HELSTROM

When I first heard about Helstrom, I had no idea it was a Marvel show. I’d never heard of of the Son of Satan comics, but hearing that it was a Marvel show only made me love it more.

What attracted me to it first was actually Tom Austen who plays Daimon Helstrom. I’d seen him previously as Jasper in the The Royals and he was one of my favorite characters. So I hit play on the trailer despite it being a horror based show.

I’m not usually a horror show/film fan. I get scared too easily, but at the same time I love the stories that come out of those shows. The trailer of Helstrom ticked all the boxes for me. It had actors and actresses that I liked. It had new faces. It had dynamic sets, and on top of everything it had a story with a messed up family, and superpowers.

I actually got excited for the show, and was chomping at the bit to watch it. I kept looking for videos, and clips before it became available on Hulu, but there was so little out there. It drove me crazy. Which is either a sign of good marketing, or risky marketing.

When it finally came available I couldn’t wait to watch it. I binged half the season in one night. And I’ll admit at first I was a tad disappointed. I’d built up a picture of what the story would be in my head, because I only had a limited amount of clips and pictures to go on, and the story wasn’t at all what I’d pictured.

But as I watched, I found myself pulled into the family history. I was pulled in by the massive amount of secrets and moral ambiguities hidden in every frame, and I couldn’t get enough. Every character has a good side and a bad one. Every character has reasons for what they do. It brings the saying “Every villain is the hero in their own story” to life in a big way.

Avoiding spoilers as best I can, the relationships between Daimon, Ana, and Mother were all so artfully done. You could see how fragile each tie was, and how they’d been built on years of trauma. It was kind of the perfect way to “Show” and not “Tell” what happened to the family. A problem that’s obviously easier for writers to handle on screen than it is on the page.

The tension of the show truly builds and builds. You get it bit by bit, as the lore behind the family and the world the story’s set it starts getting revealed, and then it explodes in a way I honestly didn’t see coming, and I kind of love it. I saw a few pieces of the final puzzle coming into play, but I never saw the clear picture of how it would end. It was great. I love when shows surprise me, and this one definitely did that.

They left it open for another season, so I’m excited to see what comes next. Until then, however, I’ll be re-watching it !

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Available on Hulu.