Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress

reviewing Black Doves; Citadel; Cross; Dark Matter; Dept. Q; Dexter: Resurrection; Dune: Prophecy; For All Mankind; Foundation; Hijack; Memory of a Killer; MobLand; Outlander; Paradise; Presumed Innocent; Severance; Silo; Slow Horses; Smoke; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Tehran;The: Day of the Jackal, Diplomat, Last of Us, Night Agent; Your Friends & Neighbors +books, films, music, podcasts, politics

George Santayana had irrational faith in reason - I have irrational faith in TV.

Showing posts with label Helix. Show all posts

Friday, February 2, 2024

True Detective 4.1-4.3: Alaska, With A Touch of Science Fiction

True Detective is back with its fourth season. So far, as of the first three episodes, it's quite good. Not as brilliant as the first season, which was a masterpiece, but at least as good as the second and third seasons, each in their way memorable. And this fourth season has something which is always especially appealing to me, a touch of science fiction.

The crime involves the disappearance of eight scientists from the fictional Tsalal Research Station in Alaska. In the second episode, it's briefly noted that those scientists were trying to sequence the DNA of an extinct microorganism that could have enormous health benefits for we humans, stopping "cellular decay," "curing cancer, autoimmune diseases, genetic disorders, an absolute fucking game-changer." This sure sounds like some welcome science fiction to me. It's also something that harkens back a little to the not-bad Helix series, which had two seasons on the SyFy Channel back in 2014-2015.

The placement in Alaska also calls forth recollections of all kinds of movies and TV series, ranging from the superb Christopher Nolan 2002 Insomnia with Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank (what a cast!) to the 2022 ABC-TV series Alaska Daily, also starring Hilary Swank, which was wisely cancelled after one season (I stopped watching it after three episodes).

I've been glued to screen of this season of True Detective, on HBO Max. In Insomnia, the sun never left the sky as Pacino's Detective Dormer struggles to investigate a murder way up north without getting a decent night's sleep. In True Detective, detectives Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) struggle to solve the crime in just the reverse situation in which the sun in December never rises in Alaska. It's great to see Foster back on the screen, she hasn't lost a beat. This is the first time I recall seeing Reis, and she's putting in a strong performance, too. The supporting cast is good, as well, with Finn Bennett as Peter Prior the rookie cop and Isabella LeBlanc as Danver's daughter Leah especially notable. I also for some reason liked Donnie Keshawarz as James Bryce, the high school teacher and Danver's former lover, maybe because he delivered the incredible news about what DNA from the extinct microorganism could do.

The key to the incandescence of the first season was the chemistry between the two detective partners, played Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. This fourth season of True Detective starts with just the opposite of that between Danvers and Navarro. They have a history, which we gradually learn about, which nearly makes them enemies, and they have to bury the hatchet, at least temporarily, and combine their expertise to work this case.

Like all the seasons of True Detective, there's a degree of gore which I could live without in a TV series or a movie. Also an element of mystical horror which is not my cup of tea, either. But the science fictional element makes up for that in this fourth season, and I'm very much looking forward to the rest.

And ... hey, I didn't even have to warn you about spoilers.

Friday, June 5, 2015

Fortitude: Genre Bending

Checking in with a review of Fortitude, a 12-episode genre bending series first show on Pivot TV in April, but I just saw it on Netflix DVDs this week.

The location is perfect for summer viewing: a fictional town in the Arctic, which cools you down by 20 degrees just by looking at it on your screen. That was a figure of speech, not actually a part of the story, but what is going on in Fortitude is almost science fictional - as well as mystery, police procedural, medical thriller, horror, and even some good political wrangling.

Stanley Tucci puts in a great performance as an American detective working (for some reason) as an English DCI, who's called in to Fortitude to investigate at least two murders. One may or may not have been a mercy killing - the shooting of a scientist who was literally being eaten alive by bear - and the other a frenzied brutal stabbing, with the main suspect being a little boy.

There's a lab in the town, people looking to make a quick buck or whatever the currency is there by digging mammoth tusks out of the permafrost, and an unforgettable sense of being on the edge of the world, almost on another planet. In that sense, Fortitude shares some of the ambiance of the first season of Helix, but Fortitude was a thousand times better.

The mysteries, scientific and personal, will keep you guessing to the end. Just about every character is memorable, including the sheriff, played by Richard Dormer; the Governor, played by Sofie Gråbøl; and the oldest man in town, played by Michael Gambone.

