These three entertainment professionals, working together with their fantastic teams of Directors, Producers, costumers, location set and craft crews whom have brought one of our favorite television shows, Van Helsing to our television screens over the past two terrific years!
LaBute, an accomplished screen writer, Producer, and Director, has twenty years of accomplishments to his credit culminating in a rise to dominance in the past five years with fine work in many television series including Billy and Billie, Full Circle, and now with a new masterpiece, Van Helsing!
As Van Helsing approaches the conclusion of the scintillating second season we at #TeamWHR are hopeful the series will be renewed for a third, fourth and fifth season to round out the exciting adventures that began in Seattle, Washington on September 23, 2016.
SDCC 2017 Van Helsing Press Chad Oakes and Mike Frislev
Nomadic Pictures was founded twenty-two years ago by Chad Oakes and Mike Frislev in 1995. As the esteemed Co-Chairmen of Nomadic, Mike and Chad have produced, financed and/or co-financed over Sixty Seven superb film and television projects. Their feature film debut, “Hugo Pool” (Sean Penn, Robert Downey Jr.), was beloved by the audience at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. Since then, Nomadic has produced over $650 million in movies-of-the-week, miniseries, TV series and feature film projects in Canada, the United States and Europe.
In addition to their Fifty Eight (58) Emmy nominations and countless other awards, Oakes and Frislev won Three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Children’s/Youth/Family Special for “The Incredible Mrs. Ritche” (Gena Rowlands, James Caan, Kevin Zegers) (Showtime 2004).
In 2005 Nomadic Co-Produced AMC’s first Scripted Original mini-series, “Broken Trail” (Robert Duvall, Thomas Haden Church), which went on to win four Primetime Emmy Awards, including Best Mini-Series.
In 2014 and 2015, Nomadic deservedly took home an Emmy®, a Golden Globe®, a Television Critic’s Award and a Producers Guild Award for Best Mini-series well earned for their work on Fargo starring Billy Bob Thorton, Martin Freeman, Colin Hanks, and Alison Tolman.
SDCC 2017 Van Helsings Neil LaBute and Paul Johansson
Nomadic Pictures, ably led by Chad Oakes & Mike Frislev, a Calgary based production company, selected Neil LaBute’s creation as the foundation for Van Helsing, in addition to developing, financing and producing features, Movies of the Week, Mini-Series and Television series.
Over the past twenty-two years, Nomadic has produced over 75 projects, worth a combined $850 million in production, Making Nomadic Pictures one of the most active and successful production companies in Canada.
In recent history, Nomadic produced the third season of Fargo, multiple seasons of Hell On Wheels, the second season of Van Helsing, and in 2017, brought admirers of their product, the premiere season of Ghost Wars!
Please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family and to leave your comments! We look forward to you visiting #TeamWHR here at our Conventions Corner and Main Blog web sites when we release more of #TeamWHR’s exclusive Van Helsing, Ghost Wars and 12 Monkeys interviews from SDCC2017.
Here at Team WHR we continue our SDCC 2017 coverage of Van Helsing when we were honored to be invited to interview several of the series stars at San Diego Comic-Con 2017 courtesy of the great team at SYFY.
Our next special interview if none other than the awesome Aleks Paunovic who portrays the nefarious Julius in Van Helsing
Aleks Paunovic is an actor whom we have admired for many years. #TeamWHR first had the opportunity to interview Aleks in 2010, when his name was becoming well known around the world.
Multi-talented Aleks Paunovic has amazed his admirers in his role as Julius, creating much excitement in the Van Helsing story arc as the leader of the clan of vampires out to exterminate the human survivors in season one of the series, at one time capturing lovely Vanessa Van Helsing (Kelly Overton) in the series!
SDCC 2017 Aleks Paunovic with Jonathan Scarfe
Imagine our, and everyone’s sheer delight to learn that not only is Aleks character Julius returning in season two of Van Helsing on SYFY, and to ice the cake so to speak, Aleks Paunovic appeared in San Diego for his first time at Comic-Con 2017 representing the series before he will return to our screens later this year in 2017!
Finally, as we concluded our time with Aleks, he was nice enough to do a shout out to one of his greatest admirers, Mona Per. Mona, like Aleks is a nice person who often expresses her admiration for Mr Paunovic on Twitter featuring complimentary pictures and downright fun tweets. Thanks Mona!
We enjoyed our time with Aleks in the Press Room for Van Helsing, and hope that you enjoy our interview with this amazing actor. Thanks again Aleks!
Please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family and to leave your comments! We look forward to you visiting our Conventions Corner and Main Blog web sites when we release more of #TeamWHR’s exclusive Van Helsing, Ghost Wars and 12 Monkeys interviews from SDCC2017.
See you soon in the near future!
Or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit WHR on Twitter, WHR on Facebook or visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story. I and the WHR team look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side!“
Subsequent to the enjoyment of watching and tweeting the Van Helsing season one episodes, and the sheer delight of visiting the panel last year at SDCC, where we watched the pilot episode in it’s entirity, we at Team WHR were honored to be invited to interview several of the series stars at San Diego Comic-Con 2017 courtesy of the great team at SYFY.
