Helstrom episode 6 Television 

Five Thoughts on Helstrom’s “Leviathan”

By | November 23rd, 2020
Posted in Television | % Comments

I have two options when I open Hulu: I can watch the Animaniacs revival, or I can watch another episode of Helstrom so I can let you all know the important bits while sparing yourselves 45 minutes of half-hearted disinterest.

I do this for you, dear readers.

1. Ana’s Relationships

Daimon spends the majority of this episode driving back to the hospital, which gives us more time with Ana. This gives us a look at three different pieces of her as she talks to the other characters.

With Yen, we see her actually show a little sympathy. It’s a more human, even vulnerable moment, the kind we rarely see with her. At the same time, she denies having ever cried when she was separated from her family as a child. How exactly Yen ever would have know that is not addressed.

With her mother and Hastings, it’s a little more antagonistic. She tells Victoria to skip the small talk, and mostly just demands to know if she knew her husband was a serial killer and why she didn’t leave. Victoria’s response is very much in line with the nature of abuse and how abusers prevent their victims from leaving.

While she’ll butt heads with Hastings, at least they can more or less work together when things go south. Hastings even apologizes near the end for not taking Ana in way back when, like she did with Daimon. How much that apology means to Ana, or if she even accepts it, is not fully shown.

But she does save Hastings’ life later on, so at least that’s something.

2. Stuck on the Road

Meanwhile, Daimon is mostly just dealing with car trouble. Sure, he spends some time cleaning up the bodies and complaining about The Blood, but there’s not much new there. It’s unclear how much he actually knew about them; he clearly knows Caretaker belongs to some sort of organization, but the comatose possession patients is new news to him, and apparently he didn’t know what they were even called.

Well, as he and Gabriella are driving back, they get a flat tire. Naturally, they get ambushed by possessed people as they’re waiting for the tire to get replaced. So did a demon use its psychic powers to cause the tire to pop, then set up an ambush? Were they just following them and took advantage of the opportunity?

Either way, we get a very brief fight scene, consisting mostly of Daimon standing in place and glaring as things get knocked around and people get tossed about. At one point he even stares so hard at someone he spontaneously combusts, which once again pretty much drains everything he’s got. It kind of feels like his most impressive show of force was when he created a circle of fire around him in episode 1, and that was just to scare a kid.

Look, I’m not saying we need big, crazy gestures every time they use their powers, but can we at least get more physicality than “head tilted down, brows furrowed, hands at the side, and staring really hard at something” every now and then?

3. Yen to the… Rescue?

For a moment, it seemed like Chris Yen was recovering, and we’d have him back as a capable character that can keep pace with Ana. But of course, that was just an act, as the keeper demon skull continues to compel him.

Naturally, when the possessed posse attacks and the powers gets shut down, the first thing he does is go after the skull. That’s actually fortuitous, since a new possession victim (Dr. Lawrence) stole it and was getting ready to smash it (after a bit of monologuing, of course). So Yen comes in with an axe to save the skull… then just sits there with it until Ana and the others catch up.

So after all this time showing how the skull was basically controlling his thoughts and behavior, what does it take to get it away from him? Apparently, all Ana has to do is admit he was right, and she did cry when she was younger.

Then he hands it over without hesitation.

That’s… underwhelming. What, was the keeper demon just waiting for Ana to admit she could feel emotions? Was admitting Yen was right (about something he’d really have no way of knowing) significant enough to help him break hold of it? Because it looks to me like it’s just a cheap way to give the main characters the MacGuffin in time for big fight.

Continued below

4. A Mother’s Sacrifice

So here’s the scene: the cast (except for Caretaker) are all together. They have the keeper demon skull. They’re in the hospital, and the returned Helstrom father (currently possessing a man named Pete, so we’ll just call him that for now) has a crew of demons on the hunt for them.

The keeper demon can be used to seal Pete away again, but there’s a catch: doing so would mean losing its grip on Victoria, allowing her to be possessed again.

Naturally, Daimon is opposed, while Ana is for it. Once again, this shows where their priorities lie: Daimon’s top concern is saving their mother, while Ana’s is to stop their father.

In the end, it’s Victoria who gets the final vote, and to the show’s credit, it’s consistent with what we saw of her character last episode. She said that she would put the safety of her children above herself, and she did, telling them that she’s willing to sacrifice herself if it means stopping Pete.

So hey, props for the character consistency. She also tells Daimon that he was right to call the police on her, so maybe he’ll stop blaming himself for it in every episode from here on out.

5. If Not Him, Then Who?

At last, we get a fight scene with the whole Helstrom family. Daimon and Ana use their powers as best they can, while Pete tosses them around with relative ease and Victoria tries to retrieve the skull. In a dramatic moment, it looks like Daimon has lost – Pete’s stomach splits open to reveal a gigantic, tooth-filled maw (which I still say is an incredibly ineffective way of finishing someone off, but you do you, Pete) and he stands over him, menacing and monologuing.

Then Ana shoves the keeper demon’s skull in his stomach-face and he burns up. Well, mostly burns up; there’s still a burnt half-body with enough strength left in it to shout angrily.

Of course, there are still four episodes left, so it’s not over yet. Instead, Victoria’s demon takes over (now that the skull has been used up), pulls the body into a truck, and they drive away.

Who’s driving the truck? Why, it’s none other than the possessed priest from a few episodes back. He was part of Pete’s group attacking the hospital, and got knocked out by Ana earlier in the episode.

How did he get in the truck? That’s another question. Did he somehow sneak into it in the middle of the fight scene and get ready for a suitably dramatic moment? Was he just waiting there this entire time? Or is it the most likely case: that the writers just decided to have him there so someone could drive the truck while Victoria and Pete look menacing.

Now the episode can’t end without a last-minute twist. So we get the reveal that Pete, this dangerous foe who tossed around the Helstroms without breaking a sweat, is not their father. I guess he’s just some other powerful demon who can mark people for possession, or maybe an underling for their father.

Will we get the reveal of where their dad really is? Is he actually Satan? I suppose we’ll have to stay tuned and see.

Until then, I’ll be marathoning the new Animaniacs.


//TAGS | Helstrom

Robbie Pleasant

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