Helix - General Discussion

[kikaha]

Given Sarah's faster-healing abilities, perhaps her gestation went faster as well. 

 

Cool episode that has me eagerly waiting for more. 

[Nanda]

Who was the tortured girl at the end?

[tardistravler]

This reminded me too much of Resident Evil 4. Anyways, I loved the dual timelines. I am thinking that Alan isn't dead and they are just pulling a fast one on the viewers.

 

I wonder if somehow Sarah and Alan's son is that dude that kidnapped Julia in the beginning. I really don't want an uber special child that has superhuman powers because that ruins shows (ie falling skies). I enjoyed the last season despite its flaws and will continue to watch. 

Edited January 19, 2015 by tardistravler

[leisawoo]

(Small voice) I love Helix in spite of its flaws. We actually bought some episodes. I think it will all come together. Not in a Breaking Bad way but in a fairly reasonable way.

[xaxat]

I wonder if somehow Sarah and Alan's son is that dude that kidnapped Julia in the beginning. I really don't want an uber special child that has superhuman powers because that ruins shows (ie falling skies). I enjoyed the last season despite its flaws and will continue to watch. 

 

I never thought of that, but I would not be surprised if you were right. A Mortal/Immortal hybrid holds the key to the future of both groups.

[natyxg]

So I just finished season 1 in Netflix.

 

What the hell did I just watch?

 

I thought things were just all over the place, specially starting halfway through the season. There were zombie like people running around but eventually it was like they forgot that, just to concentrate on other parts of the plot. They brought out the whole immortal thing and made zero attempt at actually explaining it. I get that they may not want to explain it all yet, but I don't even remember anyone drilling Hatake about it. I thought the it was that they discovered some sort of immortality medicine or whatever as part of their research 40 or 50 years ago, but then they start talking about centuries ago and shit. Is this Highlander or something? Huh?

 

Did Julia heal because Hatake injected her with this own whatever fluid, like Sarah? Or was it that the virus took her to death and then she was "reborn" because she was Hatake's daughter? He injected her with something, but again, there was no admission on his part and no Julia demanding explanation, no really.

 

I hated that we spent a fucking season hearing about Anana's people and lost children, just to have them come back to the base just to blow them up.

 

Spencer was absolutely laughable. And yikes! that fake accent.

 

Alan was so SO SO annoying. While I was watching I kept thinking that here we have yet another bland, replaceable male hero. but he was worse than the usual ones because he wasn't even the one who saved the day. not really. He was just always hanging around judging people and giving lectures, he had no cool qualities or talents. He didn't even seem like the most talented scientist there. Lmao he didn't even crack the cure, that was Julia and Sarah.

 

Peter was more interesting when he was a zombie whatever.

 

I was glad to see that Hatake did care about Daniel for real. It annoyed me during most of the season when Daniel kept saying he was his dad when he really really didn't seem like he was, not till the end.

 

Anyway, this show was just weird. The episodes were very short, some of them being 30 something minutes, so I kept wondering if they cut a lot of shit that made things make more sense. I still don't even fucking know how exactly the virus got out. Did Peter have an accident when he was trying to get it out? How exactly does that happen? Did Hatake do it to have an excuse to bring back Julia, but everything went wrong? I know someone accused Hatake of this (Daniel, I think), but it felt like an unfounded accusation to me (because it made no sense to me).

 

I paid attention. I did! I couldn't have missed so many important things, damn it.

 

Still, I think my biggest annoyance was that they were in this fucking super extra secret base, full of brilliant scientists from all over the world, but they were all SO STUPID. Augh! At least half the characters had PhDs but couldn't put their heads together to, I don't know, save themselves? No one even thinks of that! Instead it all falls on Alan's team with a side of Hatake and his guards, and we have these "brilliant" group of people bewildered and not understanding why Peter would cut off the hand of a guard. The hand that, you know, had that chip that opened doors. The chip that, you know, no one bothered to deactivate.

 

*shaking my damn head*

 

Anyway, I'm debating about whether or not to watch this new season, and if I watch it live or on netflix later. Julia looked super hot at the end all CEO like, and I did like Sarah and Anana, but I don't know.

