Sanctuary Season 2 Meme -- Grief, Dark Future, Insanity, De-Vamped, Michael Shanks & More!!
After the Source Blood Quest and Dark!Ashley cliffhanger I was really looking forward to what would happen in the following season. Season two really kicked things up a notch in the whole Sanctuary world from the storylines to musical score. I really enjoyed this season because you can see the show getting its groove with their unique graphic novel cinematography, action sequences, and storytelling. Alas, my still only problem with the show would have to be the character and portrayal of Will Zimmerman. Btw, is it me or does Amanda Tapping just age more and more beautiful each year. She was completely stunning in this season.
Favorite Episodes: "End of Nights Pt. 2", "Eulogy", "Pavor Nocturnus", "Fragments", "Veritas", "Next Tuesday", "Penance", "Sleepers", "Haunted", and "Kali Pt. 2"
So-So Decent Episodes: "End of Nights Pt. 1", "Hero", and "Kali Pt. 1"
Least Favorite Episodes: There wasn't one episode I didn't like. It was a solid season.
Favorite Storylines: There were several I really enjoyed....
*I loved all of the mythology, anthropology, and science of the patients and Abnormal of the Week studies.
*John Druitt aka Jack the Ripper -- I usually say 'nuff said, but I must elaborate a bit more this time.
Christopher played Druitt a bit differently than he normally does as compared to the Ripper or Victorian England Druitt. This is a guy who is clearly grieving for his daughter, missing those opportunities with his daughter, and come to find out it wasn't exactly him that was killing people. In fact, he was being infected or possessed by another entity. I really liked that the fact it wasn't exactly John Druitt that was purposely killing people. He was pretty much losing his mind everytime he teleported due to this entity. Yet, in an interesting way since Druitt kept him the entity at bay he pretty much saved a lot of people in the process.
*Werewolf Henry Foss -- I still say get rid of Will, and give me Henry any day of the week. Ryan Robbins is so funny as Henry, and I love that we got more from Henry this year. Whether it be with his long term relationship with Bigfoot and Helen, working with Tesla, or this wiseass flirty relationship with Kate. I also loved his episode "Fragments" because it showed this romantic and friendship side to him outside of the Sanctuary. He had to be the mature guy, and let the girl go. He is overall a great, endearing character who can't help route for. It is said that Will Zimmerman is the "everyman" in this series and in many ways he is, but I feel Henry is more of the "everyman" because he still gets those "wow" moments that even surprise himself. However, most importantly you can connect to Henry more than Will.
*Rest of the Supporting Cast: Bigfoot, Kate, & Nikola Tesla -- Bigfoot didn't have his own storyline in this season, but I felt he served his purpose by being one of the many inner strengths of Team Sanctuary. When Bigfoot is either ill or presumed dead you definitely feel something is missing. I love how caring Bigfoot is towards Helen, Henry, and Kate. Making sure the people he loves are okay whether it be telling Will to back off on a grieving Helen, or smacking people on the head. It's a shame I don't feel that relationship between Will and Bigfoot *shrugs*.
I heard that Kate was a mixed bag to a lot of people, however; I really enjoyed her character. She was a different character we haven't seen in the Sanctuary universe. Have we seen characters like her before in this genre? Of course, it all started with Han Solo in the mainstream media. Having that said I really enjoyed Kate's character because she delivers something different to the group. She has this fiesty smartass to herself that is interesting to see her interact from various people. Plus I love this surrogate mother and daughter relationship Kate and Helen developed throughout the season. It is something that not only Helen needs, but it something that Kate still needs because there are somethings Kate can't tell her mom. I also love Kate's flirty ways with Henry. I wouldn't mind seeing that relationship to develop more than the vomit worthy Will and Kate.
