# Helix premieres on SyFy tomorrow ...



## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

I don't know anything about this show, but it's got Ronald D. Moore attached, so that's enough to make me want to watch it.


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## Fahtrim (Apr 12, 2004)

is that the guy who did the battlestar galactica crapfest?


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Fahtrim said:


> is that the guy who did the battlestar galactica crapfest?


Seriously? You're gonna do this? Geez...


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## gchance (Dec 6, 2002)

I'm RELUCTANTLY watching, hoping the Cylons aren't angels or somesuch when it's over.

Greg


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## zordude (Sep 23, 2003)

Fahtrim said:


> is that the guy who did the battlestar galactica crapfest?


Yeah, that makes me nervous as well.


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## BrettStah (Nov 12, 2000)

I'll give it a shot... thanks for the heads-up!


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## danterner (Mar 4, 2005)

I'm looking forward to it, as well.


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## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

I'm the opposite of most people in this thread I guess. The plot and premise sound boring to me, but I'm recording it BECAUSE of Ronald Moore. Although I think BSG declined in quality over time, I still believe it to be one of the best science fiction shows I've seen, despite having no relationship to science and being a bit random/retconny. I liked the latter seasons a lot more on a second viewing/binging.


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## Beryl (Feb 22, 2009)

I'm in. Glad the first 2 episodes will have limited commercials for me to skip.


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## IDSmoker (Apr 11, 2004)

I'm another one who'll be watching the first couple of episodes (at least) in spite of Moore's name being attached to it.


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## Gunnyman (Jul 10, 2003)

33 is one of the best 44 minutes of TV ever. I'm in besides I dig contagion type stories


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

Gunnyman said:


> 33 is one of the best 44 minutes of TV ever ...


I would agree with this. When Moore is on his game, he's capable of churning out some amazing stuff.


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## philw1776 (Jan 19, 2002)

Fahtrim said:


> is that the guy who did the battlestar galactica crapfest?


Yes that self enamored slacker who couldn't be bothered plotting a story line so he just made stuff up week to week
Maybe he's learned
I doubt it


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## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

philw1776 said:


> Yes that self enamored slacker who couldn't be bothered plotting a story line so he just made stuff up week to week
> Maybe he's learned
> I doubt it


I guess 99% of TV showrunners/writers are slackers by this measure.


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

BSG could have been even more awesome...if they only had had a plan.


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## philw1776 (Jan 19, 2002)

eddyj said:


> BSG could have been even more awesome...if they only had had a plan.


Good one.
Worst offense was not having any thoughts or precursors on who the oft mentioned Final Five were to be and just pulling it out of his ass at the last minute. Viewers who foolishly assumed the creator knew what he was doing and were looking for hints or indications in episodes were frustrated.

Back to Helix. It's an interesting premise. Have to wait and see what develops.


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## MHunter1 (Oct 11, 2007)

Beryl said:


> the first 2 episodes will have limited commercials


Thanks, I was wondering why the 2-episode premiere is 1h 30m and the two repeats are each 1 hour.


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## pkscout (Jan 11, 2003)

I had planned to skip it because I didn't want to invest in another Moore show, but when they added Jeri Ryan to the cast I decided to give it a shot.


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## Hoffer (Jun 1, 2001)

I just saw a review for the show. Is it a horror show? Sounds like the movie The Thing to me? I'm a big baby and don't like watching scary shows.


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

enjoyed the first 2 eps last night, but can see how it might quickly go down the "revolution" path to boredom if they haven't planned it well. i'll give it a chance, but on a short leash.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

SyFy channel is running the first two episodes all day on Saturday if you missed them on Friday night when they premiered.


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

NorthAlabama said:


> enjoyed the first 2 eps last night, but can see how it might quickly go down the "revolution" path to boredom if they haven't planned it well. i'll give it a chance, but on a short leash.


Very short, for me.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

One thing I noticed in the credits for episode 3 (available On Demand) that gives me hope is that Javier Grillo-Marxuach (The Middleman) is one of the producers.

I don't know if he came in late, or if I missed him in last night's credits. But his presence has to be a good thing.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

I liked it. I'm in.


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## AliaDoh (Apr 23, 2005)

I liked it a lot. It's got some Thing elements, but it's about CDC virus hunters. It could be considered scary, but how scary depends on you, I guess.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

I'm through the first ep....will get to the second one tomorrow. But, so far, I like it.


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## pkscout (Jan 11, 2003)

I technically made it through the first two episodes, but I basically stopped watching after about halfway through the "second" episode. The series might make it if Moore has a very well thought out plan, but if history is any judge, he doesn't. I tried, but it's not for me.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

There have probably been hundred or thousands of shows that were well thought out, classically outlined and meticulously planned that still sucked big time. I can't say that I loved the direction BSG went in its last season or two but I don't care if he had planned it all along or made it up as the season progressed. It certainly won't stop me from watching something else he creates that seems interesting.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

I thought it was a pretty good horror/thriller. Sort of like The Thing meets Alien and The Andromeda Strain. There's enough mystery and tension to keep you guessing. It will be interesting to see where the storyline goes, but I can't see an entire series devoted to the Arctic location. Unless they do something to expand the venue outside of the current setting I don't see this as much more than a long mini-series. Whatever happens, I'm in for the long haul.


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## DouglasPHill (Feb 10, 2005)

cheesesteak said:


> ... but I don't care if he had planned it all along or made it up as the season progressed. It certainly won't stop me from watching something else he creates that seems interesting.....


Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

The bad part is that I will give this show a go also, but BSG writing sucked big time, period. Outside of the writing, there were some good things. But, I will only watch a show so long with bad writing.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

cheesesteak said:


> There have probably been hundred or thousands of shows that were well thought out, classically outlined and meticulously planned that still sucked big time. I can't say that I loved the direction BSG went in its last season or two but I don't care if he had planned it all along or made it up as the season progressed. It certainly won't stop me from watching something else he creates that seems interesting.


The thing that bothered me about BG wasn't that it wasn't planned out. It is that is was designed from the ground up to be planned out...and then wasn't.

You don't have "They Have A Plan" as your tagline and not have a clue what their plan is. You don't build a show around the mystery of who the remaining Spylons are and then just assign them at random after years of character development. There are good shows that are planned out and bad ones; there are good shows that aren't planned out and bad ones. Good shows are (among other things) one that know what kind they should be.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> The thing that bothered me about BG wasn't that it wasn't planned out. It is that is was designed from the ground up to be planned out...and then wasn't.
> 
> You don't have "They Have A Plan" as your tagline and not have a clue what their plan is. You don't build a show around the mystery of who the remaining Spylons are and then just assign them at random after years of character development. There are good shows that are planned out and bad ones; there are good shows that aren't planned out and bad ones. Good shows are (among other things) one that know what kind they should be.