In the second season of this fabulous post apocalyptic series, vampire lovers will introduced to a new character named Scarlett Harker, a survivor of the disaster which has befallen humankind.
SDCC 2017 Missy Peregrym Van Helsing Press
Harker is portrayed by the terrifically talented Missy Peregrym, whom many have grown to admire since her first television appearance in 2002 when she was featured in a guest role in James Cameron’s superb series Dark Angel.
With the perfectly poised Peregrym, an accomplished and beloved actor, it remains to be seen if the Scarlett Harker Van Helsing character is in any way related by lineage to the Dracula characters Jonathan and Wilhelmina “Mina” Harker, the famous namesake that she bears in season two?
We here at WormholeRiders are among many hundreds of thousands of Missy Peregrym admirers who cannot wait to find out more about a certain to be scintillating Scarlett Harker in Van Helsing!
During our time with this delightful person, Missy revealed in her interview with #TeamWHR (without so much as a spoiler mind you), that Scarlett Harker will encounter some of our favorite characters as a survivor of the disaster that has befallen the Earth!
This editor for one is eager to learn about the development of the Scarlett Harker character. The real question for Missy Peregrym fans is whether or not Harker will survive the vampires in order to help save our fair planet in a third season on Van Helsing?!
Please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family and to leave your comments! We look forward to you visiting our Conventions Corner and Main Blog web sites when we release more of #TeamWHR’s exclusive Van Helsing, Ghost Wars and 12 Monkeys interviews from SDCC2017.
See you soon in the near future!
Or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit WHR on Twitter, WHR on Facebook or visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story. I and the WHR team look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side!“
This episode reminded me of the mafia in a way with two warring families fighting for control. Vanessa is the prize that both families want and if they are lucky enough to have her, then they have already won. Just like all “underlings” you have to prove your worth.
The next scene is one I love, one that vampire fans of this particular genre are familiar with. Dmitri is feeding on his sister. This is one of the things that vampires do to keep alive, they have hosts which they feed on to keep alive between killings. It is such a great scene, because it shows the asexual nature of vampires.
How they don’t discriminate when it comes to getting their fix, man or woman it’s all the same blood to them. So, the fact that this is almost incestuous is of no consequence to him or her.
To me this is what represents why vampires are often portrayed as dashing men with throngs of women at their beck and call. The fact that Dmitri is feasting on her back, speaks volumes. The back is a particular erogenous zone, and can elicit certain reactions. It has been the subject of many paintings.
One character I love is that of John played so wonderfully by David Cubitt. He reminds me of Othello’s Iago and the way he manipulates the situation in his favor. The way he weaves deception and lies to suit his needs. Axel (Jonathan Scarfe) is the one standing in his way, the one who is both smart, strong and the best leader for that particular situation.
Axel decides to go out and try to get some more supplies before rations run out. His conversation with Doc (Rukiya Bernard) is interrupted when Brendan questions where he is going. Those situations are always delicate, treading a fine line between truth and white lies. Doc warns Axel that the residents won’t take kindly to finding a killer among them.
Vanessa’s dilemma becomes more intriguing when an old friend steps forward to take the challenge that Julius puts forth. Susan (Hilary Jardine) is the one that volunteers to be the one to fight Vanessa.
Susan brings up the one trigger that fuels Vanessa’s rage, she mentions her daughter Dylan and what ultimately happened to her. She plays on the fact that as a mother Vanessa would kill for her child, for her honor and she almost does.
Susan is the one that ends up losing and winning at the same time. Once Vanessa bests her, she cures (if you want to see it as a cure) Susan of her vampire-ness.
Vanessa strung up as a snack for Julius’ of vampires
Now that Susan is tainted as human again, she is allied with Vanessa in trying to escape the clutches of Julius after Vanessa herself had been strung up to be the snack that actually cured Susan.
Axel enlists the help of Sam (Christopher Heyerdahl) to help read lips and figure out what the refugees are talking about. The one thing that is a pet peeve of mine is when shows or movies, do not enlist particular actors to fulfill a role.
In this case, Sam is deaf, but Christopher is not. I am a bit perplexed as to why the producers couldn’t have found a deaf actor to play the role? I am sure there are plenty out there. Russell Harvard is one such actor that could have fit in that role (he may be a bit younger than Sam actually is).
Another reason I am a bit upset by the miscasting is that when Sam is signing to Mohamad (Trezzo Mahoro) “friends” he did the sign incorrectly. As someone who learned sign language a few decades ago, there are certain signs that you will always remember and the sign for friends is one of them. I don’t know if they have a sign language consultant on the show, but they should.
Once it is revealed that the refugees are talking about finding the resistance, Axel takes it upon himself to try and figure out what exactly they are up to. As if right one cue, a situation happens where the person that Doc was working on mysteriously bled out and died on the table. To say that the refugees are a bit paranoid by this situation would be a gross understatement. What makes it worse is that John adds fuel to their fire, he adds to their paranoia and feeds that machine. He makes them doubt the leadership skills of Axel and all the other residents that have been there for a while. It’s the mob mentality and it can be dangerous.
