review of Helix 2.2 

Helix continued its second season in episode 2.2 last night, on a higher, better plane than the first season.  I guess I like lush islands better than forbidding Arctic tundra.  But the story this year is also more creative.

For example, we learn near the end of the episode that Sarah is 15-months pregnant with Alan\'s baby. We\'ve seen alien-human hybrids on all kinds of televisions series before - such as V - but in the context of Helix, and the partial transformation of Sarah into a more healthy human, her being with child is especially pregnant with possibilities.

The parallel narrative across 30 years continues to work well, with buildings decaying and regenerating in quick time on the screen.   I wasn\'t at all surprised that Alan wasn\'t buried in the grave with his name - he\'s too important a character to waste - and this raises the question of where he is 30 years from now.

A meeting between Caleb, Julia, and Alan in the future is bound to happen sooner or later, and raises the question of who is Caleb?  Is he connected to someone we\'ve already seen in 2015?  My best guesses at this point would be he\'s Sarah\'s baby or maybe the boy who was sick and recovered in 2015.  I didn\'t get the boy\'s name, but even if it wasn\'t Caleb, he could always have changed his name.

The cultish part of the story on the island is the least impressive, so far.   At best, it\'s a warmed-over take on Lost, as I mentioned last week, and in any case it\'s nothing we haven\'t seen before, for example, also in Revolution.   But the differences in the various people in the cult have potential, and it will be fun to see where that develops.

It occurred to me last night that a story about a plague should have special relevance these days, given the Ebola outbreak that gripped much of our news this past Fall.   For that reason alone, Helix should be situated to really take off.

And see also Helix 1.1-1.3: Zombies with Biology ... Helix 1.4: Cold DNA ...Helix 1.5: In the White Room ... Helix 1.6: Good New Clues, Nutcracker Not Sweet ... Helix 1.7: Bright Eyes ... Helix 1.8: Glacial Speed ... Helix 1.9: Brass Tacks ... Helix 1.10: The Curse of Immortality ...Helix 1.11: Spiral Narrative ... Helix 1.12: 500 Years ... Helix Season 1 Finale: A Better Clime

Labels: Ebola, Helix, Lost, Revolution, teleivsion, V

The Chronology Protection Case movie, with new extended ending

With The Closer now ending its Winter 2011 season, and only six episodes left to go this coming Summer of 2012, it seems a good time to as...

With The Closer ending its Summer 2011 run, and only a few episodes left for Brenda Leigh Johnson in the Winter finale, the question looms...

Who is Ben Hargrove?  He's the nom de plume - fictitious name - which Ken Cosgrove uses when his science fiction and fantasy stories ar...

Having delved into the meta-realms of unreal science fiction with Ben Hargove some five episodes ago, Mad Men 5.10 continues the enjoyabl...

Well, we got the apparent shock of the series on Game of Thrones 1.9 last night - after following the advice of the eunuch and others to c...

A Postcard from Isaac Asimov to Me - From 1979

I posted my blog about Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman and Isaac Asimov in several other venues last night, including the Daily Kos , where a ...

An excellent, nerve-wracking, powerhouse Season 2 finale of The Following tonight, in which, against all odds - almost no one significant ...

Hey, you've all seen that Citibank commercial, with the woman climbing to the top of an awesome rock formation, and another woman belti...

I caught the first three episodes of the new season of Dexter last night - Season 7, set to premiere on Showtime September 30 - courtesy o...

Vikings Season 2 Finale: Satisfying, Surprising, Superb

A thoroughly satisfying Vikings Season 2 finale tonight, the surprising course of which had me fooled until the truth was revealed. I ad...

radio stations that have played tracks from

Twice Upon a Rhyme ... JackMix.FM ... RockOn365 ... Garage Lombus ... Way Off the Grid Radio ... BeautyRadio.com ... mjc Radio ... Progulus Radio ... fatBuzz ... The Rock Doctor ... Radio BGC ... Swan Fungus ... Gratitude Radio ... Travelling Underground ... Real Hit Radio ... More than Music and Memories ... Boston Internet Radio ... Memory Lane Radio with BIG BOB ... Outside the Dial ... Family Dog Radio ... Golden String Radio ... Positively Charged ... R@dio Dimension ... My Retro Radio ... Plastic Tales from the Marshmallow Dimension, WNYU, 89.1 FM, New York City ... Pete Fornatale\'s Mixed Bag, WFUV, 90.7 FM, New York City ...Click and get lucky!

The Plot to Save Socrates on 10 Perfect Summer Reads Authored by NYU Alums

This blog quoted in New York Times & Los Angeles Times & Boston Globe & The Atlantic!

