Episode 9 of Syfy’s Van Helsing left viewers brokenhearted after Doc (Rukiya Bernard) left Axel (Jonathan Scarfe) behind to die. This week finds the survivors searching for the source of those pesky church bells, stumbling upon a utopia, and deciding if they can trust the place or not. Here is OMFGTV‘s recap of “Stay Away”.
“Deal with the devil” | The episode kicks off with Vanessa (Kelly Overton) and company getting attacked by a group of ferals, but they are rescued by two bowman. The man, a Flynn Ryder look alike, says his name is Theo (Christopher Russell) and invites them to his home, a wonderful utopia. A man named Micah (Tom Cavanagh) welcomes them to this remarkable place dubbed Eden. The church bells begin to toll, signifying approaching visitors. Micah tells Vanessa and the others to hide while he deals with this. The visitors are a group of vampires, Magdalene (Gwynyth Walsh) and two cronies, there to collect something. Magdalene says Julius (Aleks Paunovic) is looking for a “special” woman, she wants Micah’s help looking for her. Micah gives her several jars of blood and they go. Micah explains to the newcomers that he made a deal with the vampires, they give them blood twice a month in return for being left alone. He felt it was the only way to make peace in this new world.
“Curiosity killed the cat.” | Sam (Christopher Heyerdahl) is working in a field in Eden when he notices Mohamad’s (Oliver Maharo Smith) shirt on a clothesline. He follows the man doing the laundry, but the man catches him and locks him up. While locked up Sam does some snooping and discovers photos of Micah and his family and makes a shocking discovery: Magdalene is Micah’s wife. This fuels Sam’s fire and he goes total Hulk to busts out of there. He finds Mohamad and they have a brief happy reunion before being interrupted by the man that locked Sam up. Sam is worried for their safety so he kills the man.
“This is where we say goodbye.” | Susan (Hilary Jardine) and Vanessa realize there are several pregnant women in Eden, but no children. They hear a woman scream and rush to her aid, only to find that she is surrounded by people, including Doc, because she is in labor. Susan is visibly affected while watching the birth (remember, she gave up her own child several years before). Once the child is safely delivered Vanessa asks Micah where the kids go. Micah tells her that the kids are the future of The Resistance, so they send them to a safe place, and all this is happening underneath Magdalene’s nose.
Vanessa and Doc have a short moment alone where Vanessa asks Doc about the bunker, she wants to know what happened to Axel. Once Doc is through telling Vanessa what happened, how she closed the door on Axel, we see Vanessa lose all respect for Doc. Vanessa tells her they are leaving in the morning, Doc can stay or go, but this is goodbye.
“You can embrace who you are, or you can hang on to what you were. You can’t do both.” | Micah speaks with Doc and reveals Flesh (Vincent Gale) spoke with him about her, Susan, and Vanessa. He tells her she may stay in Eden if she likes, but that she needs to figure out who she is now.
Rescue Mission| Theo tells Vanessa a sob story about his parents which leads to them hooking up in the woods, but she bites him in the heat of the moment. He brings the bite up later, he asks if she’s “one of them”, she responds with “not entirely” and briefly explains what she can do. (Is this a good idea? Can she really trust him?) Theo tells Vanessa she can be a sign of hope, hope for a brighter future for that baby. At the mention of the baby Vanessa remembers to ask Theo where the babies and mothers are sent. He tells her Seattle, The Resistance has the city. This immediately raises a red flag because Vanessa just came from Seattle and The Resistance was definitely not in charge.
Vanessa and Theo track down the mother and child just as they are being handed over to Magdalene for slaughter. They have discovered the truth, Micah and Magdalene have another side deal going where he gives her all the babies so The Resistance has no future. Theo and Vanessa make a deal with Magdalene, her life in exchange for the mother and child.
“I believed in you.” | Sam and Mohamad get caught trying to escape. Micah consults Flesh on what to do, but warns him not to be blinded by friendship. It appears that Micah is getting ready to our group when Mohamad reveals that Magdalene is Micah’s wife. At this point Vanessa and Theo return and reveal what they have discovered. The people of Eden are shocked and outraged by Micah’s deception, Flesh feels so deceived that he actually kills Micah in front of everyone.
Vanessa and her crew say their goodbyes, Theo tells Vanessa he will find her eventually. Flesh decides to stay behind, he has found his peace in Eden.
“I was never meant to be human again.” | The final scene of the episode contains the biggest twist of the episode when Doc doesn’t leave with the others. Instead she goes off in search of Magdalene, but not to kill her. Doc wants to be turned back into a vampire. She wants Magdalene to change her back, but when she tries it becomes apparent that Doc cannot become a vampire again. Vanessa’s blood has made her immune to vampire bites. Doc is stuck human.
This episode was full of twists and gives new theories as to who the killer at the hospital could have been. Sam and Flesh both proved they can kill without hesitation, and Doc actually wants to go back to being a vamp?!? Who do you think the hospital killer is? Where do you think Vanessa and the gang will go now that Eden isn’t safe for them? Let us know your theories below!
Be sure to catch Van Helsing Friday’s on Syfy at 10pm!