By locking Axel and the others in a makeshift jail, Brendan (Terry Chen) thinks that he has the upper hand. Thinks that be locking them in the jail it is safer for everyone. It’s usually plans like that that tend to backfire or self-destruct. John makes the mistake of planting the seed in Brendan’s head by telling him he did the right thing and “it could be any of them”. That of course, makes Brendan question John and his intentions, so he decides to lock John in the jail as well. Better to be safe than sorry, I assume, I guess we will have to see just how that works out.
Once in the “jail” things start to unravel quickly, accusations start from one person to another, fingers get pointed and friendships or loyalties come into question. Desperate times as they say. Playing the blame game never works, because it never really reveals what the actual truth is and the wrong person (usually the most innocent one) tends to be the scapegoat.
Finding a way out of that basement that Vanessa and Susan are in proves to be harrowing. Julius sent his monsters after them and it is only a matter of time before one or all catches up with them. Julius sweetens the reward with “fresh meat for the one that brings her to me” that is an offer none of them can refuse. It’s like giving a ravenous tiger the kill it has longed for, they will stop at nothing until she is caught.
The refugees come back to the residents with a proposition, instead of exiling one of you, they will just exile all of them, problem solved, right? First Axel fesses up, but to no one’s surprised Brendan doesn’t believe him.
Finally it’s Mohamad that finally takes the “bullet” for the rest of them, much to the chagrin of Sam.
Sam knows he is lying, tries to convince him to not do this, but his actions are futile. Mohamad is headstrong and has to do this, he has to be the one to make that sacrifice.
Sam refuses to let him go, I suspect he thinks of Mohamad like a son and would gladly take his place (as any parent would). Mohamad assures Sam that he will be fine and not to worry, Sam signs “friends” (here is where you can clearly see it is incorrectly done).
As Mohamad steps out unarmed into the post-apocalyptic Seattle desolation, you are hoping that he survives to see his friends again.
If what Brendan said about “thinning the herd” is true, I feel that will put everyone in dire straits, refugees and residents alike.
With Susan and Vanessa moving through the bowels of the basement, Susan relays to Vanessa what happened to her daughter Dylan.
It’s sad to hear, but may give some hope that they may be reunited in a future episode, if she hasn’t been turned. As they are talking their flashlight goes out, which almost seals their fate…or does it.
Well, Van Helsing fans, I hope you enjoyed this episode. I want to thank Kenn for giving me this opportunity to write this episode for you and hope that you enjoy the rest of the season!
Thank you for visiting WormholeRiders News Agency. And thanks to Kenn for video embedding and additional images for my report.
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Van Helsing is a superbly produced series, with an intriguing story, fine actors, great writers, believable sets and costumes. Therefore, subsequent to a bit of time to review the episodes aired to date, members of TeamWHR including Senior Producer Lori Glumac and Editor Holly Wilson and I have decided to provide complete coverage and analysis of this outstanding new series in the near future!
The pilot version of “Help Me” shown at San Diego Comic-Con 2016 was in itself outstanding with an exciting opening episode when we were introduced to main series characters Vanessa Van Helsing (Kelly Overton), Axel Miller (Jonathan Scarfe), and as we found out to our joy, a baseball bat wielding hero named Sam (Christopher Heyerdahl).
A pleasant, but not unexpected surprise was that the broadcast version contained several enhancements, including an opening montage, slicker VFX, and a back story reference about the beginning of “The Rising” of vampires that began three years earlier in 2016.
The new Syfy series Van Helsing brings us to the present time where we meet Vanessa Van Helsing. Vanessa is to become the resurrected daughter of the famous vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, an avowed enemy of Dracula and all vampires.
Van Helsing S1x01 Vanessa unconscious in the hospital
Originally introduced as a vampire and monster hunter character in the famous Bram Stoker Gothic Horror novel Dracula published in 1897, the character of Abraham Van Helsing, is described in chapter nine of the novel:
“He is a seemingly arbitrary man, this is because he knows what he is talking about better than any one else. He is a philosopher and a metaphysician, and one of the most advanced scientists of his day, and he has, I believe, an absolutely open mind. This, with an iron nerve, a temper of the ice-brook, and indomitable resolution, self-command, and toleration exalted from virtues to blessings, and the kindliest and truest heart that beats, these form his equipment for the noble work that he is doing for mankind, work both in theory and practice, for his views are as wide as his all-embracing sympathy” .
As we meet Vanessa in the new Van Helsing series, we have been excited to witness that our savior apparently shares many of the family characteristics of her famous fictional relative.
We are unsure if Vanessa’s relationship to Abraham Van Helsing is a direct line since his son was reputed to have died in the original story line.
This brings us to the critical question: Could Abraham Van Helsing have sired other children?
According to the new series, this must have happened! This is the wonderful nature of science fiction , anything is possible!
A question therefore, since Dracula was written nearly 120 years ago, we must ask; just how long has Vanessa Van Helsing been “sleeping”?
NBC Dracula Thomas Kretschmann as Abraham van Helsing choked by Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Alexander Grayson (Dracula)
Following a large number of successful Dracula movies and television series that deal with vampires, as well as spin off stories such as The Vampire Diaries, the promise of Van Helsing is too bring a fresh look at the legendary story that has entranced millions for over ten decades.