That is probably true but why should that result in a binary judgement against his new show? My guess is that he was bashed so much for winging the end of BSG that he's in "I better not do that again!" mode for Helix. I allow for stinker albums from musicians, stinker books from authors and stinker movies from directors. I don't have a problem granting Moore a clean slate for Helix.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Moore rubbed me the wrong way not only by not understanding that a show about They Have A Plan should have a plan, but by his utter contempt for people who DID understand that. He lost additional points by his sheer contempt for people who think that science might matter in science fiction. And finally, if you're going to be a "winging it" kind of showrunner (and again, that can be done quite well), you still have to do it well. And Moore seems to suck at it.

All that said, I'm certainly willing to give Helix a try, and so far it has not let me down.


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## laria (Sep 7, 2000)

I guess I should have read more of what it was about.  All I knew was "CDC medical drama" but I guess the fact that it was on Syfy should have clued me in that it wasn't going to be "realistic" CDC medical drama like _Medical Investigation_. 

I thought it was ok... I'll give it a few more eps. These doctors sure do some dumb stuff though.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

laria said:


> I thought it was ok... I'll give it a few more eps. These doctors sure do some dumb stuff though.


I'll spoilerize this but it doesn't reveal anything that isn't in the first two episodes.


Spoiler



I was surprised and kept wondering why the CDC team had no method of communicating to each other. The vet woman discovered a secret locked lab, a violent, supposedly non-existent monkey and decided to perform an autopsy on it without telling the CDC guy in charge.


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

cheesesteak said:


> I'll spoilerize this but it doesn't reveal anything that isn't in the first two episodes.
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...


It is all part of the disease that everyone on TV has:



Spoiler



They cannot tell anything to anyone else, at any time. The more critical the information, the more likely that it will not be passed on to others, for no good reason. In the old days, they used the excuse of no easy communications (before cell phones were common). But nowadays, it is just moronic, and yet, quite common.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

eddyj said:


> It is all part of the disease that everyone on TV has:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I know Lost wasn't the first show to do it but it was the first show to infuriate me by doing it.


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## Jeeters (Feb 25, 2003)

eddyj said:


> It is all part of the disease that everyone on TV has:


That disease becomes even more acute in the third episode that I watched last night.


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## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

My wife and I watched the first episode. Stylistically, it is somewhere between a Dr. Who episode and a horrible syfy freak of the week movie. The visual effects were TERRIBLE. They should never show any outside shots ever again. Ever. Never. They were unbelievably terrible and fake. As bad or worse than the average SyFy movie. Considering BSG had fairly good visual effects, I can only assume that the budget or crew are much different here.

That aside, we enjoyed the first episode a fair amount. Campbell is super charismatic and it is very hard not to enjoy any scene he's in because of that.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

Hollywood has a tendency to ignore the facts in lieu of dramatic presentation. Most movies and TV shows would probably bore most of us to tears if they stuck with reality.

For instance, is there ever a time when a cop doesn't enter a dark room using only a flashlight instead of simply turning on the lights? They rarely check to see if the lights work and automatically pull out their flashlight along with their gun.


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## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

Hated it. Dialogue was horrible. Special Effects unbelievable. Interesting premise, but I'm not sticking around.

Why did they not disable the RFID in the brother immediately, why wait till after he escapes? When he ripped the guys hand off why did they not disable or even think of the RFID? The question and answer to if they had a T1 was retarded. T1 lines are provided by the telephone company. there is no Antarctic Bell to provide such a service. the 10GB fiber optic is for internal connection. do how fast was the satellite connection they only get 1 hour a day. Why were they not confronted about the moneys? Why was no one securing the quarantine?


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## laria (Sep 7, 2000)

cheesesteak said:


> I'll spoilerize this but it doesn't reveal anything that isn't in the first two episodes.
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...





Spoiler



If there was a deranged zombie guy wandering around the facility, I would NOT be autopsying some dead monkey in a secret lab all by myself WITH MY IPOD HEADPHONES ON!

Also, I would not stick my face in the deranged monkey's cage... wtf lady? I said as soon as they started going towards the cage, "STOP STOP THAT MONKEY IS GOING TO JUMP OUT AND EAT YOUR FACE OFF!"


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## BlueMerle (Jan 10, 2007)

robojerk said:


> Hated it. Dialogue was horrible. Special Effects unbelievable. Interesting premise, but I'm not sticking around.
> 
> Why did they not disable the RFID in the brother immediately, why wait till after he escapes? When he ripped the guys hand off why did they not disable or even think of the RFID? The question and answer to if they had a T1 was retarded. T1 lines are provided by the telephone company. there is no Antarctic Bell to provide such a service. the 10GB fiber optic is for internal connection. do how fast was the satellite connection they only get 1 hour a day. Why were they not confronted about the moneys? Why was no one securing the quarantine?


Sadly, this. Especially the T1/Satellite bit. Oh, and quarantine bit and the RFID bit......

Meh.... I hate it when a show with a compelling premise completely destroys my ability to suspend disbelief so quickly.

The only thing this show was missing was some Tech Sgt. questioning the orders of a 4 star general.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

cheesesteak said:


> I know Lost wasn't the first show to do it but it was the first show to infuriate me by doing it.


At least on Lost they had an excuse -- no access to modern telecommunication devices like cell phones.


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## whitson77 (Nov 10, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Moore rubbed me the wrong way not only by not understanding that a show about They Have A Plan should have a plan, but by his utter contempt for people who DID understand that. He lost additional points by his sheer contempt for people who think that science might matter in science fiction. And finally, if you're going to be a "winging it" kind of showrunner (and again, that can be done quite well), you still have to do it well. And Moore seems to suck at it.
> 
> All that said, I'm certainly willing to give Helix a try, and so far it has not let me down.


This was exactly my take.

I hope he has a plan this time around and I hope that every couple of weeks there isn't this character that we thought was the way they seemed, but lo and behold they were working for this sinister purpose. We already got that with the soldier, but I really hope there is no more of that on Campbell's team...


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## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

Bierboy said:


> At least on Lost they had an excuse -- no access to modern telecommunication devices like cell phones.


But that only works until the next time you see someone. So they failed miserably there too.

And as laria demonstrates, supposedly smart people acting like total morons is also off-putting.


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## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

Looking at this more/moore closely, I don't see why we are placing so much emphasis on Moore. It seems like he's just an exec producer and not necessarily the creative lead. Am I misinterpreting?


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

Come on, guys, this is TV, not reality. Stop analyzing it so much. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. If I had to dissect every show I watch to decide if I thought it was realistic enough to enjoy I'd probably be reading a book instead.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

TAsunder said:


> Looking at this more/moore closely, I don't see why we are placing so much emphasis on Moore. It seems like he's just an exec producer and not necessarily the creative lead. Am I misinterpreting?


