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Reviews
Helix (2014)
Mediocre and then hard pivot in 2nd season
Helix is about a CDC team leaving US jurisdiction to assist a private corporation's response to a potential outbreak of an experimental virus. The show was at its best when it focused on the virus and its effects on humans. They had some unique developments in these areas (if you're able to suspend your disbelief about the scientific inaccuracy) and it was a fun ride just watching what this ridiculous virus (plot device) would do.
The acting is passable and, for the most part, not immersion-breaking, but otherwise forgettable.
New revelations with the virus held my interest for maybe the first 5 or 6 episodes. Then they seemed to run out of ideas for what to do with the virus and focused on the corporation that created it as the new big threat. This is where the show really failed. The corporation and the members that we met from it weren't very interesting or compelling.
I should note that, even when the virus was attention-grabbing and enjoyable, the dialogue was still a low point. Nonsensical lines and ridiculous (il)logical conclusions abound, yet somehow other characters are convinced by the argumentation presented. It's even clear, at times, that the actors didn't understand the meaning of what they were saying.
1st season I'd give a 7/10, but I quit 2 episodes into the 2nd season because the show left everything from season 1 behind and entered an entirely new scenario. I just wasn't convinced that the writers were competent enough to make it worth watching, so I bailed.
5/10.
Hard Sun (2018)
Bad Cop, Bad Cop
More of a cop drama with a sci-fi subplot far, far in the background than true science fiction. The main characters don't even care about the sci-fi element beyond the first episode. They were busy protecting their own families, fighting with each other, and working on a couple serial killer cases. I was convinced that the big reveal would be that the impending doomsday scenario was either a miscalculation or part of a drill. It seemed nearly forgotten by the 3rd episode, let alone the 6th.
I have a couple minor quibbles:
1. Everyone just took the government's word that Hard Sun was a hoax. Really? I'd imagine observatories around the world would look into it and the British government would be unable to contain the truth.
2. A priest refuses to betray the sanctity of a confession. Ok, believable. Then the priest refuses to tell the name of a man who kidnapped him and attempted to murder him. That shouldn't be protected by the confessional.
3. Is there anyone in the world that Elaine's son won't murder or Charlie won't sleep with? I was beginning to ask myself that question.
4. We'll never know what Hard Sun was. Doesn't really matter, information about Hard Sun was just a plot device, sort of an Arma-MacGuffin.