I liked the 2 episodes. Thought it was pretty intense and claustrophobic.
I liked seeing the 2 teams interact and how Sanada and Campbell's characters have conflict against one another. Some of the scenes in the facility were pretty tense.
I just watched a little mini interview off the SyFy site and Ronald Moore, one of the show's EP's, says that season 1 will take place over 13 days real time (13 episodes) Next episode will be Day 3.
I liked the 2 episodes. Thought it was pretty intense and claustrophobic.
And just damn creepy. On the one hand, there's nothing really new here, but on the other hand, they're handling it very well.
That peppy elevator music credits theme is just...unnerving...
Quote:
Next episode will be Day 3.
Episode 3 cranks it up a notch. For those interested, it's available On Demand (at least with Comcast), and supposedly at syfy.com as well, until this Friday.
Unless this takes a dive off a cliff over the next few weeks, I'm in for the duration.
Really enjoyed watching the frist 4 episodes. As others have mentioned I get a "The Thing" vibe, which makes for a very creepy setting. I hope, like BSG, this show gains attention, thusly getting a little more of a budget to help the CGI.
Personally, I like the show fine, but the science behind this
[Show spoiler]virus
or whatever it is supposed to be, is vague at best. I still don't have the foggiest idea if Peter Farragut made it, or even what "it" is. I haven't watched last Friday's episode yet, and maybe it offers more explanation, but I wish they would go into a bit more detail as to what exactly is going on.
Wife and I are really digging it, and wondering where it's going to go.
Will probably be hard to make a multi season show with just the base as setting though, so it's probably going to expand at some point.
So far liking the mix of Resident Evil, The Thing and 28 days later...
This being said, you just have to wonder how Farragut assembled such a team of backstabbing morons that won't tell him what's happening in his back until it's too late.
Appreciating the human drama though, definite sign of Moore's involvement.
Also, the elevator music was bothering me a little at first, but now I find it deliciously off and creepy
PS: Holy smokes! I knew I had seen the actor playing Dr Hatake (Hiroyuki Sanada) before.... He had a lead role in the hilariously campy 1978 Star Wars rip-off "San Ku Kai" (as known in Europe) or "Message from Space" in the US.
That is downright awesome
[Show spoiler]
If you have a chance check out the french title for the show on youtube, it's worth its weight in pure latinum
Sarah walks the halls on her own, and is set upon by a vector who pops out of a heating vent. That carelessness is deliberate: Sarah's bait to catch a vector for testing. Hatake wants him back upstairs, but Alan notes that, since the other vectors took his brother, "Level R seems almost abandoned" -- where did the others go? If Hatake knows, he's not saying. He's also not admitting that there's yet another level below Level R. Aerov grunts, "Tell them everything, or I will." After an ice age (as it were), Hatake sighs, "Level X." Aerov adds disgustedly that it's where the virus vault is. Oh, and by the way, they have original core samples of Narviks A and B down there.
You can imagine how happy Alan is to hear that 1) they've had samples all along that 2) Hatake created, i.e. he's furious. Hatake claims that he used his mandate from Ilaria to make "something more beneficial." Alan isn't having it, but Hatake warns them all that Sutton -- whom he dismisses mysteriously as no longer "a problem" -- is just a messenger; an army is coming. Alan's like, fine, let's destroy the virus before Ilaria gets to it, as if it's that simple.
Meanwhile, Jules demands an explanation from Hatake, who allows, "We have…met before." Well, duh. Jules's mother was a top cell biologist, and Hatake's mentor; he visited her in Montana several times. Jules points out that he looks exactly the same in a 30-year-old picture. He shrugs that he was very young, and keeps claiming it's a coincidence that Jules is at the base now.
After Alan determines from Dr. Adrian's experiment that extreme cold is the only way to neutralize vectors en masse, Balleseros's new cellmate, the ginger stormtrooper, tries the doors while mentioning that Ilaria is coming in "full force" in two days -- can't Balleseros get them out of there? Balleseros is no match for an electromagnetic seal. The stormtrooper, Klein, and Balleseros freak out that Ilaria will bomb the base not knowing they're still inside. Balleseros freaks out more when Klein lets it slip that Sutton sent men to Anana's village to burn it, and her, to the ground.
The vectors show up in camera footage from Level X; they've gathered near a heat source. Aerov explains that Level X is the remains of a Russian trading post from the 1850s. Hatake says there's a secure staircase and offers to go down, but Alan doesn't trust him, though he doesn't know how he'll get past the vectors himself. Sarah calls their attention to the vectors' swarm behavior, and out of sight of the cams, they've gathered around Peter and to spit black blood into a Keep Calm And Carry On mug. It's nice that they can work together towards a common goal; it's also revolting. The blood is tipped into Peter's mouth, and he awakens, then springs up onto a shelving unit and induces the other vectors to kneel before him with a hand gesture, so apparently he's their leader now.
