Helix - Mother?
Well, that was disappointing. Very disappointing.
It seems Helix is so far removed from its earlier iteration that it has sunk to the level of torture porn.
Case in point is the "birthing room" (my words) that Anne revealed to Peter near the close of the episode.
In story telling, there is horror and there is the physical revulsion (as opposed to mental terror) that is the result of horror. This went beyond that.
Last week I became very worried about the direction Helix was going in and I invoked Happy Days and The Fonz's "Jumping of the shark." Not only has the shark been jumped but the "jumpee" (Helix) landed amidst the sharks and was chewed to a bloody pulp.
And it was only last week that I defended the character of Peter as a loveable loser. When Anne asked what he was looking for I mouthed the word, "Respect" to myself and true to form Peter uttered the same thing.
Only now we are to understand Peter's path to leadership involves murdering new mothers as the lay in helpless bondage. It was sickening and it confirms my position that Helix is insensitive towards violence against women. Bonus, Anne is just as deranged as Michael was and Peter now is.
Speaking of deranged.
Amy was in full on nut job mode for this episode. She got her measure of violence against women in.
Killing Sergio doesn't mitigate that. It just makes the show all the more repellent.
So now what?
Should I still watch?
I still like most of the characters. I'm interested in what happens to Sarah and her immortal baby but I guess she shouldn't have shared that little fatherhood nugget with Julia.
Julia's revenge was to deny Sarah her child and give it to mad Amy. (It seems Julia has has drank the Ilaria Kool aid too.)
Like Sarah, was it Julia's honesty with Peter that sent him "'round the bend?"
Whatever the reasons, this isn't the show I use to know. The joy is gone. I'll finish out the season because I am curious. But this show is definitely on the back burner now.
Next week we get the tree of red goo. It's probably bleeding because they abused it.
Come back soon Orphan Black!
Hi Dave,
ReplyDeleteI hate to return to your blog on a negative note, but I completely agree. This show has amped up the gross-out shock value instead of telling a compelling story. Not that people puking up yellow fungal goo (or last year's black goo) wasn't gross from the start. And now there's a tree puking red goo, yay, that will fix everything. I was hoping the show would veer toward tense conspiracy thriller, but no. Everybody is unlikable (except maybe Kyle and Sara who end up being the punching bags) and everything is a gross out worse than the week before.
Seeing Doreen last week was bitter-sweet. One character that was an actual character from the get-go, not just a vaguely heroic or villainous enigma.
I do think Julia is just pitching the whole baby implantation idea to Amy as a way to get her to protect the child instead of threatening to harm it. Not telling Sara the plan sells it by her visceral reaction. I don't think she intends to go through with it, just buying time. But who really cares? Heads in jars, babies in jars, it's all lost any novelty at this point. Even the carcasses with missing eyes turned out to be completely mundane, the creepers in the cabin just thought they tasted good. The whole island is one big incestuous mess.
One thing I am curious about is what the whole point of the 30 years later story is. So far just a trip through crazy.
Thanks for soldiering on despite the show.
Yes please come back Orphan Black! -Lynne
Welcome back Lynne,
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy you're here I just drank a tub of Island honey goo in your honor. Now all I need is some one eyed kid to lead me to the red sap tree. Or, I guess he can just call me names and throw rocks at me.
You took the words right out of my mouth, "Amped up the gross out shock value instead of telling a compelling story."
It's so frustrating. None of this services the greater mythology at all. It's like they forgot the previous season. Maybe they shouldn't have blown up the Arctic Bio-systems base.
Good point about Kyle and Sarah being likeable and the punching bags. I think we can extend that to Alan also.
I hope you're right about Julia being clever enough to outwit Amy and using Sarah to sell it. Then again, that's how they would have done it last year. This year, characters change their motivations at the drop of a hat. Julia seemed honest enough when she told Sarah she was trying to change Ilaria from the inside. But later she went off on how mankind needs to be pared down thanks to a paucity of resources. I got that real jealousy vibe from her. The funny thing is, she doesn't know her current lover is dead. Will that make Alan all the more important to her? (She does go to look for him in the future. I can see her finding him at the season end and he has silver eyes. God no.)
How's that for a 30 year wrap up? I don't like it but I can see them doing it.
Good to have you back Lynne!