A scant few years ago, a superb Dracula series that we covered with glee here at #TeamWHR, whetted our whistles for more details of the legendary Van Helsing adventures to fight monsters and vampires.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Dracula in Let There Be Light
Dracula, the most recent series on NBC (2013-2014), received rave reviews and good ratings, but was cancelled after the first season due to reported health issues of the series star, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who was combating a reported narcotic addiction at the time in question.
Rhys Meyers career has recovered since those darker days, with this Irish actor appearing in the television mini-series Roots (2016), and a load of new roles coming in 2017. This includes a role in the new History Channel hit series The Vikings.
A guest starring role as Dracula in Van Helsing would be nice icing on the cake in this Editor’s opinion!
Van Helsing character named Flesh attempts to feed on Vanessa
In the re-imagined Syfy series Van Helsing, Vanessa Van Helsing has acquired an immunity to the vampires. This factor is important to the story arc, which in of itself may be a death sentence to any of the current reality vampires should they attempt to feed upon her.
This immunity factor is certain to protect our new savior and perhaps cure others who have become infected by vampires as we will learn in the pilot episode “Help Me”.
Vanessa has an immunity to vampires and heals quickly
From the first moment Vanessa awakens, after being resurrected to a nightmarish reality where vampires have taken over the world as we know it.
We here at #TeamWHR are more than pleased to know that Vanessa Van Helsing, once she remembers her lineage, will protect us from the horror that has overrun the Earth!.
Vampires roam the streets looking for victims
The certain element of harm represented by the vampires roaming the streets in search of victims, will undoubtedly become a focal point in the fight to overcome the vampires that have become manifest on our fair planet after a volcanic eruption that has unleashed the blood sucking devils on Earth in an action science fiction based story of the rise of vampires in modern times!
With these thoughts in mind, we here at #TeamWHR are hopeful that this outstanding new series will receive similar acclaim as is deserved befitting the legend and legacy of the Abraham Van Helsing lineage and be on our screens for many years to come!
Help Me:
Opening scene with Vanessa Van Helsing
The pilot episode begins in 2019, three years after “The Rising” with Vanessa Van Helsing (Kelly Overton) observed on an operating table, unconscious, in a locked down hospital facility that we will learn later is located in the Pacific Northwest, likely Washington State, an area known for beautiful geography that appears to have suffered when the vampires were unleashed as a result of a genetic mutation from some sort of volcanic activity.
As the camera pans over an unconscious and scantily clad Vanessa Van Helsing, outside a battle of some sort is taking place. Sounds of gunfire, replete with yelling and screaming can be heard, doubtless proving the area is under attack by vampires. Those attempting to survive the onslaught by vampires are unaffected humans in fear for their very lives.
The Vampires breach the hospital
Unfortunately for Vanessa, a group of three hungry vampires have breached the facility. We witness the hungry monsters entering the operating room where Vanessa is located. One of the vampires attempts to feed on Vanessa.
This is the first hint we have that her blood is poisonous to the hideous creature. The vampire immediately begins convulsing and drops to his knees as we observe Vanessa clenching her fists.
Van Helsing new title screen banner
Two other vampires realize something is amiss and begin to attack Vanessa. Bad move for these two malcontents as Vanessa makes short work of them, dispatching both to their deaths. T
he seemingly poisoned vampire, whom we will see again at episodes end is seen writhing and gurgling blood as the new Van Helsing logo appears on our screens!
Axel is observed 36 hours earlier feeding Doc
We are then treated to a flashback sequence thirty-six hours earlier where we meet the survivors holed up in the hospital protecting Vanessa for reasons that have yet to be revealed.
The camera pans back from Vanessa where we meet Axel Miller (Jonathan Scarfe) who is feeding blood to whom we will learn is former colleague named Doc (Rukiya Bernard), who has become a vampire.
Rukiya Bernard as vampire infected Doc
Doc, sucking up the blood food, is witnessed snarling at Axel when he removes the tube feeding her. Doc appears to be not fully vampire, seemingly recognizing Axel. Could there be a human being inside this snarling vampire? Will the answer to this question will be revealed as the series progresses?
We will learn that Axel is a former military officer, who for some as yet unknown reason, has been assigned to protect, at any costs, our unconscious savor of humanity, Vanessa Van Helsing.
Jonathan Scarfe as Axel Miller
At this juncture within the story arc, we do not know how long Axel has been protecting Vanessa. We can only assume that the back story via a series of flashback episodes will follow the pilot to delineate the horrible fate that has befallen humankind. This editor is excited to learn what will be revealed in future episodes!
During the course of protecting Vanessa, and subsequent to feeding Doc, who is yelling “They’re coming”, Axel hears a proximity alarm going off. With Doc continuing to gleefully hop around her cage, Axel saddles up and heads to the barricaded entrance.
Avery Konrad as Cynthia, Jennifer Spence as Karen, Alison Wandzura as Nicole, Christopher Heyerdahl as Sam, and David Cubitt as John
Axel is reluctant to let the survivors into the sanctuary of the hospital until he realizes John, a fellow soldier, is one of the those attempting to gain access. Subsequent to opening the security door, the vampires attack. A desperate battle scene takes place with many vampires dispatched, including by baseball bat wielding Sam, who finishes off a few of the hungry monsters with what appears to be an aluminum Louisville Slugger!
