We’re back with episode 2 of Helstrom. This episode gives us a little more in the way of lore building and character work, but is it enough? It’s primarily focused on Ana (who I’m still assuming is just going by “Ana” as a shortened version of “Satana”), so let’s see what we get from her in “Viaticum.”
1. Ana and Daimon
One of the core elements of this show appears to be the relationship between the Helstrom siblings. We get something of a heart-to-heart between them where we see plenty of pent-up resentment.
While Daimon has been watching over their mother (as best he can, all things considered) and thinks the two of them can exorcise her if they work together. Ana, on the other hand, is ready to let go. She wants to “unburden” herself and say goodbye.
But there’s clearly some resentment she harbors towards Daimon as well. When he says they’ve been through things no one else has, she retorts she’s been through more than him. Daimon says he reached out to her in the past, but she never replied.
It sounds like this resentment comes from when they were split apart. Ana was the one kidnapped by their father, then she was institutionalized and sent off to foster homes. Daimon, meanwhile, was more or less raised by Dr. Hastings – a line Ana drops suggests Hastings could have taken care of them both, but chose not to.
So there’s definitely some issues they’ll have to work through as the show goes on.
2. Ana and Her Mother
Of course, Ana’s story doesn’t stop at Daimon. We also see her speak with her mother. Well, more like the thing possessing her mother.
When Ana first sees her mother, she’s unresponsive, like when Daimon first saw her. So naturally, Ana’s response is to smack her across the face. When told that the best way to get her lucid, even if for just a minute, is to share a memory of the two of them. Ana’s memory is less than happy – it involves the time she received an emerald pin from her father, which her mother quickly slapped away. The line about “you knew what he was, and you still stayed” creates a stark parallel to families with abusive parents, which will almost certainly be a recurring theme this season.
Once again, we get Elizabeth Marvel doing a well-timed switch between “motherly” and “possessed” voices when she finally starts talking. She drops some foreshadowing for what’s to come, which almost certainly involves their father.
3. Demons
In episode 1, we saw Daimon deal with a fake possession. In episode 2, we encounter a real one. The trucker who got attacked at the end of the last episode is now possessed, and lies down on the road to act as bait to hurt even more people.
(Also, there was a noticeable continuity error in this scene, where the oncoming car parked right in front of his body in one shot, then is clearly farther away as the driver approaches in the next.)
Apparently what these demons like to do is possess people, get them killed, then move on to the next body. They absorb their victims’ energy at the point of death, but also, they just enjoy it. Hey, no one ever said evil had to be nuanced. There’s nothing particularly subtle about this character – he got people killed, now he’s just trying to cause a little more pain before the body he’s possessing expires, whether through mocking Daimon and Sister Gabriela or telling his host’s wife he cheated on her.
So we learn a little more about these beings, or at least their general M.O. More importantly, the demon mentions that Ana sends them “promising new recruits,” though the how was not specified. Is it from the people she kills, or is there something else she’s doing behind the scenes?
4. What’s With the Skull
Speaking of Ana’s work, we also see Chris Yen, her business partner at the auction house. I felt he and Ana bounced off each other well as characters, and we could see how her behavior frustrated him without it making us take either of them less seriously.
Continued belowYeah, that was never going to last.
Apparently Ana felt the best place to leave a cyclops demon’s skull is in the middle of their vault, with just an easily-removed sheet covering it. Chris takes one look at it and it seems to immediately get into his head. The next thing you know he’s feeding it his own blood, killing people on its orders… and then splitting open his chest to reveal a gigantic maw and apparently eating the corpse.
So much for that part of the supporting cast.
5. A Secret Organization
We had one other short scene in the middle of the episode featuring Henry, the Caretaker, who explored the crypt with Ana last episode. He identified the demon skull and knows about the Helstroms, so there’s clearly a lot we have to learn about his character. The fact that he’s also called Caretaker creates some ties to the Marvel universe, particularly the “Ghost Rider” comics.
Well, we see him in San Francisco, talking to an unknown woman. They discuss how the Helstrom siblings being together will be a problem, and what Caretaker has to do if Ana “steps out of line.” So we have another interested party ready to get involved in the Helstrom family’s business, although what their end goal is has yet to be seen.
Two episodes in and the show is setting as much groundwork as it can. We’ll see how much it pays off in time, but for all this episode did to tell us about Ana, it has yet to get us really invested in them. Let’s see if episode 3 gets any better.
