Helix - Episode 1.11 - 'Black Rain' Review

As we count down to final episodes of the first season, we see a turning point for those trapped at the arctic scientific outpost, as the hunters become the hunted, and the scientific team chase down vectors with – finally – a cure. The cure is a combination of Julia’s healing properties mixed with a freezing compound designed to slow the virus long enough for the cure to take effect.

A kill squad from Ilaria also arrives with plans to find the virus and kill all who remain. This new Ilaria group is led by a very young-looking immortal whom Hatake describes as The Scythe – an assassin and the most deadly of the 500 immortals.

But before this all happens, we were treated to more gore, horror, elevator music, and camp. The tone of the episode is set by an exploding rat in a microwave. The vectors are luring out the starving survivors and set out the rat as a trap, because apparently a live rat that’s likely had scientific experiments performed on it looks like an appetizing meal to someone who may have run out of food in the past day or two. I’m not sure why the vectors felt they needed to microwave the rat though, since their mission was accomplished and the researcher was captured. Maybe vectors like gore too.

Hatake, meanwhile, is characteristically purposeful and nonverbal, as he sets explosives throughout the compound in preparation for Ilaria’s arrival. There’s no doubt about who’s in charge here, as the vectors clear a path for him as he continues with his work.

Alan characteristically makes poor decisions as he rounds up the remaining 20 uninfected to bring them to the sunroom (the location of Peter’s first big attack), assuming they’ll be safer there because there are no vents and only one point of access. Peter and a fellow vector, however, are spying on Alan, and plot their attack – leading to the best scene of the episode and the inspiration for the title, Black Rain. They collect their black goo and feed it into the sprinkler system and douse the uninfected with the virus. This scene is accompanied by the upbeat and ironically fitting song, “Raining in My Heart,” made popular by Buddy Holly.

Leading to this memorable scene, fuzzy camera footage of the vectors making preparations in the dingy basement quarters, with Peter’s red eyes and their off-color veins standing out, create a wonderfully creepy vibe in the scenes. While this show has the worst depiction of an arctic environment that I’ve ever seen, they’ve consistently done creepy well – from the shots of the long, deserted hallways, to the filming of the vectors scurrying around in the claustrophobia-inducing air ducts, to now the blurry camera effects that succeed in highlighting the most terrifying features of these creatures.

More Silver Eyes

While this final battle plays out between the CDC and the infected, with the CDC in the end winning and succeeding in giving infected, including Peter, the cure, a possibly more significant plot plays out with Sarah’s tumor and the cure she is given by Julia. Sarah’s tumor goes into remission, but the big reveal is that she, too, now has the silver eyes. Is she immortal now as well? It appears so. So that leads to the question whether all of the vectors who have gotten the cure will now become immortal – and what type of consequences we should we expect since we’ve been told that there can be only 500?

We have two more episodes left of this first season, so let’s speculate on how you think this season will end. Who, if anyone, do you think will survive the final episode? What is the threat that we will be left with to serve as a plot foundation for future seasons, should the series be renewed?  My current speculation is that Peter, Julia, and Sarah will be left, with their army of vectors behind them, as the next generation of immortals. There have been hints the current immortals didn’t start off bad – they became that over time – and that some like Hatake are also scientists. Immortality can corrupt, and our group of scientists has potential to become the next big threat to humanity, with Daniel, Anana and Balleseros fighting on the side of humanity. I’m betting that Alan and Hatake won’t survive the battle.

What are your thoughts? Let’s hear them in the comments below.