Among key developments, we learned that Ilaria will launch a full-scale invasion in two days (episode 11). We also see that our snarky cryogenics expert isn’t as harmless as he looks, as he steals the original Narvik A sample and prepares to leave the base with it. Is he working for Ilaria, or is he a free agent hoping to sell to the black market? Time will tell.
On a more personal note, Julia discovers that Hatake is his father, that she inherited the silver-eye trait from him, and that the cabin in Montana that’s been the setting for her repressed memories never existed. She was at the research base the whole time, and the woman she hallucinated as Jaye was really her mother.
Meanwhile in the Inuit village, we’re treated to a fun and touching reunion as Daniel is brought face-to-face with his twin, as Daniel, Balleseros, and Anana rescue the village from a small group of Ilaria soldiers dressed like Stormtroopers.
Finally, the truth of Sarah’s tumor comes out as she reveals it to Hatake in a near-hypothermic delusional state. We saw confirmed what I had suspected earlier, and that is to Sarah everything is about her. The base is near lost, and in her semi-delusional state, she rattles off a stream of “I’m never going to …” statements. Sorry Sarah, but to quote Alan, “that’s not our biggest problem …”
Meanwhile Julia is also thinking that everything is about her, but in Julia’s case she’s right. Why this is true we still don’t know. We know she is Hatake’s daughter and that she shares the same silver-eye trait – but how does creating this Narvik B strain tie back to her? Is it that Hatake couldn’t bear for his daughter to have the same condition he has and is looking for a cure?
These personal stories are brought together at the end to the song “Mad World,” a perfect music choice and a nice change from the quirky tunes we usually get.
For me, the stand out moments were the interactions between the family and Balleseros at the Inuit village. There are few interpersonal relationships on this show that have grabbed me, but I’m slowly warming to this family. And Balleseros – while I haven't forgotten that he killed Doreen – is fitting right in. There were also amusing quips between Balleseros and Clyde as they were being held captivate.We also got our suspense in Alan and Julia’s adventure, descending down to Level X to move among frozen vectors with limited time to destroy Narvik samples. They don’t find Narvik, but find so much more, as Hatake has apparently been stockpiling samples of just about every disease known to man for his research.
My biggest nitpick with this episode was that Alan and Julia didn’t look cold when they were on Level X. The temperature was supposed be in the range of -50, enough to freeze the vectors, but there was no sign of steam from their breath, rosy cheeks, shivering, or frost starting to form in the room.
The most disgusting moment of the episode was the vectors passing around a cup to spit into, which they drained back into Peter’s mouth to bring him back.
What did you think of the episode? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Loved the episode!! The cup/blood was pretty gross lol.
ReplyDeleteReally hope this gets a 2nd season.
Whats up with the silver eyes.... Are they vampires? or is that too obvious?
Vampires seems to be the common theory around here, but I noticed an interesting comment during the episode, and that was that Hatake said he created the Narvik strains. If they're connected to the silver-eye trait, then it would follow that the silver-eye trait might not be old enough to be vampires. But then again, maybe Narvik isn't a cause - just a manufactured potential cure. The show combines an interesting mix of genetic engineering with hints of something older. I'm still not sure where they're going with this.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Sarah thinking everything is about her, she was delusional before fitting and I think anyone would be similar in that situation... I really hope she survives the show, she's my favourite out of all the characters left and a much more watchable actress than Julia, who I've found very hit and miss throughout the show.
ReplyDeleteBalleseros killing Doreen was, in my opinion, the worst moment of the show, both in terms of the story and as a creative decision. Doreen was one of the more instantly likeable characters and their dynamic in the few episodes she was in was fantastic, they should've definitely kept her around. The problem with him killing Doreen is that it's completely tainted my view of the character and it's always in the back of my mind, I don't see how he can come back from that and be fully redeemed from killing probably the most kick ass, witty character on the show.
Finally, I think it was a major mistake for the show to kill off Sutton so soon, I think it would've been much better for the show to unravel her over at least three or four episodes. As it was, it felt so fleeting and detracted from the power she held over her brief control of the base. If they could only book her for two episodes, it'd have been better for her to come with the huge Ilaria wave in episode eleven.
Still love the show but I think they've shot themselves in the foot a few times in terms of how to hook the audience and sell the story, although it's still a very enjoyable sci-fi/action show.
I gotta say I'm a little surprised by the amount of chatter going on by viewers about vampires. To be sure the Vectors are monstrous but I haven't seen anything to suggest that they are feeding on people for their blood and/or that they can't move in the sunlight (which really should be the only basis for calling something a vampire)
ReplyDeleteIf anything I'm inclined to think that this may be more like an alien invasion. Hatake and Sutton are of an alien species that have been established for decades to prepare a means to colonize and/or transform the human population. This all bears a striking resemblance to what Chris Carter was setting up with the mythology of the X-Files. It compliments the X-Files premise quite nicely.
