Sunday, March 29, 2015

Helix, Season 2, Episode 11: Plan B



Time for a whole new setting – the National Primate Research Centre in Maryland. A doctor reveals their new invention – a horrific, agonising poison gas that kills all life. She has a vast warehouse full of the stuff and a military guy decides to take them all

This can never ever be a good thing

Day 11

Peter and Anne are all broody over the baby they took after murdering the mother last episode – and Anne is already fantasising about Peter being their new cult leader. But first they need to deal with the “sceptics”, basically kill everyone who is not part of Cult Peter. Peter sides with killing Alan because waaaah issues. He accepts that no-one can be allowed to leave

Julia talks to Amy about how they’re going to implant Sarah’s baby while staring at the window at Alan’s return with the soldiers and bound, sick, Kyle.

Alan still wants to stay on the island to distil the sap even though Winger wants to leave. Because processing the sap on the island with primitive technology is definitely the best way to do this. We also have a reminder of Soren’s immunity to Mycosis which may be the key. He sees Julia and stops arguing with Winger, just giving her an order instead. For reasons that escape me, she obeys.

Julia and Alan meet and there’s a brief moment where he tells hr how he’s been slaughtering all her immortal friends to find her and she counters that “find me” does not mean “bloody murderous rampage”. Then they focus on Narvik about to be release. He does not agree with the “slow death of the human race” for forced sterility and accuses her of sounding like Hitake’s daughter. She isn’t moved by that, she is Hitake’s daughter and sterility is better than Narvik.

“what happened to the woman I fell in love with?”
“She became immortal”

Nice come back.

Julia goes to see Sarah, being guarded by a sympathetic Olivia, and tries to make nice. Sarah isn’t buying it but seems to be convinced when Julia points out it was the only way to save the baby from Amy – and that maybe the baby could actually age and grow in a mortal body.

Alan takes the new of Narvik to Winger and demands they contact the main land to warn everyone – but her phone isn’t working. They go to see the ship – and find it surrounded by others. Winger says “they’re going to kill everything”. After the Narvik outbreak they developed a two part strategy – containment (which has failed since Mycosis reached the ships) with a plan b of eradication with that nasty gas we saw in the opening scene. Which is also why Winger was pushing so much to leave. Alan prepares for evacuation to which she tries to get him to listen – communication is down to stop ANYONE being rescued, killing everyone is part of the plan. There is no evacuation. No rescue. No escape. Everyone is assumed to be exposed. Everyone will die. Do not pass Go. Do not take £200.

Alan is sure he can make a cure out of Soren (or using Soren). And… what? You can’t exactly communicate the fact you have a cure. Assuming a cure can be made in 6 hours

Peter decides to check in on Kyle and tell him that all the bad things that have happened are all Alan’s fault. He winds Kyle up to focus on Alan then lets him go before brutally and frenziedly murdering he guard who was watching Kyle. He leaves he body hanging by its feet with its intestines hanging down for Winger and Alan to find. Alan realises that this is far too involved and complex for a Mycotic; he naturally thinks of his brother because that’s the state of their familial relationship. Winger refuses to take more chances with her men and orders Kyle or Peter shot on sight


Amy and Anne have their own little headache-inducing confrontation though Amy hits the nail on the head when she says Anne has always needed someone to worship. Actually kind of sickeningly, Anne calls on Amy to apologise (Sarah’s not a nice person – but really, Anne? Hell no). Anne then goes to thank the hanging body or its sacrifice because she has reached maximum cultiness. She also steals a Haz Mat suit.

In the tower, 2 minions find the bodies of Landry and Sergio – but Landry isn’t dead and promptly kills those there to remove his body (briefly appearing POC now dead. This is Helix after all).

Sarah and Julia come later and find Sergio’s body – they’re convinced Amy is involved. But even though she’s visibly upset, Julia still needs Amy and insist they go ahead. Sarah agrees to co-operate for the sake of her child.

It’s time for Amy’s surgery in which Sarah makes another attempt to kill Sarah while Julia stops her, asking for Sarah to trust her. After it’s over Amy wakes and is overjoyed to see her silver eyes, Sarah leaves the room.

Anne finds Landry and tries to bring him to their side but he almost kills her when she tries to break him from Sarah.

Despite supposedly looking for a cure, Alan wanders the halls and allows Peter to goad him into going to the botany lab where Kyle tries to hang him – but doesn’t kill him before ranting away about why Alan is responsible for everything. This gives Soren time to inject Kyle in the leg with his blood – Kyle runs off and Soren helps Alan down

While the main cast is playing all their silly, dramatic games, Winger and her man are practically working to ensure they have a secure location safe from the gas as the planes fly in.

The island is sprayed with the toxic gas as classic inappropriate Helix music plays (somewhere over the rainbow? Really?)  People run – but Peter has secured the doors, trapping Winger and her men outside where they die in the gas.

Julia runs through the gas to find Mother and she is safe – the gas doesn’t affect immortals. Amy goes outside to play in it… and collapses, horribly mangled by the gas. She isn’t an immortal, Sarah and Julia just changed the pigment in her eyes, she isn’t carrying Sarah’s baby.

Well, that’s a lot of the cast dead. Anne congratulates Peter. He begins dragging bodies inside- include Anne’s who seems to be still alive.

Julia returns to Sarah with Mother – she’s not in best of health but the gas hasn’t killed her. Unfortunately, it has killed Mother.



I’m curious at the idea of the military/CDC developing a 2 part strategy after Narvik – because that implies they didn’t have this strategy before (and don’t actually have it in the real world). Aggressive containment with as “burn it to the ground” last resort option has always been a response to plague. I would be amazed if these weren’t already protocols when facing a disease this virulent.

I’m also curious why Alan, with 6 hours to find a cure, then spends virtually no time trying to actually find a cure.

Can someone please explain to me the course of events that lead to Peter deciding that murderous rape cults on isolated islands was the way to go? Yes he wants “respect” but what kind of progression leads to this? After, what, 2 days of Anne’s fawning? I can almost understand Anne- in the context of this show being pretty awful with women and the fact she has lived her whole life being programmed to worship a cult leader, I can see her feeling she needs that leader. But Peter I don’t understand. He has issues, but I’m not sure how those issues are supposed to lead him to this


Even if he wanted to be the worshipped leader of a cult, this cult is going to have to be built up from babies. He has no living, adult cultists unless you count the imprisoned women in the basement. He just has Anne fawning over him, babies and a barren island.