Helix: BloodLine “Off With Her Head!” at the Hatake Hotel!

Welcome WormholeRiders dedicated to Helix!

The “Bloodline” episode was written by a talented screenwriter and relative newcomer, Mark Haslett did a fine job creating an exciting story that ends with an “Off With Her Head” moment!

Produced by the veteran science fiction, horror fantasy team of creators including Lynda Obst, Sony Pictures, and Tall Ship Productions, the superb eighth episode of the developing Helix story arc was delightfully directed by well known Canadian Director and Producer Bradley Walsh. Walsh is known for his thoughtful work on many television series including Beauty and the Beast, The Listener, Played, and Reign!

This week’s episode, “Bloodline”, probes the show’s  mysteries such as the origin of the genetic alteration that Julia (Kyra Zagorsky) shares with Hatake (Hiroyuki Sanada) and Sutton (Jeri Ryan). We obviously already know how to differentiate the beings that have set themselves apart from the rest of us, Sutton, Hatake, and now, Julia.

We also are learning that there are some differences that make a great deal of sense, such as the fact that the Vectors seem to be able to know instinctively who they are and then do not harm them as was illustrated when the Vector (Sébastien Rouleau) where in the air ducts looking at Dr. Farragut (Billy Campbell) and Dr. Julia Walker from above. The Vectors also have an ability to rapidly heal like Hatake and Julia.

Major Sergio Balleseros (Mark Ghanime), on the other hand, does not seem to heal quite as quickly when Anana (Lucianna Carro) tends to his wounds. Does this mean that he is not one of them?

Sutton and Hatake’s confrontation just before he kills her does shed some light on his estrangement from the group who either naturally possess the genetic alteration they share (i.e. they’re another species, possibly aliens), created the alteration, or underwent a mutation together. The answer may lie in the “Willis hypothesis” Sutton kept mentioning.

The theory seems to have something to do with believing that mutation, rather than adaptation and natural selection, is the primary means of species change. If we are to believe that Hatake has been trying to replicate mutations that create more beings like Julia by kidnapping children and experimenting on them, that would make Hatake a monster.

The Ilaria corporation seems to be no better. The Corporation wants to reduce humanity to give its own people/creatures dominion over the world. So Hatake has, perhaps, been trying to stave that off until he could give Julia the genetic protection she needed to survive the thinning.

Also, the ripped photo of Julia and Hatake suggests that there was someone else in the photo; likely her mother. What happened to her mother?

BloodLine:

Day 8 begins with a Vector crawling around in the air vents. From the perspective of the Vector, we learn that he can see more than just the medical team in the room. He appears to have x-ray vision. Alan (Billy Campbell), Sarah (Jordan Hayes), and Julia are sitting at a table eating. It amazes me that, despite all the noise in the air vents from people moving around, no one in the rooms below ever seems to hear them. So, not likely, writers.

Another oddity is that neither Sarah nor Alan appear to be the least bit guilty after being intimate earlier as they both chat amiably with Julia who is eating like she hasn’t had a bite to eat for days. I am sure that every viewer is reminded of the similarities to this scene and to the monster who bursts through John Hurt’s chest in Alien.

Sarah warns that it is possible the virus is entering a latent stage, and she might not be cured. Julia swears she’s fine. Then starts convulsing and gagging. Alan and Sarah rush to her side. She suddenly starts laughing and makes a joke about the movie. Alan isn’t thrilled. As doctors, the first thing they should have done was get her ready to do the Heimlich Maneuver on her. Then who would be laughing? Ha!

Julia tells Sarah and Alan that as soon as she’s done eating it is off to the lab where she’s going to run a full work up on her blood. Alan disagrees and tells her, “remember Bucharest”.

Apparently the “natives” thought the aid workers were hoarding a cure and overwhelmed their facility. Alan worries that others might see Julia feeling fine and think they are hiding a cure. He tells her to keep a low profile–especially from Sutton. Suddenly a contamination alarm starts to go off. Alan heads to check it out…

Alan and Daniel (Meegwun Fairbrother) are standing over the body of a dead Vector. He is in a storeroom. The two correctly  hypothesize  that the Vector was trying to contaminate their food supply to make them easier to attack and take over.

No doubt this would make for a far more efficient way of infecting the humans not yet assimilated. Daniel also mentions that Hatake is no longer in charge of the base.

Sarah draws blood from Julia. Julia mentions that she has light sensitivity. Sarah shines a light in her eyes. Julia asks if Sarah can keep a secret. When Sarah acknowledges, yes, Julia takes out her contact lenses and shows her silver eyes. Creepy.

Sutton is thumbing through Hatake’s stalker album of Julia. Her security chief (Christian Jadah) marches in. She asks about the alarms, he tells her a Vector got in the food supply. She asks if there is anything to be concerned about. He begins to tell her they lost most of the dry goods, but she verbally slaps him and says a simple yes or a no will do. He picks the “no” option. She says perhaps under control is not in their best interests. She thinks the CDC team will perform better if more pressure is applied, “Have the Vectors run free. We’ll see if fear inspires creativity”.  

