Helstrom Season 1 Episode 6: Leviathan Recap

In episode 6, Ana spends time with Victoria and Chris at the hospital while Daimon and Gabriella make their way back to St Teresa’s. The horror hotel demons make life difficult for everyone. Spivey visits his human host’s home and family.

Recap

Mrs Spivey locks her children in a room so they’re safe and don’t witness whatever is about to happen between her and her husband. Former Nurse, now Demon Spivey has returned home for the first time since his possession and his wife is frightened and confused. While he’s been gone, she’s been questioned by the authorities and didn’t know what to tell them. As he searches in a desk for something, she begs him to explain what’s going on with him.

He doesn’t answer her questions. He finds his St Teresa’s hospital security badge and attaches it to the scrubs he’s wearing, then strides toward his wife. Roughly, he pulls her toward him as if he’s going to kiss her. Instead, he bites her lip, hard, while she screams.

This is the 3rd demon who’s bitten someone. I stand by my theory that biting can be used to mark someone for possession the way a slash can.

Spivey’s children watch from the window as he walks to the car where possessed Father Crow is waiting for him. We aren’t told whether their mom was possessed or eaten.

Ana and Chris share some crunchy, powdery snacks in Chris’s hospital cell, then he asks for a napkin. Ana takes this as a sign that he’s returning to his normal self. She tells him that she covered for him with his boyfriend, Derrick. He tries to thank her, but she tells him it was a tactical move. Since Derrick is a cop, she was afraid he’d get worried and send a SWAT team to the office.

Ana asks what Keeper demon said to him when he was in the tunnel. Chris says he can’t remember specifics. He could just feel and understand what it wanted. She asks if it wanted him to kill her mother. He doesn’t know- maybe.

Ana says that he would have done them a favor if he’d been successful. “Daimon’s the one who would have been pissed.”

Chris: “Oh please. You didn’t always hate your mom.”

Ana: “What are you talking about?”

Chris: “When you first got to the foster home, you cried for her.”

Ana: “I don’t cry.”

Chris: “You did cry. You ugly cried. Sometimes it was just in your sleep, but other times, you couldn’t hold it in. We would hide in the basement until it stopped. It’s okay to miss your mom, Ana. Not the thing that’s puppet-mastering her, but your actual mom.”

Ana asks if he’s done and makes a couple of other snarky comments to try to end the conversation. He reminds her that she could visit her mother right now. Not everyone has a mother who’s still alive. Ana promises to visit Victoria if it will make him happy.

😭 😭 😭 The friendship between these two just makes me so emotional. It’s not everyone who can handle you ugly crying in the basement or eating rats with a skull in a tunnel; who’ll fight their brother to save you or insist you talk to your mom, even if it makes you mad; and who you can share your love of vigilante justice, expensive shoes and antique weaponry with.

She knocks on the door to leave. Chris tries to follow her, but he’s still obsessively picking and scratching at the bandaged bites on his arms. When she tells him that Hastings still wants him under observation and so does she, he becomes frantic again, yelling for the skull.

Ana asks Ellis, the guard, to let her and Hastings know how Chris does. He continues to yell in the background. Ellis says the patients usually settle once they’ve had their meds. Ana smiles with affection and says Chris is a special case.

Daimon finishes checking and covering bodies at the horror hotel, then goes to the room where Gabriella is packing up files and tells her he put the rest of the boxes in the car. He talked to Louise, but Caretaker isn’t answering his phone. He wonders why Louise never told him about the hotel and why Taker did tell Gabriella.

Gabby guesses that Louise knew Daimon would want to shut the hotel down. He immediately proves her point by saying that he doesn’t care about what The Blood want and he looks forward to telling them that.

Gabriella prepares to leave, saying they should get him back to Victoria. He stops her and says she was right to bring him here. She wishes she’d done it sooner. He tells her that the deaths aren’t her fault. She wants to make sure the dead receive a proper burial. He assures her they will.

She asks if he thinks his dad was responsible for the attack. He tells her that demons will only follow someone with real power. The hotel would have been much more chaotic if the demons had simply been set free.

Daimon: “What happened here was organized. Get in, kill The Blood, take the patients.”

