[Warning: General spoilers ahead.]
Syfy kicks off its fall Thursday night lineup this week with the second season premiere of Van Helsing at 9/8c and the series premiere of Ghost Wars at 10/9c.
The Van Helsing premiere, written by showrunner Neil LaBute, picks up immediately with where Season 1 ended, as Vanessa (Kelly Overton) finds herself face-to-face with Rebecca (Laura Mennell) and a now vamped-out Dylan (Hannah Cheramy), Taka (Ryan Robbins) confronts Dmitri (Paul Johansson), and Mohamed (Trezzo Moharo) follows his sister, the vampire familiar Sheema (Naika Toussaint).
All of this times out with the Resistance raid, which finds Flesh (Vincent Gale) trying to reach Vanessa. Everything gets complicated and messy pretty quickly. No spoilers here, but the first hour puts to bed some of the first season arcs and kicks the door open on new ones. It also maintains the bloody bar set by Season 1, so fair warning that it’s not been watered down for the earlier timeslot.
New series Ghost Wars wasn’t available for advance review but it’s the brainchild of Continuum and Van Helsing‘s showrunner Simon Barry, who executive produces with Motive‘s Dennis Heaton. That pairing lends itself to some friendly alumni casting out of both of their shows, including Motive star Kristin Lehman–who stars and steps behind the camera to direct this season, Tim Guinee, and Luvia Peterson.
Here’s what we know going in: When the remote Alaskan town of Port Moore is cut off from civilization thanks to an invading army of deadly ghosts, its residents must band together to survive. Dark secrets, bigger threats, a shadowy organization, and a deeper mystery could threaten any hopes they have of survival.
Avan Jogia (Tut) plays Roman, a local outcast who’s been plagued by his lifelong ability to communicate with the spirit world. Yearning to be left alone by both the living and the dead, he must overcome the town’s prejudices and his own demons in order to harness his repressed psychic powers and save everyone from the mass haunting.
Vincent D’Onofrio is Reverend Dan, who suffered a crisis of faith about his congregation’s flagging membership before the ghost lockdown turned things around.
Kristin Lehman is Marilyn, the town doctor, and Peterson plays her wife, Val. We don’t know any more than that yet. Kim Coates is Jimmy, a former fisherman who uses his boat to smuggle contraband into Port Moore.
Kandyse McClure is Landis, a pragmatic young research scientist who hails from a small town and wasn’t eager to return to another one, but she put career first to come to Port Moore.
Meat Loaf Aday is the troubled and angry Doug, who is haunted by the horrors of his past and scapegoats Roman with the blame.
Van Helsing airs Thursdays at 9/8c and Ghost Wars follows at 10/9c. Both series have orders for 13-episode seasons. Here are sneak peeks of their premieres.
[Updated 1/18/23 — Ghost Wars is now streaming free on Crackle.]
Alison Sweeney Talks About What’s Next for Hannah and Mike After Carrot Cake Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mystery
[Warning: Spoilers for Carrot Cake Murder.] Everybody OK after that Hannah Swensen Mystery twist? Thankfully, our favorite crime-solving couple is still on speaking term, even if they’re on a break (hopefully not that kind of break). Most importantly, we already know this isn’t the last film in the series. No…
Counting Down to From Season 2
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] We’re just shy of two weeks away from Season 2 of last spring’s obsession, From, which premieres at 9 pm/8c, Sunday, April 23rd, on MGM+ (formerly EPIX). If you never picked it up last year, now’s your chance, and you can do it for free, catching…
Thank Me Later: Will Trent
[Warning: spoilers ahead.] I’m on record as loving and losing shows over at ABC so I’m usually very reticent to pick something up on the network until it’s been renewed, and I seriously hope I’m not jinxing it, but I took a chance on the deeply odd and very sweet…
Dennis Heaton Talks The Imperfects
Longtime readers at TV Goodness will know that Motive is one of my ride-or-die series, and as such, I am fiercely loyal to its creator, Dennis Heaton. He followed up that fantastic reverse procedural with Netflix’s The Order and is back on our streaming screens with The Imperfects, which dropped…
Kelly McCormack Talks Favorite Moments in A League of Their Own
[Warning: Mild spoilers for season 1.] Now that you’ve had a chance to watch A League of Their Own, here’s the rest of my chat with Kelly McCormack about her favorite moments of the season. Seeing the iconic Peaches uniforms for the first time wasn’t just a goosebump moment for…
