the film as a chocolatier. Lowdnes wrote both the script and the film’s original score. Directed by Christie Will Wolfe (whose script for KILLER ENDING won a 2019 Leo Award), OVER THE MOON IN LOVE will premiere on The Hallmark Channel on 5 October at 9/8c .







