Episode Title: “Survivor Zero”
Writer: Sean Crouch
Director: Mike Rohl
Previously on “Helix”:
As “Helix” rolls in to episode seven, “Survivor Zero,” one has to wonder whether a Sharknado is out of range and climate to hit the Arctic and this show. I can safely say that my reaction to this show is similar to the accompanying promotional image for this review. My head hurts, and sure, I could be getting sick, but that doesn’t mean that this show didn’t induce it. In truth, I can’t think of a more painful way to spend Valentine’s day.
This week, an executive – Chief Operating Officer – of the Ilaria Corporation, also the one funding this little snooze fest, visits the base. Constance Sutton (Jeri Ryan) is charged to assist Dr. Alan Farragut (Billy Campbell) and the CDC team in any way possible. On a side note, is it ironic that Jeri Ryan’s character is being introduced in episode seven, considering the one she played on “Star Trek: Voyager” was named Seven of Nine? I see what you did there, “Helix.” And I’m not amused. Sutton establishes a quick precedent when Alan asks for a direct line to the CDC, all she can offer is that she doesn’t have a “magic phone.”
Sutton also has a tendency to sharpen her teeth with some kind of saw for… you’ve got me on that one. Constance would fit firmly in Jon Ronson’s book The Psychopath Test. You also have to ask yourself: can you honestly trust a corporation that wants to create a “paradigm” between them and the CDC? Can someone find Inigo Montoya to offer up a sincere: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
In a scene very early on, Constance exposes the Corporation’s role in creating the virus. They commissioned Dr. Hiroshi Hitake (Hiroyuki Sanada) to create it and the cure, to rule the population and “thin them out.” The scene turns into another revelation that I’m sure the audience will have to relive later on, when Alan will probably discover the connection.
At the start of the episode, it’s obvious to the audience who “Survivor Zero” is, based on last weeks miracle cure of Dr. Julia Walker (Kyra Zagorsky) at the hands of Hitaki, and the magic eyes serum that both characters have been injected with. We live through the cure with her in this episode. It comes with a side of headache and silver eyes, and a continued hallucination of Dr. Peter Farragut (Neil Napier). The silver eyes seem to be able to ward off the infected, to make them flee at the sight of them. But with a cure, does it even matter what the virus does? “Helix” doesn’t seem to think so, considering that all the CDC team can tell us is that it carries a message. In that sense, the tag line for the show, “Play God. Pay the Price.,” is levied on the audience, because they’re the ones paying the price for this monstrosity, not the characters.
It’s still unclear as to how Dr. Walker fits into all of this, but her importance is still thrown in the audience’s face week after week. In a scene with Hitaki, the cure has made her vision blurry. He moves quickly to get her out of there before Constance and a team can kill her. As Hitaki wraps her eyes, he begins to cry for some unknown reason.
The buzz kill continues with Dr. Sarah Jordan (Jordan Hayes) this week. In a response to last week’s fling with Alan, Sarah reduces what they did down to “biology.” With that kind of sexy talk, I kind of wish I were watching a comedy, because my laughter feels a little unjustified. If that doesn’t vault Dr. Sarah Jordan onto “the top fictional bachelorettes of all time,” list, if such a category exists on IMDb, then all other entries are null and void! For the remainder of the episode, she falls of the face of the Earth.
The secondary roles of all the female characters on “Helix,” and how they’ve squandered good female talent continues to anger me. It’s become a disease of modern television: “Almost Human,” while one of my favorite new shows, plays its female characters as one-off, minor plot movers with no dimension. Andrea made the worst, and most doltish decisions in “The Walking Dead’s” third season. Of course, “The Walking Dead” has the easy out by killing her character off, and that’s exactly what they did. And don’t get me started on Sophie Turner’s portrayal of Sansa Stark.
This is my plea to Television executives and writers: stop wasting female talent! The Internet doesn’t need any more terrible message board posts and bad memes!
Major Sergio Balleseros (Mark Ghanimé) is quite literally put on ice as he travels with Anana (Luciana Carro) to the compound. It’s kind of nice to see Daniel Aerov (Meegwun Fairbrother) experience a little development. But I digress, Balleseros was contracted by Constance to observe Hitaki, to determine if he’s gone against the corporation. When he’s brought in, Alan tries to confront him in the wake of Dr. Boyle’s death. Constance swears to make him pay, and judging by it, she means mount him when they’re behind closed doors. This episode seems to be full of laughter.
One of the biggest weaknesses hindering “Helix” is Cameron Porsandeh’s lack of flashback sequences. It was his decision to go without them, and it continues to be a big problem in the show’s writing, as the audience has to relive the same scenes with different players instead of minimal revelations. It’s other big problem is the “Lost” style of storytelling that it continues to badly emulate. That identity crisis causes the writers to leave big gaping subplots on the table that make no sense at all; which offer no sign of resolution.
In a recent interview, Porsandeh was quoted as saying that he was “cautiously optimistic” about a second season for “Helix.” At this point, that’s a little too optimistic.