[shapeshifter]

Mark Ghanimé/Balleseros is credited on IMDb for this episode. Does that mean he is still part of the show, or does IMDb just need editing?

[natyxg]

Well, damn. Is this going to be a sort of anthology type show that changes gears every season? Like, next season it's gonna be an outbreak in a city or in the desert or something? I hope they tie things together because after a whole damn season that imo made little sense, it's going to annoy me soo much if the first virus wasn't even used by the big baddies. Did Alan snatch up the virus and they kept the antivirus? But they already had the virus and had infected Puerto Rico by then. Aaaahhhhh!

 

Ignoring that, I thought it was an okay episode. So far things are making sense, I guess. So yay! I'm glad they are in a tropical island now. I like seeing snow in shows, but when I can actually see the snow. It became tiresome to see so many night scenes where I could not really see anything because of the show.

 

I'm curious about Sarah's baby. Don't care about Peter, who has now become Alan. Don't care about Alan either, by the way. Don't care about generic cult leader, either. I think I mostly care about Julia and how hot she looks with silver eyes. So I guess I'll keep watching when/if I remember.

[natyxg]

Other questions that I just thought up:

 

What was the deal with the head Sergio was supposed to retrieve? Hell, what was the deal with the heads in the snow? Who were they? Did Hatake kill them? What? Also, what exactly did the immortal in the basement do? They implied that he helped the badies take Jane away, that he betrayed Hatake and Jane, but when they told the story it sounded like a really straight forward move from Ilaria, like they just did what they wanted and that's it. What made that one guy special? Furthermore, how could Hatake get away with having him locked up? I got the impression that the 500 like to keep tabs on each other, even more so if he was working there.

 

Ahhhh!

[ottoDbusdriver]

Mark Ghanimé/Balleseros is credited on IMDb for this episode. Does that mean he is still part of the show, or does IMDb just need editing?

 

He was in the previouslies at the start of the episode, but that's it.

 

I'm glad they are in a tropical island now.

 

Only not so much -- any island with all those pine trees and two species of bear and a Labrador wolf roaming the island, it's gotta be somewhere in south Alaska in order to be 20 hours from Seattle by Coast Guard cutter.

Edited January 19, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[xaxat]

Mark Ghanimé/Balleseros is credited on IMDb for this episode. Does that mean he is still part of the show, or does IMDb just need editing?

 

We have a storyline in the present, and one in the future. I wonder if there will also be at least a flashback to the past. Ghanimé is listed in the credits for the show and Hatake pops up for a split second in a couple season promos.

Edited January 19, 2015 by xaxat

[natyxg]

Only not so much -- any island with all those pine trees and two species of bear and a Labrador wolf roaming the island, it's gotta be somewhere in south Alaska in order to be 20 hours from Seattle by Coast Guard cutter.

 

Ah, ok. Still an Island, so yay for that.

[shapeshifter]

Mark Ghanimé/Balleseros is credited on IMDb for this episode. Does that mean he is still part of the show, or does IMDb just need editing?

He was in the previouslies at the start of the episode, but that's it.

Hrmph. So they're just taunting us with false promises of eye candy.

 

 

...any island with all those pine trees and two species of bear and a Labrador wolf roaming the island, it's gotta be somewhere in south Alaska in order to be 20 hours from Seattle by Coast Guard cutter.

It's being filmed in Quebec, where the Labrador wolf lives, so maybe they're going with that locale since they actually mentioned "Labrador wolf."

[blanchowens]

First of all, I DVR all my television that's not live news.  So I just watched the new season last night.  To be honest, this back and forth is a tad confusing and at least for me hard to follow.  Day 1....Day 103857?  Loved last year's season, hoped this year would be as enjoyable, so far not so much for me.  I won't give up on it yet, I'll tune into a few more episodes and see how I feel then.

[Meredith Quill]

Episode Synopsis:

 

The CDC team continue to investigate the island; at the same time, they come in contact with a sick child who is miraculously healed, which causes Jordan to suspect that something isn't right about the abbey. Meanwhile, in the future, Walker and Caleb dig up Alan's grave and make a baffling discovery.

