Review Guide:
Episode 2.01 San Jose - Advanced Preview & Review
Episode 2.02 Reunion - Review
Episode 2.03 Scion - Review
Episode 2.04 Densho - Review
Episode 2.05 Oubliette - Review
Episode 2.06 M. Domestica - Review
Episode 2.07 Cross Pollination - Review
Episode 2.08 Vade In Pace - Advance Preview & Review
Episode 2.09 Ectogenesis - Review
Episode 2.10 Mother - Review
Episode 2.11 Plan B - Review
Episode 2.12 The Ascendant - Review
Episode 2.13 O Brave New World (Season Finale) - Review
Helix - Cross Pollination - Recap/Review
Last week we saw Michael torment Peter whilst he was in the pit, Amy scheme another plan to gain control over the cult, and Alan attack Sarah after being dosed with something by Landry.
"No one else can father children except from him" Julia
This episode we welcomed back Madam Durant, who again was seen with Julia on a bench. She was telling Julia more about this immortal, and it did indeed turn out to be Michael, who I suspected. She tells us that Michael has perfected Infertility, meaning he will become the only man able to father any children.
This explains why Julia went to the island, she was looking for Michael. Julia's current timeline off the island is in the same timeline as the CDC's, which now makes sense to me. I'm still convinced though that something happened to her during those 30 years to prevent her from getting there. The most logical thing would be that Ilaria found out what she was planning, and captured and locked her up. Then the question would be, who helped her escape, or more importantly how did she escape. She might not have even been locked up, she might have got side-tracked with another troubling matter that we aren't aware of yet.
Last episode we saw Amy's push for power, and her plan to take over the Abbey. This week that backfired on her when Michael managed to imprison her after she began questioning and disagreeing with him. I still remain certain a showdown is coming between them two where one of them will end up dead, but this week wasn't that week.
"Gather everyone in the dining hall, I've got an announcement" Michael
We saw in the flashbacks Michael evolve from someone who was about to be married, and who seemed happy, to someone who wanted to bring pain upon those who caused him grief/pain. This is how Michael became who he is today, someone who is heartless, and emotionless, whose only goal is getting people to obey, and serve his every need. If he doesn't get that or feels betrayed he simply restarts. This is what occurred this episode, he was losing control over his followers, and they weren't respecting him anymore so concocts a serum that would trim down his flock, in other terms, kill them. This explains why the Abbey is abandoned 30 years into the future.
Elsewhere, Sarah's baby or fetus was removed. Alan, since he was drugged, was there when it happened, but what we don't know is whose orders they were. It could have been Michaels or Amy's. Even though it was Landry who dosed Alan you don't really know which one of them gave him the orders since we've seen him continue to work for both. It would make sense if either of them removed it. Michael, perhaps as he seemed thrilled by the idea of an immortal child, but also Amy as she wants to find a way to become like him.
Both Amy and Michael are just as bad as each other, they both are extremely intelligent and can think further ahead than the rest of the characters, but they both scheme to get what they want. There end goals aren't really made known, but I'm sure we can expect one or two more tricks up both of their sleeves.
My favourite part of the episode was surprisingly the interaction between Anne and Peter. It was an unusual pairing, but we did get to know Anne a little better. She truly believes in this "fellowship" and wants the cult to follow a righteous path. She has good intentions, and I would like to see her stand up to Michael and Amy. After I thought for so long that she was the manipulative one, she turns out to be the one good apple among them all. What's even more curious is the slight chemistry between Anne and Peter. I wonder if anything progresses between them.
Something I didn't like this episode was Sarah having a go at Alan for telling her the truth. Sarah was quick to blame Alan for what happened to her baby. What I disliked is how Sarah knows something similar happened with the children to Kyle, so why was she putting a show on, when she knows Alan had no control over what he was doing. It does look bad from her point of view, but from a logical and non-personal view she knows it wasn't his doing. Sarah's character has always been the weakest among the core group. I never liked her much in Season 1 due to her personality, and I haven't liked her much this season. She puts her own feelings ahead of scientific reasoning, which she shouldn't do during a potential outbreak.
Other Notes:
- The book Kyle found dated back to the 1600's, which means Michael must have kept journals over the years.
- Why did Michael spare Landry and his men, knowing full well there will be backlash from them?
- Landry will be the one to free Amy from her confinement; she will take over as leader of the remaining cult.