TWICE UPON A RHYME on iTunes and Amazon ... SPUN DREAMS on iTunes and Amazon ...

ICYMI: recent interviews with Paul Levinson in Barren Island Books ... The Morton Report ... SpecMuse ... The Cult of Me ... Patrick Satters blog ... Hungry Writer ... Kathleen Valentine\'s blog ... Take the Plunge ... Writer\'s Bloc ... Noahkmullette-gillman blog ... Book Goodies

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

Cellphone: The Story of the World\'s Most Mobile Medium and How... by Paul Levinson

Digital McLuhan #16 on Robert Anton Wilson\'s recommended book list ...

Sopranos Conference at Fordham Universty, May 22-25, 2008

Enjoy Levinson\'s Field Guide to Republican Tics

EllisLanding ... wide variety of books in excellent condition at low prices

Paul Levinson, PhD, is Professor of Communication & Media Studies at Fordham University in New York City.  His 8 nonfiction books, including The Soft Edge (1997), Digital McLuhan (1999), Realspace (2003),  Cellphone (2004), and New New Media (2009, 2nd edition 2012), have been the subject of major articles in the New York Times, Wired, the Christian Science Monitor, and have been translated into 12 languages. His science fiction novels include The Silk Code (1999, ebook 2012), Borrowed Tides (2001), TheConsciousness Plague (2002, 2013), The Pixel Eye (2003), The Plot To SaveSocrates (2006, ebook 2012), and Unburning Alexandria (2013).  His short stories have been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, Edgar, and Sturgeon Awards.  Paul Levinson appears on "The O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News,"  “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” (PBS),  “Nightline” (ABC), NPR, and numerous national and international TV and radio programs. His 1972 album, Twice Upon a Rhyme, was re-issued in 2009 (CD) and 2010 (remastered vinyl). He reviews the best of television in his InfiniteRegress.tv blog, and was listed in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Top 10 Academic Twitterers” in 2009.

Chronicle of Higher Education puts Paul Levinson in Top 10 (#7) of Academic "High Flyers" on Twitter ... Online University Data puts PL in "Top 50 Online University Professors on Twitter Worth Following"...

Dear Paul, I just dreamed of airships flying between raindrops. I just returned from 2042 CE, where I sold my hardcover copy of The Plot to Save Socrates for seventy million Neo-Euros, because it had your response to this e-mail from way back in 2007 scotch-taped onto the inside of the cover. A Paul Levinson collector paid top Neo-Euro, because of the authentic archaic e-mail printout from you. It turns out that not many of your e-mails from before your tenure as CEO of HBO/Cinemax and terms as United Nations Secretary General will survive that far into the future. So, please respond to this e-mail, to help found my great-grandchildren\'s fortune. My Will will stipulate that they must share with your great grandchidren. Thanks! Tom

President, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, 1998-2001

I’m proud to be on the May 8 page of this calendar, with the following quote:

"What begins as a seemingly innocent campaign against indecency … always segues in short order into political censorship."

YouTube one-on-one with Bill O\'Reilly, Patrick Buchanan, Jesse Ventura, James Cameron, more

Educated Tastes food, drink, restaurants, recipes, groceries

Reverbnation Twice Upon a Rhyme and Spun Dreams albums

12 Monkeys series 1.2: Your Future, His Past

Radio Free Albemuth: Philip Dick Nixon

Acoustic Space: A Short, Sage and Funny Movie

12 Monkeys series on SyFy: Paradox Prominent and E...

Further Thoughts on Charlie Hebdo: Where We Go Fro...

The Charlie Hebdo Attack Will Only Invigorate Jour...

science fiction magazines for sale: Analog, Fantasy and Science Fiction, Locus

"the only people who have proof of their sanity are those who have been discharged from mental institutions"— Marshall McLuhan

The Factor about the private lives of news anchors

James Harris covers my "Looking for Sunsets (in the Early Morning)"

winner Locus Award for Best First Science Fiction Novel, 2000

"Forensic detective Phil D’Amato is one of my favorite characters" --Connie Willis

"A superb and often amusing account of one of the greatest revolutions in human history" --Arthur C. Clarke

100 rare + unreleased tracks were on sale April 18-21, 2011. All proceeds went to help Japan! Thanks for your generosity! Tracks included Tori Amos, Sara Bareilles, Josh Ritter ... and Paul Levinson singing "Sunshine\'s Mine"!

Twice Upon a Rhyme reviewed in Jan-Feb 2011 Shindig Magazine

Paul Levinson appears on "The O\'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News," "Nightline" (ABC), the "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" (PBS), "The Dylan Ratigan Show" (MSNBC) and frequently on NPR and all-news radio...