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'Van Helsing' Season 4 Episode 7 Review: 'Metamorphosis' turns a game-changer into a filler rushing through some finale-worthy moments

Dracula's first appearance and several other big moments on the show aren't given the weight they deserve
PUBLISHED NOV 9, 2019

Spoiler alert for 'Van Helsing' Season 4 Episode 7 'Metamorphosis'

Big things happen in this episode. We witnessed the gathering of the show's three living Van Helsings for the first time, as well as a meeting with Abraham Van Helsing (Michael Eklund) himself.

Sam (Christopher Heyerdahl) was sacrificed to release the Dark One, revealed to be history's most famous vampire, Dracula (Tricia Helfer). Vanessa (Kelly Overton) sacrifices herself to bind the Dark one and allow the littler Van Helsing-lings to escape.

Each one of these events significant enough to be worthy of a season finale — and yet, after two relatively strong detour episodes in a row, this episode feels like it’s merely moving the plot along. 

It’s a case of two wrongs making an even bigger one — the big moments feel rushed, and are swept under the rug of the episode's biggest moment — the raising of the Dark One, Dracula.

However, that moment itself is undone fairly quickly, casting into doubt if anything that happened this episode was even really worth it. However, big things did happen, so sticklers for continuity wanting answers to the Van Helsing mythos as a whole are going to find this episode absolutely unskippable.

Vanessa Van Helsing and Jack (Nicole Munoz) follow the mysterious "pull" which leads them to a garden very familiar to longtime fans of the show. It's the place where Abby died, as well as Vanessa's sister, Scarlett.

There, Violet (Keeya King) catches up with (and is accidentally shot by) the two of them, heals, and fills them in on how they're related — coming to the realization that Vanessa is, biologically speaking, their mother.

The significance of this is Vanessa's second chance at motherhood, the Van Helsing-lings meeting their mother for the first time and discovering their lineage — all of it should have been a far weightier moment than it actually was.

The whole thing falls flat, and the trio is quickly taken through a portal into the Dark Realm, where Jack accidentally wakes the Dark One up as Vanessa and Violet meet the spirit of Abraham Van Helsing and receive their mission: build a weapon that can kill the Dark one.

They're then returned to the graveyard, where the Van Helsing trio is soundly defeated by Sam and Bathory (Jesse Stanley). It's a shame to see the show's heroes be so completely defeated by just two of the season's villains.

However, on the plus side, Sam's use of his Elder Horns to defend himself against Vanessa's sword is inventive and entertaining. Sam's journey comes to an end here, as we discover that he is not going to ascend to become the Dark One, but instead, be the sacrifice that allows the Dark One to return.

It's here that we get the strongest scene of the episode, as Vanessa tries to convince Sam that he is being fooled — and he doesn't care.

It's a short speech, but Heyerdahl manages to put a lot of poignancy into the declaration that Sam was always a monster, and that the continual path to become an even worse one was always his destiny — even if it ends him.

Which it does. It's another moment that would have felt tragically rushed, and an unfitting end for such a unique character, but Heyerdahl's performance makes it work.

Sam's passing makes way for Dracula's entrance. Tricia Helfer makes for a unique Dracula who embodies the best of what makes the vampires of 'Van Helsing' work — she believes, without a doubt, that she is the most powerful creature in the room and that it's natural for everyone in it to bow down to her.

Bathory does so immediately, and it's not a great look for the Oracle. Outright, submissive adoration on a character who's been established as a real powerhouse for so long does not come naturally.

And there's a moment when Dracula considers making Vanessa one of her Brides when Bathor's look of horror in the background comes off as downright comical. 

In the end, Vanessa sacrifices herself to seal Dracula in the Dark Realm once again, and she passes the torch on to the Van Helsing-lings. It's a moment that's come sooner than expected and puts the show in a very new place going forward.

It's a shame that it didn't make more of an impact, but hopefully the fallout from this episode going forward can retroactively give 'Metamorphosis' more weight. 

The next episode of 'Van Helsing' airs on November 15 on Syfy.

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