Summary
It was another great episode, one of the better ones this season. Michael was the central point in the episode, we finally learnt a bit about his past, my only wishes now is to learn how he became an immortal. The continued wedge between Amy and Michael reached a turning point in their relationship, and I'm willing to bet she ends up killing him, giving her all the power. I liked the dialogue between Anne and Peter, we learnt a bit about her and why she believes in Michael so much. She is blinded by what he is because she loves him. Overall, it was a great episode that revealed a lot about some of the characters.
As always, thank you for reading! Let me know what you thought of "Cross Pollination" in the comments.
What did you think of the episode?
ReplyDeleteI loved when Michael put on the music, and I just thought oh no not again, poor Kyle doesn't get a rest. But surprisingly nothing happened haha :D I thought it was a great episode, with more jumpscares than usual hah but I thought as well that Sarah snapped at Alan very quickly but I can understand that she had this baby for what 13 months and almost lost it before and now it's gone. I think next episode she is going to understand it more but in the moment she just was too upset I guess. I don't know haha Great review :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure it does explain why Julia went to the island, because she has yet to mention Michael to Caleb and tells him instead, she's looking for Alan...so unless she goes to the island and escapes and goes back again 30 years, later, we don't yet know if she ever reaches her initial destination, especially because we know she gets sick too...
ReplyDeleteAt this point, I think Michael and Amy will destroy each other, juxtaposing Julia and hatake, but I still think Anne is the smarter one, as they are finally bringing her into the light and telling us how sensible she is...if there is a wild card to play, I think Anne will be one....
However, I could see Michael making it, just so Julia can meet him in the future. I'm kind of thinking you're right, and the season will shift its focus on the future timeline and the current will crumble and fall away...
I'm thinking it's more likely Michael gave the orders to laundry because I would think he would be more inclined to keep the fetus. I can't imagine Amy knowing what to do with it, not knowing anything about immortal...but I still think that both Amy and Michael have to have access to other people and maybe, Amy is working on behalf of someone else....would be a super twist if it was someone we know!
THIS was a really good episode! Very daring to let us watch the children die too just after being saved! I have not watched episode 8 yet, but I'm excited too. Thanks again for your great review!
His son was called a "bastard" because his peasant wife was loving and sleeping with an other man, we see them in a bed before Michael put the barn on fire... Somehow I don't understand why every time I am searching for a review it is in fact a recap...
ReplyDeleteI like to combine what happened in the episode with any thoughts I have about it, especially for a show like Helix.
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Yep but it is clearly stated that this woman (his wife) was in love with an other man. Hence the term "bastard and hence the fact that he develops afterwards a sterilisation scheme so he won't be a cuckold again (in French the other peasants were calling him a "cocu" which means "cuckold" in English). As for the difference between a recap and a review it was a general statement. I think you should watch again this episode.
ReplyDeleteI need to watch the entire season again, yet alone just the episode :)
ReplyDeleteI always fail to pick up on the small details, but I understand now after searching "Cuckold" in Wiki.
"Cuckold historically referred to a husband with an adulterous wife and is still often used with this meaning. In evolutionary biology, the term cuckold is also applied to males who are unwittingly investing parental effort in offspring that are not genetically their own"
I'm sort of speculating as we go a long. As of now I think she's going there to find Michael, but perhaps when she gets there he is dead (I'm pretty sure he'll end up dead soon), then the virus get's released into the world, which is why she gets infected.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the question still remains, like you said: if she went there, and then came back later on, but why would she? If she went there years ago and discovered Michael had died, her objective of finding him would be gone, therefore she wouldn't have a reason to go there.
She does mention she's there for Alan, but he would be extremely old 30 years into the future, and also why would he remain there. When Julia arrives the Abbey is destroyed, and unless we will get to see more of the island, he's got nowhere to go. She could just be using her "I'm here for Alan" as a cover for "I'm here to find Michael" if he's still alive by that point of course.
I think Anne has a big role to play in the upcoming episodes, she will definitely be the "wildcard" I'm hoping she wont go running back to Michael, even though she was devastated and shocked at what he was doing, I wouldn't put it past her as she seemed the most invested into Michael than the rest.
I still think Amy is Anne's daughter, but perhaps she is working for someone else. She might have contacts outside the island, much like Michael, who I'm sure does as well. If she is it could be a new party we've yet become aware of, or she could be another one working for Ilaria, a spy on the inside close to Michael would be a great help to Ilaria.
I haven't seen episode 8 yet either, as much as I want to I plan on binge watching House of Cards. Although I really do need to re-watch this season as well, so many things I keep failing to pick up on.
