Helix -- Day 235


"Every living thing has a weakness.  Every virus, every human being.  We have to try, there has to a way."


As it turns out there was a way.  Alan pleaded with Hatake for a solution and Hiro found a way.  As it turned out it involved a little cranial tossing but it worked in some regard.

But in a larger sense Alan's words speak to a greater purpose.  Alan is a man on a mission now and I think the aforementioned quote will be his guiding force as season two begins.  Let's take a look at Alan on day 235 and how he'll move on as the season progresses.

Bond, Alan Bond.


It seems Dr. Alan Farragut has a little of the 007 in him.  In an ironic twist from the midpoint of the  episode, Alan has adopted the eye of the tiger.  (I'm mixing my movie metaphors here.)  Where he once pleaded for leniency and restraint it's now damned the torpedoes, full speed ahead.  (Now that's a Farragut quote!)


After losing Julia to Ilaria's chief henchman, Alan is not beyond using torture to get her back.  He really put the rubber hose to that silver eyed Immortal and apparently it reaped dividends.  Alan found the location of Julia in Paris and relayed this information on to his brother Peter.  It was probably a good idea he didn't reveal to Peter how he got that information considering Peter could still be working for the Scythe.  (Not that Alan knows that.)


Alan showed a little trade craft by leaving a chalk mark at the cafe.  This is a common signal to show an item has been received at a dead drop.  Well, this was a little active for a dead drop considering the waiter left the Ilaria key card under his bill.  I'm taking it for granted the waiter is working for the "resistance" (some French customs never die) and he must have received it from someone already inside Ilaria.  (The key card would not have come from the torture victim as Alan would have it in his possession already.)


By the way, what an interesting device wherein Alan left a chalk mark confirming his knowledge of Julia's whereabouts and the child version of Julia also left chalk marks to record where she had been.  A nice touch by the writers.


Peter


Alan's partner in espionage, Peter, is a human with a weakness and her name is Julia.  Peter looked genuinely concerned over the safety of Julia once he met Alan in the alley.  It was pretty convincing.  Has he switched sides?  Did he really not know of Julia's whereabouts and her condition?  Perhaps with Julia ascendant with Ilaria he is on the outside looking in.  This may due to a falling out with "The Scythe."  I have to say I'm leaning that way.  Yes, Peter was convincing before he revealed his traitorous side (from what I understand the writers didn't decide upon his treachery until halfway through the season) but it seems to me Peter has joined the resistance otherwise wouldn't their efforts would have been squelched long ago?

 From Head to Toe or in this case, Finger


 I've already mused aplenty about the state of Julia in a previous post.  But as she was reintroduced during the second "half" of Day 235 we spied a prosthetic finger in place of the one chopped off by the Scythe.  You'd think with the amazing recuperative powers of the Immortals this would have grown back by now.  Why not?




Here is the finger as it appeared as a token of Spencer's appreciation. As you can see it was cut just above the knuckle and if we study the metallic appendage that Julia is now sporting we can see it is hinged at the knuckle also.  We can deduce from this that the finger hasn't grown back at all. 

Interesting.

Hatake seemed to have "cured" Julia by converting her to an Immortal. So where are the recuperative powers?   Is it because she was born of a mortal mother?  An immortal half breed?  Does this have any bearing on characters like Candace Sutton and Doctor Hvit?  They had their heads removed yet they were preserved.  Why preserve them and why was Sergio tasked with bringing Dr. Hvit's head back?

An appendage conodrum.

It's been my thinking the heads were preserved because the wierd science of the Helix would allow them to be reattched to a newly grown host body or a new body would grow from the severed heads through some wild procedure possibly involving the Willis Hypothesis.

The Immortals knew the heads were kept on ice or they wouldn't have asked for the return of Dr. Hvit.  This would preclude any experimentation involving the Willis Hypothesis since that was Dr. Hatake's baby and Sutton considered it an abomination.  At least that's my read.

Then again maybe the Immortals didn't know Dr. Hvit had been relieved of his body.  Spencer didn't know his "mother" had been beheaded also.

I spoke of some "cranial tossing" to open this post.  As we know, Sutton's head was tossed aboard the helicopter to distract the Scythe.  When her head was retieved were the rest salvaged also?  I hope so.  Maybe there will be some use for Dr. Hvit after all and we'll learn why he was beheaded and why others were treated in the same fashion.

Entering Ilarian Airspace


With access to Illaria, Alan will soon run into Julia and it will happen on day 235.  (Barring any unforseen circumstances.)  How will that reunion go?  Will Alan learn of Julia's treachery?  How will Julia treat Alan?  Will she throw him in the slammer and give him the rubber hose treatment (turnabout is fair play) or will she reveal her "long con" to dismantle Ilaria from the inside out?


As Alan mused, "Every living thing has a weakness."  This seemed to set the tone for season two.  I have now doubt the weakness for every major character will be sorely tested.  It'll probably come down to the sage advice of Rudyard Kipling,

 "If you can keep your head while all about you are losing theirs."



Comments

  1. Is it 2015 yet?????? I can hardly wait!!!!

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  2. I just went through and read all your posts for Helix - very entertaining, especially after so many questions have been answered (and raised).

    One thing I'd like to point out first, regarding the Willis hypothesis: I was totally sold on your idea after they mentioned it the first time, but then one of the creators (either Steve Maeda or Cameron Porsandeh, not positive which) had an interview and when asked about it they said it had no basis in real-world research. They named it after one of the writers and, apparently, it's main focus is the question of whether you can turn a human into a silver, as they did to Sarah.

    Anyway. I've always been a fan of Sergio and Anana, though it's one of those pairings where I can definitely see why people don't like it much. Sergio's been my favorite from the start, and I'm super excite that he'll be back for season 2. It's hard to decide whether or not I want Anana to have survived - on one hand, I love her character, but on the other it would definitely prove a catalyst to set Sergio fully against Ilaria. I would love to see him scouring the globe for the stolen kids, though my theory has been that he's trying for a little atonement, considering he was the one who 'did the taking' before all this, and if he were a stolen kid himself (some speculation there, admittedly, but it'd make sense) it might be a bit of personal revenge too.

    Anyway. Lots to consider, lots of conspiracy theories, and I love the blog. Looking forward to following it more closely when season 2 rolls around!

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    1. Hey Sarah, I've heard about the interview with Maeda and I have to say I don't totally buy it. Is he trying to tell us it's an amazing coincidence that there is such a thing as the Willis Hypothesis and they made up one of their own? Please. A quick search of their writing credits doesn't reveal a Willis either. The real Willis was a botanist and we have Hatake's lab full of plants. Is that an incredible coincidence too?

      Here's my take, they cited a real world event, borrowed from it and then realized we were on to them and they hadn't entirely thought it through. So they scrambled a bit until they could come up something decent.

      No problem.

      I love the genetics angle and apparently Julia is really important to it all so a little slice, dice and splice mixed with the Willis thing should be fun.

      Thanks for the feedback and the kind words. I'm totally stoked for season two also and I welcome more feedback fro you!

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