I thought he was the showrunner, but it looks like he was brought in to help revamp it during development and then sell it to Syfy.


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## robojerk (Jun 13, 2006)

mr.unnatural said:


> Come on, guys, this is TV, not reality. Stop analyzing it so much. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. If I had to dissect every show I watch to decide if I thought it was realistic enough to enjoy I'd probably be reading a book instead.


I don't think I dissected the show, I just found it stupid as I watched. It was instantly obvious why the infected guy took the hand, yet the characters on the show were oblivious to it.


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## Jeeters (Feb 25, 2003)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> I thought he was the showrunner, but it looks like he was brought in to help revamp it during development and then sell it to Syfy.


The main show runner is Steve Maeda. He was a writer on Lost for a couple seasons and also wrote a few x-file episodes and a bunch of CSI episodes. Moore is just one of the executive producers and they're also using him as a marketing tool.


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## BlueMerle (Jan 10, 2007)

mr.unnatural said:


> Come on, guys, this is TV, not reality. Stop analyzing it so much. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. If I had to dissect every show I watch to decide if I thought it was realistic enough to enjoy I'd probably be reading a book instead.


If they're going to give us a show about Top. Men. from the CDC and USAMRID they can't send in Bill & Ted.... even if they've read 'Infectious Diseases for Dummies'.


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## CraigK (Jun 9, 2006)

I'm sticking with it so far, but could do without the soap opera aspect.


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## Beryl (Feb 22, 2009)

CraigK said:


> I'm sticking with it so far, but could do without the soap opera aspect.


This. When I see the lead dealing with ex-wife/girlfriend issues, I can't help but to want J-Lo to emerge and kick his azz -- again.


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## Jeeters (Feb 25, 2003)

CraigK said:


> I'm sticking with it so far, but could do without the soap opera aspect.


I didn't think the GF / Ex stuff was all that bad. I feared the worst when the GF was being told that the women was the ex wife. But they seem to be keeping it to such a minimum, that I'm not understanding why it was even made a plot point.


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## DouglasPHill (Feb 10, 2005)

Watched the first two eps last night. Outside of a lot of commercial breaks, I did stay interested and was disappointed when the 2nd ep ended. Now if the writing can be consistent from week to week, good to go.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

It's a sign of bad/lazy writing when, in order to advance the plot, you have to make all of these supposedly super intelligent characters _*galactically stupid!*_

In addition to the other things already mentioned, there were a couple of other things that irked me.

I was in the Air Force and the closest I got to a combat zone was Thailand in '72 and I had to re-qualify on the M-16 every year. This guy was in the Army and stationed in Afghanistan and supposedly hadn't fired a weapon since basic? Yeah, I know he was lying to maintain his cover but geez-louise. Make the lie at least plausible.

Also, how they heck do they have a permanent facility that extensive that far north? There's no land and even if the icecap isn't melting, the ice moves _*a lot*_.

To answer Mr. Unnatural, in order for me to truly enjoy something like this, I have to immerse myself in the story. Glaring, unnecessary errors act like the penny in "Somewhere in Time". Willing suspension of disbelief is one thing. Having to totally turn your brain off is quite another.


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## Jeeters (Feb 25, 2003)

lpwcomp said:


> Also, how they heck do they have a permanent facility that extensive that far north? There's no land and even if the icecap isn't melting, the ice moves _*a lot*_.


The map they showed in the first episode made it look like it was in Greenland.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

lpwcomp said:


> It's a sign of bad/lazy writing when, in order to advance the plot, you have to make all of these supposedly super intelligent characters _*galactically stupid!*_


That's my big problem with this show but I see this on a lot of shows. It's the old "I just discovered something really important but I won't tell anybody" syndrome.

Spoiler involving episode 3:


Spoiler



Dr. Ex-Wife was exposed to the pathogen and, of course, doesn't tell anybody.

There appears to be something wrong with Dr. Foxy Lady but, of course, she won't tell anyone.

At least Dr. Perfect killed the homicidal, infected woman. He should be off his high horse now. Lethal response is sometimes necessary in situations like that.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

Jeeters said:


> The map they showed in the first episode made it look like it was in Greenland.


They said it was north of 83°. There is no land north of 83°. The northern most point of land _*in the world*_ is Kaffeklubben Island at 83°40'N.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

lpwcomp said:


> They said it was north of 83°. There is no land north of 83°. The northern most point of land _*in the world*_ is Kaffeklubben Island at 83°40'N.


That said, it's clearly on land, since the sea ice melts annually.

Maybe Greenland is further north on the Earth where this is set?


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> That said, it's clearly on land, since the sea ice melts annually.
> 
> Maybe Greenland is further north on the Earth where this is set?


Clearly, I had a senior moment since 83°40'N is obviously north of 83°. However, I doubt very seriously if any land contiguous to national holdings is outside the control of that nation just because it is north of 83°.


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## smbaker (May 24, 2003)

robojerk said:


> I don't think I dissected the show, I just found it stupid as I watched. It was instantly obvious why the infected guy took the hand, yet the characters on the show were oblivious to it.


It didn't even occur to me. I guess I wasn't paying that close attention to it. Maybe I was more bothered by why a high tech biological research facility seems to have a huge unrestricted duct system that connects to every room.

This does demonstrate why biometrics (or embedded rfid tags) alone are a bad idea. They should always be paired with an access code.

Despite the flaws, I am really enjoying this series. I do have to wonder if they can keep it going for more than a season. BSG was excellent for the first season too, then it fell apart.


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## BlueMerle (Jan 10, 2007)

lpwcomp said:


> Clearly, I had a senior moment since 83°40'N is obviously north of 83°. However, I doubt very seriously if any land contiguous to national holdings is outside the control of that nation just because it is north of 83°.


While I'm in complete agreement with you about this show, I will say that an issue like that wouldn't ever register with me if all other aspects of this show were reasonable.

I didn't watch the movie Alien and question the fact that they couldn't possibly have had gravity on that ship.

The problem here, for me anyways, is this show is death by a thousand paper cuts. It's one thing after another, in rapid succession, to the point that my head explodes and I give up.

It's nothing more than a character driven soap opera masquerading as a Hi Tech Sci/Fi thriller. They just missed the boat on all the Hi Tech and the Sci. And that ruins the thriller part for me.


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## Vendikarr (Feb 24, 2004)

robojerk said:


> I don't think I dissected the show, I just found it stupid as I watched. It was instantly obvious why the infected guy took the hand, yet the characters on the show were oblivious to it.


