Two words to describe the Helix S2 opener:
Holy
Frak!
What the creative team has accomplished this season is nothing short of remarkable: not only do we have a deliciously disgusting new virus to contend with, but a time hop as well, all woven together to make the audience stand up and say “WTF?” but not confusing or off-putting as some scenarios can be. The whole introduction to said time hop is a study of expert storytelling and cinematography. One can see clearly the whole of Helix Writer’s Room rubbing and wringing their hands together with glee like A-list villains, concocting this twist of the senses (and I’m sure many more to come). Yet as new as these scenarios may seem, it still feels like – to the veteran fans – in a word, home.
With several new additions to the cast, I must say that each melded perfectly into the Helix universe.
Dr. Kyle Sommer (Matt Long) takes on the role of new kid on the block to the team consisting of Dr. Peter Farragut and Dr. Sarah Jordon. He’s a Texan, and has all the charm and brass bravado a native country boy should have without being over-the-top.
Brother Michael (Steven Webber) was creepy, but calming, with his awkward bro-hugs and soothing, resonating voice. This is a man one could end up actually liking even while saying “Ewww” in the process.
Caleb (Jim Thorburn) is an enigma. As part of the time-hop sequence with Julia, he brings to the story more questions than answers. He starts off appearing more psycho serial-killer, only to find he is as much against Illaria as Alan and the gang ever were.
The returning cast is no less amazing in their transformation. Peter is on a mission and isn’t taking any crap from anyone. Gone is the invalid, the unsure, frightened, and bewildered brother, enter the decisive and powerful team leader. We’re still left to question what his true intentions are, however, given his traitorous acts at the end of S1, but for now it seems he’s on the side of right.
Sarah has also grown from the geeky, eager-to-impress newcomer to an established powerhouse in the CDC infrastructure, as if taking Julia’s role as her own. She is more confident, determined, and completely at ease with her new-found immortality.
Julia – we cannot yet determine whether she is rogue or still working with Illaria. She has a mission to find a cure for this new virus, revealed not as Narvik but TXM-7, a personal mission as much as a global one because she herself is dying despite being immortal. Is this the virus Hatake was supposed to develop at Arctic Bio Systems? The one Constance wanted so terribly to help thin the herd and keep the 500 at 500? Or is it a backfired product of the goal to wipe out the mortals as Illaria had also planned, the double-edged sword Hatake was worried about?
The biggest reveal in the time-hop, however, was the heart-wrenching vision of Alan’s tombstone. Knowing that he’s doomed this season is a cruel but crafty twist to the present-day scenario, especially when we see him at the compound, looking all the part of a cult member.
All in all, this was beyond what I expected for a S2 opener. For anyone who even remotely expected it to fall flat and predictable (as some series season openers tend to sway), they were put to rights from the first scene on.
Bravo Helix! May you have season openers like this for many years to come.
Spektral Helix 