It was implied that the boy is not his biological son, it's another reason I'm now wondering about Amy really being his, because the episode points out where michaels nerves are hit. Imagine the blow if Anne cheated!! I'm curious if the first purge ( another lost reference along with Sarah paralleling Kate with borrowing a dead persons shoes and Alan saying he came to the island for a reason) relates to his biological son. I don't think we saw what happened to him, but it might make the final scene in this episode extra dramatic if he came to kill him or expirement on him...
ReplyDeleteHa, I thought the exact same. I'm actually surprised Kyle is still alive. I thought he would be the new Doreen, so I'm really glad he isn't as he's been a great addition to the team.
ReplyDeleteThe jumpscare with Sarah opening the door and the rat went past was the worse for me. I was drinking some coffee and I nearly dropped it because of it.
I can sympathize with Sarah a bit, but she seemed to take it very personally, even though I guess she should. She shouldn't have blamed the whole thing on Alan though, she should have listened to reason. Which he had a perfectly good one.
I loved it too. It expanded on last week's revelations. I would really love to know what happened to that foetus. I agree that Michael is more willing to keep it than Amy. I am also not sure who ordered the removal. If it was Amy, will she use it as bargaining chip with Sarah so when they leave they take her with them or if its Michael, his wish for an immortal child has come true.
ReplyDeleteAfter what Michael did last episode, he will obviously be relieved of his duties. Most likely, Anne, Peter and Kyle will be responsible for that. Once that's done, then Landry can free Amy or maybe her mother saves her, it will be a nice twist after she planted that honey on her.
I'm sort of speculating as we go a long. As of now I think she's going there to find Michael, but perhaps when she gets there he is dead (I'm pretty sure he'll end up dead soon), then the virus get's released into the world, which is why she gets infected.
ReplyDeleteIt could go that way, but there is also the possibility that it's already happening. In the access granted part, on day 2 or 3, we learn Ilaria has one body from a cruise ship, the Avalon Mist, that is fungus infested...we don't know if the other bodies left at the scene were contained, if it spread to the investigators (other cdc or otherwise), and or if anyone from the cruise escaped, but ther is potential for a simultaneous outbreak...and it continues to beg the question, how did that happen?????
I think Amy is Anne's daughter, but not necessarily Michaels direct descent...it would feed into Michaels backstory with his non biological son!
I have to get Netflix someday. I have been meaning to see house of cards forever! :D
Nice thought on the bargaining chip! Did not think of that!!!!!!! XD
ReplyDeleteIt would be a huge blow, but Anne doesn't seem like the type of person who would cheat. She seems honorable in that sense, loyal. We didn't see/learn what happened to him.
ReplyDeleteMichael, after seeing his wife with the man she loved, felt a lot of pain, and most likely decided then to "Wipe the slate clean". Killing all those people we saw in the fields, and maybe his biological son. As he doesn't keep a picture of the boy, he's just gone.
Yes it did! That's a good idea about Amy using it as a bargaining chip, it would make sense. Amy has stated previously that she wanted to leave,but just hasn't found a way to do that.
ReplyDeleteLast episode she mentioned something about the child to Landry, so I could see her using it as a bargaining chip so she can leave. Sarah would probably give into those demands as she was clearly devastated when she learned that her baby was removed.
Michael will surely fall next episode, he wont die, but his power will be gone unless he finds a way to silence them all, which is probably unlikely. I hope Anne finds out it was Amy who framed her, that showdown between them would be interesting.
It could be already happening. There is another outbreak happening, which next week will perhaps touch upon (It's mentioned in the synopsis).
ReplyDeleteTo my knowledge it's not contagious, so I'm not sure if other people would become infected.
Ilaria could have infected that person, perhaps there experimenting a fungus? The reason I say that is because we know there is potentially two different things happening, one with Illaria and another the outbreak on the island.
You should House of Cards is great, Kevin Spacey is a particular highlight in it!
I had an additional horrific thought....what if the only way to grow an immortal fetus is to put it in a "specially cultivated" non-immortal female body?! Amy might REALLY be a bigger bargaining chip than one might think...
ReplyDeleteI think he killed the bastard exactly the same way that he gave the poison to the little child at the end. I don't see him living with the offspring of this treason especially after killing by fire (purification) his wife and her lover while they were sleeping and of course his new vow and vision of the perfect society ruled under him . Somehow I think the child in the present will survive, it is the man in the future called Caleb. He seems to know about the immortals but as if it was from a distant dream. He only remembers the stories he was told as a kid. He knows the immortals are dangerous because he has seen it first hand ;)
ReplyDeleteI like the idea, but I'm not sure if it would work. Surely Amy wouldn't be walking around perfectly fine after an operation.