But Daimon has no idea what he wants with the patients. Gabriella hesitates to go back into the hall until Daimon tells her that he covered the bodies. They find one more elderly possessed woman still in the hall. She’s dying and too weak to fight. Gabriella tells Daimon to let her do Last Rites before he removes the demon.

They note that they are each performing a ritual traditionally reserved for priests. Once Gabby is through most of the prayer ritual, Daimon does the exorcism. This is the first time we’ve seen a demon go quietly. The freed woman tells them her name, then dies.

They were at least able to give her a good death and free her soul.

Ana buys a sandwich for Chris in the hospital cafeteria while Louise tells her that Victoria is alone. Ana thought Daimon was with his mother- she refers to his serious mommy issues.

Louise: “The Blood have been putting possessed people in comas and locking them in a hotel… The patients have disappeared. Daimon thinks someone woke them up… Several people were killed.”

Ana figures out that this was their father’s doing. She tries to call Taker, saying The Blood are his people. Louise says she’s tried him a dozen times herself, with no luck. His voice mail’s full.

She wants Ana to stay with Victoria and keep her lucid while she does rounds. When Daimon gets back they can figure out what to do about their father. Ana doesn’t want to worry about her mother when her father is a threat. Louise says they can multitask. Victoria is fighting for her relationship with Ana. Ana doesn’t believe her.

Louise tells her that it’s easier to fight a monster than to work things out with a person, but she shouldn’t take this time for granted. BUT please don’t talk about the demon army or the dead demon hunters with Victoria. Emotional closeness doesn’t have to mean honesty!!

Victoria’s back in her padded room with the Keeper skull in a children’s backpack Louise found in the hospital lost and found. She makes some chitchat and proves her sense of humor is similar to Ana’s. Ana gets impatient and demands they go straight to the real talk.

She asks if Victoria knew Daddy was a serial killer. Victoria says no- he hid it from her until he wanted her to know. He was charming and kind in her presence. She’d occasionally see clues around the edges, but then he’d be the man she knew again.

Ana is angry with her mother, because her father never hid who he was from her, especially when they were on the road during his killing spree. But that was many years later, when he’d dropped the facade with Victoria as well.

It’s a common story with abusers. Publicly, and in the beginning with their victims, they seem too good to be true. Over time, the facade drops and the victim is worn down. Children see the real parent rather than the public facade, and grow up thinking abusive behavior is normal. The abuser’s public facade as a good person usually remains in place, no matter how bad the abuse is at home, while the victims may become too traumatized to maintain their public front, as happened with Victoria.

Eventually Papa Helstrom got too confident and brought Victoria gifts that had belonged to the women he killed. That broke his spell for Victoria and she began to see him as he really was.

Ana asks why Victoria didn’t stop him or take her kids and run.

Victoria: “He didn’t make mistakes. You know that. Your father only let me see who he was because he wanted me to. He wanted me to experience every moment of his cruelty.”

Ana decides the room is depressing and they should do something different.

Gabriella is driving herself and Daimon back to the hospital. She’s in a hurry to get back and he’s criticizing her driving. She thinks they should get back in case his father shows up but he thinks they should find the possessed woman’s family. Gabby thinks there’s no need for the woman’s family to know about the recurring nightmares she lived through. She thinks he needs to talk to his mother about her nightmares.

He really, really, really thinks they don’t need to rush back to the hospital. She should definitely drive slower.

He wants to skip this phase of his life and get to the part that’s less awkward. I wonder who this Daimon is- when has his life ever been less awkward?

Gabriella reminds him she’s read his entire file. He’s clearly not happy that he can’t hide from her and pretend he’s had a normal, boring life- there’s no point in trying to put up a facade or a wall. But he actually begins to talk about when he had his mom committed, the guilt he still feels, and his fear that she’ll reject him out of a sense of betrayal.

Gabriella tells him, “All mothers have an endless supply of empathy when it comes to their children.”

That’s a lovely sentiment. I think it’s true in Victoria’s case. It’s certainly not true of every mother. But once any decent mother came back to her senses, the way Victoria has, she would be happy that Daimon took care of himself when she couldn’t and upset that things got so far out of hand before the neglect was stopped.