A Dracula story arc question immediately comes to mind; How are the vampires able to roam the streets in packs during daylight hours? The answer to this question is revealed during the exciting episodes of season one.
Van Helsing Vampires Aleks Paunovic as Julius, Paul Johansson as Dmitri, and Laura Mennell as Rebecca
Van Helsing features several additional fine main stars including Aleks Paunovic as Julius, Laura Mennell as Rebecca, and Paul Johansson as Dmitri. These outstanding actors are the titular leaders of the vampire faction whom will be seeking to capture Vanessa for their nefarious purposes.
Guest stars include several famous character actors Terry Chen as Brendan, Sarah Desjardins as Catherine, real life television celebrity host Dawn Chubai, and gifted Jennifer Spence as Karen who is among the survivors allowed inside the fortified hospital. Unfortunately, Karen will not survive the first episode when the vampires overrun the hospital facility.
The pilot episode explores some details about John (David Cubitt) who reported to Axel during their time in the military. We learn that his wife Wendy (Fiona Vroom), whom we will meet later during episode three, is still “out there” on the street with the blood thirsty vampires.
Alison Wazendura as Nicole, Christopher Heyerdahl as Sam, David Cubitt as John
Axel forbids John from trying to save his wife, knocking John out with the butt of his weapon stating “discussion over”. This factor sets up a tension between the two primary characters that will likely explode later in the series.
The tension is accentuated when Axel takes the survivors on a tour of the floor when Vanessa and Doc are located. Axel informs the survivors that Vanessa is not to be touched. John, recovered from being knocked out, Nicole and Karen do not like the fact that Axel keeps Doc, who has gone vampire, in a cage thinking she represents a threat to all of them. Sam and Mohamed are simply happy to be off the street, exhibiting loyalty to Axel and his mission, whatever that may be.
Axel fights after John attacks, telling him his wife is likely dead
While Axel is taking inventory near the kitchen, the others are not so sanguine, hatching a plot to kill Doc. John confronts Axel in the kitchen, apologizes, stating “He’s trying” for his earlier behavior, begging to be allowed to save his wife Wendy still trapped outside. Axel, being pragmatic, simply replies “she (Wendy) was” alive, trying to convince John to face the fact she has been captured by the vampire gangs.
While we see Vanessa in her underwear, still unconscious on a hospital operating table, Axel shares with Ted why he is loyal to Doc, how she saved many, but was bitten by the vampires trying to save others.
Baseball fan Christopher Heyerdahl as Sam, Alison Wazendura as Nicole, David Cubitt as John, and Trezzo Mahoro as Mohamad
Segue to the lady survivors and John, who are not privy to the details, as they prepare to execute their planned insurrection to kill vampire infected Doc. Sam with his baseball bat and an armed Mohamad comes to the Doc’s rescue helping them reluctantly gain a bit of understanding about our hero Doc!
As the episode winds around to the beginning, somehow the vampires have breached the facility, beginning the vicious attack on the survivors we observed in the opening scenes of the episode. Karen is killed almost immediately, as she gets feasted upon by one of the vampires.
Cynthia uses a fire extinguisher to dispatch Karen
Cynthia is forced to smash her skull with a fire extinguisher before she turns vamp. Baseball bat Sam and his side kick Mohamad remain focused, sending several of the vampires to their distant relative, Dracula, long ago placed in a pine box with a silver stake through his heart!
This brings us back to Vanessa and the three who have gotten past everyone to attempt to feed upon her. We return to present time as the bite awakens Vanessa from her coma.
As the one vampire apparently dies from biting Vanessa, our savior demonstrates her ass kicking skills on the other two vampires who had made it to her room.
Confused Vanessa chats with John on how she got here
Vanessa is confused by the events, asking Axel who he is and how she got there? Apparently, Vanessa has no idea how she could be of such importance as to have a military bodyguard. When Nicole confronts Vanessa about how she survived being bitten, for the first time, we also learn that Vanessa has a daughter named Dylan portray by Hannah Cheramy, a gifted young actress from Vancouver whom we will see at least two more times in episode two and thirteen.
Vampire spy Ted offers to help Vanessa escape
As the episode winds down to an exciting conclusion, Ted offers his help to Vanessa. Based on his behavior, we suspect that Ted is a spy for the vampires who allowed the monsters to entire the hospital in the first place.
Vanessa demands that Axel allow her to find her daughter Dylan during a mutual shower scene where Axel reveals that he has been bathing and caring for her and Doc for the past three years as he was ordered to do.
Vanessa and Axel shower to save water
Naturally, Axel, still naked from the shower scene, covered by only a towel, will not allow that, at least for the time being. Vanessa, grabs his assault rifle holding Axel at gunpoint. Ted arrives, convinces Axel to go get dressed, but instead helps Vanessa.
Axel arrives in the kitchen, informing Ted that only he (Ted) knew where the access codes were kept. A fight breaks out between the two as Vanessa escapes to the roof, where she witnesses the results of the vampire apocalypse that ravaged the Earth in 2016. Ted whacks Axel with a stainless steel chamber pot, then follows Vanessa, with Axel, Mohamed and baseball bat Sam in close pursuit!