Alan briefs the team on the strike plan. Jules wants to go alone because vectors don't attack her, but Alan says no; they don't know why vectors prey on some but not others. As Sarah battles a hand tremor from her brain tumor, Hatake gives Alan a gun. Alan starts to hand it to Jules but Hatake interrupts: "She won't need it. You will." Alan reviews the operation: Sarah and Hatake turn off all the systems in sequence as Jules and Alan descend to Level X. Aerov will hand out thermal blankets to survivors while the dropping temperature knocks out the vectors. We see this happen in a montage, and after the base is left in darkness, Sarah almost drunkenly tells Hatake that she'll die soon and leave nothing of consequence.
Alan and Jules head down. Balleseros sees an opportunity to break out. Alan says that, if the plan fails, they'll have to burn the base down. "How will we get home?" Jules asks. "We won't," Alan says after a long pause. They emerge at the bottom of the secret stairs amid a crowd of frozen and becalmed vectors. In the vault, Jules gapes at the racks upon racks of containers: "There are too many." The base has more strains of some viruses than the CDC does, and Jules wants to destroy everything to screw Ilaria. Alan protests that there isn't time, then assents.
Balleseros and Klein escape, but Klein doesn't get far before Balleseros beats him with an iron bar to get his coat. Elsewhere, Sarah is babbling about seeing death, and Hatake is forced to turn the power back on himself when she has a seizure at the critical moment. Downstairs, Alan and Jules find the Narvik strains are missing; they've run out of time. The vectors are waking up.
Aerov hurls Balleseros off the snowmobile he's trying to steal, only to hear that Sutton sent stormtroopers to kill Aerov's siblings. Asked why he cares, Balleseros groans that at some point "it just has to stop." The two men team up.
Alan has to fight his way through the vectors, but Jules can stare them down and pass unmolested. They're almost clear when Jules sees another set of her childhood initials, and a ladder going down into a vent. She insists she's there for a reason -- again; her mother must have brought her to the base as a kid. She's not asking him to go, but of course he's on board. Down below, Jules looks nauseated to see a replica of her childhood home in Montana, and Aerov is just as disturbed that he's lost the trail. Fortunately, Anana finds them, and the group heads to the village hoping to beat the Ilarians that passed by earlier.
Jules struggles to remember something about her mother as Alan wonders why Hatake would build an exact copy of her summer home. Jules remembers Hallucipeter telling her, "It's always been about you," and Alan snarks that maybe it's her subconscious talking. They start to leave while Aerov, Balleseros, and Anana watch the Ilarians loading villagers into a trailer. They're outnumbered, but Balleseros pretends he's captured Anana to get them closer; Aerov maintains the story by punching his twin, Tulok. He also glares a lot.
Sarah thinks Hatake is Alan, and whispers that she's sorry she didn't tell Alan about the tumor. Hatake finds the scar from a failed surgery on Sarah's neck. Alan and Jules come up and are quickly surrounded by Peter and his vector groupies. Jules keeps them away with her silver death stare, and as she and Alan escape, Peter roars in frustration. Alan wants to know how Jules knew what to do. She's not sure.
Tulok also makes a narrow escape when Balleseros, Aerov, and Anana manage to shoot the Ilarians before they can execute Tulok and the others; Tulok thanks Aerov by punching him in the face.
The elevator opens on Hatake and Sarah, on the ground. Hatake snaps that Alan should have known about Sarah's tumor. Alan bundles Sarah off to the ICU, but not before basically accusing Hatake of lying about the virus, though Hatake looks genuinely horrified that the Narvik wasn't there. Alan blames himself for not seeing the signs of Sarah's illness, and Jules helps him tend to Sarah until Sarah feverishly mutters that she and Alan Did It, and Jules is awkward and leaves… …to ask Hatake again what the H she's doing there. His answer is to show her the half of the photo with her mother in it -- and her mother is Jaye (Julia's hallucination from a few episodes ago), or what "Jane" would have sounded like to a four-year-old. He non-answers that the replica of the cabin isn't a replica, then takes out his contacts to show her his silver irises -- and tell her what we figured out weeks ago: "You have your father's eyes." Jules backs away in horror.
Aerov and Tulok reminisce about Matchbox cars; Anana patches Balleseros's gut wound; Alan strokes Sarah's head; Jules looks at the photo and cries; Hatake also cries after Jules flees; and Dr. Adrian swigs vodka and packs a bag, including the Narvik strains. Uh-oh.
See What’s Ahead for HELIX in This Week’s TV Spot and Clip
Quote:
[Show spoiler]NOOOOOO not Day 9 already! I mean, of course, YAY, Day 9! 5 more episodes of this completely addictive, creepy, smart, twisty, so mysterious, excellent season of Helix. I say “season” because Syfy simply must renew this show. Must. I just wish they’d stop making us wait so long to celebrate.
