Writer/showrunner Neil LaBute takes advantage of the innate terror the late Victorian period exudes, skipping several generations to lay the groundwork for Vanessa’s recovery of Elder Susan’s totem. While “Super Unknown” examines the changes both sisters continue to undergo, the story also takes us deeper into the Van Helsing family mythos and provides further evidence of its involvement with the blood of The Dark One. Did the Elder’s bite push her further into herself, or is her present state of mind simply a product of the blows she’s absorbed the past four years? Regardless, it’s impossible to ignore the red eyes that seem to appear when she finds herself in demanding situations, a clear indication that this is a new Vanessa. He attempts to lighten the mood calling on the long standing epithet “Sleeping Beauty,” but this is a Vanessa that hasn’t existed for a very long time. Scarlett doesn’t understand why her sister suddenly erects a wall between them and wonders whether Vanessa is annoyed because of her developing relationship with Axel.
It’s painful to observe Vanessa descend into a world in which she seems to have lost the ability and desire to connect with those around her. Putting some of the traditional doomsday trappings momentarily aside, Van Helsing skillfully employs classic horror tale elements to explore the darkness of the human psyche as it relates to physical and emotional survival. However, friction between the sisters bubbles to the surface, and even Vanessa finally admits that she has changed, and not necessarily for the better. “Super Unknown” finds Vanessa facing the opening leg of her most arduous ordeal yet as she prepares to knock out the Elders one by one, ridding the world, once and for all, of the vampire scourge.
Tonight that changes a bit, and we experience much of what makes classic horror fiction so compelling. For much of its run, Van Helsing has operated as a traditional post-apocalyptic tale so prevalent in contemporary television and film.
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