Gabriella tells Daimon he should have some empathy for himself. If only he would listen to her. She’s turned out to be a pretty good counselor- which isn’t surprising, since she came highly recommended from the Vatican 😘.

One of the tires blows out at that moment. Gabriella doesn’t have a spare, so they keep driving to a gas station that’s only a few minutes away. The friendly mechanic at the station says he can replace the tire just as quickly as a tow truck can get there, so they decide to wait for him to do it.

Daimon calls Louise to give her an update. She still hasn’t heard back from Taker and is worried that the demon army has gotten to him. Instead of consoling her because her close friend is missing, Daimon is surly and critical.

After using his employee’s badge to enter the building, Spivey murders Ellis the guard in the guard’s office before Ellis can push the alarm button. Then he goes to Victoria’s room and punches the door off its hinges, but she’s not there.

Victoria and Ana are outside in the hospital garden. She’s trying to win Ana back with stories from her childhood, before her kidnapping. Ana brings up the presents her father gave her after his trips and wonders why he would give them to her. She remembers her mother slapped them out of her hand.

Victoria says she couldn’t tell Ana what they really were, then.

Victoria: “He always said how much you two were alike. His very own Athena, progeny sprung from his head. When I look at you, my beautiful daughter, do you know what I see? My smile. My strength. My BS detector. He forgot you are as much mine as you are his.”

Ana holds her head up higher as Victoria speaks. She desperately needed to hear that, and, more importantly, she accepts it as the truth. They are Viking mother and daughter, battle weary but still strong, not beaten.

If only someone could get Daimon to internalize that no one blames him but him. It took strength to survive what he’s been through and to save himself and his mother. He’s the one who characterizes it as weakness and betrayal. But he also runs away from facing issues, so they never get fixed, even with therapy, whereas Ana runs toward confronting and dealing with her past and her present. It seems that Victoria does, too.

Ana gives her mother a gift in return. She shares her memory of going to the zoo and counting spots on the giraffe. They remember together that Victoria made sure Ana got a small toy giraffe on every trip. As they head back inside, Victoria wishes that Daimon had pulled away from her and made a life of his own the way that Ana did.

Daimon and Gabriella step inside the shop at the station to buy a drink, but the attendant is missing. They go back outside to look around and hear a suspicious noise. Daimon tells her to get in the car and lock the door, so she does.

I don’t know why people on TV think they are safe in locked cars. Worst trope ever. Cars have glass windows on all sides. In a car, you can’t hide and you can’t run. The glass may be shatterproof, but it’s still breakable. If you’re not using the car to drive away, don’t freakin’ hide in it when you’ve got the entire outdoors and a building you could use. Locking herself in the bathroom would have at least gotten Gabriella out of sight and behind a solid door.

These sexist demons would never think to look for her in the mens room.

And Daimon could have flown a tire iron over to her as she ran inside for her to use as a weapon, so that she wasn’t left defenseless.

Remember how I said last episode that Daimon’s first instinct is always wrong? Prime example. I know he always means well, but geez, he needs a full time handler badly. Louise already has too much on her plate. Gabby needs to get up to speed quickly and learn how to boss him around the way his foster mom does.

I realize now that I’ve seen the real Victoria and a calmer Ana that Daimon is bereft without strong women running his life.

But we had a demon war to fight…

Daimon finds the mechanic dead, still under the car he was working on. A British demon says hello and explains that a couple of them have been sent to keep him busy. Daimon fusses at him for murdering the mechanic. The demon basically reminds Daimon that he’s a demon, dude. It’s part of the job description.

Gabriella realizes how dumb it is to sit in the car and gets out, but she waited too long and now a bearded demon is waiting for her. Oops. He grabs her from behind. She yells for Daimon.

British demon is all disappointed in Daimon already, for not living up to the example set by Papa Helstrom. Daimon hates being demeaned and he realizes his women are in danger. He throws the demon, then throws shelves of tires on top of the demon.

Outside, bearded demon takes out a huge knife and says he’s going to find the juiciest part of Gabriella. Daimon sets him on fire with his eyeballs. It’s pretty cool.

Once bearded demon burns up, Daimon ruins the moment by saying he couldn’t stop himself from murdering the demon and human, then collapses to his knees.

