Van Helsing (Season 2) picks up after first with the characters split up, Vanessa has finally found her daughter Dylan who’s a vampire, the Resistance including Fresh has overrun the Citadel, and Mohammad has reunited with his sister, Sheema. Things are bit faster paced now, with the characters separate and traveling through a war torn world. There is more backstory concerning the characters as well as the vampire origins.

I still don’t like Vanessa. She’s still this so called strong female lead that’s clearly a poorly written character. She’s only strong because of the writing and not because she’s grown to be. Look, no one wants a damsel in distress but it would be great to have a character that develops. They try to have this thing where she’s experiencing emotional turmoil due to her daughter but you still don’t give a shit about the character because she gets several people killed because of her daughter and doesn’t bat an eye. But no matter what happens she’ll hold other people’s decisions over their heads.

Joining the cast is Vanessa’s sister, Scarlett. She’s pretty cool but does suffer from some of the flaws of her sister. She comes onto the scene being just as much of a badass with no developing arc and shitty backstory up until her relationship to Vanessa is further explored. Another great character added to the bunch is Lucky who bands with Flesh who’s with the Resistance. She’s cool but doesn’t get much of the spotlight. I like the development between her and Flesh. The good guys are joined by Julius who has now been turned human. Didn’t know what to think of the character at first and I like him as a badass villain but he’s actually a really good protagonist. He’s got a cool backstory and a great personality.

Sam this time around is one of the bad guys, having being revealed to be a serial killer in the first season and turned into a vampire. He’s really cool being a particularly nasty vampire. He does a lot of nasty stuff this season and there is this rivalry developed between him and Vanessa. Honestly, he has more personality than Vanessa and I ended up rooting for him. It’s nice to see he’s got this obsession with Mohammad, clearly the biggest weakness of this madman that creates an interesting subplot.

The setup is further explored with the writing taking the series in some pretty interesting directions. One of my all time favorite television shows is Z Nation and it has that kind of feel to it, where it’s not afraid to go in some insane directions. Factions like the Sisterhood and the various survivors that the group encounters.

The Verdict:  In the end, Van Helsing (Season 2) is just great. Many aspects of the previous season are expounded upon such as the backstories, involvement of the characters, and overall expansion of the world itself. I still don’t like Vanessa, and was thoroughly disappointed at her survival especially when some good characters are turned or killed off. I’m hopeful of the third season, though I pray that Vanessa seriously has a major character change. Still, I really enjoy this season. Van Helsing (Season 2) gets 4 out of 5.