This season. Yep, it has already been renewed for next year. Season 2 will begin Winter 2015, so roughly around January again.
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| I have no idea who I am. |
Welcome to the end of the first season and the predictable cliffhangers that are your gift to stew over for the next nine months.
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| 2.5 out of 5 stars |
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| Lab Coats and Guns, it's a band name. |
Nope, closure is not what you need. Instead you get vagueness, odd statements, betrayals, and confusion. Have these things, enjoy them. They are all you get.
Anyways...
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| It's the guns of Arctic BioSystems! |
Very very early on we are treated to a breif scene set on Day 235. Yep. A jump forward by some two hundred and twenty-two days. Dr. Alan Farragut is beating the crap out of an old bald silver-eyed guy. He wants to know where someone is.
That's nice. I want to know where we are. Yes, yes... in medias res is nice and all, I'll admit. So, I have no real objections to this... this is an acceptable story telling device.
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| Why could he not die? |
Hatake has done things he regrets because Ilaria has held Jules mother, Jane, as a hostage to 'encourage' Hatake. Still, even in this stilted plot device, Hiroyuki Sanada shows that he is the most talented actor in the bunch. He delivers his lines with conviction. I am impressed with him.
And then suddenly, the first real signs emerge of a season 2 confirmation. Ilaria has unleashed the virus on a population center. It was released in a relatively isolated city, so that Ilaria could observe the pattern the outbreak took. Also, this was Narvik A, no Vectors there.
We also learn that Balleseros knows Spencer (or as I prefer to call him, Boy Band) and his last living chick-groupie. She is given a name, Blake, and then more or less is promptly shot to death by Balleseros. I am begrudgingly coming to like this enigmatic character. I honestly have no idea what his motivations are. This is either really good writing or really bad writing, and I can not tell which.
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| Well, we all saw that coming, didn't we? |
We are also given a breif glimpse that maybe Sarah's cancer is back... now given that we should know TV tropes and cliches by now, we have to know that this is not what has occured. I predicted that she was pregnant here... and by the end of the episode my prediction was shown to be spot on. Yet again, Tv shows that all it takes is one time. It's a little bit like the trope 'can't get away with nuthin.'
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| The last we see of Hatake. |
Oh, and Peter Farragut is a traitor... or something. He is working with Boy Band and Ilaria, he was the one who smuggled the Narvik out of Arctic BioSystems... that explains how and why he was infected. Well, that mystery is solved. Now in its place we instead have a mole. Good. He also frees Boy Band instead of killing him. Why will no one kill Boy Band? Why?!
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| The Rocketman in France. |
You know what else pissed me off? Jules and Farragut shared a kiss. Yes, that pissed me off. I hate when TV tries to fix divorce like that? It is total bollocks. Why does TV treat divorce as temporary? I mean we've sat through an entire season of Working with the Ex... and now this? Stop it!
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| Look out! It's a cliff hanger! |
Then there is a dialogue between Jane (Jule's mom) and Spencer (Boy Band) about how the immortals have been persecuted through history... and Jane says that those are just lies told to
Boy Band by his mother (Constance Sutton) and his father... who is... someone. Maybe. Hello season 2 mystery... oh yeah, this is occuring while Boy Band is kidnapping Jules. He also slits Jane's throat, which is fine, she was burned badly and a really unimportant character. She did not even evoke the slightest bit of pathos.
So, Spencer kidnaps Jules. Farrgut gets the cure for Narvik by using Constance's head to distract the creepy little troll. Unfortunately her can't save Jules. (We need season 2 fuel!)
Fast foward back to day 235. France. Farragut is reading the paper (in French, still it is easy enough to read) about curing the outbreak of Narvik. He is searching for Jules, has a contact. He meets up with his brother (who is cleaner, but remains creepy) and sets off for the Ilaria offices in France. We know they are the offices because they have big bold letters spelling out Ilaria. Good... no need to hide.
But wait, that's not all. Inside is a meeting of immortals, they look like the board of directors. They all have shiny silver eyes. They are waiting for the big chair to be filled. In walks a lady in a purple pant suit. It's Jules! Big reveal!
Now... wait for season 2. That's it. That's what you get.
Did Hatake escape? What happened to him? What of Balleseros? What of Sarah? The other scientists and doctors? Did they all die when Arctic BioSystems exploded? Who is the old silver-eye that Farragut was beating up in the beginning? Well... all that is in store for season 2... maybe.
No this season did not end with a massive tour de force, instead it ended with a giant question mark.
Was this the worst show I've seen... not by far. It was also far from the best. I expected more from Roger Moore. I really did.
The sad thing is that I know I'm likely to watch season 2. I can't help myself. As bad as it will get, as cliche as the plot will become... I'll watch.
Thankfully... so utterly thankfully... Game of Thrones is going to begin in just over a week! I can't wait to write weekly reviews about a show I'm going to thoroughly enjoy. I already know that I will enjoy GoT season 4.
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| Who survived Helix? Here ya go... |
- Eps. 1 & 2: Pilot and Vector
- Ep. 4: Single Strand
- Ep. 5: The White Room
- Ep. 6: Aniqatiga
- Ep. 7: Survivor Zero
- Ep. 8: Bloodlines
- Ep. 9: Level X
- Ep. 10: Fushigi
- Ep. 11: Black Rain
- Ep. 12: The Reaping
Helix for me was one of those shows that got me more and more intrigued as the show continued on. It was Haven all over again as I was constantly reminded that the SyFy logo promises a helping of cheese for the show's dialogue. But just like Haven, it also reminded me that it's the characters and concepts that the shows bring that makes the stories such an amazing viewing experience to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteP.S.
[One critic to the other]
Just randomly found this blog and was thinking "Wow, this guy does a great job on his images" in terms of how you utilize them. I've only started doing that in the last Helix episode reviews that I did, but I wish I started from episode 1's review. My Salem reviews is where I really started to learn more and more as the show went on. Anyway, great job on the blog and keep up the good work. Just remember to constantly think on evolving for the better.