Sutton also wonders why Julia is so important to Hatake. Brown nosing security chief tells her that it cannot be her. It must be the situation. He does not get rewarded for brown nosing, however. As he is about to leave Ms. Grand Poohbah’s presence, she hands him her boots to clean.

Daniel is walking with Anana (Luciana Carro), who is dressed in scrubs. It is important that she blend in, he says, so he can fool Sutton into thinking he is still doing his job. They talk about the missing kids. She wants to question some people.

Alan enters a room where Hatake is in a chair with his hands tied behind him. Alan demands, “what did you do to Julia?”  Hatake admits that there is no cure. He had nothing to do with it, but  since Julia is disease free, that puts her in danger from everyone, including people outside the base. She might be the only person in the world to have survived the virus. Since he and Sutton also seem to be very much like Julia, it is hard to believe that he is being truthful.

Meanwhile, Julia has been found by Sutton, who takes her in custody. Somehow, Alan has found out and immediately does the white knight routine, rushing to save his ex-wife. He demands to know, “What the hell are you doing?”

Sutton replies that Julia is now property of the Ilaria Corporation. It is no surprise when Alan does not respond well to this. Sutton reminds him that she is in charge and the only thing he can do is to return to the lab and keep working. She also asks for Hatake to be brought to her. That should be an interesting conversation…

Anana finds Balleseros. He’s in a recovery room with a bloody wound. She tends to it. As she stitches him up, he admits to being one of the men who abducted the local kids. This upsets Anana who storms off. She leaves behind a needle, which Balleseros uses to remove his shackles. What confuses me with this particular scene is I thought Anana was a peace officer, otherwise known as a cop. Now, while she is stitching up Sergio, she is more of a medic or a doctor. So, which is it?

Hatake and Sutton are having their little chat. He tries to convince Sutton that Julia is not one of them. Sutton is furious, telling Hatake that when she finds out what he has done, there will be a reckoning. As she continues bullying him she displays her torture devices. This does not phase him. “You know there is nothing you can do that I cannot bear”. Sutton replies that they are not for him, but for Julia.

Alan and Sarah are working in the lab. They whisper about Julia. Sarah tells Alan that Sutton will not find anything if they test Julia because there are no anomalies. Alan wonders how there can be no evidence of the virus. They both begin discussing a way to get out of the lab and rescue Julia. Alan, the chemical genius that he is, lists off a bunch of unstable chemicals that he will need to create a makeshift bomb.

Julia has been left alone in her room. As she considers what to do next, she notices the air ducts, and crawls up into them.

Sutton decides to bully Hatake some more for being her version of selfish and disloyal and jeopardizing all they have worked for. He replies that he has no problem with loyalty–it’s genocide he has the problem with. This opens up several possibilities. Are Sutton and her people out to reduce the population of Earth for their own agenda? Sutton is informed that Julia has escaped. She orders her men into the ducts then continues to browbeat Hatake – why is Julia so important to him?  

Although Hatake is the one who is restrained, his behaviour suggests that he is the one in control of this little war of words. Sutton is getting angrier and angrier and yet, can do nothing about it because she needs him alive. We also learn that she and Hatake once had a romance. This information is likely a red herring that we will never learn more about since Sutton is about to meet her end.

Daniel escorts Anana out of the base. He tells her that he is not going to run away from a mess that he helped create. It sounds like Daniel is growing a conscience. They hug and part ways after she reminds him that he has a family now.

Alan and Sarah are working on their mischief under the watchful eyes of the guard. That must give them a sense of satisfaction to be able to outsmart the guard right under their noses.

As Julia is creeping through the vents above them they hear her. Alan tells Julia that she needs to free Hatake so that he can retake the base when they kill Sutton. Julia says she’ll try to get to him, then slips away. Alan then tells the guard to bring Sutton.

Sutton enters. Alan asks her to look in the microscope to see the cure in action. She looks less than interested, but heads over to take a peek. As Sutton turns the knobs, Lt. Klein notices a look that Alan gives to Sarah and rushes over and pulls Sutton away as the microscope explodes. At least, that is what I assume happens. Klein may also just have some psychic abilities in the way that he suddenly saves Sutton. Naturally, she could not get killed in such an anticlimactic way. Where would be the drama of revenge if that happened?

Alan and Sarah do their best to escape as the base alarm sounds. They toss their lab coats into the trash and hide in a lab as a bunch of guards run by. Sutton is way ahead of them.

She uses the intercom to explain things, “no doubt you’re surprised to be hearing from me. I can’t imagine what you must be thinking right now. Let’s lay our cards on the table, shall we? You are to report to isolation. Failure to do so will result in immediate termination of Peter Faragut. I expect nothing less than your full cooperation”.  