[Trois]

Well last season didn't make any sense whatsoever. Or was there any resolution that I missed?

[leisawoo]

Unfortunately, no.

[thuganomics85]

I see that Alan is still as annoying as always.  Cryptic, sanctimonious, and over-dramatic (Billy Campbell sure loves that raspy Batman-like voice.)  But, it seems like he's basically undercover, because he thinks Steven Weber and the cult are somehow involved with that shady organization he's trying to take down.  At this point, I"m not even going to hazard a guess.

 

Peter and Sarah are bickering now, and Peter thinks she resents that they made him leader over her.  I'm not sure if that's true, but that is kind of funny.  I don't know how much they told the CDC about what happened, but I'm just picturing them like "OK, we know Peter only just recovered from being turned into a zombie, with black goo pouring out of most of his orifices, but do we really want Sarah in charge?"

 

Speaking of Sarah, so she is actually pregnant, but the baby stopped growing after she was injected and made immortal.  So, she's carrying that fetus around for 15 months.  Talk about a hardcore pro-life approach there, Sarah.

 

What was up with that scene of the one cult woman trying to seduce Matt Long?  That kind of came out of nowhere.

 

Julia digs up Alan's grave, but it ends up being full of bones of different people, and a map that leads to somewhere bad apparently.  Again, I'm not even going to bother speculating.  Just going to continue to look at Kyra Zagorsky.

Edited January 24, 2015 by thuganomics85

[ottoDbusdriver]

Speaking of Sarah, so she is actually pregnant, but the baby stopped growing after she was injected and made immortal.  So, she's carrying that fetus around for 15 months.  Talk about a hardcore pro-life approach there, Sarah.

 

And we get the return this week of Dr. Tighttop Perkytits.   So how long is she going to have to carry the immortal baby for -- 3 or 4 years ?  Maybe more ?

 

When Julia found that child's skeleton in the woods, did Caleb imply that people might have been feeding on it (or as he said it "something worse than animals) ?  Which gives my theory from last week's episode that they were making people versions of Peking duck a bit of credence.

 

Why was Soren suddenly better for no apparent reason ?  Who is the guy they sacrificed Soren to outside the gates of the compound ?  Obviously he's infected with the virus, but it doesn't seem to be killing him.

 

When Isaac killed himself, there was a puff of dust that came out of his neck -- is that how the virus spreads, by spores ?

 

There were 18 pictures/paintings of Sarah's ancestors on the wall of Michael's office -- that means that cult has been there on that island for over 360 years (assuming an average of 20 years between per generation).  So does that make Brother Michael a Johnny-come-lately or is he an immortal like the Ilaria folks -- and that's why Alan is there ?

 

Is this cult some sort of weird version of 'The Wicker Man' ?

 

What was up with that scene of the one cult woman trying to seduce Matt Long?  That kind of came out of nowhere.

 

She was driving hard to the hoop to get Dr. Sommer to "show me" and "be my path".  Maybe she just wanted to get some strange since she's never left the island and is related to everyone else.

[Jordan27]

Wow, I felt like a couple of episodes were missing.  Talk about a reboot.  It's like it's a totally new show.  I thought it was an okay show last year, but I'm not feeling it this year.   I give that an average grade.  No Hatake.  Oh my.  He brings the creep.

[natyxg]

Lmao so Sarah will forever be pregnant? I laughed out loud for real.
 

So does that make Brother Michael a Johnny-come-lately or is he an immortal like the Ilaria folks -- and that's why Alan is there ?

 

I think he's immortal. I thought that's what Alan implied when BM talked about Darwin and Alan said he spoke like he knew him personally, or something like that. The Island has to do with Ilaria for sure, it was in the info the lady he killed gave him.

 

I'm guessing they're trying to do to people what they do to plants, mix and match and create a more perfect race. Maybe? Who knows.

 

I see that Alan is still as annoying as always.  Cryptic, sanctimonious, and over-dramatic (Billy Campbell sure loves that raspy Batman-like voice.)

 

Normal Alan was annoying, tortured soul Alan is going to be even worse.

