Episode 3 of Syfy’s new thriller Van Helsing takes us on a journey that begins where episode 1 left off. In this episode our survivors meet the vampire-turned-human that bit Vanessa, Axel and Vanessa leave the hospital, and another vampire goes through the reversion process to become human again. Here is OMFGTV’s recap of episode 3 of Van Helsing.
The episode kicks off following a vampire back when the volcano erupted. We see him discover he can go outside during the day, then run off and turn several people into vampires. We see how the vampire-turned-human became a vampire, and how he went home and attacked his own family.
“I don’t care what your eyes look like now, you’re one of them.” | In the present, our group of survivors is going about their day in the hospital when they hear someone calling out. This is the scene that episode 1 ends with. The group does not trust this man, they know he was a vampire just hours before. Vanessa tries to say it wasn’t her blood that turned that man human, but Axel knows not to trust her. Suddenly, they all hear screaming. Everyone rushes to the roof to see John’s (David Cubitt) wife held hostage and being tortured by a group of vampires. They say they’ll trade the woman for Vanessa, but instead of making a deal with vampires Axel just kills John’s wife himself. This, understandably, upsets John, and the two fight. They end knocking the turbine off the roof, which means the hospital will shortly run out of power. “We now have three hours to live.” The turbine powered the UV lights that kept vampires away, without the lights the vampires will be able to successfully attack.
“If I’m not back by the time the UV lights go down, it was nice starin’ at your naked body for three years.” | Axel knows where he can find parts to fix an old generator, but he will have to leave the hospital to do so. Vanessa convinces him to let her go along, and just before they set out they find out their vampire-turned-human’s name is Flesh (Vincent Gale). On their way out of the building Axel quickly briefs Vanessa on killing vampires. She is surprised by how fast they heal, she has to cut off their heads to make sure they’re dead. He also tells her that there is a small group of people that are fighting back, they’re called The Resistance.
“Nightmare, I haven’t dreamt in years.” | Mohamad (Trezzo Mahoro) tries talking to Flesh, but Doc keeps screeching in the background. John becomes fed up and tries to convince everyone to kill Flesh and Doc before Axel and Vanessa return, but Sam (Christopher Heyerdahl) stops him.
“They’re here.” | Vanessa and Axel go aboard an old ship to scavenger for parts for the generator. Axel must go underwater for up to a minute in order to get the part, and during that time a vampire spots Vanessa. Using one hand to hold the rope Axel’s attached to, she uses her other hand to fire a rifle at the attacking vampire. She is able to slow it, but the sound only attracts more. Axel finally emerges from the water and the two of them begin to fight their way out. Vanessa gets bit by one, but instead of turning it human her blood seems to have killed this vampire. Before they leave the ship Axel promises to stay by Vanessa’s side no matter what happens with the rest of the survivors, he won’t try to turn her in.
“That’s it, we’re all gonna die.” | At the hospital, the lights finally go off and the vampires are immediately knocking at the door. Just when they believe they’re going to finally be caught by the vampires, the unthinkable happens. Flesh goes out and speaks to the vampires, the race he belonged to until very recently. He tells them that he is human because of Vanessa, and that she will turn them too. Amazingly enough, it works, the vampires leave. This allows for Axel and Vanessa to sneak back into the hospital. Once inside, she comes to the realization that her daughter might not have survived in this new world. Cynthia (Avery Konrad) sees Vanessa muttering to Doc and suspects Vanessa is “one of them.”
“If I found my wife and she was one of them, would you be able to turn her back?” | Flesh asking Vanessa this question about his wife foreshadows what happens just moments later. After fixing the generator, Axel asks Vanessa to turn Doc back, and she hesitantly agrees to try. She goes inside the cage with Doc and tries to get her to bite, but Doc refuses. She acts like a scared, trapped animal and fights to get away. Vanessa decides to take matters into her own hands by jumping on Doc’s back and biting her! There are a few tense moments where we are not sure if Doc will be waking up or not, during that time we see more about the world of vampires.
We see the vampire from the beginning of the episode and learn his name is Julius (Aleks Paunovic), in a torture chamber feeding on a human. He is approached by another vampire who reports that Flesh is now human, Vanessa turned him and will turn them all. Julius is visibly alarmed by the news and says to send word to Dmitri.
“Come on Doc, don’t leave me.” | Doc wakes up! She walks out of the cage, sighs, and smiles.
Did anyone else cheer when Doc woke up? What a spectacular episode with the right amount of backstory, plot advancement, and action! What did you think of episode 3? Leave your comments below, and let us know what you hope to see next week in episode 4!
Van Helsing airs Fridays at 10pm on Syfy.