SyFy posted the first real trailer for season 2 of Helix today. It’s clear that this one isn’t in the Arctic but we knew that from the end of season 1. The troubling bit is what, or who, isn’t in the trailer for season 2 – namely, the best characters from season 1.
It’s a pretty safe bet that the new season will have Helix zombies and in a more heavily populated setting which is awesome. If you haven’t seen season 1, think Walking Dead zombies except that they are not dead or undead, they are infected. They are also fast, strong, smart, communicate and cooperate with one another and are more likely to pick off unwary stragglers when they are alone instead of attacking large numbers of people as a group. That makes them much more formidable exciting than the shambling wrecks of TWD who can be taken down by a screwdriver.
The problem with the series so far and the trailer for Season 2 is that the two brothers who share the protagonist role Billy Campbell and Neil Napier are neither very interesting or sympathetic. What made the series work was a great supporting cast including Hiroyuki Sanada, Jeri Ryan, Catherine Lemieux, Amber Goldfarb and, most especially, Meegwun Fairbrother, Mark Ghanimé and Luciana Carro.
There is nothing to indicate whether those characters are returning. Fairbrother and Carro’s characters were especially tied to the Arctic location. Without the supporting cast, or an equally strong collection of supporting characters it is difficult to see how the series will work and unlikely that there will be a season 3.