 

Is Peter supposed to be a bad guy still or did his bad guy phase end when he realized his dream of sorta becoming his brother?

 

This show is weird. They make references to the previous season, so it did happen, but they overlook some pretty big stuff.
 

What was up with that scene of the one cult woman trying to seduce Matt Long?  That kind of came out of nowhere.

 

Maybe it's to show give a hint to him that they're more batshit crazy than he thinks.

 

Just going to continue to look at Kyra Zagorsky.

 

Yes, please. She actually needs more screentime.
 

So how long is she going to have to carry the immortal baby for -- 3 or 4 years ?  Maybe more ?

 

Forever unless she kills it or she takes like a spear to the gut, I thought. But we don't know how immortal pregnancies work or if they even work. I know Stuton was Spencer's mom, but they could've just become immortal together when he was whatever age he was supposed to look like.

[MrPissyPuppy]

Wait - so she's about five minutes pregnant (I think they'd only had sex a few hours before so it wouldn't have even implanted) yet, she's been having morning sickness for 15 months?    Does not compute.  Then again it's a magical immortal baby apparently. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

she's been having morning sickness for 15 months?

 

But that little piece of info gives the viewers some perspective on the timeline since Season 1.

 

Arctic Biosystems was blown up on Day 13 of Season 1

The events in Paris took place on Day 235 -- 222 days (approx. 7 and a half months) after the end of events at Arctic Biosystems.

Events on St. Germain island are taking place approx. 7 and a half months after the events in Paris (approx. 15 months since Sarah last saw Alan, and obviously they hadn't spoken in all that time because Alan didn't know Sarah was pregnant -- since Sarah found out she was pregnant before Arctic Biosystems blew up).

 

Julia's future adventures on St. Germain island occur 30 years in the future from Season 2, and over 31 years in the future from Season 1 -- I'd still like some backstory on how Julia suddenly become one of the board members of the Ilaria corporation (prior to the building being blown up by Alan) in under 222 days.from leaving the Arctic as Spencer's prisoner.

 

During those scenes on Day 235, the Narvik virus was spreading like a wildfire across the planet (according to the newspaper Alan was reading) -- so what happened that basically quenched that outbreak and now the CDC is doing mop up operations on potential flare ups ?

[shapeshifter]

...Billy Campbell sure loves that raspy Batman-like voice....

I assume it's a physical condition like my father's (a form of acid reflux), which is very sad since my father used to have a deep, resonant voice.

...What was up with that scene of the one cult woman trying to seduce Matt Long?  That kind of came out of nowhere....

To be fair, he is kind of hot. But also, gene pools, seduction/manipulation, etc.

[madam magpie]

I just started season two, and...wow. I really hope we get some flashbacks because I'm totally confused. I also hope Hatake and Balleserros reappear, and I'd very much like to know what happened to everyone from last season. This island thing really feels like a Lost copy, though I suppose if everything comes together at the end of the season, it could be all right.

I also really wish Julia and Sarah had learned to fight in the last year. I mean, if you're immortal, it would be helpful to have some survival/self-defense skills.

[tardistravler]

I guess the cult women is not getting alot on the island of doom. Of course the albino person is evil. 

 

So is the fetus then stillborn because it's basically not growing. IDK 

[ottoDbusdriver]

I also really wish Julia and Sarah had learned to fight in the last year. I mean, if you're immortal, it would be helpful to have some survival/self-defense skills.

 

While Sarah has only had months since the events of last season, Julia has had 30 years to learn how to fight -- you'd think she would have taken a class or something.

[shapeshifter]

...So is the fetus then stillborn because it's basically not growing. IDK

The only rational reasons for her to not terminate the pregnancy are

• as a medical professional she has been monitoring her and the baby's health and determined neither are negatively impacted by the pregnancy
• being pregnant is a form of birth control, so maybe there is no one else by whom she'd rather be pregnant than Alan
• She might have scientifically concluded that the fetus is medically important because she is an immortal, but she does not yet know how best to leverage that importance, up to and including allowing it to reach full term and adulthood. I mean, imagine the wisdom of a person who took a hundred years to become old enough to be president. Or imagine the psychosis?