Suffice to say that not everyone survives - not everyone with a vengeance - but the series amply does, and I'll be looking forward to the next season next year.

#SFWApro

"As a genre-bending blend of police procedural and science fiction, The Silk Code delivers on its promises." -- Gerald Jonas, The New York Times Book Review

Monday, February 2, 2015

Helix 2.3: Deterioration of Immortality

Hiroshi is back on Helix - in episode 2.3, the 30 years into the future part. He adds an important, likely crucial piece to the slowly emerging picture, which is no lightning epidemic but a creeping menace.

He's on the island which is now clearly the locale of the story this season. He looks the same - 30 years is nothing for someone who's an immortal. But he's suffering from hallucinations, and the visit of Julia brings and confirms the surprising news that there may be flaws and limits to the immortality.

Which raises an important question. Why is Julia's immortal body beginning to break down, when Hiroshi's - her father's and therefore older body - is not? Or perhaps we're being told that Hiroshi's mentality is beginning to go, another kind of breakdown. If that is so, can we believe him when he tells Julia he can cure her immortality deterioration?

Meanwhile, back in our present, we get some strong - if always inconclusive - developments in the cult farm on the island. Kyle is nearly stoned to death by children, usually sweet, but now afflicted not only with violence but darting eyes. The scene was a good Village of the Damned little set piece - and, indeed, it may well be that the children are aliens.

As was the case for most in the first season, Ilaria looms evilly in the background. Julia reveals to Hiroshi under the influence of the truth serum he gives her that she's working for Ilaria. But the better question is who's working for Ilaria 30 years earlier, in our present, on the island and in the CDC?

Helix continues to put provocative pieces on the board. But I'm still looking forward to seeing them much more in play.

all kinds of epidemics in this trilogy

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Saturday, January 24, 2015

Helix 2.2: 15 Months Pregnant

Helix continued its second season in episode 2.2 last night, on a higher, better plane than the first season. I guess I like lush islands better than forbidding Arctic tundra. But the story this year is also more creative.

For example, we learn near the end of the episode that Sarah is 15-months pregnant with Alan's baby. We've seen alien-human hybrids on all kinds of televisions series before - such as V - but in the context of Helix, and the partial transformation of Sarah into a more healthy human, her being with child is especially pregnant with possibilities.

The parallel narrative across 30 years continues to work well, with buildings decaying and regenerating in quick time on the screen. I wasn't at all surprised that Alan wasn't buried in the grave with his name - he's too important a character to waste - and this raises the question of where he is 30 years from now.

A meeting between Caleb, Julia, and Alan in the future is bound to happen sooner or later, and raises the question of who is Caleb? Is he connected to someone we've already seen in 2015? My best guesses at this point would be he's Sarah's baby or maybe the boy who was sick and recovered in 2015. I didn't get the boy's name, but even if it wasn't Caleb, he could always have changed his name.

The cultish part of the story on the island is the least impressive, so far. At best, it's a warmed-over take on Lost, as I mentioned last week, and in any case it's nothing we haven't seen before, for example, also in Revolution. But the differences in the various people in the cult have potential, and it will be fun to see where that develops.

It occurred to me last night that a story about a plague should have special relevance these days, given the Ebola outbreak that gripped much of our news this past Fall. For that reason alone, Helix should be situated to really take off.

all kinds of epidemics in this trilogy

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Sunday, January 18, 2015

Helix 2.1: Improved and Intriguing Scenario

Hey, I just saw Helix 2.1. Last season had some good moments, but was by and large a mixed of bag of missed opportunities and implausible gambits. Still, the first season of Helix had something, which is why I watched the beginning of the second. And that first episode was excellent indeed, in many ways a whole new and much better science fiction series.

Harkening back to the first season, we finally get to see Peter Farragut in an hour of his own as a team leader. Alan is barely on hand, except at the end, in a nicely unexpected reveal.

Which gets to the best part of this second season of Helix so far. We're treated to not only one story, but two, in the same place, literally, but 30 years apart in time. We first find this out in a great little scene in which a rabbit carcass turns into a dusty skeleton right before our eyes.