I simply love Sanctuary's version of Nikola Tesla to pieces!! He is so charismatic, intelligent, smartass, arrogant, charming, and just downright loveable. I can't get enough of him. I really love his journey this season from vampire to magnetism abilities. It's going to be interesting to see if he can get his vampire powers back because you know he is going to considering it is in his genetics. I also love this whole fiesty relationship between Tesla and Helen because he can get this whole dumbfounded reaction from Helen that is such a riot. Plus Amanda and Jonathan have this chemistry that is amazing to watch. I can't wait to see more Tesla in the series!!
*The Sanctuary Network Introduction & Mutiny -- I wasn't quite sure if I would love this vast Sanctuary Network when it was referred to in the first season. We knew of the Sanctuaries in other parts of the world, but now there are faces to them now. I really love the introduction of Ravi and Declan because not only are they yummy to look at, but the characters are truly compelling. They are resourceful and caring. I was so glad that Declan wasn't going after the power hungry job in "Veritas". I didn't want him to go bad hehe. I thought it was interesting to see how the Sanctuary Network worked, and how it was used against Helen. The woman that practically made the network from the ground up. I think it is logical for Wexford to do his mutiny and take advantage of the recent decisions of Helen's as of late. For an objective person Helen's decisions had to be looked with going against the Cabal, hybrid invasion, and the reveal that Big Bertha was alive. I still think Helen did the right decision for each one especially Big Bertha, but I do think she should have notified people of her change of plans after a certain length of time. Due to these controversial decisions power hungry Wexford took advantage of the situation. Overall, I thought they did a great job with the Sanctuary Network, and i hope we get to see more of Declan and Ravi next season.
*Helen Magnus & John Druitt Torrid Love Story -- We didn't see much of these two this season, but what we did see I really enjoyed. I loved this complex relationship in the midst of the two parents grieving. You get two different vibes from both of them because you have the woman that raised her, and then you have a guy that didn't have enough time with his daughter. They handle their grieve differently, and it totally fit their characters. John went all Ripper on the Cabal whereas Helen was clinging to the hope that Ashley is alive in the house somewhere. When Helen finds out her last hope isn't there she has to let go and accept her daughter's death. Helen just carries so much guilt in regards to John and Ashley. I'm glad Helen finally found out that John wasn't exactly in control of his Ripper-ness due to the teleport creature. Granted, Helen's source blood experiment was the cataylst, but in the end it wasn't really John. Alas, John's goodbye was so sad because good John is no more due to evil John coming back in the end. What a torrid love story these two share. I thought Amanda and Christopher just nailed this relationship tenfold whether they being yelling at each other, throwing insults, or showing some care between them. I can't get enough of them, and their massive chemistry.
*Helen Magnus' Engima Character Starts to Shed Some Layers -- Helen Magnus had one hell of a year!! Man, how can anyone not feel for this character is beyond me. You literally see her go through mourning, insanity, scary future caused by her, and then see the Sanctuary Network go against her. I thought the season was wonderful to see some aspects of Helen we haven't seen before whether it be full blown anger to vulnerable side to her. I did like that the characters called her out on some things, but I think not every decision Helen makes needs to be criticized. She has had over 150+ of experience, so her decisions have a lot of validity. Has she made mistakes? Of course, but I just hope the logical debates don't turn into passive aggressiveness. It was totally great because it makes her more relatable and a badass for surviving it all. I blown away with what Helen had to go through. Plus the acting done by Amanda Tapping was freakin' outstanding!! I could seriously go all day in this section, but I must move on. Overall, Helen Magnus still kicks major bum, and is still a snazzy dresser!!
Misc. Hated Aspects: Even though I really enjoyed the second season I felt the show could've been better because two reasons and one of them is a major one.....
