Helix 2×6 Review: M. Domestica

WARNING: Due to the content of the episode being reviewed, the following article contains brief mentions of incest and rape.

There are a lot of reasons that SyFy has embraced the Twitter tag #WTFHelix, and wow, was “M. Domestica” full of those reasons. The opening scene included quite a few of them, as the episode began with Julia in bed with Balleseros. Not only that, but during this [pretty steamy for SyFy] sex scene, there were some really creepy flashbacks, and then Julia called out Alan’s name by mistake. Scandalous! (To be fair, Balleseros did try to brush it off, and with everything that happened with him last season, I almost believe that he actually didn’t care when Julia said “Alan”.)

It turned out that Julia’s timeline has changed. I’m not sure if it was just for “M. Domestica,” or if we’ll continue following what appear to be her early days with the Ilaria Corporation, soon after the Arctic Biosystems mishap. Regardless, it was a pretty abrupt rewind in her story line, and it kind of threw me for a loop for most of the episode. It was difficult to feel involved with this “past” Julia, even when they introduced some interesting twists – namely, the child immortal who wants to enlist Julia’s help in taking down the Ilaria Corporation. I’m hoping that they stay in this timeline for a while and make the rocky change worthwhile. But then, this is Helix, and this show excels at not really ever answering, well, anything.

Back in what is [I think] present day, Brother Michael is covering up murdering Agnes by saying that she had a stroke, and it appears that the only person questioning this is Amy. It was great to see them finally give that character more depth, and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Even though she did some pretty crazy things up until now, for I actually felt bad for her, knowing that she did those things because she’s trying to avoid getting raped by Brother Michael, who happens to be her father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc. etc. etc.

That’s right, Helix hit a new realm of crazy in which this immortal man has been procreating with his daughters – over and over and over again. Listen, I watch Game of Thrones and I can’t even comprehend these levels of incest.

It’s hard to decide how I feel about what happened next, because I have to imagine there was a better way for Amy to handle things than infecting as many of the St. Germain cult members as possible. Between the sudden outbreak and the fact that while it was going on, Peter Farragut was being tortured with rats, “M. Domestica” had its fair share of gross-out moments.

But as per the usual, there was a sort of misplaced “too light for the current situation” scene thrown in, too – a montage of the CDC crew working in their makeshift lab and eventually figuring out that Soren getting better had to do with something in his blood. Now, I get that viewers will speculate more than the characters who are “living” the story line, but considering the lead-up they gave it, this seemed like such a small reveal – and to be honest, it was something I assumed they already knew. I can’t be the only one who thinks it was that obvious, right?

Of course Helix couldn’t leave things hanging on a positive note (seriously, this show knows its cliffhangers). Instead, Landry brought back the drug that made the children violent…and used it on Alan! “M. Domestica” ended with Alan luring Dr. Sommer away from Sarah…and attacking her!

Season one had several episodes that left me apathetic, but with season two, every week I think that Helix can’t possibly be any crazier than it was the week before, and every week it proves me wrong. Maybe it’s a good thing that I barely even wonder what the answers will be; rather, I find myself looking forward to the new questions each episode will inevitably raise.

Author: Tara Lynne

Tara Lynne is an author, fandom and geek culture expert, and public speaker. She founded Ice & Fire Con, the first ever Game of Thrones convention in the US, and now runs its parent company Saga Event Planning.

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