As Alan stands to leave, Sarah tells him not to go because they will kill Peter anyway. Besides, Sarah has an idea. Maybe they can create a diversion. She discovers a sound cannon nearby. Luckily, she has some knowledge of how to use it. This is just way too convenient. Hobbies or no, it is doubtful that a medical person would have an interest in or knowledge of the use of a crowd control apparatus.

It appears as if Hatake is relaxing in a day spa. Julia enters through the vent. A good line about now would be, “Julia, thanks for dropping in”. She explains that Alan needs his help. He tells her that she must stay hidden because she is more important than anyone else. He will explain why later.  Then he injects her with a sedative. What a sneaky fellow. While I am looking at a few holes in this episode, it might be worthwhile to point out that Julia does not have a key for the handcuffs, but manages to pick the lock anyway. CDC sure trains their staff to do thing beyond the norm. What’s next, flying a fighter aircraft?

Outside the base, Balleseros is trying to hot wire a snowmobile. Anana comes up from behind him–gun drawn and tells him, “it would be a lot easier with the keys”. As security come running, the two argue about who is leaving and who is staying to get picked up. This episode has so many allegiance switches, it’s getting hard to keep track. So we can get a better look at Sergio’s face, he pulls down his hood, then lets us know that it is still seriously cold outside, by blowing on his hands as he rubs them together. If it is that cold, why did he pull down his hood? Also, if it is that cold out, why can we not see their breath?

Julia regains consciousness and realizes that there is a torn picture of her as a little girl laying on her chest. Also in the picture is Hatake–who looks the same age as he is now. For some reason, she leaves the relative safety of her location only to be found by security and taken to Sutton.

Alan gives himself up so it is, ‘mess with Alan Faragut’ time. Sutton is standing over Peter’s body. She tells him that she is disappointed in him, and that she can’t trust him anymore, so she will have to let him go. Sutton pulls the plug on Peter’s suit, and the cryo fluid starts to pour out. Alan watches in horror. Sutton tells Klein to wait until Peter is dead, then shoot him.

Sarah turns on the sound cannon, incapacitating the security. As Sutton leaves, she slams Alan with her pistol. Someone, I am not sure who, falls through the ceiling from one of the vents. This distracts Sutton until Sarah is ready with the sound cannon again, which she uses on Sutton.

Hatake busts in and helps Alan out of the room. In the hallway, Sarah worries that the Vectors took Peter into the ducts. Hatake tells her not to worry, they won’t harm him. Hatake takes them to the room where he left Julia. She is gone.

As Sutton gets ready to leave the base with Julia, Daniel enters, but he gives her the impression he is working for the corporation and therefore, her. This is not the case, however, because he then immediately reports to Hatake and tells him about the evacuation. Hatake asks Daniel how does he know that he can trust him. Daniel tells him that the only thing worse for the base than Hatake is Sutton.

They have boxed up Julia. She has been fitted with a dog muzzle mask. She has bitten a security officer or two. Sutton tells the security to leave her for a few minutes so she can finish her packing. That is when Hatake enters, with security unconscious outside.

Hatake demands the whereabouts of Dr. Walker, to which Sutton replies, “you always did have a weakness for them”. This is when our attention is drawn to Hatake’s watch. After all these years he still wears it, Sutton remarks. She is touched. There is a bit of reminiscing as Sutton tells him that they could have changed the world. With a half-hearted agreement, he replies, “yes, but who would want to live in that kind of world?”

Sutton continues to confront Hatake, now demanding to know why he was willing to throw everything away to protect, “this abomination…to protect your daughter”. She shows him the picture of him and little Julia. They struggle. He pulls a wire out of his watch and calmly strangles her.

Ilaria is no longer in control of the base, Hatake announces over the comm system. Alan and Sarah remove Julia from the crate and Daniel is heads over to arrest Sutton’s Klein, but he kills himself first. The way Klein acted; so devoted to Sutton, it would seem that he was in love with her, even though she treated him badly. This could have been a story within a story – a minor Romeo and Juliette.

Since there are no anti-bodies in Julia’s blood, she tells Alan that she will not be able to save anyone.  This, she realizes, makes her a bit of a freak. People around her talked about her as if she was. Alan points out that Sutton cannot hurt her, but to Julia, there will be other Suttons.

Outside the base, Hatake and Daniel chat. Daniel tells him that he can’t ever forgive him for taking him away from his family as a child. Hatake then puts the head of Sutton into a container that has risen from the snow when a blue airport runway light was tapped. I wonder how he is going to explain her disappearance to the corporation bosses, or will it be glossed over and forgotten by the next episode? I guess we will have to wait until next week.

 

Thanks to Kenn for final staging of the audio video embeds and images in this news article and thanks to you for stopping by WormholeRiders News Agency!!

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ArcticGoddess1 (Patricia)