Episode Title: “The White Room”
Writer: Misha Green
Director: Duane Clark
Previously on “Helix”
Episode five of “Helix” entitled “The White Room” references not only a Cream song – a song that I will most likely never listen to again – but a supposed room that, as Dr. Tracey (Leni Parker) mentioned previously, where they “do terrible things to you.” It was also mentioned by Dr. Peter Farragut (Neil Napier) in the Pilot episode as well, but what you have to wonder is how much of a rip off is The White Room of “Lost’s” Room 23?
“Helix” has a tendency to consider itself a god made in “Lost’s” image, and it couldn’t be further from the truth. While “Lost” lacked intention for most of its run, “Helix” lacks everything that made “Lost” great. The writing isn’t compelling, the mysteries presented to the audience are just packed on, one after the other, in a manner that would be worthy of a BuzzFeed article. I mean, what’s up with Dr. Hiroshi Hataki’s (Hiroyuki Sanada) eyes? (I’m quite certain there’s a Georgio Tsoukalos “Alien” meme out there for them) What the hell was this virus designed for? Will I and the other viewers even care when questions like this are answered?
At times, it feels like “Helix” is a sub par show surrounded by amazing visuals. For instance, as day five begins, Major Sergio Balleseros (Mark Ghanimé) sets the field of frozen monkeys that he revealed to Dr. Doreen Boyle (Catherine Lemieux) on fire. This would seem like a big deal, but they killed off Dr. Boyle in the last episode, so now it’s just a wasted visual. The monkeys begin to scream as the visual wears on; is this because being carriers for the virus preserved them somehow? Is Balleseros just hearing it in his head, or is it because the writers thought it’d be cool to add that to the visual? It’s hard to tell, and I don’t think that question will be answered anytime soon.
The tables are turned on Balleseros in this episode. After setting fire to the field, he requests evacuation. A message is sent back saying that he needs to retrieve a person known as Dr. Hvit. Records indicate that there is no one there by that name. Security lackey Daniel Aerov (Meegwun Fairbrother) confirms what the computer tells him, and as someone who dislikes this show, I feel a bit elated. Knowing that Balleseros doesn’t know something is bittersweet, it really is! It appears that Dr. Hvit is connected to “The White Room” and has become an “urban legend.” My mind can’t help but drift to The Wizard of OZ and by the end of the episode I was damn close!
Dr. Alan Farragut (Billy Campbell) finally states what the show has been trying to put across, that the virus isn’t the most dangerous plot device in the arctic! While I’m still certain that the writing is the most dangerous thing on the show, the virus really isn’t. The virus doesn’t appear to operate under a clear set of rules. It simply does what it wants, when it wants, to serve the plot. The virus takes a bit of a backseat in this episode, as the discovery of Boyle’s body sets Alan off into murder mystery mode! It’s CSI: Antarctic and he’s not fooled for a second! An autopsy reveals that Boyle died of an induced aneurysm, something the audience already knows, but yet has to painfully relive. Alan takes big steps, though, and learns about Balleseros, and his part in all the mysterious deaths and communication interruptions on the base.
Speaking of painful moments, what was up with Hitaki? He stabs himself all the way through with a blade just to stumble into Dr. Julia Walker (Kyra Zagorsky) and Jaye (Amanda Goldfarb)? It’s clear that Dr. Walker has an associated past with this facility that she doesn’t yet know about. It’s kind like the Shining, only without the psychic kids and a hotel. Hitaki takes these moments to get close to her; Jaye turns out to be a figment of her imagination, a hallucination brought on by the virus. Hitaki gets patched up, and we try not to acknowledge how much of a waste of time that was.
Dr. Sarah Jordan (Jordan Hayes) continues to house an infected person in her quarters, and suffer from a tumor. Her story falls to the side again this week; it makes you wonder why they cast her in the face place.
The surprise moment of the evening comes with the discovery of “The White Room,” which turns out to be “the outside.” Dr. Hvit turns out to be a dismembered head that is stored underground outside. Aerov stupidly goes out there and leads Balleseros to Hvit, and he mortally wounds the Major. But not before Alan confronts Balleseros in a scene that makes you want to yell out: “your tauntaun will freeze before you reach the first marker!”
The slow burn of “Helix” weighs heavily on “The White Room.” While the characters finally smarten up, and some answers are revealed, there are a ton more questions introduced in this episode. Real head scratchers. “Lost” also weighs heavy here, particularly with the head of Dr. Hvit.
A heavy weakness for the show continues to be the distribution of characters. “Helix” doesn’t quite know how to manage them all, and there are more then a few that are wasted. Hitaki had no real reason to stab the hell out of himself just to get close to Dr. Walker. Especially considering that all he ever says to her is that she reminds him of his daughter. While that does throw up some red flags, it does make you wonder if the initials she found on the wall were really hers or just a hallucination.
The White Room itself poses a problem too. How do they do bad things to you there? If that’s the case, did Alan just get lucky in figuring out Dr. Hvit’s location? It can’t really be that easy, can it? Maybe instead of trying to be “Lost,” “Helix” should just get lost.