I enjoyed this show by imagining I was Gibbs from NCIS, and every time someone said or did something stupid I gave them a slap to the back of the head. It was a very rewarding mental exercise, but I would have probably broken my hand by the end of the pilot.


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## thewebgal (Aug 10, 2007)

Absolutely done with this one. Set up a season pass and grabbed the first two episodes, but after we watched decided its just another badly-written SciFi channel cheapo show trying to grab an audience ... I saw the Thing, Andromeda Strain and a couple other films badly "quoted" here - I won't watch again ...

Every time I give another show on SciFi channel a chance, I am disappointed, and realize there is just a lot of crap on the SciFi channel! Whew ...



BlueMerle said:


> While I'm in complete agreement with you about this show, I will say that an issue like that wouldn't ever register with me if all other aspects of this show were reasonable.
> 
> I didn't watch the movie Alien and question the fact that they couldn't possibly have had gravity on that ship.
> 
> ...


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

lpwcomp said:


> It's a sign of bad/lazy writing when, in order to advance the plot, you have to make all of these supposedly super intelligent characters _*galactically stupid!*_
> 
> In addition to the other things already mentioned, there were a couple of other things that irked me.
> 
> I was in the Air Force and the closest I got to a combat zone was Thailand in '72 and I had to re-qualify on the M-16 every year. This guy was in the Army and stationed in Afghanistan and supposedly hadn't fired a weapon since basic? Yeah, I know he was lying to maintain his cover but geez-louise. Make the lie at least plausible.


I'm still only about 30 minutes in, and was skimming the thread to see if I should bother finishing. (And don't think it's going to be for me)

But yeah, that weapons things struck me as dumb. How it is any less bland to respond "only on the training range" rather than "not since basic"?

It still gets across that you're saying you're not using guns in combat, but isn't as blatently wrong.


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## Ment (Mar 27, 2008)

BlueMerle said:


> It's nothing more than a character driven soap opera masquerading as a Hi Tech Sci/Fi thriller. They just missed the boat on all the Hi Tech and the Sci. And that ruins the thriller part for me.


I can forgive a Sci-Fi shows technical deficits if it have good character development, many favorite Sci-fi series have been niggled to death and I still enjoy them. Thus far I have no reason to care for anyone in Helix thus it will be relegated to 'burn thru' status. I'll record the season and if it gets renewed I'll watch the series all at once.


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## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

A few episodes in, my opinion of Helix is that it is better than most SyFy but nowhere near the level of even the worst BSG episode. I still would rather watch it than SHIELD, which makes me think maybe I should just cancel my season pass to SHIELD.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

TAsunder said:


> A few episodes in, my opinion of Helix is that it is better than most SyFy but nowhere near the level of even the worst BSG episode. I still would rather watch it than SHIELD, which makes me think maybe I should just cancel my season pass to SHIELD.


I assume you mean S.H.I.E.L.D.?


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## philw1776 (Jan 19, 2002)

Ment said:


> I can forgive a Sci-Fi shows technical deficits if it have good character development, many favorite Sci-fi series have been niggled to death and I still enjoy them. Thus far I have no reason to care for anyone in Helix thus it will be relegated to 'burn thru' status. I'll record the season and if it gets renewed I'll watch the series all at once.


Unlike BSG, Helix the character development is poor. And it's hard to believe that several seasoned CDC top level doctors would withhold critical information from each other in a really threatening situation. I know, it's a TV show. Still it's annoying.

This is the kind of show where the fast forward control helps in getting through the slow developing scenes, something you'd NEVER do while watching really good shows with great character & dialog, q.v. Justified, et. al. I'd expected better.


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## BlueMerle (Jan 10, 2007)

Ment said:


> I can forgive a Sci-Fi shows technical deficits if it have good character development, many favorite Sci-fi series have been niggled to death and I still enjoy them. Thus far I have no reason to care for anyone in Helix thus it will be relegated to 'burn thru' status. I'll record the season and if it gets renewed I'll watch the series all at once.


I can too, up to a point anyways. This show just exceeded my threshold very quickly. Much faster than Revolution, I got through 5 episodes of that before my head exploded.


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## rich (Mar 18, 2002)

I'm sticking with Helix for now. It's annoying how unscientifically these supposedly 'top' scientists are acting, but if they strictly went 'by the book' it wouldn't be much fun.


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## Ment (Mar 27, 2008)

philw1776 said:


> Unlike BSG, Helix the character development is poor. And it's hard to believe that several seasoned CDC top level doctors would withhold critical information from each other in a really threatening situation. I know, it's a TV show. Still it's annoying.
> 
> This is the kind of show where the fast forward control helps in getting through the slow developing scenes, something you'd NEVER do while watching really good shows with great character & dialog, q.v. Justified, et. al. I'd expected better.


Yeah I can't FF in new shows. I always end up asking questions that have already been answered.



BlueMerle said:


> I can too, up to a point anyways. This show just exceeded my threshold very quickly. Much faster than Revolution, I got through 5 episodes of that before my head exploded.


Right now I care about the monkey mystery more than the CDC peeps.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

TAsunder said:


> A few episodes in, my opinion of Helix is that it is better than most SyFy but nowhere near the level of even the worst BSG episode.


I kinda sorta agree with you. But BG pissed me off because it SHOULD have been better, whereas I have no real expectation that Helix is one good writer away from greatness, so I let it roll off me more.

Better shows can be less enjoyable under the right (wrong) circumstances.


----------



## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> I kinda sorta agree with you. But BG pissed me off because it SHOULD have been better, whereas I have no real expectation that Helix is one good writer away from greatness, so I let it roll off me more.
> 
> Better shows can be less enjoyable under the right (wrong) circumstances.


Yeah... perhaps that's why I am so hard on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (happy, Bierboy?) -- it should be so much better than it is.


----------



## philw1776 (Jan 19, 2002)

Ment said:


> Yeah I can't FF in new shows. I always end up asking questions that have already been answered.
> 
> *philw: That's why they invented forums like this! To answer those casual viewer questions for us.*
> 
> Right now I care about the monkey mystery more than the CDC peeps.


I'm with you there.


----------



## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

TAsunder said:


> Yeah... perhaps that's why I am so hard on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (happy, Bierboy?) ....


Ecstatic!.....when I first saw your post, all I could think of was Vic Mackey...


----------



## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

I just watched episode 4 and 


Spoiler



I want to throw my shoe at this show. So now Dr. Beautiful has a secret tumor and a secret infected patient and she shot herself up with morphine. And somehow Dr. Ex-Wife carved her initials in a wall apparently years ago. Then Dr. Hitake (or whatever this show's Capt. Adama clone's name is) convinces three mutineers to not kill everybody and then he shoots them. Arrrgh. I want to like this show. Heck, I want every science fiction show to be successful but come on Helix, be plausible.


