Susan, Van Helsing

Susan (Hilary Jardine)

In post apocalyptic series Van Helsing, Susan was series protagonist Vanessa’s best friend and neighbor before the Rising. She first appeared flashbacks in 1×02, in an abusive relationship with a man named Tommy. Susan appeared again in 1×05 as a vampire and after a fight, Vanessa turned her into a human again and Susan remained with Vanessa and other survivors.

In 1×08 Susan and another survivor, John, got drunk together and flirted, and when they began to kiss John turned aggressive and tried to rape Susan. Vanessa pulled him off, knocked him out and killed him at the end of the episode when he was threatening Susan with a broken wine bottle.

In 1×09 Susan asked Vanessa to bunk with her. The two cuddled on a bed talking. Vanessa: “I always loved that about you, how you could laugh, even when everything is shit”. Susan: “Everything is always shit unless I’m with you”. They kissed and fell asleep together. In the syfy.com  photo recap, the caption read: “Well. That’s quite the mood-breaker for Vanessa and Susan, who were getting cozy in a shared cot. Susan wants to go all the way but Vanessa breaks it off. No time for love in the vampire apocalypse, after all.”

In 1×10, Susan led the group to her family farm, and they ran into her feral father. Susan killed him, getting closure for the physical and emotional abuse he had put her through. Susan was then strangled to death by Sam, a psychopathic serial killer. He later became a vampire, dug down into her shallow grave, tugged her arm up to the surface, and started drinking her blood.

“Susan is a really fun character — I’ve loved watching her grow along the way. Hilary Jardine did a killer job with this role and she just got better and better with every episode. She and Vanessa turn out to be very close in the next few episodes (even physically) and Hilary and Kelly [Overton] played all of this very gently and realistically. There are a few genuine twists and turns ahead for Susan (and all of the survivors) and I think the audience is going to enjoy the ride, even when it gets dark or unexpected.” — Showrunner Neil Labute, in an interview from November 11th 2016.

Van Helsing was renewed for a second season.

Appearances:

• 8 episodes. 1x02, 1x05-1x11

Female love interests:

• Vanessa Helsing (Kelly Overton, regular)

Relationship story arc with a woman: No

Male love interests:

• Tommy (Aaron Hutchinson, guest, 2 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a man: No

Filter Relationship Arc:

• None

Storyline during sweeps? Yes, Susan and Vannessa kiss during November sweeps period and it was their first and only show of romantic feelings before Susan was killed off

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.