Hon, if there’s one mistake a woman will forgive you for, it’s burning up the guy with the hunting knife who was about to carve out her internal organs. Own it, okay?

Gabriella tells him the same thing.

There’s not enough time to exorcise the entire demon army and save people who aren’t possessed, too. Sadly, the demon army’s hosts were already doomed and probably aren’t in great shape anyway, so save your family and friends. It’s okay.

As Ana wheels Victoria down the hall, she has flashbacks to her father driving her away from Daimon and Victoria. She takes it as a sign and stops to tell Victoria that her father is back and on the loose with a demon army. Victoria asks if he’s coming there and how they kill him.

Man, I love that woman.

Ana says she doesn’t know, but to keep hold of the skull, no matter what.

Louise finds Ellis’ body and goes straight to her office. She pulls her demon fighting supplies out of the safe (looks like drugs and her baton), then tells a guard to lock down the ward. She finds Ana and Victoria and tells them about Ellis. Ana unstraps Victoria from the wheelchair so she has a fighting chance on her own.

A guard reports that the facility was already locked down, from the outside. Then the main lights go out and the emergency lights go on. Obviously a thunder and lightning storm starts. You can’t have a mass demon attack in a spooky asylum without one.

Daimon and Gabriella take a vehicle and rush back to the hospital. Daimon calls ahead to warn Ana that the attacks on the hotel and his car was set up so their father could attack the hospital.

Spivey, Father Crow and a possessed patient question Dr Lawrence, but he doesn’t cooperate, so Spivey slashes his neck, marking him for possession. By the time Louise, Ana and Victoria find him, he’s possessed and waiting for them. He surprises them and steals the Keeper skull, running off with it. Louise makes Ana wait for Daimon before she goes after the skull or her father, since Spivey almost killed her the last time she fought him alone.

Spivey releases the patients, including the violent ones. They’re already unsettled because they can hear demon whisperings in their heads. Chris goes straight for the emergency fire ax, showing he and Keeper demon work well together and have an affinity for axes.

When Daimon and Gabriella arrive at the hospital, she tells him she’s not staying in the car. Good choice. He doesn’t argue. He just uses his telekinesis to unlock the chains on the hospital door. At least the others aren’t trapped inside now.

Louise and Ana get some of the patients back to their rooms, then Ana decides to go back to the fight. Louise wants to go with her, but Ana doesn’t want to be slowed down. 

Louise: “I’m sorry, Ana, for whatever it’s worth.”

Ana: “About what?”

Louise: “I should have taken you in. I didn’t understand what you could do. I didn’t think I was strong enough. I was wrong.”

Ana: “Try not to get killed.” 

So much healing happening in this episode. 😭 😭 😭

Ana runs into the possessed female patient and Father Cross downstairs.

Father Cross: “He says we can have you now.”

They fight. Louise shows up and helps out with the female patient. Ana gets hold of each demon’s neck and drains them both of their life force at the same time. Once they’re unconscious, she drops them. Louise asks if they’re… Ana answers that they’re asleep, not dead, but she feels like she’s ready to run a marathon. It’s confirmation that she has some form of succubus ability to drain someone’s energy and use it herself, but she doesn’t have to have sex to use her power. Thank you for that, show.

Victoria waits in an empty office and watches the surveillance monitors. She gets up as a possessed patient comes for her. Daimon arrives just in time to send the demon flying and knock him out. He and Victoria hug, then he introduces her to Gabriella. She gives Gabriella a strange look.

Ex-Dr Lawrence sits alone with the Keeper skull and tells it that once Spivey catches up to them, they’ll smash it into tiny pieces. Chris finds them first and takes his ax the the ex-doctor’s head instead. Ana and Louise find Chris sitting on the floor with the skull. He tells her that he got the skull for her and says it has “His mark on it- born in blood. You could use it to stop him.”

But when Ana reaches for the skull, he pulls away. She reconnects with him by extending the memory he shared earlier. 

Ana: “That place we used to hide? It wasn’t the basement. It was Mr Fowler’s workshop. The smell of freshly cut wood, it calmed my insides. You were right. I did miss her.”

