I'm up to 5th episode now. Been looking for a decent sci-fi and this one didn't disappoint. My taste: Battlestar remake, The Killing, Continuum, Breaking Bad, Damages. I also lost interest very fast with Walking Dead, Almost Human, Under The Dome. I can deal with some violence and gore, have no patience for sentimental creeping plot and trope repackaging.
Helix shines in editing, pacing, style, direction, and overall actor performances. Sleek delivery of plots and character expositions. Exceptionally concise scenes move with a rhythm that's varied, surprising, and logical; nothing superfluous, nothing contrived or overly-cryptic, a sheer pleasure to watch and follow.
Mood is unsentimental and high tension, some romantic complications and family entanglement that sometimes affect human judgment in high stake situations, but nothing overdone so far. The hotter women feel confident enough to go without distracting salon hair and lash extensions. Hope they keep it this way.
Gore level...some, but not as liberal and nonsensical as Walking Dead or degrading like Game of Throne. Horror level, Firefly Serenity. Blood splatter level, True Blood and Dexter.
Imperfections: non-whites over-represented among baddies. Also, if I ran CDC I will not have severely obese or weak-bodied scientists on my team to the arctics. Morphine and other staples should not be locked in some god-forsaken storage cages, and weak-bodied females should not wander about a danger zone unarmed or unescorted. The scientists can do with more pseudo-real insider-speak - basically, stop bothering to score "real" science credibility with the audience. And one Japanese isn't enough for "global" tone of the setting. Also, questionable age gap issues, between male-female couples, and parent-child. Juvenile shock-value gross-porn can certainly be reduced.
That said, overall consistency and mystery is sufficient for me to suspend a little disbelief and anticipate the next episode.
I would've given an 8 for overall watch-ability, but +1 for balancing. Recommended for those who like bio-horror sci-fi or fantasy.
