Even things that go bump in the night need protection
SyFy’s Sanctuary continues to follow Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping), the 157-year-old scientist and leader of the Sanctuary Network, an organization dedicated to the safety of “abnormals”, creatures that are feared by a world that may not understand them.
In season one, she has been aided by her protege Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne), tech genius and part-werewolf Henry Dunne (Ryan Robbins), and her headstrong daughter Ashley (Emilie Ullerup), whose father is Magnus’ former lover John Druitt (Christopher Heyderdahl), who is also known as the notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper. Throughout the season, their main nemesis was The Cabal, who claims they’re fighting for humanity’s survival by pitting humans against abnormals, and the Sanctuary team is what is standing in their way — but it didn’t come without a price when the Cabal turns Ashley against her mother.
The first three episodes of season two concludes both the Cabal and Ashley’s arcs, and brought the introduction of cocky grifter Kate Freelander (Agam Darshi), who becomes the new member of the Sanctuary team.
13 episodes of Sanctuary‘s second season are in a four-disc set of episode commentaries, outtakes, and several features, as the team says goodbye to Ashley, meets a superhero called “The Adjuster”, and quasi-member Druitt goes on a mission to avenge his daughter while struggling with his bloodlust. The series took a bite out of the vampire craze with the return of Nikola Tesla (Jonathon Young), who continues his plot to take over the world by running a rehab clinic that turns his patients into vampires. Tapping returns to the director’s chair with the episode “Veritas”, where Magnus is put on trial, and she reunites with her Stargate SG-1 team member Michael Shanks in “Penance”, where his character finds a kindred spirit within Kate, whose past is connected with him.
Though killing off Ashley and getting rid of the mother/daughter and possibly father/daughter dynamics are the downsides, the show has improve in storylines and character wise — like BBC’s Torchwood.
The second season of Sanctuary is now available on DVD.