He gives her the skull and they leave to continue the fight. To my frustration, Chris leaves his ax behind. I’m glad Louise witnessed this side of Ana and Chris. What did Chris mean by “his mark”? Can he read ancient demonic now? Was he referring to the consumption symbol or one of the many other symbols carved into the skull?

They meet up with Daimon, Gabriella and Victoria in front of the elevator. Daimon says they need to send Victoria down to the loading dock so that she’s standing alone, outside, in the dark, and thus safe in his mind. Then he and Ana can figure out how to beat their father.

Ana votes for the team sticking together while fighting to seal Daddy and Keeper back up together. Daimon asks if their mother is supposed to live in the cave with Keeper so Kthara is kept at bay permanently. Ana thinks their father should be first priority, since he’s so dangerous. Then they can figure out how to help Victoria. Daimon has been trying to get Kthara out of his mother for 20 years, so that isn’t an appealing option.

Victoria takes in her children’s argument, then speaks up.

Victoria: “My only job was to keep my children safe and I failed.”

Daimon: “Mom.”

Victoria: (to Ana) “I wish he had taken me instead of you. I wish I could absorb all of your pain. (to Daimon) I’m so proud of you, Daimon.”

Daimon: “Mom, we need to go.”

Victoria: “You were there when I needed you most. If you hadn’t called the police that night, I would’ve died a long time ago.”

Daimon: “You’re not doing this.” 

Victoria: “Ana’s right. This is how we end it. Here and now. As a family.”

😭 😭 😭 The bell for the elevator rings and the door opens. Did they really have to invoke Steve Rogers and his classic, epic elevator fight of truth and justice, too? 😭 😭 Just go ahead and cut my heart out.

Gird your loins, people.

The elevator is empty. This is not those other Marvel shows.

Spivey bursts through the hallway doors, framed so that we understand just how huge and powerful he is. People and sparks fly. Bravehearted Gabriella runs at him. He grabs her head and pushes her aside, then takes Victoria by the throat and drags her into the elevator. They face the room as the doors close, Victoria in shock and Spivey smug.

Daimon rushes to the closed elevator doors to pry them open, but they won’t budge. He says Spivey has sealed the doors shut, but realistically, once the elevator has moved away from that floor, what good would it do him to open those doors anyway? Shouldn’t they be racing for the stairwell?

Which is what Ana says, right after she picks up the bag with Keeper skull in it. Daimon stops to check on Gabriella, who is holding her head, but says she’s okay. 

When they get outside, Spivey is telling Victoria to stand still near a truck. His skin is bubbling. Ana says that being so close to Keeper is affecting him. She moves closer to Spivey and calls out to get his attention, while Daimon goes around the side toward Victoria. Spivey easily beats up Ana and throws her into a windshield, where she remains, stunned. Keeper skull falls out of the backpack and rolls under the truck near Victoria.

Daimon takes over the fight, throwing large objects at Spivey. Victoria crawls under the truck to get Keeper. Ana wakes up just as Spivey’s skin is deteriorating even more from the skull. Daimon is losing, but he defiantly tells Spivey that he, Ana and Victoria are family. Spivey/Papa Helstrom can’t break that. 

Spivey stands over Daimon and opens up his demon stomach mouth- Abdomen Dentata? Victoria gets hold of the skull and holds it up where Ana can see it. Ana shoves it into Spivey’s open abdomen, where it fits perfectly in the gaping cavity. He screams and bursts into flames.

I think Daimon burned him, but it could have been due to contact with the skull. It’s worth noting that Daimon doesn’t collapse after burning up Spivey. He’s getting stronger as he uses this power more or it’s fueled by his negative feelings. The skull is gone when Spivey’s done burning, so Daimon might have lost control again for a minute. Ana looked intense as well, so she may have been adding her life force draining powers as well. She usually touches her victims, but not always.

Spivey isn’t quite dead and is still possessed. Ana kneels down next to him as he writhes on the pavement.

Ana: “It must have been so confusing for you, how I would never fall in line. You should have clarity, before slithering back into the pit that created you. I am nothing like you. I never will be.”

She stands up to walk away. Laughing bitterly, Spivey catches hold of her ankle. She looks sick as he sends her a psychic message.

