Helix: Vade in Pace Review

Helix reaches a turning point as the plague spreads. It’s easy to dismiss the island inhabitants and focus on the immortals.

We’ve reached the point in Helix where a shake-up was needed, similarly to the season one arrival of Ilarian mercenaries under Jeri Ryan’s command. This season, the CDC sends in quarantine troops to an overall lesser effect, but at least it changes the atmosphere under which the main characters operate. There is far too much bumbling around going on this week, though, and although I enjoyed certain elements of the episode, it generally unraveled a bit for me.

For instance, why must the audience continually be subjected to posturing on the part of the CDC employees? The soldiers demand everyone’s immediate evacuation, yet allow certain people to excuse themselves to do one last thing or refuse altogether. There are still clandestine meetings in the hallway, and there’s even time for an organized coup to take place among the ranks of the survivors.

In fact, Amy’s coup, although it pleases me on a certain level, is puzzling in some ways. Granted, the death of many members of the flock at Brother Michael’s hands may inspire others to follow Amy instead, but wouldn’t these few survivors (including Landry, inexplicably) be Michael’s trusted minions or else be dead themselves? I’m surprised there were enough remaining healthy people to mortar up Michael’s prison.

The 40-year imprisonment was a great idea, I’ll admit, and one of the few genuinely enjoyable aspects of this mediocre episode. Not only was it horrific to imagine the years of abandonment Michael had to endure, it also provided the perfect crossover into Julia’s future story, which has been isolated for the first half of the season. And the audience finally discovers why Julia is there and how it relates to the larger story: she wants immortal baby stem cells!

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I know, I know, ridiculous, right? But it’s a goal I can understand and get behind. Meanwhile the mycotics are squeezing out a few more days of life by supplementing their diet out there in the woods: not nearly as interesting. Nevertheless, the good doctors go on a mycotic hunt with their new soldier friends, an alliance that makes little sense and carries almost no weight compared to Sarah’s baby.

Speaking of Sarah, it was fun to have Kyle brought into the fold of those who know about silver-eyed immortals like her. It’s hard not to sympathize with Dr. Sommer having entered a whole world of crazy, both with the epidemic on the island and his outlandish co-workers. I’m sure he’s as tired as I am, though, of seeing Peter and Alan go at each other in such transparently juvenile and overplayed sibling rivalry.

I guess in the end I’m curious to see where Amy’s quest for immortality will lead. As always, the storylines involving immortality are always more interesting to me. Perhaps by themselves, they couldn’t support the entire series, but I am glad the silver-eyes are around to prop up this show as it threatens to crumble like the abbey over time.

Rating:

3 out of 5