John Griffin and Harold Perrineau Talk From Season 1 Finale
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] How are we doing, #FROMily? In case you missed it this morning, the very good news is that that cliffhanger will be followed by a second season, which was gifted this morning ahead of the linear broadcast of the finale. I always legitimately appreciate when we…
Elizabeth Saunders Talks From
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] One of the things that makes EPIX’s From such a fun ride is the abundance of Canadian cast members. Elizabeth Saunders, who plays Donna, is a favorite from her turn on the third season of Mary Kills People [streaming on Global TV in Canada and Roku…
Corteon Moore Talks From “Broken Windows, Open Doors”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode.] Tonight’s episode of From had us all in our feels as we learned through flashbacks about the Sophie’s Choice Boyd had to make to save his son, and back in the present as Boyd said his piece with Ellis before heading into the woods with…
Pegah Ghafoori Talks From “All Good Things…”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode] Tonight on From, Fatima’s anniversary celebration turned into a Colony House of horrors when a misguided Kevin let his monster bae in and she promptly killed him and left the window open for her crew. While the party devolved into terror and sent everyone running,…
Shaun Majumder Talks From “Book 74”
[Warning: Spoilers for tonight’s episode.] Tonight on EPIX’s From, Father Khatri made a bold move, kidnapping Sara instead of turning her in, and then recognizing her as a vessel for some big messages. That startling realization speaks to him on multiple levels–as a man of faith, a man trapped in…
What They Said: Three Revealing Conversations from Survivor’s Remorse “Closure”
WARNING: Spoilers for Survivor’s Remorse “Closure” The latest episode of Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse featured conversations that showed characters really digging deep into their thoughts, emotions and motivations.
Two Takes: The Catch “The Knock-Off”
Who can you trust? If this episode of The Catch was any indication, the answer is just about nobody. Betrayal was running rampant as Felicity (Shivani Ghai) arose from the dead to seduce-con Margot, Gretchen (Maria Thayer, Gotham, The Mindy Project) played gold-hearted Alice 2.0 before swindling Ethan, Tessa jumped…
What They Said: Top 3 Quotable Moments from Preacher “El Valero”
Both Quincannon and Jesse refuse to give up on what they each think is rightfully theirs. While Jesse is struggling to face the consequences of his actions, Quincannon has laid his past demons to rest and is hellbent on moving forward and putting Annville on the map again. Despite a…
What They Said: Favorite Quotes from Supergirl “Worlds Finest”
Oh, Supergirl. That ending was cold. But I can’t hate on you because the latest episode has quickly become one of my favorites.
What They Said: Top 4 Quotable Moments from Black Sails “XXIII”
The dialogue in “XXIII” is phenomenal. It’s always a fun ride when Black Sails carries its viewers along without giving them the chance to catch their breath. When an episode moves at this unforgiving pace, there is no chance for a breather nor is there a respite from the information…
What Lucifer Said: Favorite quotes from Supernatural “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Supernatural episodes are almost always funny but thanks to the dialogue and a certain man speaking said dialogue, I laughed a lot during “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” You know, when I wasn’t busy fearing for Sam’s life or wondering what in the world was going on with Dean and…
What They Said: The Flash, “Legends Of Today” and Arrow, “Legends Of Yesterday”
Two nights of Arrow + The Flash = what more could we ask for?! I don’t know what it is about blending these shows, but I can’t help but feel that every time they come together, they somehow become greater than the sum of their parts. And that’s saying a lot…
What they Said: Top 4 Quotable Moments from Graceland “Little Bo Bleep”
Shoot outs. Fake outs. And long-awaited revelations. “Little Bo Bleep” was a jam-packed episode that wrapped up some loose ends and totally frayed others. Â It finally gave us one Sarkissian in jail and pulled back the curtain on Briggs’ master plan, but it also set up Jakes for a world…
What They Said: Favorite Quotes from Poldark “Part 4”
“What have I told you, I don’t require my wife to crochet and sip tea, but I do require her to remember she’s not a beast of burden.†No, I’m not talking about The Rolling Stones! I have to admit though, just for a second, the lyrics popped into my…