[xaxat]

I see that Alan is still as annoying as always.  Cryptic, sanctimonious, and over-dramatic (Billy Campbell sure loves that raspy Batman-like voice.) 

 

 

One of the problems I have with this season is that almost everyone is cryptic or keeping secrets. Alan, Bruce Weber's character. Cryptic Cult Seductress, Julia, Peter (I know I sold out the human race before, but I'm CDC now dammit!),  Mr. "Uh, I gotta go check my traps." (Seriously dude. Did you really expect her to believe that?)

 

Last season cryptic was usually limited to Hatake. And that kind of worked as the team and Miksa tried to figure out what was going on. But this year it feels like the writers have characters withholding info from the viewers purely to use it for dramatic effect later on.  

Edited January 25, 2015 by xaxat

[thuganomics85]

Episode Synopsis:

 

Peter and Jordan leave the safety of the Abbey to retrieve some specimens and discover just what’s living in the woods, meanwhile Sister Amy plots to make them leave forever.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

So... we kick off the episode with Sister Amy giving that bald guard dude from last week a handjob.  Yep, that doesn't even faze me with this show.  Oh, Helix!

 

Hatake is back!  And completely off his rocker.  Not only is he living by himself like a hermit, he has conversations with imaginary versions of Daniel and his wife.  But, wait, it's even better!  He actually has their corpses sitting at the dinner table!  And wants to make Julia part of the family now!  Oh, I think I'm going to love this!  How does Julia keep winding up in these crazy-ass scenarios?

 

So, Amy basically creates some kind of mind-controlling substance and sicks the kids on Matt Long, because he was getting too close.  But not only do they fail to kill him, he seemed like he was actually not too injured.  I mean, I know they were kids, but I would think a whole bunch of them smacking him with stones would at least give him some cracked ribs, broken fingers, major concussion, or something.  But, he was acting like he just had a bump on his head.  At this rate, I'm starting to think Daniel might actually be OK, if Hatake just reconstructed his head.

 

Alan is suspicious over Steven Weber having wine barrels, with no wine, so he snoops.  He finds a tooth, only to get knocked out by Peter.  Because, why not?

 

Sarah continues to have the amazing ability to normally be right, but somehow be completely obnoxious.  I'm almost impressed. 

Edited February 1, 2015 by SilverStormm
Changed to episode format.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Let's give Sister Amy ... a hand.  I think the last time I saw someone using a latex glove to give someone else a handy in movies or TV was Mandy and Greg in Animal House.

 

You know it's kind of convenient that Hatake is living on St. Germain island 30 years in the future -- because why exactly ?  Why wasn't Julia using any precautions to avoid transmitting the virus to Hitake ?  And did he build that house on the island 30 years ago -- and if so before of after the events at the abbey ?  Or did he just buy it and move in ?

 

So what's in the wine barrels ?  And where were the wine barrels coming from ?  Maybe they were full of the same stuff as the mason jars of goo they were force-feeding into people a la Peking duck.

 

The Pit ?  What the hell is the pit ?  And what was that root that Brother Michael was taking grafts off of -- and why wasn't that root dying being kept in the dark like that.

 

I take it this isn't the first time the children have all gotten high off some drug cocktail concocted by the Amy and the other cultists, because they seemed ready and willing to take a hit from whatever Landry offered them.

 

Daniel is back as a figment of Hatake's imagination (along with his dead wife, Jaye).  I guess Wilson the volleyball was unavailable to act as a conversational mirror for Hatake.

 

Since Jordan Hayes is credited as 'Guest Starring' I'm thinking her immortal butt is not going to be around for long -- but then again most of the cast is guest starring (except for Alan, Julia, Kyle and Belleseros (and we haven't even seen him yet after 3 episodes). 

 

Dr. Sommer takes a beating from the drugged up kids -- dude needs better run reflexes, especially without his gun.

 

So there were at least 2 infected vectors wandering in the woods -- the guy that took Soren and the guy that Sarah killed.  How many more are there ?