Vanessa kills Ted with his own military knife buried in her hand
Ted, now armed only with his military knife, orders Vanessa that she is coming with him to the vampire leaders who promised to leave the survivors alone if she cooperates. This sequence proves Ted was a spy after all bringing another question to mind; could there be more vampire spies looming in the future?
Vanessa promptly proceeds to kick Ted’s ass, finally skewering Ted’s skull with his own knife who tried to capture Vanessa by stabbing her hand! As Ted crumples, with an amazed Axel, Mohamed and Sam watching, Vanessa’s hand wound heals miraculously before their very eyes.
Vanessa wonders if her daughter is alive in the ruined city landscape
As the episode ends, a Vanessa looks over the ruined city landscape and agrees to return to the hospital to have a chat with Axel about what in the hell is going on. Vanessa blithely informs Axel that “I don’t need protecting” and “go f_ck yourself”, vowing to escape from the hospital to find her daughter!
To the sounds of “You Are My Sunshine” (recorded in 1939 by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell), a tearful Vanessa is locked in her room by Axel. The episode ends with one of the vampires who had fed off of Vanessa during the attack crawling out of the hospital garbage disposal chute where he had been placed earlier.
Vincent Gale as Flesh
This recurring character is named Flesh (Vincent Gale). Surrounded by Axel, Vanessa and the survivor gang, Flesh begging “Help Me”, he informs the survivors that by feeding on Vanessa’s blood, he felt human again the moment he drank it!
In a final enigma, we must assume that Vanessa’s blood will also make Doc a human being again in future episodes that #TeamWHR will cover in the future!
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Another episode closer to the mid-season finale of Destination Truth, season five, on Syfy. The thrills have not disappointed at all, and they certainly do not stop with this episode!
Enjoy my review of the exciting Destination Truth Hanging Coffins/Kazakh Monster provided courtesy of Syfy!
Vampire Monsters & Island of the Damned:
Grab your passports and pack your bags for two new investigations tonight. The cases Team Truth will look into will be Vampire creatures in Transylvania and a supposedly haunted island near Sweden.
After reviewing what they will be looking for in Transylvania – a large nocturnal creature with claws, fangs, speed and a thirst for livestock blood – host Josh Gates is on the move along with his team made up of Erin Ryder researcher, Kyle Wheeler cameraman, David D’Angelo cameraman, Katy Murakami field investigator, Adam Butler audio tech, Tristant Icaza equip tech, and Richie Fung the medic.
Taking a very long trip from Bucharest to Vlad the Impaler‘s birthplace via train, the crew familiarizes themselves with the environment of the infamous inflicter of torture. They visit his childhood home, look at artifacts and crack some inevitable jokes about Vlad’s pastime (Josh says he was “voted most likely to impale” in his yearbook, for one).
After passing through a gothic cemetery, Josh meets with historian Matthew Petrigo, who details for our resident adventurer about torture tactics back in Vlad’s day, but also about recent accounts of vampires. Matthew is a believer and states to go out into the countryside of Brasov to find them, as well as Dracula’s castle.
While the crew is in the city, Josh leads his intrepid crew to a haunted house. No, not one to investigate – a “make-pretend” haunted house. Any big fans of Destination Truth will most likely chalk this up as one of their favorite segments ever, especially if they have seen this 2011 video of Josh screaming for mercy in a Universal Halloween Horror Nights haunted house. That is NOT okay!
Josh talks a big game via voiceover (“this will be a walk in the park”), but I think he might have lost some cool points by using Ryder as a human shield and getting scared by his own crew member Tristant who snuck up behind him. Among memorable Josh quotes through this romp – “Make it stop!” “Monsters I can deal with, but I am terrified of out-of-work Romanian actors.” And the coup de grâce of course being, “Sir, I’m gonna need you to calm down!”
Back to reality and the group travels to the suburban side of town so Josh can speak to an eyewitness named Ciresica through the aid of a translator, Beatrice Popa. The witness says the creature seems like a person, but it has horse legs, looks like an “animal”, and to seek it out in the southern forests of Romania where there is an abandoned village.
The crew is once again back on a train to a rural area where we meet Toma Costreie, who claimed to had just seen one of these monsters days before. Through our translator, Toma states he saw a large figure out in the woods, and he brushes over the topic of the abandoned village, which he states had strange happenings nearby it.
It is time to hike out into the area of the village, which requires walking through ankle deep water, descending down ropes from a large waterfall, and finally when coming upon yet another waterfall, Josh encourages his team to jump from up high into a deep pool of water below. Perhaps the most accurate statement of any DT Crew member to date, Ryder says, “Protect me, oh Lord, from all the [expletive] Josh Gates gets me into” before she herself takes the leap. Everyone is accounted for, rests for a spell, then treks on to where they set up base camp.
The team sets out with Josh on a team with Richie, Kyle and Adam combing through the woods. All is pretty quiet until Josh gets a hit on his thermal imager. They all creep closer to whatever it is, but Kyle and Adam recoil back in fear when they see eyes come towards them. Tristant radios in to Josh from base camp that he also sees eyes on camera, but the group trudges on.