The Arctic environment of the first season has mercifully given way to a lush environment on the fictional island of St. Germaine off the West Coast, not too far from Seattle. This island is apparently the source of a deadly new pathogen - not the NARVIK - which has at very least killed a shipload of people, and maybe/likely many more on the island, if the massive number of human skeletons found in the woods is any indication. Peter - with Julia and a wise-cracking (which is to say, welcome) new addition, Dr. Kyle Sommer - get to the island to investigate.

The island has a cult - the really only trite part of this otherwise strong episode (a little too close to Lost) - but it's led by Brother Michael, played by Steven Weber, another fine addition to the cast. Julia's on hand - but thirty years in the future, and, in another significant twist, apparently no longer immortal - and the viral-hunting game, across a 30-year tableau, is on.

The second season of Helix is off to a creative, promising start, and I'm looking forward to more.

all kinds of epidemics in this trilogy

Thursday, August 28, 2014

The Last Ship: The First Season

I thought I'd check in with a general review of The Last Ship, which finished its first season on TNT Sunday, and I've been watching and enjoying since I reviewed the first episode two months ago, back in June.

The Last Ship had a tough, well-tread row to hoe - or, in its case, sail. We've seen the onset and aftermaths of deadly pandemics before, from Helix to The Walking Dead. And the post-apocalypse scenario, with government tottering, breaking or broken down, has been on the television screen as recently as Revolution.

But The Last Ship did a good job of telling its plague and post-apocalypse story in an original, often exciting way. The ports of call and the encounters of the crew were all good narratives. The conflict with the Russian ship and commander was well played, and packed at least one big surprise. And, best of all, the pursuit of a cure/vaccine proceeded in a believable way, which left room for success as well as disappointment.

It was also clear, at the end of the season finale, that The Last Ship caught the wave of impending apocalypse just right, and in most ways better than Revolution. This is probably due to the proximity of our story to the onset of the plague, which allows all kinds of people in all kinds of positions and power to still be around as potential and actual characters.

What's most of interest, now, is whether the second season will take the ship back out to sea, or if we'll see more action in the U.S.A. Intrinsic to the first season was the running of a ship - chain of command, loyalty to the commander, all the things we've come to expect and appreciate in these kinds of stories. But I won't miss that, overly, if the story spends more time on solid ground, with the last ship as metaphor as well as reality.

See also: The Last Ship Debuts: Helix Meets Last Resort

not quite apocalypse, yet

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Monday, June 23, 2014

The Last Ship debuts: Helix meets Last Resort

Hey, I caught the premiere of The Last Ship on TNT last night, and it was pretty good, even if we have seen the pieces of the set-up before.

Helix on the SyFy Channel is the most recent disease apocalypse tale on television, and Last Resort on NBC a few years told the story of an American captain fighting the U.S. and a lot of the world on his rogue nuclear-armed submarine.

But The Last Ship is a little different. The U.S. is not (yet) the ship's enemy, but rather seems all but wiped out by the plague. Actually, the government is all but wiped out, but some number of Americans are still alive, including the CO's family, which makes for a compelling continuing story line.

The nature of the virus is of note as well. It's a deadly virus, already doing damage, but apparently made even more deadly by some deliberate genetic engineering. This gives the scientist on board an interesting hand to play. As Dr. Rachel Scott explains to the CO Tom Chandler, she is more likely to find a cure, because she has the original, unengineered virus in her possession.

But the ship - a destroyer not a sub, which is also more interesting - is beset by at least two types of enemies. One are the creators of the genetically engineered virus. The other are the Russians - or a splinter group from what is left of Russia - assuming they are not the same as the evil genetic engineers.

So, while the premise is a bit trite, there are possibilities here for a good series, and I'll be watching. Hey, if it's science fiction, I'm usually more than halfway there whatever the pilot.

another biological agent on the loose ...

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Sunday, March 30, 2014

Helix Season 1 Finale: A Better Clime

Well, the best thing about the Helix Season 1 finale was the final scene, which showed Alan in a warmer climate than we've so far seen in the series. Buenos Aires, Marseilles, who knows, but it's welcome indeed after 13 weeks out in the cold. That cold was leaving me cold, wearing thin, pick your pun. However you say it, I'm glad to see the story out of there, and come to think of it, there was no reason it ever really had to be in the frigid north in the first place.

The second best thing was Peter's treachery. Not that I liked it - I think I'm still routing for the good guys - but it was a sound plot development. I never liked that guy, and it was consistent with naivety of Alan and his group that they would put so much trust in Peter. Or maybe it was an understandable lack of understanding, not naivety, but it amounts to the same thing.

