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Author Topic: Helix  (Read 3025 times)
Surlyboi
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Posts: 10962

eat a bag of dicks


on: January 26, 2014, 01:26:33 PM

They should subtitle this thing. "Blame it on the Bossanova"

From Ron Moore, it's a conspiracy/disease thing that's super predictable in some parts and utterly baffling in others. A CDC team gets sent up to a private research facility in the Arctic, presumably at the direction of the US Army and with the permission of the company that hosts the lab and shenanigans ensue. Actually, shenanigans ensue in the first 30 seconds of the pilot. The CDC team consists of the heroic Dr. Save-a-ho, and his plucky star student at the CDC academy who's secretly in love with him. (Of course) The Doctor's ex-wife is also in on it, because the doctor's brother (who she slept with, causing the divorce) is patient zero at the facility. (No one saw that coming. At all.) The Army engineer (Shady from go) and the CDC biologist that the wife and I have dubbed, "Science Pam" because we're pretty sure she's got "The Destruction of Sennacherib" tattooed on her back.

Combine them with the shady overseer of the lab, played with some serious shifty-eyed glee by Hiroyuki Sanada from Wolverine, Sunshine and the Last Samurai. His weird, adopted son and an assortment of paranoid scientists and it gets bizarre quickly. Though you always know shit's gonna get weird because random bossanova tunes start playing just before things go sideways.

I've made it through three episodes so far, will wait a couple more before I decide whether I bail on it or not.

Tuned in, immediately get to watch cringey Ubisoft talking head offering her deepest sympathies to the families impacted by the Orlando shooting while flanked by a man in a giraffe suit and some sort of "horrifically garish neon costumes through the ages" exhibit or something.  We need to stop this fucking planet right now and sort some shit out. -Kail
Nevermore
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Posts: 4740


Reply #1 on: January 26, 2014, 02:07:22 PM

I had DVRed the pilot but when I saw the plot looked like it was basically a cross between The Thing and Walking Dead, only as told by the SyFi channel, I decided it wouldn't be worth my time.  Was I wrong?

Over and out.
Surlyboi
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Posts: 10962

eat a bag of dicks


Reply #2 on: January 26, 2014, 02:20:58 PM

Jury's still out, though I'm leaning toward skip it at this point.

Tuned in, immediately get to watch cringey Ubisoft talking head offering her deepest sympathies to the families impacted by the Orlando shooting while flanked by a man in a giraffe suit and some sort of "horrifically garish neon costumes through the ages" exhibit or something.  We need to stop this fucking planet right now and sort some shit out. -Kail
jgsugden
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Posts: 3888


Reply #3 on: January 26, 2014, 05:14:54 PM

I'm in train wreck mode.  I'm watching it with the expectation that it is going to crash, and I think the crash could be entertaining... however it isn't a show I'd recommend to others. 

2020 will be the year I gave up all hope.
satael
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Posts: 2431


Reply #4 on: January 26, 2014, 09:10:48 PM

Train wreck mode is a good thing to compare it to. Helix seems to be (atleast) 13 episodes from what I can see on IMDB so I'm genuinely interested to see how the hell they are going to stretch the plot that long if they keep it contained on the Antarctic base.
kaid
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Posts: 3113


Reply #5 on: January 27, 2014, 09:01:30 AM

Train wreck mode is a good thing to compare it to. Helix seems to be (atleast) 13 episodes from what I can see on IMDB so I'm genuinely interested to see how the hell they are going to stretch the plot that long if they keep it contained on the Antarctic base.

After three episodes I think the only thing that is keeping the place from eating a missile and having the powers that be wash their hands of the place is the destroyed communications tower. Honestly given what the powers that be think/know is going on there I would take any long break in radio contact to be a good excuse to ventilate the building wait a few years and then go clean up the mess.
Soulflame
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Posts: 6486


Reply #6 on: January 27, 2014, 09:08:45 AM

You forgot to mention how much plot advancement is done via scientists doing utterly stupid things, most of which should (in theory) be in direct contradiction to their training.  Oh, and much of the drama that isn't explained by supposedly highly trained, professional, and intelligent people doing stupid things, is hand-waved by an unbelievable lack of communication.

We watched the first two episodes a while after they originally aired, and haven't bothered to keep up past that.
« Last Edit: January 27, 2014, 09:53:14 AM by Soulflame »
Threash
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Posts: 9165


Reply #7 on: January 27, 2014, 11:58:06 AM

It's not very good but i kinda want to see where it goes, at least it doesn't look like it will be very long.

