Chill out, so ‘Helix’ mystery can unfold
The key to enjoying the SyFy channel’s new thriller “Helix” is not to overthink it.
Actually, that’s probably how series creator Cameron Porsandeh approached the story of a team of scientists from the Centers for Disease Control who are dispatched to an especially remote high-tech research facility in the Arctic to investigate an unknown disease.
The 13-episode series, premiering with backto-back episodes Friday, stars Billy Campbell (“The Killing”) as the work-obsessed Dr. Alan Farragut who leads the team to the doughnutshaped research facility known as Arctic Biosystems. He’s heading the team not only because it’s his job but because his brother, Peter (Neil Napier, “Riddick”), is one of the victims of the disease.
Farragut’s team includes his ex-wife, Dr. Julia Walker ( Kyra Zagorsky, “Supernatural”), who has a complicated history with both Farragut brothers, security expert Maj. Sergio Balleseros (Mark Ghanimé, “Emily Owens, M.D.”), and a young doctor, Sarah Jordan ( Jordan Hayes, “House at the End of the Street”).
Dr. Hiroshi Hatake (Hiroyuki Sanada, “47 Ronin”), the research company director, offers the CDC team unfettered access to the base and any information needed to figure out what’s killing members of Peter Farragut’s research team. Peter is still alive, but he’s more than a little out of it, not to mention looking like a road map as black blood courses through his veins.
But all is not quite as it seems. Several key players have hidden agendas, not to mention the inevitable emotional conflict of Julia’s history with both Alan and his brother.
There’s nothing all that original about “Helix,” but it works well enough. The script gets bogged down in soap opera suds from time to time, especially when it involves the love triangle. There are also credibility problems with some of the characters, but again, that’s where it’s useful not to think too much.
If only that made “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” watchable.