Helix

The first two hours go at a brisk, thrilling pace that allows for character development as well. A lot happens and there's a desire for more.

Created by Cameron Porsandeh, it’s a delicate balancing act [between science and thrills], but the two-episode premiere (airing with limited commercials) and a subsequent hour--enhanced by Campbell’s stiff-upper-lipped performance, and the clever promo slogan “Play God. Pay the price”--dangle enough DNA strands for a discerning audience to want to see where they might lead.

Hints of a deeper mythology are revealed, too, suggesting that Helix will move beyond its stop-the-virus story into something even more intriguing. In the meantime, it's a suspenseful, scary thriller.

Helix is very involving, giving us characters to care about even in the midst of so much necessary setup.

Billy Campbell anchors the cast admirably as Dr. Alan Farragut.... Mr. Sanada is always intriguing to watch. And some of the show’s support players bring welcome spunk to the claustrophobic world of the research center, especially Catherine Lemieux as Dr. Doreen Boyle, a smart pathologist with a smart mouth.

Helix doesn't reinvent the virus thriller, but it's a solid slice of genre entertainment that offers some creepy visuals and believable scares.

If it doesn't match "Battlestar" for ambition or poetry or sparkling dialogue--to judge by the three hours available for review--it's well-made, solidly scary and disturbing all the same.

It may not be not the most original premise, and the supporting cast leaves much to be desired (with the exception of droll Catherine Lemieux as a feisty veterinary pathologist), but Helix creates an intense atmosphere of dread and fear in which a fade to snowy white can be as scary as the deepest black.