Pilot Review: Helix

Helix (Syfy)
Premiered January 10 at 10pm

I like to make an effort to watch every new pilot, and not to give up on them midway through since all series premieres deserve the opportunity to either wrap up their arcs and launch in a new direction or end on a fantastic cliffhanger that makes watching the rest of the show vital. Unfortunately, Syfy’s newest show does neither of those things, and the only sentiment I’m left with is the hope that I don’t get trapped in another hour of this universe. The notion of a contagion breaking out is something that has been done before – the season one episode of “The X-Files” called “Ice,” featuring guest stars Felicity Huffman and Xander Berkeley, is a prime example. But here there’s just lots of talk about monkeys and mutating viruses that we’ve never seen before, and it gets tiresome very quickly. Billy Campbell, who previously anchored “The 4400,” is an actor whose relaxed demeanor works well in certain contexts, like on “The Killing,” but here it doesn’t do much to engage, instead making this show feel even more sterile. Hiroyuki Sanada, who I remember so well from his small role in the underseen “The City of Your Final Destination,” is laden with an uncreative part, and none of the other actors are all too memorable. This show sets itself up as a haunted-house thriller, but even just in this two-hour starter, there are no real consequences for our characters save eerie predictions about what their findings mean. This pilot was far from involving, and its combination of glacial plotting and disgusting face-eating visuals make it a miserable combination of dull and off-putting.
How will it work as a series? This pilot didn’t seem to be introducing a series, since I can’t imagine where this premise goes after a few installments and how there’s no finite end point in view. Eventually, characters will have to start dying and some of the outside world will get in, which should provide chaotic but unlikely any more engaging than what’s happened already.
How long will it last? I haven’t been able to find ratings statistics just yet, but just based on this premise alone, I think this show doesn’t quite fit under the banner of what’s proven successful on Syfy. Though it will undoubtedly appeal more to the network’s regular viewers than most, I wouldn’t count on it lasting more than a season.

Pilot grade: D-