fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3400 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3400 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

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02.

[The Secret of Crickley Hall]

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03.

[Longmire]

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04.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiKj0Z_Xnjc]

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05.

[Great British Bake Off]

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06.

[The West Wing]

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07.

[Kim Possible]

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08.

(Free! Iwabi Swim Club)

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09.

[Hyper Light Drifter]

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10.

[Sword of Truth]

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11.

[Count Cain/Godchild and Kuroshitsji]

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12.

[Discworld]

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13.

[assassination classroom]

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14.

[Monster Pop!]

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15.

["Magical Diary: Horse Hall" and "Harry Potter”]

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16.

[Silmarillion]

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17.

[Once Upon a Time]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 084 secrets from Secret Submission Post #486.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I loved Syfy's "Helix" FOR WHAT IT WAS and not FOR WHAT I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE.

This is the biggest problem with the viewership's rejection of Helix. Some of it has to do with marketing being inconsistent with the reality of the show; most of it has to do with people not accepting what really was the main arc all along. Hint: a good tv show is always going to be about people at the core, not microbes.

•Although "Helix" very obviously takes a lot of inspiration from John Carpenter's "The Thing" and uses a lot of horror tropes, I find that the show I find myself drawing the most thematic parallels with is... "Orphan Black." To the point where I can very easily imagine crossovers. Characters who have been living experiments their entire lives without knowing it. Mysterious fate-controlling corporations with a dubious military connection; and an underground network devoted to fighting against them. Personal genetic modification. An off-shoot from a scientific body twisting his knowledge into a religious cult. Women who experience having their own fertility used as leverage against them (!).

•Contrary to the marketing, the main character of "Helix" isn't Alan Faragut. It's Julia Walker's story and it always was. Everything in Julia's life is significant.

•A majority of the most powerful characters in this series are female (beyond core characters Julia and Sarah), and they're all unique and memorable. Season 1's Anana is an Inuit sheriff tracking a local mystery that goes back decades. Jeri Ryan turns up as corporate bitch Constance Sutton. Season 2's women of the St. Germaine cult might be even more interesting, with manipulative Sister Amy. I was perhaps most fascinated by Sister Anne's development, although to say more is a spoiler.

•Don't be afraid of change. Yes, there's a reboot and location change between seasons. The tease at the end of S2 was clearly setting up an even stranger development, although cancellation means it never will be. And I really like that-- they weren't afraid to try new things in combination with their established arc. While I agree S1's story is better, it's mostly because Dr. Hatake made such a strong impression that Michael DuBois can't live up to him.

•It kept me guessing. I never got bored with "Helix," because I was never clear exactly where it was going. Its influences were clear, but the story was its own. I hate feeling like I know what's developing two episodes before the characters get around to figuring it out. It filled the "mad science/body horror + tangled mythic arc" void on tv that was left after "Fringe" ended. There is also a reasonable parallel to be made between Olivia and Julia.

•The soundtrack. "Helix's" signature is what tvtropes would call "Soundtrack Dissonance." It's one of the most memorable features of the show, and the creators clearly had a lot of fun and effort pairing some of the goriest scenes with light pop ("Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" is a repeated theme); and my favorite, a particularly surreal scene, gets The Nutcracker. "Please pass the cranberry sauce."

It kept me guessing. I never got bored with "Helix," because I was never clear exactly where it was going. Its influences were clear, but the story was its own. I hate feeling like I know what's developing two episodes before the characters get around to figuring it out.

Admittedly I only watched the first couple of episodes, but I found Helix to be the opposite: very poor writing and very predictable. Between that and the age gap between the two scientists who were ostensibly romantic interests (which as I recall was wider than the one between myself and my own father) I was put off the show for good.

I can only assume it gets better?

Yes, there are deeper connections and a crazy show mythology that I found very creative. It becomes about way more than just the virus.

I don't really like the Alan/Sarah relationship either, but it gets more complex. Sarah toughens up a lot by S2. I find Alan most interesting when he's doing things that are connected to his brother Peter.

[ SECRET POST #3400 ]

In defense of Helix

Re: In defense of Helix

Re: In defense of Helix