Suddenly, he’s pulled into the back of the truck by Victoria, who’s been taken over by Kthara once again. She says she hopes they said goodbye to their mother. Demon Father Crow drives the truck away.

Daimon promises Ana that they’ll find Victoria and says at least they disabled their father. Ana says he’s wrong. Spivey wasn’t possessed by their father.

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Commentary

Well, that seemed like it was basically all planned by the demons, except the part where they wrecked Spivey. Other than that, and kidnapping Daimon or Ana, I think the demons have gotten everything they wanted. Keeper skull destroyed, several members of The Blood murdered, Kthara set free, horror hotel demons set free, Taker missing, Ana and Daimon alive but injured and demoralised, Louise terminally ill, Gabriella injured. It’s a good day to be a demon.

On the other hand, Spivey has been the Big Bad all season and he’s out of commission. That’s a big win, no matter who’s operating the freaky stomach mouth. And all of the good guys have had the necessary emotional moments so that they can work together without so much arguing from now on. There are still half demons and whatever Chris and Taker are involved, so it won’t be smooth emotional sailing, but some of the worst issues have at least been touched on so they aren’t so raw.

I’m so glad that Victoria had the chance to tell Daimon that he was right to turn her in and saved her life by doing so. And that she recognized his devotion to her. He stuck by her through some very tough, thankless times. It’s so rare for long term caregivers get the appreciation they deserve for that kind of emotional and physical slog with a disabled relative, especially from someone who’s mentally impaired. It’s not the fault of the disabled person- it’s just the way it is.

But I didn’t expect to be so moved by seeing Victoria briefly come to her senses, have the chance to say the things that really needed saying, then lose her mind again. How many of us would give a fortune for that chance with someone? Or to hear the words she said to her children?

Everything she said was perfect and beautiful. There was no backhandedness in it, no blame or excuses. Just love for her children, appreciation for the care Daimon had given her and regret for what she couldn’t do for Ana. Which does require forgiveness.

Time for a little more conspiracy theory- Was Taker unable to physically get too close to Keeper without it affecting him negatively, same as Spivey? When we met Taker, he’d already found the crypt, which had been broken into by Spivey. He called Ana to come with him to investigate the inside, then he let her be the one to get close. She was the one who took the skull, which proved to be a useful weapon. Taker knew what it was, but didn’t suggest they take it.

Then Taker was weird about the skull when Chris had it in the antiques warehouse. He kept himself and Daimon away from Chris and Keeper skull in the tunnel. He disappeared as soon as Victoria started keeping it in her lap. By then he knew it wouldn’t hurt Ana and Daimon. That was also about the same time that Taker would have been notified about Spivey’s attack on the horror hotel, so as with so much with this show, it’s hard to tell what’s coincidence and what matters. 

What was Ana’s flashback in the hospital hall about? Even if Spivey wasn’t Mr Helstrom, was the real Helstrom nearby, sending psychic messages to Ana? Was that memory a sign that he wants to take her again? That was the deal that Bryce/Magoth presented to Daimon- Spivey would get Ana and Victoria would be healed. Victoria was herself, briefly, but neither Helstrom child went along with the deal, so they lost her. Or did they always intend to take both Ana and Victoria/Kthara? Maybe they were just keeping Daimon distracted, like they said. They got Victoria, but still need to kidnap one of the Helstrom children.

But if Spivey isn’t Daddy Helstrom, then who is he? Where is Daddy Helstrom? What do the demons want with his family?

I love this show so much for the double elevator fight fake out. First, the empty elevator, then Spivey busts through the hallway doors, then the classic Marvel hallway fight isn’t much of a fight because he’s just too powerful, THEN, Spivey and Victoria get on the elevator and stand there like everything is normal, because, again, Spivey is so powerful that he just wiped the floor with them.

Which leads to them beating him at the loading dock, because he becomes overconfident. While the beginning of The Walking Dead’s theme plays. And then their mother becomes their enemy again and kidnaps Spivey’s remains. NOBODY CAN WIN ON THIS SHOW.

Energy doesn’t die, it just transforms or transfers, so ultimately, every contest is a tie. We are the walking dead.

Images courtesy of Hulu.