Helix Season 2 Premiere Review: W-T-Helix?

Helix S02E01: "San Jose"

Helix concluded its first season with a finale that covered its head with a bucket and ran full-speed into a wall. Arctic Biosystems exploded, Alan ended up in Europe several months later, and when we last saw Julia, she was the CEO of immortal conglomerate Ilaria Corp. Meanwhile, many of the season-long plots were left strewn all about, and Helix's cool arctic setting melted away like a polar bear's habitat. The abrupt change in scenery wasn't so much a refreshing change of pace as it was a viewer-kidnapping ambush, complete with a blindfold, a pistol whip, and a long ride in a van with dark windows. We didn't know where we were headed and we certainly didn't know why, we just knew we didn't want to be there.

However, the Season 1 finale opened up the possibility of Helix becoming a grander series than we'd initially expected it to be. Did the show's writers have big plans for a globe-trotting virus? Was Arctic Biosystems just the tip of the iceberg? Was Helix doing something smarter than we ever could've imagined? Ehhh, I'm not so sure. It seemed like the script was only one word ahead of what we were seeing on our TV screens, and the Season 1 finale felt like an experiment in sci-fi improvisation. You can't do that in this genre. It doesn't really work.

The Season 2 premiere, "San Jose," all but confirmed that Helix is a runaway series on a downhill slope with its brakes cut. Arctic Biosystems? Gone. That cafe in France? Extinct. Boardroom meetings with immortal execs? Vamoose. The episode dropped us onto an island where a (probably) new virus is causing its victims to spew mustard-colored cauliflower out of their mouths. There were very few references to the past save for a couple conversational mentions (Sarah hasn't seen Alan in over a year), there wasn't much set-up for what's happening now, and the show's main character was absent for 99.999999 percent of the episode. What the Helix?

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised by Season 2's detachment from Season 1. The second half of Season 1 fell apart before our eyes and left us staring into a smoldering crater, so who can blame Helix's writers for trying to start fresh? In fact, that might be the smartest thing they could've done. Unfortunately, while the show appears to have found new tracks, it doesn't necessarily mean they're good tracks.

"San Jose" did a lot of meandering in laying the foundation for Season 2's story and ferrying the cast to Helix's new setting. Put simply, Peter, Sarah, and new wise-crackin' doc Kyle Sommer (Matt Long) were called out to a boat filled with infected corpses, and they tracked the source of the bug to an island. Brave virologists that they are, the trio committed to checking out the island even though they were gonna be in the dark because another boat couldn't be dispatched for two weeks (despite the island being less than 20 hours away from Seattle; how long does it take to pack a boat?). Oh, and they brought a female survivor from the boat with them—as some sort of cruel punishment for her, I guess? So obviously she died pretty quickly at the hands of some mysterious murderer, and some weird savage lady poked her head from the bushes, and the island turned out to be littered with toothless human skulls, and the scientists crossed paths with some torch-wielding cult members who brought them back to their compound. There, cult leader Steven Weber (his character's name is Brother Michael) delivered a typical cult leader speech about not wanting any interference from the outside world because they're happy just as they are. It was pretty rote "this island is scary" stuff.

Simultaneously—or rather, "simultaneously"—Julia was also on the island, being dragged around by a guy doing his best Reggie Ledoux impression by donning a gas mask (because gas masks look hella scary). After a few hours of cryptically demanding the answer to the question, "Do you know the way to San Jose?" (also the title of a song used heavily in Season 1), the dude, Caleb, pulled out Julia's contact lens to determine that she's an immortal. Or rather "immortal." Because she's dying, or so she said. And the cure for what ails her, a pandemic called TXM7 that has infected everyone back on the mainland, is somewhere on the island.

In a neat twist that involved a decaying rabbit carcass, we realized that Julia is on the island 40 years after Peter, Sarah, and Kyle. Will Helix maintain two separate timelines and keep Julia separated from the rest of the cast for the duration of Season 2? If so, that'll be a daring move for Helix, and one that might prove too difficult to pull off given the show's track record. Good luck with that, show!

But let's quickly discuss Alan, who didn't even show up until the second-to-last scene. He was living in the cult's abbey as an incognito servant in the present day, and lying six feet beneath it 40 years later, if the tombstone Julia found was to be believed. We don't know why he's on the island, we don't know how he got there, and we don't know what his plans are. It's a mystery Helix dangled in front of us to persuade us to return for the next episode, and I'll play along and stick around.

However, Helix's second season is almost as big of a mystery now as it was before I watched the premiere. The show loves to create baseless mysteries, but I think that game is more fun for the dungeon master than is for the participants. There just weren't enough interesting hooks in "San Jose" to convince me that Helix will improve in Season 2. I bet the writers are having a hoot, though.

And my biggest complaint is that Helix kicked off Season 2 without the wry self-awareness I loved about the show in Season 1. There was very little playfulness. Where were the editing tricks that gave Season 1 its flavor? Where was the fun? Where was the rat in the microwave? Where were the zombie-like virus victims with black goo pouring from their faces? I used to praise Helix for its playful trickery, but so far, Season 2 feels like a stock horror movie.

We're just one episode into Season 2, but I already have a bad feeling about this, guys. Helix took a big gamble with its change in setting, but to me, the Arctic Biosystems facility was one of the best elements of Season 1. I already miss the long shots down angled corridors and the meditative hum of the machinery. I miss the claustrophobia and the sterile environment. Heck, I even miss the lab equipment that created the illusion that Helix was actually based on science. Barring some mind-blowing zig-zag in the next few episodes, we're now stuck on an island, and I'm afraid the show could be, too.

NOTES

– Why did Helix even bother with a "Previously on..." segment if there isn't really any connection between Season 1 and the Season 2 premiere?

– Ummmm... what are your thoughts on Sarah's pregnancy? Did she have a miscarriage, or is she just a horrible mom who leaves her kid alone for weeks to go island-hopping with dangerous viruses? Or are we supposed to pretend she never had Alan's baby growing inside of her?

– Do I even want to continue watching Helix without Dr. Hatake? HATAKE 4 LIFE!

– I do like Doctor Sommer, so far. He's really the only character who's bringing some humor to the show at the moment.

– It feels like Helix is following the Lost model. People arrive on an island, meet weirdos who are already there (Dharma Initiative = Michael's cult), and everyone is scared of some savages (the Others = the lady in the brush). Also known as The 100 model.