ReplyDeletePutting the fetus in a non immortal might not even do anything, since the baby is immortal and it wouldn't grow. You never know like you said it could work, and it might help the fetus to grow. If that did happen Sarah would definitely take her with her off the island.
Not sure if you have seen the promo, but I've just seen it and there is a reason why Amy probably wouldn't leave the island.
No Amy is his real daughter but she is his the more achieved one to date. Exactly as he is selecting various plants and fruits to achieve his perfection he is selecting his offspring. Some have been successful in the past but none have managed to rise up to his standards like shAmy is now... I see a resemblance with the film "The Devil's Advocate" John Milton (Al Pacino) and his numerous children:" I've had so many children. I've had so many disappointments. Mistake after mistake. And then there's you The two of you." http://movie-sounds.org/mistery-movie-sound-clips/sound-clips-from-devil-s-advocate-1997/i-ve-had-so-many-disappointments-mistake-after-mistake-and-then-there-s-you This is exactly why he was interested when he heard that not only Sarah was immortal but that she also had a baby in her womb. Because I am pretty sure he would like to make an immortal baby.
ReplyDeleteI think you might be right. I doubt Michael would want to keep the boy, especially after he killed the mother.
ReplyDeleteMy original theory for who Caleb is was that he is Sarah and Alan's son, but I'm not too sure of that anymore, especially after the fetus got removed. If the writers would be so kind as to reveal Caleb's age, it might give us more of a hint as to who he is.
Although we never actually saw the boy drop to the ground like the rest of the followers I don't think he survived, as the "poison" seem to act fast. If it was the little boy though it would explain why Caleb is still on the island.
Yep but he didn't swallow it as far as I know.
ReplyDeleteMichael everyone, I can't believe that, I hope they stop him make more damage to mankind.
ReplyDeleteI understand the general idea behind what Michael is trying to do, but I do necessarily buy that Anne couldn't have had a baby with someone else, until it's proven otherwise. One might argue her previous loyalty has been out of guilt...
ReplyDeleteIn order for Michael to cultivate the civilization he wants, he would have to use certain genes (DNA/People) and plants, meaning he (or those that work for him) would have to bring these things to the Island over time in order to work on his desired evolutionary outcomes.
So Michael most likely has contact with the outside world, which we also can assume because some in Ilaria know what his work involves...and he knows of Ilaria.
Additionally we have only seen very little of that Island, and much like what we saw with Arctic Bio science with there being a little town a few miles away, and like we may have seen with Hatake's house in the future, there could be other people living on that Island that could have interfered from time to time. Plus it's possible that Michael has a secret lab to do some of his other [human] experiments, because I would think one might need advance engineering for this...place for various control groups....
It would be smart of them to twist something, otherwise it's fairly too predictable.
It's not so much that Amy or Anne are immortal, but they are non immortal offspring of an special interbred immortal line.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the promo yet, but one way around getting Amy to do what Michael wants is with that mind-control plant and Amy could somehow choose to do it, because she gets out of having sex with Michael and would be valuable alive to both parties...otherwise I see her being more and more expendable and there would have to be some other magical science-fiction way to grow the baby on the Island unless the baby needs NO womb, which is also a scary tought XD
From what I saw: You saw him drink it as Michael was looking down, then he moved his mouth around. I'm pretty sure he must have swallowed it, I could be wrong.
ReplyDeleteI just don't see a young boy of that age knowing what's going on around him, he would just listen and to what he's told, which in this case was to drink the mixture.
I guess we will see next episode if he died or not.
I can't believe he did that as well, but I knew there was something not right about Michael. He should be stopped now that Anne, Peter and Kyle know what he's done.
ReplyDeleteWould the mind control plant work on Michael? I've wondered this since season 1, if a immortal got given a drug for instance would they react the same to it like a non immortal would or would they act differently?
ReplyDeleteI do as well :) As much as it could make sense if the little boy was the son I just can't see him surviving, especially when he swallowed the mixture.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a fun thing to explore XD
ReplyDeleteI actually like Michael's character.
ReplyDeleteI don't really like the character much mainly because of all the things he's done, but he makes a really good villain.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand what Madam Durant's end game is. Does she want Michael to succeed? Does she want him stopped?
ReplyDeleteDon't the Immportals want to purge the world of humans? (which would leave them with basically nothing, I don't get wanting to do that, either).