----------



## Timbeau (May 31, 2002)

cheesesteak said:


> I just watched episode 4 and
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...


I watched about half of it and I couldn't take it any more. I wanted sooo much for this to be a good show but I couldn't stay with it any longer.


----------



## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

Timbeau said:


> I watched about half of it and I couldn't take it any more.


and it started with such promise...oh, well...


----------



## DouglasPHill (Feb 10, 2005)

But don't they have a plan?


----------



## BlueMerle (Jan 10, 2007)

DouglasPHill said:


> But don't they have a plan?


Yes, but it's going to require the monkey to build a Bat signal.

I've said too much.


----------



## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

DouglasPHill said:


> But don't they have a plan?


There probably is a plan. I just don't like its execution.


----------



## ADG (Aug 20, 2003)

Well, I made it through 3 1/2 episodes. Just couldn't make it through all of the last one though.


----------



## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Yeah I'm about to pull the plug too after watching the latest ep. I'm giving it one more chance...


----------



## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

I am pushing to finish this week's episode. But I think that will be it for me.


----------



## philw1776 (Jan 19, 2002)

When I care more about what happened to the frozen monkeys than any of the protagonists, the show is bad, BAD. And that's w/o any of the ongoing sci-tech absurdities and the swiss cheese all over the map plot. I should have learned my lesson from BSG, but no. I'm likely bailing in one more episode before some dead person comes back as an "angel" or some plot twist that negates the entire preceding show arises for "creative artistic value". It's ludicrous like the excellently cast, yet sadly execrable "The Following"


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

I thought there were some glimmers of hope, and I'm still happy that Javier Grillo-Marxuach is now involved. Yes, it's a bad show, but it could still become good...all the elements are there. They just haven't pulled them together yet, and tossed out the ones that aren't working.

OK, big order. But still, in the words of the lottery billboards, "It could happen." With maybe the same odds.

Here's a more optimistic view than we've shown here, from io9. "This show is absolutely terrible every time it tries to "do science," and is great every time it veers into capturing its characters points of view." I wouldn't go so far as to say "great," but she has a point. This is science fiction that's at its weakest when it does science.


----------



## philw1776 (Jan 19, 2002)

Meh, i09 are the ultimate uncritical fanboys (or girls)


----------



## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

Could not finish the episode. Had to pause to do something and I just could not go back. I will record still, and if it miraculously turns around like Rob hopes, maybe I will watch then.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

eddyj said:


> Could not finish the episode. Had to pause to do something and I just could not go back. I will record still, and if it miraculously turns around like Rob hopes, maybe I will watch then.


If it happens in the next week or two, I'll let you know. Otherwise, it'll have to be someone else.


----------



## Johncv (Jun 11, 2002)

Gunnyman said:


> 33 is one of the best 44 minutes of TV ever. I'm in besides I dig contagion type stories


I enjoy contagion type stories also, here I am rooting for the contagion to win and wipe out the entire world.  The "Science" use here make "Under the Dumb" look like real science.


----------



## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> If it happens in the next week or two, I'll let you know. Otherwise, it'll have to be someone else.


We're ALL counting on you, Rob...I'm gonna stockpile the next two or three waiting for your report....


----------



## Fahtrim (Apr 12, 2004)

I cant do it......


----------



## Timbeau (May 31, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Here's a more optimistic view than we've shown here, from io9. "This show is absolutely terrible every time it tries to "do science," and is great every time it veers into capturing its characters points of view." I wouldn't go so far as to say "great," but she has a point. This is science fiction that's at its weakest when it does science.


I'd have to say it's pretty horrible when it tries to do drama, but it is even more horrible when it does science fiction.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Bierboy said:


> We're ALL counting on you, Rob...I'm gonna stockpile the next two or three waiting for your report....


I guess that's called taking one (or two) for the team!


----------



## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

I watched the first two episodes of Helix, then two more built up on my DVR and I realized I had no desire to catch up. So I'm now Helix-free.


----------



## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Coworker said "it got really interesting in episode 4" I just watched it and I'm not really seeing what he's seeing, I'm not impressed, once again, it's a group of people finding things out AND NOT TELLING ANYONE! (gawd I hate that trope)


----------



## DouglasPHill (Feb 10, 2005)

Well it doesn't take much but this show has now moved into "puts me to sleep" category. It joins W13 and NCIS-LA.


----------



## smbaker (May 24, 2003)

Still enjoying it. It's television, not reality. Of course it's not realistic and the characters do stupid things.

I loved how the antiviral started to improve the patient's condition within seconds. That stuff works fast. Unfortunately, I also knew that the fast working cure had all but secured his fate to something worse.

I'm sad they killed off the blonde scientist lady. I thought she was one of the more interesting characters. Far more interesting than the other two CDC women.

My girlfriend kept asking me why they needed CO2 scrubbers and were in danger of dying due to CO2 poisoning when there's plain ordinary air right outside the door. I told her that the lab must be sealed to prevent the virus from getting out (which I think is a valid reason).

I keep trying to remember where I've seen/heard Dr. Hitaki from before. Then I looked it up. He's in the trailer for the new "Ronin" movie.


----------



## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

dianebrat said:


> once again, it's a group of people finding things out AND NOT TELLING ANYONE! (gawd I hate that trope)


It seems like every other show these days requires that the characters, no matter how intelligent they are supposed to be, take stupid pills.


----------



## rich (Mar 18, 2002)

smbaker said:


> I'm sad they killed off the blonde scientist lady. I thought she was one of the more interesting characters. Far more interesting than the other two CDC women.


She was about to _tell someone_, and see what happened??


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Idiot ball.

Helix.


----------



## rich (Mar 18, 2002)

They are supposedly top scientists, but they often completely forget about the scientific method.

One person working alone in a lab announces that they have developed a test to see who is infected and who is not. And they all just say "great!" and start using it. There was no control group, independent verification, double-blind test, etc ... because the plot demanded that they just go with it.


----------



## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

dianebrat said:


> once again, it's a group of people finding things out AND NOT TELLING ANYONE! (gawd I hate that trope)





eddyj said:


> It seems like every other show these days requires that the characters, no matter how intelligent they are supposed to be, take stupid pills.


One of the things I like about Sleepy Hollow is they talk to each other (ok there are a LOT of things I like about SH, but that's a good one)


----------



## Johncv (Jun 11, 2002)

smbaker said:


> Still enjoying it. It's television, not reality. Of course it's not realistic and the characters do stupid things.
> 
> I loved how the antiviral started to improve the patient's condition within seconds. That stuff works fast. Unfortunately, I also knew that the fast working cure had all but secured his fate to something worse.
> 
> ...


i agree about the blonde scientist lady. Why did they have kill her she was the only character I like.