 

Wow -- coed change rooms and shower facilities.  The natural extension of Ally McBeal's unisex bathroom.  Too bad everyone's mostly related to everyone else.

hata

Alan finds a tooth in one of the barrels before he get clocked by Peter -- how did Peter know to find him there ?

 

I'm pretty sure Julia is hallucinating the dead bodies of her mother and the Daniel (sans head of course), because those bodies would be over 30 years old.  And when would Hatake have had time to get Daniel's body out of Arctic Biosystems before it blowed up real good. </FarmFilmReport>

 

Has Sarah basically had morning sickness for the past 15 months (or a good part of it) ?  Because that would kinda suck.

Edited January 31, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[Rhetorica]

I thought the Brady Bunch song playing while the darting eyes kids stoned Kyle was creepy until the final scene with Hatake! It's getting interesting...

[shapeshifter]

...what was that root that Brother Michael was taking grafts off of...

maybe the source of this season's disease? Maybe there's a mold growing on it?

 

...Has Sarah basically had morning sickness for the past 15 months (or a good part of it) ?  Because that would kinda suck.

Maybe the writer is a woman with morning sickness--it can seem like 15 months. Heh.

...Amy basically creates some kind of mind-controlling substance and sicks the kids on Matt Long, because he was getting too close.  But not only do they fail to kill him, he seemed like he was actually not too injured.  I mean, I know they were kids, but I would think a whole bunch of them smacking him with stones would at least give him some cracked ribs, broken fingers, major concussion, or something.  But, he was acting like he just had a bump on his head....

Not even a bump. Just a scratch. He must instinctively cover his pretty face in such situations. Or he's immortal--but I don't think we can conclude that he is immortal even if he appears in the next episode without the scratch, because, y'know: TV.

[madam magpie]

I don't understand Peter's deal. He must still be shady, right? I mean, Ilaria came into Arctic Biosystems and tried to kill everyone, yet there's something morally wrong with Alan trying to blow them up? And Sarah has "heard rumors"? Of what? Why isn't she clearly on the side of taking down Ilaria?

The picture is so fuzzy and the filters so odd in the Julia/Hatake future that I feel like none of it is real. Maybe it's some kind of collective time travel hallucination?

[tardistravler]

Yea. I would all be about taking those bitches Illaria down. Plus maybe one of my peeps would be like Chris Redfield (Resident Evil remake Chris, not the steroid one). There is always that one goodytooshoes character that despite all the atrocities the main baddie does, they still want to not take bitches down. It does annoy me. 

 

The kids scene sorta freak me out. Although I thought that the one little girl wasn't really jiving with the cult. I was disappointed she took the breather thing. I feel that those types of cults always have at least one child that sees through the bullshit. 

 

Is it weird that I am fanwanking that Hitake has been on the island the entire time, even with the cult people on there. I am hoping that he gave up making viruses that kill people and just was chilling on doom island. I know I shouldn't compare shows, but he is like eyeliner man on Lost. haha. 

Edited January 31, 2015 by tardistravler

[xaxat]

Coming into this season, the creative team should have decided to either go full American Horror Story and keep just the actors (and maybe the CDC premise) or build directly from last season's plot. Instead they decided to do something in between and it is really not working.

 

Julia and Hatake are in a future plot and we, as viewers, have no idea (outside of geography) how it relates to the main plot after three episodes. I have no clue what to make of Peter. Did the writers forget he was so committed to evil Ilaria that he allowed himself to be turned into a zombie? Or did they hope the viewers would forget? Sarah, she waited until now to tell Alan he was the father of her immortal baby? She found out she was pregnant way back when the team was still in the Arctic.

 

Only Alan's desire to stop Ilaria makes sense based on last season. But the writers have decided to not let him explain his plan or presence on the island to the viewers.

 

I hate being so path dependent when it comes to the television shows I watch.

Edited January 31, 2015 by xaxat

[MorbidPet]

I don't care that I don't get what's really going on or that there's no black goo this season cause HATAKE IS BACK! Man I love him, and since Julia is my second fave it was a brilliant episode. Hatake daddy dearest and that last shot was epic.

And TV.com's review of the episode was hillarious!