Ryder and Katy along with Dave are on their own when lightning starts to roll across the sky. They come across an imposing looking wooden gate, which Ryder gladly kicks open, and they wander into the abandoned village. The girls along with Dave let themselves into one of the old structures, marveling at how good a shape it was still in and wondering out loud what could have been so awful to make a whole village hightail it out of there.
Back with Josh’s team just after midnight, they head over to the area Camera 3 is in, as the eyes were spotted in this direction. With Josh going into the woods to investigate after speaking to Tristant on the radio, we join with Ryder’s team back at the old structure. While roaming it, they hear a noise coming from behind the building and look for whatever caused it.
When getting closer to the woods, Ryder states the ground would be in such a condition for prints to be left, so they are vigilant of any evidence left. They find an indentation in the ground that could be a print, but they are not sure. They have Tristant run out an evidence kit to them, while Josh and company are now the focus of our attention.
Josh via the thermal finds a hole in the ground leading to a subterranean cave. He gears up with ropes and lowers himself in, along with his teammates. They explore the tunnels, eventually coming across a myriad of bones, including the skull of what looks to be a carnivorous canine. Josh states either animals are falling in to their death, or “something” is dragging them in.
A casting is made of the possible print Ryder found, and then the team wanders on to where they come upon an old church. While observing gothic-looking art on the walls, something grabs Ryder attention off to the side after some rocks are heard jumbling around, eliciting primal screams from her and teammate Katy. After the nice tension-building break, the two confirm they saw something very large pass outside the window at a rapid speed.
The small team heads out towards the woods again to investigate and Ryder states she hears the sound again ahead in the woods, which they cannot reach due to high brush. When it starts to rain, they head back into the frightening church to take shelter for their gear. They explore further, observing intimidating art on the walls and lightning flashing through the window, and find that the figures painted on the walls of the room they are in have clawed out eyes.
A loud clattering against the floor is heard with Ryder jumping to the side and away from what was about to hit her. When she picks the object up and the team observes it, it looks to be a large wooden stake, coincidentally in a room where a large rock slab also is (a room to kill Vampires in, maybe?).
Back in the cave, Josh’s group further examines the bones deep in the cavern they climbed into. When sifting, Josh finds a very large tooth close in size to one of his fingers, so he takes photos and proclaims that they will bring some back for research. They try to journey farther into the tunnels, but a dead end is reached, so Josh says it is time for the crew to regroup and head home.
Back at headquarters in Los Angeles, the footage is scoured over, and Josh estimates that the shots where they see eyes belong to the Romanian Gray Wolf, but otherwise, the thermal hits and the print Ryder collected were inconclusive. We also do not get a clear shot of what scared her and teammate Katy, which does not give us any further clues.
Needing more help, Josh returns to longtime DT analyst Jim Dines, mammalogist at the LA Museum of Natural History. Based on photos, he states a cow, goat and dog made up most of the bones Josh and team found in the cavern. However, the large tooth, which Jim calls “cool”, is from the upper row of teeth from a Romanian Cave Bear, which has long since been extinct. Josh’s conclusion on this case? Basically, that real life dangers out in the middle of nowhere might be a little scarier than the ones we seek out via tales of fiction inspired by the past.
On to the next, to crib a line from Ghost Hunters, and Josh tells his team that they are to investigate Bla Jungfrun Island, where there were said to be rituals of Witchcraft performed. Josh jokes to Ryder maybe she would like to go this one alone and when she obviously does not agree, he tells the group they can thank Ryder for canceling the vacation he was planning for all of them, which they can no longer go on. In all seriousness, Josh states this demonic island is said to be cursed, so much to the point that those who take rocks off of the island are met with some seriously bad Mojo.
The team sets off to Stockholm to get their vehicle, which Josh declares to be his mom’s old Volvo. “Buckle up,” Ryder says. “It’s about to get REALLY Swedish.” The group is treated to Josh’s list of the best Swedish items while driving – Swedish meatballs, Swedish Fish candies, Swedish Chef of Muppets fame, Swedish massages, and of course we are in another scene treated to an IKEA joke, as well.
Exploring Stockholm while waiting for Josh’s next interview, the group partakes in some cheesy Swedish merchandise, rides a ferry, and Josh visits a psychic. Astrologist Margareta Hedin tells our host that he is due for more success, but he states that it cannot get better than DT. “I am at the pinnacle of my career right now!” “You are?” “…No, I’m not.” Careful Josh – we want Destination Truth to be renewed!
We finally met with Ebbe Schon, who Josh states is an unintentional Gandolf impersonator (I personally saw a lot of Santa references on Twitter the night the episode premiered). Despite his pop culture appearance, Ebbe is an expert in folklore, telling Josh the island frightened sailors passing by, as this was a place where people like witches and magicians came to meet the Devil. Ebbe tells us about 300 witches were killed on the island “by the neck”, possibly meaning via hanging, with their bodies burned afterwards.
The journey forward takes us to Oskarshamn, about a three hour car ride away, where Josh states that one team will need to set off on ATV’s to meet with a group of present-day witches, while Ryder’s team must meet with a photographer witness via kayaks.