I am the .00000001428%
kaid
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Posts: 3113


Reply #8 on: January 27, 2014, 12:04:58 PM

This show would have to pull one huge rabbit out of its ass to somehow make it watchable in the long run. The only way the story keeps moving at all currently is people doing more and more stupid nonsensical things that nobody in their positions would ever likely do.
jgsugden
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Posts: 3888


Reply #9 on: January 27, 2014, 12:09:06 PM

I'm assuming that once communication is restored, we'll discover that the plague is out and devastating the world, either in the season finale of this season or it would be planned for a future season finale (or mid-season if they go that route) - and the base is the only hope to cure the plague.

2020 will be the year I gave up all hope.
Margalis
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Posts: 12335


Reply #10 on: January 31, 2014, 03:29:48 AM

I watched maybe an episode and a half. It seemed like it couldn't decide if it was a science mystery show or a zombie-on-the-loose show, and split the difference in pretty poor fashion.

The pacing seemed really off, in that you have some imminent threat wandering around and then some slow-paced science stuff happening.

vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
satael
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Posts: 2431


Reply #11 on: March 29, 2014, 05:27:58 AM

So somehow this had enough viewers to get a second season (coming in 2015).
I hoped it would get better by the end of the first season but the last episode was actually the worst in my opinion and failed to make me in any way interested in the second season.  Ohhhhh, I see.
jgsugden
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Posts: 3888


Reply #12 on: March 29, 2014, 09:20:38 AM

So somehow this had enough viewers to get a second season (coming in 2015).
I hoped it would get better by the end of the first season but the last episode was actually the worst in my opinion and failed to make me in any way interested in the second season.  Ohhhhh, I see.
100% agree.  Against my better judgment, I stuck with it.  I regret it.  I will not be coming back for season 2. 

2020 will be the year I gave up all hope.
Threash
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Posts: 9165


Reply #13 on: March 29, 2014, 04:28:56 PM

I actually laughed out loud when the big shadowy corporation turned out to have a building with their name on it.

I am the .00000001428%
luckton
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5947


Reply #14 on: January 07, 2016, 09:32:58 AM

They should subtitle this thing. "Blame it on the Bossanova"

From Ron Moore, it's a conspiracy/disease thing that's super predictable in some parts and utterly baffling in others. A CDC team gets sent up to a private research facility in the Arctic, presumably at the direction of the US Army and with the permission of the company that hosts the lab and shenanigans ensue. Actually, shenanigans ensue in the first 30 seconds of the pilot. The CDC team consists of the heroic Dr. Save-a-ho, and his plucky star student at the CDC academy who's secretly in love with him. (Of course) The Doctor's ex-wife is also in on it, because the doctor's brother (who she slept with, causing the divorce) is patient zero at the facility. (No one saw that coming. At all.) The Army engineer (Shady from go) and the CDC biologist that the wife and I have dubbed, "Science Pam" because we're pretty sure she's got "The Destruction of Sennacherib" tattooed on her back.

Combine them with the shady overseer of the lab, played with some serious shifty-eyed glee by Hiroyuki Sanada from Wolverine, Sunshine and the Last Samurai. His weird, adopted son and an assortment of paranoid scientists and it gets bizarre quickly. Though you always know shit's gonna get weird because random bossanova tunes start playing just before things go sideways.

I've made it through three episodes so far, will wait a couple more before I decide whether I bail on it or not.

They uploaded season 2 to Netflix, and since my wife kinda enjoyed season 1, we thought we'd give season 2 a shot.

So, in the spirit of Surly's OP, here's a rundown of season 2.

Dr. Save-a-ho's gone into hiding after the events in the arctic, turning into a one-man "terrorist" trying to take down the shady conglomerate from season 1, who was behind all of the events in the arctic from the get-go. Meanwhile, the doctor's brother is now in charge of the CDC team, which still has the plucky star student, and they added a bro from CDC's Texas branch. The team's investigating a new fungal virus at sea, which brings them to a remote island inhabited by a neo-Amish cult led by a dude they worship as a god (read: shady as fuck). At the same time, 30 years in the future, the doctor's ex-wife comes to the island in search of a cure to a disease that's killing off the leaders of the shady corporation, and her too, if you watched the first season.

Hiroyuki Sanada and his weird, adopted son come back for a few episodes who, among other things, re-enact the theme to the Andy Griffith Show and try to provide filler to otherwise fruitless content. The bossanova tunes are still there to cue you to the crazy shit, which gets about as far out as they did last season.

In a nutshell, season 2 is season 1, just remixed. If you liked the first crazy outing, you'll enjoy season 2. If not, or if you hate shows that don't totally wrap up every loose end before your network shit-cans you, pass.
« Last Edit: January 07, 2016, 10:07:20 AM by luckton »

"Those lights, combined with the polygamous Nazi mushrooms, will mess you up."

"Tuning me out doesn't magically change the design or implementation of said design. Though, that'd be neat if it did." -schild
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