Helstrom Season One Spoiler Free Review

Well it's the death nail in Marvel TV. Now all part of Marvel Studios, Helstrom is the last breath of the old Marvel before being consolidated into all things Kevin Feige. Marvel TV under Jeff Loeb had big plans for the future of Marvel Horror on Tv and that life was cut short but before it could be snuffed out Helstrom managed to sneak through the gate. 

The show is described as “Daimon and Ana Helstrom are the son and daughter of a mysterious and powerful serial killer. The siblings have a complicated dynamic as they track down the terrorizing worst of humanity - each with their attitude and skills.” which does sum the show up well but the tales are much more personal to Daimon and Ana than random baddies as alluded to  by the description. This dives deep into the Helstrom family from beginning to end.

Tom Austen and Syndey Lemmon as Damon and Ana Helstrom were well cast. Austen’s Daimon Helstrom is done fairly well, but in the comic he is a bit more...theatrical.  He does evolve quite a bit over the series, so fans of the comic won't be disappointed. To me it felt like his powerset is so vast that the story is being used to temper it considerably. We see his characters strength and power grow quite a bit over the season and visually takes quite a few unexpected beats from the comic series. Austen does bring damon to life but often is a bit low key, or maybe dull, for my liking while doing ‘serious’.

Lemmon’s Ana is great! Kind of sinister..beautiful, dangerous and utterly magical. I loved the space she filled in this show making it really a Helstrom show and NOT a Damon Helstrom show. She gets equal time and is equally as compelling Lemmon does a great job and is near perfect for the look. SHe is MUCH darker then her brother and not what i would call hero material! She carries the part well and her presence on screen is always pretty strong.

The rest of the supporting cast is pretty darn good too.  Ariana Guerra, Elizabeth Marvel, Alain Uy and Jun Carryl all are great, but i really liked Robert Wisdom’s “Caretaker”. I believe he was the ‘tie together’ casting that would have served as the connection to other Marvel horror properties that were in development like the cancelled Ghostrider series. This appears a ‘done deal’ but now i feel like we might have missed something with real potential.

The show is as isolated from the rest of the Marvel Universe as you could be, nota single mention of other big MCU events typically name dropped in marvel shows. No ‘incident’, no ‘blip’, nothing. I suspect this was done on purpose to allow for maximum flexibility. The general reaction to ‘super powers’ by regular folks is notable. Notably absent, so it appears this world is a world with people with powers or at least most people know of their existence. Again something that could play to the show's advantage should Marvel show future interest. If you do look closely though, you may see some Roxon Gas Stations which also appeared in Runaways and Cloak and Dagger

Most of the manifestation of powers, the cgi used, and all the general effect as well as sound and music were great. If you were a fan of The Runaways on Hulu you know they can nail this and they didn't disappoint here either. The lack of comic book costumes isnt missed and honestly the ‘look’ Damon has is pretty awesome when it manifests. 

The show is dreary and dark most of the time, taking full advantage of the portland setting….and it helps maintain the tone of the show very well. This show is dark and quite gorey and might not be for the kiddos but it was fun. It's not award material, but as a run through the world of Marvel horror it wasn't bad at all. Many were worried about some source material changes and honestly they worked. Not only did they work, i'm unsure the changes even happened. The show synopsis references their father, a serial killer. In the comics they are the children of the devil himself….that leap is pretty short from where the series ended its last episode. Their father very well be exactly the same as the comics since we have been introduced to a whole underworld of demonic entities by the end of the season.

The last episode...yea thats the catch right? Will this series continue?!? Well that is the 9 layers of hades question right? The season ends on a cliffhanger and clearly had more story to share with the viewer. If you remember this show was the only live action survivor from the Loeb era of marvel tv and it doesn't appear Feige has any plans for the character. I suppose that could go both ways. Fan response could drive a second season and i for one want one, maybe a #SaveHelstrom hashtag?!?

In any case i give this spooky and October timed Marvel series a 7.5 out 10 overall. There is room for improvement but I got way more than I bargained for. I was counting on it being a death nail best effort mess, instead I went from ‘not bad’ to genuinely enjoying the ride. It's not “Scary” but it's definitely Halloween flavored!!!

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