Also good was the destruction of the base, leaving us not knowing whether Sarah survived, especially significant because she's presumably carrying Alan's baby. And Julia apparently in charge of Ilaria, or pretty high up in its command, was also a good move. It brings home the point, already made by Peter, that no one with those eyes can be trusted.

So Helix has some pretty intriguing pieces in place for its second season, including the canister that Alan rescued, which I have to hope was the cure.

But I gotta say that I hope Helix plays them better than it did in the first season, which was slow moving and confusing throughout much of its run. The last two episodes finally got the narrative up to speed, but the unanswered question of who the Ilarians are still looms large. Let's hope that whatever their identity, we don't need all of the second season to discover it.

The Silk Code - bio tech in a warmer clime

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Saturday, March 22, 2014

Helix 1.12: 500 Years

Well, as has been usual on the past few episodes of Helix, we learned one very significant thing in last night's 1.12: Hiroshi's 500 years old. That guy Gunnar wasn't kidding when he was talking about immortality, and Hiroshi looks a lot better.

But this raises anew the question about the virus that conveys endless immunity from disease and aging - who or what brought the virus, or, how did it originate and come to humanity? Actually, this question has been with the series all along, but now it's looming in importance.

Let's rule out time travel, because, much as I love it and write it as an author, we've seen no evidence of it at all on Helix. We had no idea when hapless Gunnar was infected and made immortal, only how long he'd been in solitude. But we now know that Hiroshi became immortal some 500 years ago. This means the virus cannot be a creation of our current technologies, or a technology that was developed somewhere in the world that is slightly or more advanced what we now do in our laboratories.

But if not a deliberate infection via time travelers from the future, what then? There are several possibilities: the virus naturally emerged, the virus was brought here by aliens, the virus was the result of some intentional or unintentional human experimenting with corpses, diseases, blood, whatever 500 years or more ago.

Although I wouldn't rule out the third possibility - and, in fact, prehistoric gene splicing plays a significant role in my novel, The Silk Code - it would be pulling a rabbit out of a hat for Helix.

So that leaves natural occurrence or aliens. And that also, again, points to the question about the Ilarians: are they humans tranformed by the virus, or are they aliens? Presumably we'll find out more next week.

In the meantime, a farewell to Daniel/Miksa, whose noble sacrifice was one of the best scenes in the series.

And here's the above-mentioned Silk Code

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Saturday, March 15, 2014

Helix 1.11: Spiral Narrative

Well, Helix 1.11 ended with the Illurians - assuming that's how they're spelt - marching through the base in Cylonic storm trooper fashion. At their head is Scythe, some super cool deadly assassin.

So Helix continues adding newish elements, with at least beginning to consolidate some of the previous loose ends. The cure's definitely working - after a fashion - with Peter back in the human column for the first time since early in the season. It also definitely worked on Sarah and her different illness, after a headache scare that led to concerns she was slipping back. But the headache was just apparently the last phase before she emerged, healthy and literally bright eyed.

But if the cure definitely works, on zombies and sick humans alike, then why are the Illurians so intent on destroying everyone in the base? Presumably because of the 500 Illurian limit that we heard about from the guy in the basement, who didn't want to be immortal, last week. But as far as good fiction, this 500-limit is weak. Unless we get a better explanation, the 500 is just an arbitrary number. Why 500 rather than 100 or a 1,000?

We do have some possible romantic tension in the wings. If Peter gets completely recovered, isn't Julia likely to want to be with him rather than his brother Alan? Hard to say. But possibly Alan would rather be with Sarah, anyway, unless her bright eyes make him uncomfortable.

The problem is that we still don't know what the bright eyes mean, alien or super-human? Helix somehow manages to move forward, and give us real answers, without answering the fundamental questions that have been in our face since the beginning. We'll need to wait to the end - at least, of this season - to see whether this could be a new, compelling narrative form, or just a story that somehow never completely gelled.

Like biological science fiction? Try The Silk Code

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Saturday, March 8, 2014

Helix 1.10: The Curse of Immortality

More answers in Helix 1.10 last night - most from the mouth of Gunnar (I think that was his name) found chained in yet another subterranean place a little away from the main base, looking like an escape Observer from Fringe, but with silver eyes, no less.