And by the way, when I wrote “get a head start” in last week’s post, I had no idea it would end up being a pun. This week I’m calling the “ahead” reference an “homage.” Thanks for the absolutely excellent work, Jeri Ryan.
Helix, Episode 1.09: “Level X” sees new alliances formed
Neil Napier
Quote:
[Show spoiler]
Helix, Episode 1.09: “Level X” sees new alliances formed
Posted on March 1, 2014
By Deepayan Sengupta
Helix, Season 1, Episode 09: “Level X”
Written by Sean Crouch
Directed by Bradley Walsh
Airs Fridays at 10 PM on Syfy
Despite the threat of Constance Sutton and the Illaria corporation overshadowing proceedings at the facility over the past two days, the threat of the Narvik virus continues to be a pressing concern, with a cure still nowhere in sight. With Dr. Walker now back with the rest of the team, this week’s episode sees the non-infected inhabitants of the facility make their first strike against the infected group, in a tense episode that sees unlikely characters form alliances in pursuit of a larger goal.
The apparent ascension of Peter to leadership role among the infected is a fascinating development. Not much is known about those infected by the Narvik virus so far, but their discovery and descent into Level X this week, as well as the display of a clear hierarchical structure, indicates that there’s more to the infected vectors than first appearance suggested. With Dr. Farragut and the CDC team still no closer to figuring out a cure for the Narvik virus, this evolution in their behaviour adds an extra layer of tension moving forward, and makes their search more urgent. It will be interesting to see, as the vectors continue to invade the facility, how the survivors react to the knowledge that the vectors are changing and becoming more dangerous. The elevation of Dr. Hatake and Dr. Walker into people whom the vectors do not attack also puts them in a unique position. As the threat gets bigger, it will be intriguing to see whether they choose to willingly put themselves in the line of fire to protect others in the facility, or if they work on finding a cure instead. There’s also the possibility that the scientists, upon learning of their abilities, use the two doctors to stave off the vectors without their consent, and whether or not they go down that route will be worth keeping an eye on.
The team-up of Daniel, Sergio, and Anana is also an exciting development. While Sergio’s turn towards preventing wanton violence is somewhat abrupt, it’s also perfectly understandable in light of the additional information he has learnt about the dealings of both Arctic Biosystems and the Illaria corporation. His skills, as well as his knowledge of the inner workings of Illaria, make him a strong asset to the group, and someone the corporation will have to reckon with, particularly with the death of Sutton, who knew Sergio the best. It will be worth watching this group to see what’s the next course of action they take. It’s likely that Illaria will send a second group after the Inuit village, which may mean the team ends up perpetually on the defensive, which will put them in a precarious position. However, if they choose to make the next attack, that would make Arctic Biosystems their likely target. This means that the CDC team, as well as the other scientists on the facility who have been coerced into staying, are likely to be in danger, and whether or not Anana and Sergio consider them threats has the possibility of being a strong source of conflict between them and Daniel. How Dr. Hatake deals with this new threat also has the possibility of being a compelling story arc, particularly as part of him has potentially been preparing for this for a long time.
Overall, this is another tense outing for the show’s first season. The reveal of Dr. Jordan’s spinal tumour clears up any lingering doubts about the nature of her illness, and whether Dr. Hatake uses Arctic Biosystems’ advanced medical knowledge to help treat her will provide a strong insight into his character. The two characters have not interacted on any meaningful level before the events of Day 9, and for the most part, Dr. Hatake has seen Dr. Jordan as one of the CDC group, with whom he has had a rocky relationship. If he does try to cure her, however, it will be a strong indication that he’s being honest about wanting to help people with the work done in the facility, rather than simply being power-hungry. The reveal of Jaye as being a lookalike to Dr. Walker’s mother is also a nice touch, and adds a level of poignancy to the fact that Jaye helped rescue Dr. Walker and keep her safe amongst the vectors in Level R. The presence of more opportunistic professionals in the facility adds an interesting wrinkle to the proceedings, and it will be worth keeping an eye on proceedings to see if this is a secondary ploy put in place by Illaria, or if one of their competitors is seizing an opportunity to get hold of their technology in exchange for providing asylum. If the latter does turn out to be the case, it will present a new threat that Dr. Hatake will have to deal with, this time without the support of Illaria. How this story unfolds, as well as how Dr. Walker deals with the revelation of who her father is, and what Dr. Farragut does next to try to combat the virus, are worth keeping an eye on as the season continues.
Pretty good show, and there isn't much sci-fi wise going on until Continuum and Defiance are back.
Not sure what are they gonna do when another party arrives...
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