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Olivia Godfrey, a 150+ year old vampire (or more exactly, a upir), can see her reflection in the mirror. One episode of Hemlock Grove, pictured below, makes a big point of showing this to the audience.

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Is she using her powers of mesmerism to make her reflection seem real? Or is she a type of variant species that can use mirrors like normal people? Or is this a hopelessly inept continuity error?

I understand that her species is able to endure direct sunlight without burning, but cannot find info about how she interacts with mirrors. Or why this particular scene was so blatant.

Question: what's the story with Olivia and mirrors?

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  • Well, depictions of vampires vary. IIRC, they also cast reflections in Interview with the Vampire and Twilight.
    – Walt
    Sep 17, 2015 at 23:27
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    Tv tropes: our vampires are different
    – cde
    Sep 17, 2015 at 23:29
  • That said, are there vamps in hemlock that don't cast a reflection? Hemlock takes a very science approach, where even vamps can be turned back human with stem cell infusions
    – cde
    Sep 17, 2015 at 23:30

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The Upirs in Hemlock Grove do not have the cannot-be-seen-in-the-mirror problem. If that aspect of our vampire myth was present in the Hemlock Grove universe, the show would have explicitly introduced that glaring fact, but they never did.

Also, if you look closely, you can see tiny indications that mirrors are not a problem for Upir. For example, in season 3 episode 3, we see a group of Upir socializing and learn that one of them is a doctor (phlebotomist). Also, a big obvious clue is that Norman does not appear to know Olivia is an Upir. Surely he would have noticed her lack of reflection by now?

So what is the deal with Olivia and mirrors? It is a common screen writing technique to show characters looking into the mirror when they are in worried contemplation or when they are distraught by sombre thoughts beyond what is happening in the scene.

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