----------



## IDSmoker (Apr 11, 2004)

Johncv said:


> i agree about the blonde scientist lady. Why did they have kill her she was the only character I like.


+1

without her, I may not be able to tolerate the "Under the Dome-ness" of this show much longer


----------



## Timbeau (May 31, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Idiot ball.
> 
> Helix.




Unfortunately the Idiot Ball seems to be coming more and more prevalent in TV shows these days.


----------



## dmaneyapanda (Jan 16, 2000)

rich said:


> And they all just say "great!" and start using it. There was no control group, independent verification, double-blind test, etc ... because the plot demanded that they just go with it.


There was a control group, it was just an extremely crappy one. IIRC the doc tested on herself and a few other symptom-less scientists, and declared that the control group. Then the other doc came in and asked her to repeat the test on herself. When she refused (because she was worried she really was infected), the other doc then asked her to perform the test on her instead, ostensibly as an additional control sample, but really because she too was worried she was infected. Perfect science!

In their defense, they were acting under significant time pressure (hours, not days, weeks, or months), so it's not like there was going to be a double blind experiment run.


----------



## BlueMerle (Jan 10, 2007)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Idiot ball.
> 
> Helix.


:up:

Why am I still following this thread when I'm no longer watching the show?


----------



## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

The thread is much more fun than the actual show. Sort of like threads about The Following.


----------



## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

eddyj said:


> The thread is much more fun than the actual show. Sort of like threads about The Following.


but it's nowhere near as OT as a BBT thread will be!


----------



## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

I am still following this thread waiting to see whether the tide of opinion changes due to developments in the story. Until then I will save it up. Since my new DVR has enormous amounts of storage, I am taking this same approach with a few shows and still have > 80% free. Meanwhile when we run out of shows we know we like, my wife and I watch The Sopranos on-demand. I am not sure what we shall do when we are done with that...


----------



## philw1776 (Jan 19, 2002)

eddyj said:


> The thread is much more fun than the actual show. Sort of like threads about The Following.


Precisely. Keep the comments coming folks.


----------



## vertigo235 (Oct 27, 2000)

I'm still watching and somewhat interested, it's not like there is much else to consume at the moment.


----------



## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

I looked at the mostly-unwatched last episode, and decided to delete it and the SP also. I feel cleaner now.


----------



## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

vertigo235 said:


> I'm still watching and somewhat interested, it's not like there is much else to consume at the moment.


same here, but it's still on a very short leash - waiting for the "under the dome" premier?


----------



## laria (Sep 7, 2000)

eddyj said:


> I looked at the mostly-unwatched last episode, and decided to delete it and the SP also. I feel cleaner now.


Yeah, I have so much other stuff to watch, and I have not watched any episodes after the pilot, and I can't get even the littlest bit enthused about watching them. They are getting deleted next time I am at the TiVo.


----------



## vertigo235 (Oct 27, 2000)

NorthAlabama said:


> same here, but it's still on a very short leash - waiting for the "under the dome" premier?


hah, no I killed under the dome after only a few episodes

this definitely can end up with the same fate if it starts getting that bad


----------



## danterner (Mar 4, 2005)

I thought that the last few minutes of the episode showed some promise, so I'll watch at least one or two more.


----------



## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

danterner said:


> I thought that the last few minutes of the episode showed some promise, so I'll watch at least one or two more.


Seriously? I felt just the opposite; I nearly pulled the plug after it ended...


----------



## danterner (Mar 4, 2005)

Bierboy said:


> Seriously? I felt just the opposite; I nearly pulled the plug after it ended...


Yes, I'm a sucker for WTF moments like



Spoiler



The ex-wife doctor recognizing her own handwriting on the wall, and (in an earlier episode) the facility administrator removing his contacts to reveal glowing blue eyes. Even though I recognize the rest of the show is as appealing as having your face gnawed off by CGI plague rats while convulsing, those WTF moments do keep me coming back.


----------



## DouglasPHill (Feb 10, 2005)

Each week they just make up what they need. Sound familiar?


----------



## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

They have a plan. They plan to pull things out of their asses all season(s).


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

They have a plan. Their plan is to end the series with a close-up of Billy Campbell's eye.

Or he's an angel. They have a plan, they just haven't decided yet.


----------



## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

I hope the creators come out and tell us all the things that are not going to be the big reveal and then it turns out to be all of them. I love it when shows do that.


----------



## Church AV Guy (Jan 19, 2005)

eddyj said:


> I looked at the mostly-unwatched last episode, and decided to delete it and the SP also. I feel cleaner now.


I have to admit, I did the same thing. The show just reached my saturation point. I tried to like it, but...


----------



## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

Last night's episode (1/31 "The White Room") actually interested me. Smart people are still doing very dumb stuff but now I'm really curious about wtf is going on with the mysterious Dr. Hataki. Looks like I'm sticking with this show for a while.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Yeah, there's a lot of interesting stuff going on. I'm not sure how it will (can) all come together, but I'm willing to wait a little longer and see if they're at least headed in that direction (instead of just throwing interesting stuff out at random and hoping it will all work out in the end, which is an M.O. a certain producer of this show used on a certain other show).

Missed a great opportunity for Billy Campbell to say, "You know what? From now on I order everybody to tell everybody else everything, so this sort of $#!& doesn't keep happening." But I suspect that would require a level of self-awareness among the writing staff that probably doesn't exist.


----------



## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

the parts about this week's ep i'm most curious about:


Spoiler



1) the screams from the monkey field fire - that could open up the possibility anything (anyone?) already dead might be back.
2) the inconclusive db search for dr. hvit has me wondering what that's all about.


we'll see if it continues to keep me interested - for now, i'm still in.


----------



## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Yeah, there's a lot of interesting stuff going on. I'm not sure how it will (can) all come together, but I'm willing to wait a little longer and see if they're at least headed in that direction (instead of just throwing interesting stuff out at random and hoping it will all work out in the end, which is an M.O. a certain producer of this show used on a certain other show).
> 
> Missed a great opportunity for Billy Campbell to say, "You know what? From now on I order everybody to tell everybody else everything, so this sort of $#!& doesn't keep happening." But I suspect that would require a level of self-awareness among the writing staff that probably doesn't exist.


AH.....I've been waiting for you to convince me to stick with it. I have this one recorded, so I'll give it another shot...


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Bierboy said:


> AH.....I've been waiting for you to convince me to stick with it. I have this one recorded, so I'll give it another shot...


I think the show is benefiting from the relative drought of new programming these days. If it had started in the fall when there are a ton of shows on every week and I'm looking for an excuse to drop shows, or now when the current episodes would be landing in such a time, I wouldn't be watching any more. But there's barely enough that's potentially interesting in the show to keep my hopes from completely evaporating, and enough hours in the week to watch it, so I'm still in for now.