[natyxg]

The picture is so fuzzy and the filters so odd in the Julia/Hatake future that I feel like none of it is real. Maybe it's some kind of collective time travel hallucination?

 

The picture is fuzzy because they were showing us that Hatake is crazy, I think.

 

His hair grew... does that mean Sarah's baby would grow too and be born sometime in the next 300 years?

 

Coming into this season, the creative team should have decided to either go full American Horror Story and keep just the actors (and maybe the CDC premise) or build directly from last season's plot. Instead they decided to do something in between and it is really not working.

 

I agree. If they are so set on repeating the pattern of the unknown sickness they must figure out, then fuck everything and just do a new story each season in different settings. Right now it feels like a weird hybrid.

 

Overall I'm annoyed because they want to be sooo mysterious that they're trying too hard and I bet nothing will make sense in the end. Again. But whatever, at this point I'm watching to see how WTF it can get. And for Julia's face.

 

Is Peter still evil? I hope so cause otherwise holy brain transplant.

 

And to whoever asked upthread: yes, Sarah has spent 15 months with morning sickness and shit. She told Alan in the last episode.

[natyxg]

Is there a 2x04 promo anywhere? I can't seem to find it.

[coppersin]

Is there a 2x04 promo anywhere? I can't seem to find it.

 

 

I couldn't find a promo either, just a couple of sneak peeks.

 

...And while I was hoping that Hatake would have a more productive role this season than resident whackadoo, I love his little smile while holding the novelty mugs. Given the serious/action-oriented roles he normally gets, I bet Hiroyuki Sanada is having a lot of fun on this show.

Edited February 1, 2015 by coppersin

[Nanda]

Well,  and off on my way, giving up on the show, was I  when Hatake pulled me back. He's the reason I'm staying for now.  Over the season one most things eventually fit but some loose ends are yet to be explained and I suspect that we never will have a respectful explanation. I can forgive that if Dr. Nippon stays once he adds an intensity and a mistery that none of the others do.

 

Now, I'm very suspicious that  after Ilaria have killed a significant part of his family, Dr. Hatake went off the trails and exploded Ilaria headquarters in Paris with or without  Alan's connivance. I couldn't forget how  skillful he showed to be last season handling explosives when he wanted to blow up the Artic's facilities. With Julia rejecting him, and losing everything after 30 years  of being blackmailed by Ilaria, I can easily see him going insane and taking revenge. After 30 more years of isolation from human contact, hiding, he developed a deep psychosis. I really hope that his brain has the same ability to regenerate as his body and he gets better with Julia's help, because I fail to see him as an evil creature. There's more to him than that, as last season showed.

Now, it's very curious that he has been exactly where a pandemia started 30 years ago, with a virus that no less, kills immortals too. And we see a mini lab in his place too. What for does he want that if  he seems to be isolated and hiding from  Ilaria all this time?

 

Whatever, it was a pleasure and a real surprise to see him again. I think he has a profound  impact in the show. Last year he was  a main stone.

[Meredith Quill]

Episode Synopsis:

 

As Michael struggles to keep the abbey under control, the CDC team moves closer toward tracking the source of the pathogen. Alan fights the urge to rejoin his team and confronts the reality about Peter’s allegiances. In the future, Walker makes a desperate attempt to escape from her delusional father, with potentially deadly consequences.

[Jordan27]

Wow, this reinventing feels like a different show.  It was only fair - good in season 1 and now I think it's average.

 

Nothing really seems interesting. 

 

At least last year, there was tension, spookiness and a creepy atmosphere.

 

This season has none of that and has just put characters we knew in a different situation.  And some of the characters don't even act remotely like last year.

[catray]

Now this is the batshit crazy Helix I love! Otherwise, it's such a mess. I agree that I wish this would commit to either the anthology format or actually continue the freaking storyline, because there is so much they have dropped.

The beginning totally didn't phase me either-- of course Sister Amy would be giving Landon (? The bald dude) a hand job. Because why not?

I figured cute Texan CDC doctor is going to bite it, so I was surprised he survived the kids' attack. Some of those rocks were pretty big. But typical tv injuries/recovery, I guess. I fully expect him to die or get infected in a future episode.

