Dark Ties

**Dark Ties** is the second episode of fourth season of Syfy's *Van Helsing* and the forty-first episode of the series overall.

## Synopsis

As a descendant of the Van Helsing warrior lineage, Vanessa Helsing leads mankind against vampires.

## Plot

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

A group of survivors, among them two women named Jack and Monica, are attacked by several Daywalkers. Vanessa arrives before long and saves them, explaining that the only way to kill a Daywalker is to take its head. Afterward, Monica and Jack beg Vanessa to stay and help them. She reluctantly agrees.

Julius trains Violet. She questions the point of it all if all the action is beyond the gate and barbed wire. Fort Collins is one of the last remaining outposts. They’ve been there over a couple years. Julius believes that Violet’s training is misguided as they’ve been schooling her to fight humans when the real enemy is vampires. He proceeds to show her just how tactical and relentless they are, and how within moments, she’d be dead if confronted by a vampire. While training, she accidentally cuts Julius’ throat. Unaware of his healing ability, she pauses and calls for help. It’s then that Julius grabs her and reminds her that when in battle with vampires to never hesitate and to take their heads. Julius tells Violet that she’s not ready to fight a vampire. She claims that she knows more than he realizes and asks that he meet her tonight.

Doc injects Julius with something to prevent any lingering pain from his training session with Violet. While his body may heal, his pain receptors are still heightened. Julius questions why Doc is helping Hansen. While Doc may not trust him, Avery is after the same thing they are, so Doc figures that they could help each other. The answer is in the blood, Julius’ and Vanessa's. The DNA sequence Doc ran on the blood from the necklace, the genome, was less than a tenth of a percent of human. The blood from the necklace and Vanessa’s blood are virtually identical except something has mutated, and if Doc can figure out why, she can use that to get Jolene and Flesh out of prison.

Vanessa takes a break from reading the Van Helsing book to join the others survivors in the pub for karaoke night. Jack offers Vanessa a beer, explaining that Monica was half way through a micro-brewing course in Portland when the Rising hit. The lights go out while Neil is performing on stage and Monica promises to cook up a new batch of gas tomorrow. Vanessa then decides to join Jack on first watch.

Avery joins Doc in her lab after looking over her work. She believes that Doc is onto something big, but there’s a missing link, and Doc can’t find it, and the day walking mutation is linked somehow. The goal is to hopefully cure the vampire virus and eradicate the species all together. Avery assures Doc not to worry as she’ll put in a good word for her at headquarters and tells Doc to let her know if she needs anything. Doc tells Avery that she left someone out there, who was shipped out to Loveland. Doc just wants to know she’s okay. She also asks to look at some of Avery's records and promises that she’ll only search while waiting for tests to run.

While on watch, Jack shares with Vanessa how she was on a school trip out of state when the Rising happened. By the time she found her way back home through miles of hell, her family was gone. She’s been looking for them ever since. Vanessa shares with Jack how she had a daughter and sister who are both dead. Jack sometimes wonders why she survived while others didn’t. She suspects there’s a purpose to it all that they can’t see. Vanessa agrees that nothing happens on accident and they’re all on a path. And if Vanessa’s to continue down her path, she must stop killing.

Julius and Violet meet up as planned and she takes him to Low Town, where the action is. She takes Julius to a bar. If he wants to figure out how to escape Fort Collins, this is how. He can buy anything in Low Town for a price. Once Julius leaves, Violet and Lee, the bartender scope out the cards table. This is her way of making money and it’s the only chance she’s got of getting out of Fort Collins. Violet asks to join in on the card game, offering her Pearl handled Tokarov as a buy in, it supposedly once belonged to Putin.

Avery brings Doc the records she asked for. All that was salvaged from Denver. If Jolene is in Loveland, then she might find something on the files.