How's that for a stellar recommendation?


----------



## vertigo235 (Oct 27, 2000)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> I think the show is benefiting from the relative drought of new programming these days. If it had started in the fall when there are a ton of shows on every week and I'm looking for an excuse to drop shows, or now when the current episodes would be landing in such a time, I wouldn't be watching any more. But there's barely enough that's potentially interesting in the show to keep my hopes from completely evaporating, and enough hours in the week to watch it, so I'm still in for now.
> 
> How's that for a stellar recommendation?


I agree with this


----------



## RGM1138 (Oct 6, 1999)

It's like 80s gore porn looking for a reason to exist.


----------



## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> I think the show is benefiting from the relative drought of new programming these days. If it had started in the fall when there are a ton of shows on every week and I'm looking for an excuse to drop shows, or now when the current episodes would be landing in such a time, I wouldn't be watching any more. But there's barely enough that's potentially interesting in the show to keep my hopes from completely evaporating, and enough hours in the week to watch it, so I'm still in for now.
> 
> How's that for a stellar recommendation?


I'll take it and watch the latest ep tomorrow!


----------



## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Since spoilers aren't listed in the title


Spoiler



Since we now know that Jaye was Julia's hallucination, I'm betting odds that her childhood wall writing can be dismissed the same way (hope it isn't tho), and I wouldn't leave it past them that stabbed Hatake could be one too.



I find it interesting that Syfy suggests they'll be answering the running questions and has a running tally.
http://www.syfy.com/helix/photos/helix_questions?id=1


----------



## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

I still am enjoying the show but I am finding it oddly interesting they are killing off the major characters.


----------



## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Cainebj said:


> I still am enjoying the show but I am finding it oddly interesting they are killing off the major characters.


The show seems to be set up as a one off...


----------



## vertigo235 (Oct 27, 2000)

I wonder if they are going to handle it like American horror Story


----------



## BlueMerle (Jan 10, 2007)

Cainebj said:


> I still am enjoying the show but I am finding it oddly interesting they are killing off the major characters.


They need to make room for these guys:


----------



## DouglasPHill (Feb 10, 2005)

Why did the guy knife himself?


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

DouglasPHill said:


> Why did the guy knife himself?


It seemed like he REALLY wanted to sell the story about having to defend himself against the people he murdered in cold blood.


----------



## danterner (Mar 4, 2005)

I have to hand it to the show for tricking me on the whole



Spoiler



Is Jaye a hallucination bit. From the start, I was convinced that she wasn't really there and the show dropped hints to suggest that I was right. Then she started interacting with the environment (supporting Dr. Hitake, using a flashlight, the jacket compress, etc), and I resigned myself to being wrong. Then they did the Reveal and, in it, explicitly refuted those very moments. They got me. And they did it much better than it was done in another show that I can't figure out how to reference without giving a major spoiler for that show's entire season, so I'll leave it nameless.



For the moment, I'm glad I stayed around. It's not great, but it is definitely a step above Meh.


----------



## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

I don't know what the hell's going on with this show now but I'm intrigued and curious so I guess I'm in for the rest of the season.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Yeah, I don't know if my expectations have dropped sufficiently or if it's actually getting better, but I've found it more and more interesting, especially the last two episodes.


----------



## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

Cainebj said:


> I still am enjoying the show but I am finding it oddly interesting they are killing off the major characters.


after watching next week's previews, it looks like a whole bunch of new cast members just conveniently landed with the supply drop...this could go on forever.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

NorthAlabama said:


> after watching next week's previews, it looks like a whole bunch of new cast members just conveniently landed with the supply drop...this could go on forever.


Supply drop?

I assumed it was an invasion...

They've been talking about a supply drop, but only in the context of not expecting one any time soon.


----------



## smbaker (May 24, 2003)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> I assumed it was an invasion...


Same. I thought I recalled them saying something about that since Bailiseros didn't report in, _they_ would be coming. Whomever 'they' is, I'm thinking they're going to be the really bad people instead of the just so-so bad people we have running things now.

I was shocked to find out in the last episode that there's a town, complete with children and a sheriff a short distance away from the top secret biomedical virus lab. I figured the whole point of such a place was to locate it away from population centers. Furthermore, I didn't think there were towns in Antarctica (am I remembering the setting correctly? It is the Antarctic and not the arctic?)


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

smbaker said:


> Furthermore, I didn't think there were towns in Antarctica (am I remembering the setting correctly? It is the Antarctic and not the arctic?)


The coordinates they once gave don't match anything, but in the first episode I thought it was pretty clearly supposed to be Greenland.

There still shouldn't be any towns anywhere near (they're on an ice sheet), but Helix.


----------



## rich (Mar 18, 2002)

That whole hallucination scene around the dining room table, with the "Nutcracker" music playing, was a real hoot.


----------



## danterner (Mar 4, 2005)

I'm glad that I stuck with this. It hasn't improved much, but I'm definitely finding myself interested in tuning back in week after week.


----------



## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

danterner said:


> I'm glad that I stuck with this. It hasn't improved much, but I'm definitely finding myself interested in tuning back in week after week.


Nice try, but you are not going to sucker me into going back.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

eddyj said:


> Nice try, but you are not going to sucker me into going back.


How about this:

This is the greatest show Syfy has ever shown!*

*At 9:00 Central on Fridays in 2014.


----------



## danterner (Mar 4, 2005)

It is much better than Cats.


----------



## vertigo235 (Oct 27, 2000)

I'm enjoying it


----------



## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Me too. While it certainly isn't the best show on TV, it not the worst either. I have enjoyed watching it so far.


----------



## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

The funny thing is that the also borderline bad The Tomorrow People actually got interesting last week too.


----------



## vertigo235 (Oct 27, 2000)

I've been enjoying The Tomorrow People too.

The one that has been on probation for me is Almost Human, and that one actually had an interesting twist last week for me.


----------



## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

vertigo235 said:


> I...The one that has been on probation for me is Almost Human, and that one actually had an interesting twist last week for me.


Though that plot line is apparently on the back burner given the ep description for this week....disappointing.


----------



## Johncv (Jun 11, 2002)

rich said:


> That whole hallucination scene around the dining room table, with the "Nutcracker" music playing, was a real hoot.


That got me thinking, what if the entire show, so far is an hallucination, and someone wake up and find the world infected.


----------



## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Bierboy said:


> Though that plot line is apparently on the back burner given the ep description for this week....disappointing.


OT and FWIW they're screwing with the episode order at Fox, this week was production #004 which would have been before the "sexbot" episode #005 they showed 2nd and after the "remote control pacemaker" episode. It's an absolute mess as far as arc story lines because of that.