Happy that Hataki is back, but he has apparently gone insane. Which is kind of awesome and kind of sad. That last scene was epic, though. I hope he'll get some clarity and kick some ass in future episodes.

[thuganomics85]

He's back!  Balleseros has finally returned!  But, wait!  He's working for Ilaria, now?  And, he and Peter are in cahoots, and trying to figure out Alan's game?  So many questions...

 

Speaking of which, ends up Peter knocked Alan out and then pretending to "fine him", in order to try and build trust, to see what he was up to.  But, judging from their final scene, Alan saw through it.  Don't know if it was on purpose or not, but during their argument, it felt like the camera was always making it look like Alan was towering over Peter.  Granted, in general, Billy Campbell already seems to have several inches over Neil Naper, but it felt like they really empathized it.

 

Looks like Sarah's baby problems might be done with.  Ouch!

 

Hey, Matt Long did have some bruises, after all!  He still looked way better then he should have.  Those kids were wusses!

 

Steven Weber continuing to be creepy.  Have a feeling their setting it up for those three women to turn on him.  At the very least, the younger one will.

 

Well, drat.  Hatake is already gone.  At least he managed to drag himself back to the dinner table, and die with the corpses of his family.  But, I will miss his wacky hi-jinks of feeding Julia pancakes and having imaginary fishing trips with "Daniel" (couldn't believe they actually got the Andy Griffith theme music for that homage.)  Honestly though, the fight scene between Hatake and Julia was way better then I expected.  I think it looked like Hiroyuki Sanada and Kyra Zagorsky did a decent amount of it themselves, which always helps.  Of course, now Julia is laying on the ground wounded, so she better get saved.  Do not rob me of my Kyra Zagorsky, show!

 

Next week: 

looks like Steven Weber totally has silver eyes! He's an immortal! Bwah!

Edited February 7, 2015 by thuganomics85

[crabbypants]

I had my suspicions from early in the first season that Balleseros wasn't Army. Was anyone surprised by the reveal?

Meanwhile Hatake goes Highlander in the future. Although knowing this show, we could find out in a few episodes that the whole thing was a trip.

[fresiaa]

I give up and quit watching.

There is no character or storyline that resonates with me, (good or bad, because I would like a grating one too). It's just dragging on and on.

I'm exit.

[MorbidPet]

Hatake and Julia are my fave characters so I really hope it's not the last we see of them, I would be really sad then :(

I never warmed up to Balleseros in S1 but I still kinda like that the 'old' players popped up. There's not enough creepy goo though. Loved the black goo in S1, this yellow one is just not as freaky. Love the creepy music though & all the trippy scenes. S2 is not living up to S1 for me but I'm still going to stick with it. I want to know what's really going on here.

[Maverick]

 I've figured out the show's problem:  all the budget is going to music rights and none of it to writers.

 

 Bellesaros working for Ilaria isn't that surprising.  It was clear he was an Iilaria mole last season when he was sleeping with Jeri Ryan (lucky bitch!).

[Nanda]

What a huge disappointment to see Hatake go. What a lack of imagination these writers have unless of course the actor doesn't have availability to remain in the show. The new "Hatake-cult leader" is not one-up to Hatake. The late one has an unforgettable charisma. Sad to see him dying but if the show wants it  can always bring him back on the premise that immortals have an incredible power of physical regeneration and that he wasn't so finished as we thought he was when he sat bleeding out at the table.  But after he entrusted his legacy to his daughter and went to his family to die, I honestly  doubt it. This guy always dies in his films and series!!! I'm yet to see a happy ending for him. I think he likes to portray emotional, deep and twisted characters with dramatic lives that end inevitable in glory. What a waste!

 

I agree that the fight scene was very well done and I'm not surprised at all for that, but then Sanada is a five star class martial artist. 

Now, what people was Julia referring to when she said that Hatake killed 'all those people', or something? Back in Paris or in the island?

I think even though the show had it shortcomings last season, had a great potential which was lost. This character is an example of that.

Edited February 7, 2015 by Nanda