This week’s episode of Helix is a treat for fans with the addition 
of Jeri Ryan to the cast. Ryan (Star Trek: Voyager, Leverage) plays Constance Sutton, the chief operating officer from the Ilaeria Corporation, the company that funds Artic Biosystems. Sutton shows up with a fully armed team and an agenda of her own.
For those of you who aren’t watching Helix: stop reading now and go catch up on-line; as for the rest of you: keep reading.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
When Sutton arrives she corners Hatake (Hiroyuki Sanada). After chastising him for not finding a cure for the virus she then nonchalantly informs him that once a cure is found no one leaves the base alive. Hatake clearly doesn’t want murder his staff but Sutton reminds him that unless he follows her orders he will join the others in death.
Sutton and her escorts weren’t the only ones to visit the base. Balleseros (Mark Ghanimé) and the eskimo police officer that rescued him off the ice also come to the base. The officer hopes that she will be reunited with her long lost brother who is quite possibly Hatake’s adopted son, Daniel (Meegwun Fairbrother). Sutton requests a private interview with Balleseros and we discover that these two have a history that may have been physical.
Wanting to expedite creating a cure Sutton asks Alan (Billy Campbell) what he needs in order to isolate a cure to the virus. Alan asks for Julia (Kyra Zagorsky) to be recovered from Level R. Sutton agrees to send a team to the lower level to retrieve Julia. The rescue attempt was unsuccessful, but not because the guards weren’t properly equipped, but because she had already been rescued by Hatake.
When Alan sees Julia he observes that she is complete devoid of any outward symptoms and that she appeared to be cured. There is one very noticeable sign that indicate that there is still a problem, Julia’s eyes are silver. Along with the silver eyes Julia is also experiencing headaches and photosensitivity.
Now with Julia recovered (in more ways than one) the people on the upper level are in grave danger because 3 of the infected hitched a ride on the roof the elevator. These “vectors” as Alan refers to them are faster and stronger than the average human being and are hell bent on infecting others.
I can’t believe that the first season of Helix is half over. I had wondered how the creators of Helix were going to keep it interesting. One the most surprising and might I say refreshing thing about the show is that no one is safe. I grew up on American television where no matter how grim things look, main characters don’t die. On Helix everyone is expendable. The rules have started to change over the years with shows like Lost, Game of Thrones and even Buffy the Vampire Slayer offing major characters. When no one is safe it keeps the suspense level high.
Helix has a creepy factor that stays with you long after the episode ends. Whether it is a bunch of not so dead frozen monkeys screaming or a diseased r
at climbing out of a corpse’s mouth; Helix does a great job keeping you on the edge of your couch. Adding to the creepiness is the eclectic nature of the music. In the final scene of Survivor Zero, as the three infected are running down the hall, the music playing is Peggy Lee singing “Fever.” It was, in my mind, an odd choice of music but since it stood out in my mind the song did the job.
I have enjoyed what I have seen so far but with each passing episode more questions are raised than answered. I can’t believe that this virus was genetically engineered; I think it is something not of this Earth. It would be interesting to see what you might think.
Helix airs Friday night at 10pm…only on Syfy!
