# "Helix" - anyone watch? (boxed spoilers, please) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 11, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519 "2014-01-11T16:29:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519/1 "2014-01-11T16:29:15Z")
I set the DVR to record the first 2 episodes, which aired back-to-back on Syfy last night. I’m curious enough to give them a try without waiting till the end of the season, but wanted to go ahead and start a thread, since I didn’t see one yet. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519/2 "2014-01-11T16:36:16Z")
I saw the first 2 episodes. I think it has potential. I’ll give it a few more episodes before I decide to follow it or not. ---
**Author:** ![JacksMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/839c29/32.png) [@JacksMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacksMom)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519/3 "2014-01-11T21:20:25Z")
I agree with Zoid. Nothing in the first two episodes put me off, but I’m not completely hooked yet. I’ll keep watching, though. There’s enough there to build on. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519/4 "2014-01-12T03:08:41Z")
The third episode is available on demand. I watched all three this morning and I’m ready for more. I think it has potential to be really good. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519/5 "2014-01-12T03:27:59Z")
I enjoyed the first two episodes, and I look forward to more. One thing that I liked a lot: not all of the scientists are drop-dead-gorgeous. The overweight blonde veterinarian looks like a real person, not a Hollywood glamour babe. It’s unusual for television and movies to have major characters played by less-than-pretty women. I was betting that they’d kill her off quickly, but so far that has not been the case, and I’m impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519/6 "2014-01-12T04:26:27Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > I enjoyed the first two episodes, and I look forward to more. > > One thing that I liked a lot: not all of the scientists are drop-dead-gorgeous. The overweight blonde veterinarian looks like a real person, not a Hollywood glamour babe. It’s unusual for television and movies to have major characters played by less-than-pretty women. I was betting that they’d kill her off quickly, but so far that has not been the case, and I’m impressed. I agree except that the other two women are a bit too similar. They have the same hair color, build, etc. I’d say that main scientist dude has a “type”. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519/7 "2014-01-12T14:12:56Z")
I don’t know, the cast in general seems to fall into the “too pretty” trap. They’re all more or less good liking, even the blond scientist isn’t really unattractive in any way. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519/8 "2014-01-12T17:52:03Z")
I saw the first two episodes and I’m not sure how much attention I’ll pay to the rest. For all the hype, I’m very puzzled about why we need yet another zombie/monster virus… with yet another divorced husband/wife team. Once again, we see that “SyFy Original” means “cheap knockoff.” Also, I’m having a lot of trouble with inconsistencies. Characters can contradict themselves four times in the same conversation and no other characters notice. Even the setting contradicts itself. We have a research base in the arctic full of spacious private shower rooms and roomy double-height labs and that’s because, what, real estate in the arctic is so cheap? You tout your security system that has RFID locks on every door, but you have no security cameras, and an unsecured ventilation system that seems tailor-made for people to crawl around wherever they damn well please? ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519/9 "2014-01-12T23:09:11Z")
First ep was pretty good, second ep noticeably worse, haven’t gotten to the third ep yet (kinda weird they put it up early, won’t that kill their ratings) Then the previews for the season to come played and I see Jeri Fucking Ryan in there. Yuck. Hate her. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519/10 "2014-01-12T23:14:37Z")
Yeah my heart kind of sank when I saw her ☹ Still holding out hope but I fear this does not bode well. I’m afraid it’s going to become formulaic to the point of being cartoon like - _ **EVIL** _ war-mongering/world-dominating corporation/secret-society vs. the rag tag bunch of morally superior and righteous scientists and their sidekicks ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519/11 "2014-01-13T00:01:50Z")
I found it unbearably awful. The dialogue was clunky and overly expository and the characters behave in stupid, unrealistic ways. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519/12 "2014-01-13T00:17:59Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > ``` > Once again, we see that "SyFy Original" means "cheap knockoff." > > ``` Yeah, I fear so. Also, we see that “SyFy Original” means pandering to what they presume are audience anxieties/wish-fulfillment faves. These would include making sure we know that the Prospective Girlfriend is less than half the age of the Square-Jawed Hero (ooh, I like seeing that! I’ll watch this show! :dubious:) and, worse, making the Mysterious Asian Guy being cold enough to be callous about deaths on his watch since the deaths advance his Research, and weird enough to have Glowing Eyes. Nice way to appeal to xenophobia about The Rise of The East–an American preoccupation (I say as an American). I mean, I _could_ be wrong that the writers were going for these cheap appeals to the emotions of their target audience, but… ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519/13 "2014-01-13T01:32:42Z")
Are there any sharks in it? Or Nazis? If not, by SyFy it would be groundbreaking. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helix-anyone-watch-boxed-spoilers-please/678519/14 "2014-01-13T02:23:06Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > … The overweight blonde veterinarian looks like a real person, not a Hollywood glamour babe. It’s unusual for television and movies to have major characters played by less-than-pretty women. … I saw it as an homage to Kate Reid’s _Dr. Ruth Leavitt_ in _The Andromeda Strain_ (so far the whole thing seems to be a mash-up of _[The Andromeda Strain](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066769/)_ and _[Outbreak](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114069/)_ with a, suggested for now, dose of “supersoldier” for flavor). > [@Sherrerd](#): > > … Also, we see that “SyFy Original” means pandering to what they presume are audience anxieties/wish-fulfillment faves. These would include making sure we know that the Prospective Girlfriend is less than half the age of the Square-Jawed Hero (ooh, I like seeing that! I’ll watch this show! :dubious:) and, worse, making the Mysterious Asian Guy being cold enough to be callous about deaths on his watch since the deaths advance his Research, and weird enough to have Glowing Eyes. Nice way to appeal to xenophobia about The Rise of The East–an American preoccupation (I say as an American). > > I mean, I _could_ be wrong that the writers were going for these cheap appeals to the emotions of their target audience, but… Maybe, but I think the character needed to be from a technologically advanced place on Earth with an alien enough culture to allow the other characters to dismiss his behavior as a cultural and not conspiratorial. Japan is the current go to for that, in no small part because of Japanese made video games et al. (of course they could have just made him [Canadian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapon_X)!). Am I alone in thinking thatDr. Hiroshi Hatake’s glowing eyes are to be read as the outward signs that he is the beneficiary of the successful parts of their research?CMC