Josh meets with Claire-Ann and Jeanette, witches who are in the middle of a ritual when he comes across them. They tell him the nearby island they seek is haunted with positive and negative entities, but that there is also an old labyrinth where, if they walk completely through it, then witches will appear to them. Josh’s voiceover states the labyrinth can be interpreted either as a trap for spirits, or as the path between hell and heaven.
Meanwhile, Ryder and her team brave icy waters to eventually meet up on shore with Peter Gerdehag. The photographer states while on assignment staying in a cabin a few nights, he was roused in the middle of the night by light filling his room from no apparent source. He stated that had never happened before and he did not know what he saw, really.
Before setting off for the island, Josh sits down with Lars Olofsson, who is a city official with a nice creepy painting behind his desk depicting the ominous nature of the land. He not only says the island is haunted, but people who have taken rocks from there have been so cursed with bad luck that they regularly get shipments of rocks sent back to them with requests to return them.
He reads to Josh some of the letters from a thick folder, including one from a person who was convinced they got cancer because of taking the stone. He tells Josh there is one stone left, and he wants him to bring it back to the island right away, and that it is his “pass” to go there.
With a cursed rock in his pocket, Josh’s words directly, the crew heads out into the water towards the scary island ten miles from the mainland that we have been hearing about. Josh ribs Ryder about her seasickness, but it is time to get to work when the group finally is able to get ashore when the sun is just starting to set. While Tristant stays at base camp, Josh heads off a team with Katy, Adam and Kyle while Ryder works with Rich and Dave to cover the other side of the island.
Josh’s team peruses the woods and the choppy sound of chanting or yelling echoing from the woods grabs their attention. When the noise repeats itself, Kyle states that it sounds like more than one woman and points in the direction he heard it from. They head down the trail near the water, mindful of drops, and the trail ends towards cliff. Katy refers to the noises as a Siren’s Call, which is accurate since they could have fallen off of the large rocks into the water, had it not been for their Night Vision cameras.
We join with Ryder’s group, where footsteps are heard in the brush, prompting Ryder to ask out loud if someone was there. Richie echoes this statement, and a louder noise is then heard. The two analyze what they heard and agree it sounded like a woman screaming, hearing it more clearly another time a few seconds later. They investigate the area to see if there is a natural cause for the sound, and then we shift back to Josh’s team.
Josh finds the labyrinth, which is hundreds of years old with an unknown origin. He instructs the others as to how to navigate through the maze, since he was told earlier doing this would bring about activity. Once towards the middle of the path, Josh placed the rock he was requested to return in an open space, and this is when some sort of activity is picked up on from a teammate. Kyle points out to Josh what looks like an orb moving on camera, so he is asked to mark it so they can re-examine once back home.
Ryder and crew go to the cabin the photographer had mentioned, where they decide to do an EVP (electronic voice phenomena) session in the bedroom of. She and Richie tell any spirits present that they mean no harm, but they want to know if someone is there. Ryder states she has a ringing in her ears that is almost giving her a headache, and moments later, a sound is heard from the kitchen such as a glass being moved or rolling on the floor. The two stay put, even as they hear a loud creak in the floor like someone taking a step.
The noises become more prominent, to the point where the two argue about who should go and look, but what sounds to be either a faucet turning or a close by creak in the floor bring Ryder and Richie to a state of intense fear. When they recover mentally from their fright, Ryder says she had seen a dark shadow in the hallway. The pair cautiously roams the house to see if they can find whatever it was making noise and casting shadows, but when they find nothing, they agree happily to leave the cabin.
The team packs up their gear and heads back to the United States to comb over findings. Both Josh and Ryder confirm post-investigation that the two teams heard similar female voices or screams on the island, and the noises from the cabin were confirmed to be coming from inside, as the structure was not suffering any damage or wear that would have caused it.
Ryder states she saw a person or figure, and while the camera did not pick up the image, an EVP was caught at the same time in Swedish lending to her account. The EVP states “Lamna Har”, which means “Leave Now” in English.
The last piece of evidence is the orb caught in the labyrinth by Kyle, and Josh proclaims it is nothing he has ever seen before, saying it looks pattern-wise like it was “stepping” across the rocks. Conclusion? There is enough evidence to credibly say that something paranormal, or outside of the realm of traditional science that can easily be explained away, going on for the Island of Bla Jungfrun.
My overall evaluation of this episode is that that there was a great highlight on the local culture of Stockholm/Sweden, but I would like to have seen more cultural aspects of Transylvania from the first part of the episode, even though the haunted house scene was no doubt funny. All of the evidence collected was terrific and to those who will no doubt complain about the personal experiences mentioned that were not caught on camera – when you have a paranormal experience that frightens you to the core, it can catch you off guard. Also, who is to say pointing a camera over to whatever the witness claimed to see would bear results? After all, it is called “the paranormal” for a reason.
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In 2005 Nomadic Co-Produced AMC’s first Scripted Original mini-series, “Broken Trail” (Robert Duvall, Thomas Haden Church), which went on to win four Primetime Emmy Awards, including Best Mini-Series. 
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