Violet wins the game of cards, though not without angering her opponents. When he pulls a knife out and accuses her of cheating, Lee draws his shotgun, and so the man with the eye-patch leaves. Lee approaches Violet as she leaves and tells her that she owes him. They appear to be in a relationship and proceed to kiss in an alleyway. Afterward, she is attacked by three Daywalkers. Violet pulls out a blade and defends herself to the best of her ability, killing one in the process, but she’s overwhelmed, even after Julius arrives to help. Violet is bitten during the fight, however, she doesn’t turn, rather the vampire that bit her is cured, similar to Vanessa.

Jack catches Vanessa as she tries to sneak off the following morning. She recalls what they discussed about having a path. She suspects that Vanessa’s meant to be with them. Nonetheless, Vanessa leaves. During her journey, she stumbles onto a trap, and while she manages to avoid it, she is held at gunpoint by the person who set it, who she comes to find out is Chad.

Julius and Violet return to Fort Collins, where he assures her that he won’t tell her dad about what happened.

Chad tells Vanessa that Sam killed Mike and all the kids are gone. One by one he lost them all. She wants to take him some place safe, but he insists that he’s fine where he’s at. She asks about the trap. He tells her that the music attracts the vampires and the booby traps snare them. He makes his rounds once a day and pick them off. However, Vanessa knows the trap wasn’t meant for vampires as they’re not interested in the ammunition he used as bait. She offers to help him one last time, but again he refuses.

Julius brings Doc Violet’s blood and asks her to test it as he suspects that she’s a Van Helsing.

Vanessa follows Chad and finds him cutting himself with a knife and bleeding into a bowl. As it turns out, not all the children are gone. He still has one, Tabby, but she’s been turned and he’s been keeping her locked in a cage and feeding her. After realizing he was followed, Chad shoots at Vanessa, but she dodges it and pins him against the wall as she explains that she can turn Tabby back, but he doesn’t believe her, so she knocks Chad out and feeds Tabby. Tabby falls unconscious. Chad awakens and Vanessa explains that sometimes it happens right away, and other times it takes hours, but they always turn back after they drink her blood. Tabby then turns back into human and Chad embraces her. Chad asks Vanessa what is she, to which she replies "The light."

Doc reads over the report of a bus crash involving nine dead prisoners and two missing. She then discovers the truth in Violet’s blood, that she is in fact a Van Helsing. Doc searches for Julius to share with him her discovery, but she is apprehended by Hansen first, who is very much aware of what Doc’s been up to and places her in her cell to protect his daughter. Doc questions if Violet knows, which she doesn’t. She’s Hansen’s adopted daughter, and that’s all she needs to know, he explains. Doc pleads with Hansen to be released as she believes that Violet is the missing piece, but he leaves her locked up.

Vanessa takes Chad and Tabby to Jack and Monica. She assures them that Chad is to be trusted and that he’s a survivor. Before leaving, Vanessa gives Jack her sword, as she doesn’t kill anymore, she saves.

Violet sits in her room and sketches the attack in Low Town. She then passes out, and she finds herself in some kind of dream. She follows the passageway to a locked gate with the initials V and H carved in the upper setting. She is approached by Vanessa, who tells her not to be afraid. Violet then suddenly awakens from her sleep.

## Cast

* Jonathan Scarfe as Axel Miller (credit only)
* Aleks Paunovic as Julius
* Rukiya Bernard as Doc
* Keeya King as Violet Van Helsing
* Nicole Muñoz as Jack Van Helsing
* Neal McDonough as Hansen
* Cassidy Nugent as Tabby
* Ryan Jinn as Lee
* Anna Galvin as Avery
* Tammy Gillis as Monica
* Benjamin Shores as Eye-Patch
* Brian Host as Daywalker / Human
* Jimmy Paul as Karaoke Singer Neil

## Gallery

### Videos

VAN HELSING Season 4, Episode 2 Sneak Peek SYFYVAN HELSING Season 4, Episode 2 What's Happening? SYFYVAN HELSING Season 4, Episode 2 The Farewell SYFY

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Van Helsing - Episode 4.02 - Dark Ties - Synopsis - SpoilerTV