----------



## DouglasPHill (Feb 10, 2005)

Johncv said:


> That got me thinking, what if the entire show, so far is an hallucination, and someone wake up and find the world infected.


Now that would be a Michael Moore twist.


----------



## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

I am not happy with the out of sequence stuff. I think watching the episodes out of sequence is worse than having them earlier. They were not that bad, but having them in weird order makes them be worse.


----------



## vertigo235 (Oct 27, 2000)

The last few episodes have been pretty good, I hope there is still a chance for renewal (AH)

I think it's my fault that we are off topic, sorry about that.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Oops, Diane was talking about Almost Human, and I responded without realizing this is a Helix thread. Deleting my post.


----------



## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

We (or I) should probably start a Helix season 1 spoilers thread since it looks like we're sticking with it until the end of the season.


----------



## jehma (Jan 22, 2003)

vertigo235 said:


> I've been enjoying The Tomorrow People too.
> 
> The one that has been on probation for me is Almost Human, and that one actually had an interesting twist last week for me.


I like Almost Human better than this one.


----------



## DouglasPHill (Feb 10, 2005)

jehma said:


> I like Almost Human better than this one.


+ 1


----------



## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

jehma said:


> I like Almost Human better than this one.


agreed. almost human is so clean and neat comparatively, though, and helix has a dirty edge, which makes me hold out hope for better story and character development as it continues.

did i mention i love the opening title credit with the elevator music?


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Man, this show has gotten to be halfway decent! I'm no longer embarrassed to watch it!


NorthAlabama said:


> did i mention i love the opening title credit with the elevator music?


And how they always lead into it with something dark and dangerous that makes the music totally incongruous.


----------



## RGM1138 (Oct 6, 1999)

So, Pharma is the big bad? I've always suspected the drug companies of putting profits ahead of anything else. But, to create a virus to "Thin the herd"? That seems a stretch even for them.


----------



## eddyj (Jun 20, 2002)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Man, this show has gotten to be halfway decent! I'm no longer embarrassed to watch it!


Not listening!


----------



## danterner (Mar 4, 2005)

RGM1138 said:


> So, Pharma is the big bad? I've always suspected the drug companies of putting profits ahead of anything else. But, to create a virus to "Thin the herd"? That seems a stretch even for them.


Yeah, the "thin the herd" comment had me wondering if we're going to be seeing some sort of alien invasion plot line develop, where this particular Big Pharma company isn't exactly human and is interested in a global hostile takeover.

Better and better every week. I'm really enjoying it now.


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## smbaker (May 24, 2003)

I'm not good with faces. Is the actor playing 'The Assassin' from the latest episode anyone noteworthy? I got the impression it was supposed to be some kind of dramatic reveal when he removed the mask.


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## gchance (Dec 6, 2002)

I took the dramatic reveal to be age more than anything, I didn't recognize him.

Greg


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## Jeeters (Feb 25, 2003)

gchance said:


> I took the dramatic reveal to be age more than anything, I didn't recognize him.


+1


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

I think I kind of recognized him from some other show. He certainly isn't a "name" actor.


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## Big Deficit (Jul 8, 2003)

smbaker said:


> I'm not good with faces. Is the actor playing 'The Assassin' from the latest episode anyone noteworthy? I got the impression it was supposed to be some kind of dramatic reveal when he removed the mask.


I think the "reveal" was his eyes. But there's no time to talk about it right now...later.

BTW, how many lower levels does this place with bay windows (I wonder if there's a Florida room we haven't seen yet?) in a polar environment have? It's like some kind of weird negative onion. Oh, that's right...no time to talk about it right now.


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## GameGuru (Dec 12, 2003)

gchance said:


> I'm RELUCTANTLY watching, hoping the Cylons aren't angels or somesuch when it's over.
> 
> Greg


OK I stopped watching BSG after the first season for some reason and never got back to it. Are you serious, the cylons were angels?


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## smbaker (May 24, 2003)

GameGuru said:


> Are you serious, the cylons were angels?


I'm not sure anybody knows what the hell happened in that series, not even the producers.  Nevertheless, I can feel confident after watch the entire series saying that no the cylons were not angels.



Spoiler



The biggest issue was the imaginary-Baltar and imaginary-6 (you know the ones that only 6 and Baltar could see, who kept telling them to do stuff). There was just no good explanation for who or what they were other than as some half-assed creation that 'God' used to move the plot along.

Then there was some BS where the human/child hybrid turned out to be the mitochondrial DNA ancestor of the audience's civilization. In other words, "Eve". The entire series came down to 'God' manipulating the humans, in part through imaginary-6 and imaginary-Baltar, to get this Eve into position to kickstart our civilization. It was sort of the most complicated possible means to move one person from point A to point B, while killing off every single other person in the series and making the entire experience completely irrelevant.

It was basically a complete and total punt on any sort of explanation. Far worse than "Lost".



(not sure if there's a need to spoilerize stuff about old TV shows, but I figure better safe than sorry; someone might actually want to watch that crappy show and not have the sense to quit after season 1)


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## danterner (Mar 4, 2005)

smbaker said:


> I'm not sure anybody knows what the hell happened in that series, not even the producers.  Nevertheless, I can feel confident after watch the entire series saying that no the cylons were not angels.


Cylons were angels? That'd be preposterous!



Spoiler



Starbuck, on the other hand, was an angel. If a somewhat ambiguous one. As Ron Moore sort-of explained it



> She is what you want to think of her. It was left deliberately nebulous and vague. And I think she was a representative of an entity that didn't like to be called God, but everybody else talked about it in godlike terms. If you want to call her an angel, you could say that. She went through a resurrection story that was very Christlike. And you know, what are the implications of that? I felt, as I went into the finale, that the more I defined exactly what she was, the less interesting she became. And so I just made a choice to go out on a more ambiguous note, and to let people argue about it perpetually.


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## smbaker (May 24, 2003)

danterner said:


> Cylons were angels? That'd be preposterous!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ugggh. I had forgot about that. Great rationale for completely punting on an explanation of a key mystery of the show: 'it's more interesting that way'.


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## philw1776 (Jan 19, 2002)

Starbuck was an angel.
Then the closing scene with Six and I forget who as possible angels overseeing humanity for over 100,000 years to the present.

Apologies: when Six is in a scene I blank on whoever else is in that scene


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## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

Just a reminder that season two of 'Helix' begins this Friday (01-16-15).


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I forgot that this started up again this week. I guess I'll also watch 12 Monkeys since it comes on before or after Helix.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

wth???


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## jmfreefly (Jan 15, 2015)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> They have a plan. Their plan is to end the series with a close-up of Billy Campbell's eye.
> 
> Or he's an angel. They have a plan, they just haven't decided yet.


Ha! Then I am definitely in


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