*Dr. Will Zimmerman & Robin Dunne's Horrible Dramatic Acting -- Sorry, for any Robin Dunne fans out there, but I was at my wits end with his horrible dramatic acting. I did like seeing his comedy side which is definitely Dunne's forte, however; his dramatic acting is horrible. It doesn't help that I feel the writing of Will is just plain gawd awful. He really doesn't bring anything new to the group. He is pretty much expendable as a character. He continues to state the obvious facts and yells at people who doesn't need to be yelled at (i.e. Henry & Helen). Man, I can't stand when he yells at the team for no good reason. I don't mind when Will calls them out on some thing, but he just continues to harp and yell at people left and right. Plus I can't take him seriously with a motorcycle or anything like that. It felt like they were trying to make him cool, but it didn't match the character from the first season. Talk about rewriting and downright laughable. I still say get rid of Will and increase other characters' screentime. I guess in sum Will just seems like a generic character, and I really can't latch much onto him. He has his moments, but they are few and far between.
*Underwhelming Connection of Ashley's Death -- I didn't mind them not connecting so much Helen because there were lines here and there throughout the season that showed Helen was still grieving and in mourning. It also fit Helen's character because she keeps so much close to her chest. So a line here or there was a lot. What I was underwhelmed by was that we never got to see Henry nor Bigfoot grieve for Ashley. Bigfoot knew Ashley since she was born since he been in the Sanctuary since 1950's. He was pretty much the furry uncle that Ashley grew up with. Henry was found as a child, and was raised by Helen and Bigfoot thus making him a sibling of sorts to Ashley. Ashley and Henry knew each since they were kids. I would've liked more screentime devoted to their mourning over Ashley. I'm glad Henry got more screentime this season, but I would've liked to see some connection to their backstories to what became of Ashley.
Favorite Couples & Potential Couples: Helen/John, Helen/Tesla, Ravi/Kate, & Kate/Henry
Favorite Friendships and/or Fremies: The Five, Helen/Bigfoot, Team Sanctuary, Bigfoot/Henry, Henry/Tesla, Henry/Kate, Declan/Helen, Helen/Tesla, Bigfoot/Kate, Jimmy/Helen, Ravi/Kate, & Helen/Kate
Favorite Characters: Telsa, Helen, John, Bigfoot, Henry, Kate, Declan, Ravi & Jimmy
Mixed Characters: None
Can't Stand Characters: Will
Favorite Villains: Cabal, Dark!Ashley, Cabal Hybrids, Maya Zombies, Gerald, Emma, sea scorpion, teen vamps, teleport creature, Wexford, & Edward Forsythe
Least Favorite Villains: None
Most Tragic Deaths: Even though I was mixed about this character in the previous season I was sad to see Ashley go especially in the way she did. Granted she did her last action as herself to save her mother and Sanctuary it was still sad to see her go. I just think the writing of Ashley was off in the previous season, and it didn't help that they didn't flesh her out. Give her the proper screentime in comparison to Will's character. I think if they fleshed Ashley's character out more that Ashley might've survived majority of the series. Alas, I still think Ashley was destined to die because one of Helen's tragic tales is outliving the people she loves thus keeping people at a distance. I did like how they did Ashley's departure with the Sanctuary invasion, Tesla's gadget, and the aftermath in "Eulogy". Emilie really didn't have many lines in the three episodes she did, but the relationship of the mother and daughter really sold it. Emilie and Amanda did a terrific job in "End of Days Pt. 2" and "Eulogy".
What did you think of the season in general? As I already stated I really enjoyed this season. I thought they did a great job with Helen, Henry, John, Tesla, and Kate's stories. They were entertaining, fun, and also quite compelling. I thought the cinematography, special effects, and music were all kicked up a notch. You can tell after the first season jitters and not knowing are now far away. The show is definitely a well oiled machine. I got a kick out of seeing former Stargate SG-1 cast Michael Shanks and Colin Cunningham on the show. It's always fun to see mini-reunions, but as different characters. I got a kick out of seeing Callum Blue on the show because I loved him since his days on Dead Like Me and Smallville. I'm looking forward to seeing the next season considering Big Bertha is on the move, Helen forced out of leadership, and the giant tsunami heading toward land.