The news that Hiroshi put him there is the least surprising of what he says. The silver eyes are a sign of his immortality. Further, he can go 4 minutes without oxygen, 4 days without water, and 40 days without food - not spectacularly better than what we humans can do, but definitely an improvement in our survival quotients. There is also a limit of 500 on how many immortals there can be, presumably at any one time.

Most interesting and profound of what the immortal in the basement says is what a drag it is to be immortal. The action of the genes which compels the continuation of life is no fun to feel. His price for immortality is ten thousand or whatever deaths. This part of Helix thus puts it in league with a splinter of a genre in science fiction, in which immortality proves to be a curse. I recall a story I read years ago, in which the immortal just got gradually older, more and more decrepit, wasting away, but never dying. In this context, what Gunnar wants most is to be put out of his immortality.

Other facts that come to light in Helix 1.10 is that the late Constance Sutton's group all have silver eyes - we already knew that Constance had them - and are far more than a greedy, ruthless corporation. But still unknown is whether they are aliens, or humans who have evolved to a higher level (though not higher as far as the guy in the basement is concerned).

Meanwhile, back at the base, Sarah's cancer has progressed. But, as was apparent and I've been saying since we saw Sarah's first tremor, some combination of the virus and bright eyes will save her.

Helix is still taking its time to reveal what's going on, but is now spiraling along quite well.

Like biological science fiction? Try The Silk Code

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Saturday, March 1, 2014

Helix 1.9: Brass Tacks

Well, Helix 1.9 last night finally began to get down to brass tacks - though they're still being kept close to the chest, with big questions still unanswered or barely addressed.

Here's what we know for sure, so far. Hiroshi is Julia's father and they both have those bright alien eyes. Julia didn't spend her childhood out west - she was in fact in the lower realms of the Arctic facility. The zombies - or vectors, in Helix-speak - are afraid of Julia. (But I don't recall them being afraid of Hiroshi, which raises an interesting question.) The facility has more viral specimens than "the CDC" - which means, many indeed. And the virus responsible for the outbreak is en route to the outside - stolen - which could result in a billion deaths.

Whew! That's a powerful situation, and it's good to see it finally becoming more clear. But still looming large and unknown is the relationship between the deadly virus, the cure, and the bright eyes. Presumably, from what we've seen, the trajectory is infection with the zombie-making virus, introduction of the cure, and the emergence of the bright eyes in the cured person. That's what we saw with Julia, and likely the same happened to Hiroshi.

But what do the bright eyes mean? Are they an indication in some next stage of evolution for humanity? And is that stage connected to some alien intelligence life? And what does all this have to do with the indigenous people living in the Arctic?

Meanwhile, Sarah's getting worse, and Hiroshi promises her she'll be ok. Was this just to calm her? Or does the virus cocktail hold some hope of a cure for her tumor, which is what I've been thinking all along.

Good to see this show picking up some steam in the cold.

Like biological science fiction? Try The Silk Code

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Friday, February 21, 2014

Helix 1.8: Glacial Speed

I know that things move slowly in the extreme cold, but in the case of Helix 1.8, that apparently applies to the speed with which the story unfolds. The one good result of this is that we're still in suspense about what is really going on. But there's only so long that a plot can stay in the deep freeze.

Ok, one big change did occur in 1.8, but that concerned a major player who was just introduced to the series last week. It was satisfying to see Sutton garroted to death, especially after Alan and Sarah's attempt to get rid of her figuratively blew up in their faces and not enough in Sutton's to more than muss her hair. And, yeah, it was good to hear Hiroshi say we're back in charge, and with it the hope that we'll soon be getting some answers.

But where are they? Implications of aliens and beasts, almost reminiscent of what resides beyond the wall in the north in Game of Thrones, are shown to us in every episode, but it's time we found out more about them and their connection to what's going on in full view on the screen. The eyes like silver dollars are a good clue, but we saw that last week, and learned little more about them tonight.

In many ways and with just a few exceptions, Helix is still playing like a very good prologue to what we can only hope is a better story beyond. Prequels can work very well, but only when we already know what they are prelude to. In the case of Helix, we can only guess, and not with very much information, about what lies ahead.

There's lots that's possibly good about this series, and I just hope that the upcoming episodes confirm this.

Like biological science fiction? Try The Silk Code

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Friday, February 14, 2014

Helix 1.7: Bright Eyes

Finally some progress in our understanding of what is going in Helix in 1.7 tonight, mostly from Constance Sutton played by Jeri Ryan, who arrives with an expeditionary team to get some answers, results, and in general command of what is going on.