The question is once real answers of what's really going on are provided where does the story go from there?
One option is that the virus breaks out into the world and the show turns in to World War Z with hordes of Vectors rampaging across the country side. Another is that the show stay within the Arctic setting but are both viable long term options?
I loved this episode. Best one yet.
ReplyDeleteBut feeding Peter blood was extremely gross. Ewww!!!
Still don't think the vectors are vampires, and they're too thinking to be regular zombies.
They remind me of the creatures from "I am Legend".
Thanks for the response. With Sarah, I can give her more of a pass with the personal regrets, such as "I'll never have children," but listening to her list never winning an award highlighted the fact that she's seemed more ambitious than anything else, and that she put the everyone in danger by accepting this job without disclosing her condition. Added to that was her actions in keeping a vector in her quarters, an unsecured location, because the woman had threatened to reveal her secret. Again, she was putting her own needs above the safety of the group. Also, the timing of this - when really everyone on the base was facing likely death - didn't help to make her look sympathetic.
ReplyDeleteBalleseros is a killer, no doubt about it. I haven't forgotten Doreen either. He's a killer who is becoming fun to watch, and since very few in this group seem innocent, I've just going with him being fun to watch right now.
Sutton was awesome but I'm not sure decapitating her was a mistake. The show needs to get to where it has to be plotwise in just 13 episodes, so limiting her arc was probably necessary. I'm also not convinced that she's gone for good, since Hatake put her head on ice and we don't know what these creatures are capable of. It's possible her body could be regrown some day.
Anyway, thanks for the comments! I'm having fun with the show too. It's light sci-fi, but as you said, it's an enjoyable show.
Personally I'm hoping for neither vampires nor aliens. I liked the genetic mutation angle because I feel like they could do something more original with it. I'm also having trouble imaging that if there's a next season it will still be at that base. I think the base will be gone by the end of the season, and most of the characters we're watching with it, but that the virus will still exist somewhere. I'm curious to see what the next chapter would look like.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't even watch that (feeding Peter the glass of black goo)! It grossed me out too much. I think the theory is that the silver-eyed beings are the vampires, and I'm not sure exactly what the vectors are supposed to be. A genetic mutation of some kind? Maybe a race being built to serve the vampires? But then Hatake didn't have Sutton's approval to be experimenting with Narvik B and creating the vectors, so that puts holes in that theory.
ReplyDeleteOh I agree that it was somewhat selfish of her to go on the mission and keep the vector, but then again the setup of the show is virus going very wrong and obviously none of the characters would anticipate that they'd be put in such a dangerous situation, so I don't really hold wanting to achieve as much as she can against her.
ReplyDeleteBalleseros is definitely one of the better characters on the show but I think he should've killed someone a little less likeable and possibly more morally grey to stop the audience from disliking him. I know every time he pops up on screen, for me at least, I instantly think of Doreen.
Sutton dying was always an inevitability, but I think they could've progressed the past episode at the very least with her calling the shots and giving us her backstory more organically, it felt a little too forced with it all coming from a brief conversation before her death.
As I said, I think they've killed off a few characters a bit prematurely that actually really enhanced the series.
The cup/blood was nasty but hey it did say keep calm and carry on lol.
ReplyDeleteIt can't be Vampires bc all we been seeing is that the virus main goal is to replicate as many times as possible hences the multiple vectors.
ReplyDeleteJulia was born on base and never went to school or made friends lol I hope they can give us a reason why Julia mom died and that it's connected to Hatake creating the virus
It's not blood actually it's the black goo that's in their system. With enough amount it revived Peter. tho it really does look similar to the black symbiote from spider-man except it's consumes them from the inside lol
ReplyDeleteOkay, but the virus is something created by these silver-eyed creatures. Sutton said the purpose was to "thin the herd" but not wipe everyone out. At the time I thought she might be referring to a specific enemy, but it could be that she was talking about humanity as a whole - weakening them so that the silver-eyed creatures can dominate. But the fact that she didn't want to kill everyone suggests that they do need some people alive. That could work with vampires - that they need people to feed off their blood. We haven't seen any blood sucking yet, but they could go there.
ReplyDeleteFair enough.
ReplyDeleteOn a side, unrelated note, I wonder if Sarah's tumor is going to be tied to Hatake's original goal of creating a super cure. Maybe she might become infected at some point and the virus would cure her tumor rather than turn her. It woud tie her tumor in to the bigger plot.
But it would be stupid tho if it turns out to be Vampires lol. The show is called helix the same helix that make up our genetic code so basically its about genes.
ReplyDeletefyi when alan and julia found hatake and sara the elevator music was playing the same one we hear when they show the opening credits lol