Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Helix: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 15, 2015

Even through just one season -- and now through its second, and final, season -- it was easy to label Helix, brainchild of Creator Cameron Porsandeh and Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Battlestar Galactica), as a curiosity of television, a show that boldly took incredible risks but did so at great peril to narrative cohesion and stability. Season one went off the deep end, for better or for worse, and season two dives even further into a murky abyss of stuff that makes the show at once both a head-scratcher and the filmed equivalent of a page-turner, always keeping the audience both expectant of what's to come next but never sure from which direction it will come, and a lot of the times even why it comes at all. Controlled, and oftentimes uncontrolled, chaos rules the series, and with so much spinning around, and often to at least moderately unsatisfying result, it's not hard to see why it was ultimately cancelled, even if there's still plenty of room to explore within its topsy-turvy universe. In some ways reminiscent of Lost in terms of its constant state of dramatic upheaval and mysterious underpinnings that see it pulled every which way possible -- and then some -- the show just never seemed to connect, probably because it just never seemed to figure out what it was or where it was going, even after 26 entertaining, but in many ways flawed, episodes.

Where are we?

There's a new pandemic and several scientists -- returning cast members Dr. Peter Farragut (Neil Napier) and Dr. Sarah Jordan (Jordan Hayes) and newcomer Dr. Kyle Sommer (Matt Long) -- are investigating a ship that's adrift and littered with dead bodies. A lone survivor, Leila Weisner (Cristina Rosato), tells the story of the disease's quick progression and high mortality rate. The scientists track its source to a nearby remote island, St. Germain, where they'll study the outbreak and will be forced to remain there, cut off from the world, for two weeks. Not long after arriving they're "greeted" by a large group of people who belong to a cult led by the mysterious Brother Michael (Steven Weber). Meanwhile, Dr. Julia Walker (Kyra Zagorsky) appears to travel to the same island location but it's quickly revealed she's far, far away from the others. What does it all mean? Where is it all headed? Surprises abound in season two...

Helix's big risks don't always pay off with big rewards. Season two continues the moving portrait of science and horror insanity, transitioning from its season one Arctic hideaway to the more environmentally welcome but no less dangerous remote Pacific island where more chaos, curves, and swerves are commonplace, where disease runs rampant, where isolation remains, where new questions yield only ever-more convoluted answers. This season, then, is at once both familiar and foreign, maintaining the same "fight and study the (new) disease" motif and continuing to play with the "it can go anywhere and do anything" mantra but feeling, here, less gripping and more forced, as if it's trying too hard to follow on season one's wide-ranging chaos with its own brand of sweeping insanity. Season two, in many ways, feels like a spin-off at best and an entirely new show at worst. It's not at all a pure continuation of the previous season -- which in many ways feels like it's been left out to dry -- but instead a different variation on the theme, almost like a standalone episode (albeit a 13-part episode) of a formula show rather than a genuine "here's what's next" linear progression style that makes up the more traditionally structured shows like Breaking Bad or The Walking Dead. In essence, the show -- and particularly season two -- feels way too big for its britches, stretching and pushing and shoving to get so much in, to play with so many ideas, to go in so many different directions that, even with the identifiable center holding it all together, never feels like it gels or satisfies the deeper curiosities of its otherwise strongly developed core narrative.

But the show had to do something. It had to set itself apart as something other than a long, drawn-out reworking of Outbreak or Contagion. What works well in two hours would be miserably dragged out to a dozen or so episodes, never mind further seasons. Rather than just throw a wrench into the mix, however, Helix chose to throw every last bit of convention out the window and swing for the fences, which were miles away and reachable only through some of the murkiest and most convoluted plot lines imaginable. That season two continues the tradition isn't a surprise, but that it goes so far away from even the standards and established elements from season one is a surprise. While both seasons manage to challenge the viewer with plenty of health science, Science Fiction, Horror, and human interest all meshed together, it does so, often, without much cohesion. Season two does a good enough job in raising interest and maintaining it even through all of the chaos -- what's happening with Julia, what's going on with the mysterious cult and what connection does it have with the virus -- but pushes the necessary suspension of disbelief so far that it's bound to alienate more viewers than it is to satisfy them, a shame considering all of the potential that's in some ways satisfied but in many ways squandered on the notion of "too much" which Helix proves isn't always a good thing.

Helix: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Helix: The Complete Second Season's 1080p transfer makes for a pleasant viewing experience. The digital photography shows a little flatness but the razor-sharp details and bold colors make the otherwise inorganic façade a quick and distant memory. Various bits of diseased human tissue and gore -- bubbles and bile and other forms of yuk -- are remarkably presented. Julia's kidnapper wears a burlap hood that's one of the most purely complex objects one is likely to find on Blu-ray, and the transfer presents it with remarkable attention to imitate detail. Human faces and general clothing, including patches, look very good, yielding easy complexities in every close-up. Basic bits of background, both in cold and rotted interiors and in lush natural exteriors, shine. Colors are bold and precise; natural greens are particularly vibrant and pop in bright lighting. Black levels are healthy and deep, and flesh tones are likewise precise. Light banding and mild noise intrude in places, but neither present as more than cursory annoyances. Overall, this is a high quality effort from Sony.

Helix: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Helix: The Complete Second Season oozes onto Blu-ray with a well-rounded DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The stage springs to life with all manner of sonic joy, including precise, wide, and well-defined music throughout the range; fine natural ambient effects; and various bits of action. Many of the track's joys come by way of the small stuff. Gently rolling waves, various creaks and moans on a lifeless ship, insects, rustling leaves, and other little natural elements enjoy precise placement and volume that accentuate various scenes throughout the season and help transport the listener into the environments. Even dialogue finds some quality reverberation in various junctures throughout, one of the best examples coming around the thirty-minute mark of episode one when voices realistically echo throughout a large location. General dialogue is satisfactorily delivered with natural center focus. All told, this is a nicely designed and implemented track from Sony.

Helix: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Helix: The Complete Second Season contains deleted scenes on discs one and two and a collection of outtakes on disc three. Inside the Blu-ray case, buyers will find a voucher for a UV digital copy of the show.

Disc One:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): For "Reunion:" I Need to See My Team (0:21) and I've Left That Life Behind (1:06). For "Scion:" Are We Your Prisoners? (0:51) and I'm Dr. Kyle (0:59). For "Densho:" Kyle Searching (0:44). For "Oubliette:" Find Your Path and the World Provides (0:52).

Disc Two:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): For "M. Domestica:" Sister Amy (0:41) and The Only Thing Left to Do is Survive (2:18). For "Cross-Pollination:" Sarah Dressing (0:32) and Pack a Bag, We Leave in 10 (0:27). For "Vade in Pace:" Who Are Those Women? (0:37).

Disc Three:

• Outtakes (1080p, 3:11).
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

Helix: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In a way, it's a good thing that Helix was cancelled. On one hand, the show often felt just too dense, too chaotic, too unsure of what to do, but on the other hand, it would have been fun to see what kind of insanity a third season could have brought and whether it might have made the entire show make a little more sense or just added to the zany mystique. Either way, it's been a brief but fun little series that might wind up as a cult favorite someday. Sony's Blu-ray release of Helix: The Complete Second Season features excellent video and fine audio. Supplements are unsurprisingly limited. Recommended with season one on the very cheap.