The first thing we learn is that Sutton and her team are not government but the facility's corporate controllers, and we soon hear from Sutton, in a conversation with a distressed Hiroshi, exactly what the corporation wants: a virus and a cure. A virus, moreover, which will kill everyone the corporation wants dead, who will be given the virus but not the cure. Further, to make matters even worse, Sutton learns from Hiroshi that the zombies are products of a second virus, which didn't quite work out, but turns its victims into foaming, raving lunatics rather than just killing them dead.

And there's one more thing: Sutton's eyes have an alien gleam - literally. So who, then, is the "we" that Sutton references when she says that "we have waited too long"? Aliens? Humans who were already exposed to some kind of virus? Not enough info on that, as yet.

But Julia, who was exposed to the virus, has lost all of her symptoms and developed a new one: she, too, now has bright eyes.

So the fog may be finally beginning to lift around Helix. And this time l liked the music - "Fever" by Peggy Lee, which makes good accompaniment to a virus, alien brewed, engendering, or otherwise.

Like biological science fiction? Try The Silk Code

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Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Intelligence 1.6: Helix meets Rectify and Justified

Intelligence 1.6 zoomed into Helix territory last night, with a sharp story that had Gabriel, Riley, and Cyber Command on what looks like a bio-terror virus-gone-wild case, but turns out to be our own military up to no good on behalf of what one general sees as a greater good for our country.

But the best part of the plot is the puzzle of the set-up in which Patient Zero turns out to be someone we just saw getting the death sentence in Texas, so how can he be the vector of an epidemic which started after he was dead? Turns out our military spirited him away after injecting him with something not immediately lethal, to use him as a guinea pig for development of a vaccine for a possible terrorist attack via horrendous virus.

Some nice resonance in this twist on capital punishment to Rectify and last season's The Killing, and the contribution to viral fiction - writ large not only in Helix but of course The Walking Dead and even in National Geographic's Zombie Earth specu-docu-drama, where, believe it or not, I had a brief walk-on appearance as an "expert" - was good, too.

And speaking of welcome interconnections, it was great to see Nick Searcy as the wrong-minded General Carter, whose plan for the vaccine goes awry when the condemned prisoner escapes from the military lab, and becomes Patient Zero as he mixes into the crowd. It's been a good week for Searcy, who put in one of his best performances on Justify last week, as Chief Deputy U. S. Marshal Mullen makes like the inimitable Givens in a diner. (I'm glad I finally got a chance to mention Justified and Rectify in the same post.)

Back to Intelligence, we also find out more about how Gabriel came to be embedded with his chip, including that two previous candidates died and another wound up paralyzed in the process. He did it in the hope it would help him find Amelia, we learn again, but with her gone now, he admits to Riley that he thinks all the time about whether it was all worth it.

Intelligence is shaping up as one of the best new shows on television this season.

See also Intelligence Debuts ... Intelligence 1.2: Lightning Changes ...Intelligence 1.3: Edward Snowden and 24 ... Intelligence 1.4: Social Media Weaponry ... Intelligence 1.5: The Watch

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Like biological science fiction? Try The Silk Code

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Helix 1.6: Good New Clues, Nutcracker not Sweet

Despite some insufferably bad music - the "Nutcracker Suite," played at inappropriate times - and a less coherent than usual story, Helix 1.6 did teach us some important things tonight.

1. Hiroshi tells Alan that the viral delivery system is being designed to fight cancer - all kinds, all stages. That's certainly a worthy goal. But can we believe Hiroshi? Maybe, possibly likely, certainly not completely. In particular, is Hiroshi telling the truth when he says that the medical weapon that's supposed to destroy cancer once it's delivered was not yet inserted into the genetic missiles? Doubtful to maybe - but, if true, that suggests that it's the delivery system itself that's creating all the zombies.

2. Something - presumably the viral delivery system - is having the beneficial effect of promoting rapid healing. At least, that seems to be the case for Hiroshi.

3. Cryogenic cold seems to slow down the delivery or whatever virus. Good thing, given that all of this is taking place in the big cold outside, i.e., see last week's White Room.

4. Missing children - gone missing from the area over a number of years - are also a factor. Are they the little beings we've seen out in the arctic tundra? Maybe, probably, I guess, I don't know.

5. There may be some twin or more connection in all of this, too. The law-woman who takes in Sergio has a twin brother who looks like Daniel - and I thought I heard Daniel call Hiroshi "father". Even if that's not so, there's definitely an all-in-the-family thing going on in Helix, which is interesting.

But annoying, not very interesting, is that dream sequence or whatever it was with Julia meeting her younger self and a table full of our characters out in Montana. Those things have been done dozens of times and better.

On the other hand, good to see Alan and Sarah following through on last week's kiss and sleeping together. The two are the most real people on the series, and the only relationship - at this point - that has the power to really influence events.

Like biological science fiction? Try The Silk Code

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Saturday, February 1, 2014

Helix 1.5: In the White Room

An uneven episode of Helix - 1.5 - last night, in which no real progress is made on the scientific puzzle, but lots of good action comes down in the murder and human relationship departments.

Among the high points in that action -

Sarah impulsively kisses Alan, and he doesn't mind it at all, emotionally, those he berates Sarah afterward for professional reasons. He's particularly unhappy about the morphine being the impetus for Sarah, though he doesn't yet know the real reason she's taking it. In any case - I think they make a good couple, despite their age differences.
Daniel kills Sergio, after Sergio tries to kill not only Daniel but Alan. It wasn't clear to me how Alan survived, but he did. And it was good to see Sergio get his just desert, after his cold-blooded murder of Doreen via air-bubble last week.

Also on the positive side was use of "white room" - from which the episode gets its title - revealed to be not a room in the facility, but the whole facility location itself, or everything around and outside of the facility, which being located in the frigid Arctic is indeed one big white room.

But, otherwise ... Alan now knows that Doreen was murdered, and he's guessed why she was murdered, but he still doesn't know the specific knowledge which Daniel was try to squelch, or keep Alan and the team from knowing.

And although Hiroshi is doing a good job of disguising his involvement, we still don't what exactly what he's involved in, other than it producing the zombie-creating virus, which we pretty already knew. Lots of good leads and possibilities for Helix. I'm looking forward to seeing more of them rolled out. In the meantime, I had Arctic char for dinner last night - delicious!

Like biological science fiction? Try The Silk Code

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Saturday, January 25, 2014

Helix 1.4: Cold DNA

With snow still on the ground, at least a little more coming, and the bone chilling cold continuing, what better time to watch a new episode - 1.4 - of Helix? Except tonight, the chilling lessons in all areas are inside the lab facility, where find that --

Sarah is suffering from a tumor, not the mysterious illness, which was likely - that she was not a victim of what was getting Peter and the others - because her symptoms were different. I'm thinking her tumor might at some point provide some DNA which could counter the single strand of DNA that is causing all the havoc.
That single strand is like nothing else Doreen has seen, and she's seen it all. So, does that mean the strand is alien? Whatever it is, she gets murdered to protect that knowledge.
Murder is what those in the know in the facility are willing to do - not only Sergio of Doreen, but Hiroshi of those three guys on that lower level who were willing to reduce those dangerous levels of carbon dioxide. Hiroshi was not wrong that they couldn't be trusted not to kill everyone tomorrow, but, even so, his spraying them with bullets was pretty cold.

So, to return to the cold, we have a story that both's slowly and quickly heating up on Helix. The test that Sarah developed has already been identified to Alan as not reliable - she told him - and that means the search for a cure is back to square one, or maybe a little better than that because she knows now what doesn't work. But we also know that Hiroshi and the Pentagon team know a lot more about what's going on than do Alan's diminishing team. The question, at his point, is exactly how much that is happening was unintended - should be fun to follow the tracks in the snow.

Like biological science fiction? Try The Silk Code

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e-mail received from a reader:
Dear Paul, I just dreamed of airships flying between raindrops. I just returned from 2042 CE, where I sold my hardcover copy of The Plot to Save Socrates for seventy million Neo-Euros, because it had your response to this e-mail from way back in 2007 scotch-taped onto the inside of the cover. A Paul Levinson collector paid top Neo-Euro, because of the authentic archaic e-mail printout from you. It turns out that not many of your e-mails from before your tenure as CEO of HBO/Cinemax and terms as United Nations Secretary General will survive that far into the future. So, please respond to this e-mail, to help found my great-grandchildren's fortune. My Will will stipulate that they must share with your great grandchildren. Thanks! Tom

I of course happily replied...

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