Ron Moore May Be Back At Syfy With Thriller Helix

It's a Syfy homecoming.

By Nick Venable | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

Moore

It’s been almost two years since Ron Moore has had a sci-fi series on the airwaves. The guy has written and produced for various Star Trek films and TV shows, Syfy’s Battlestar Galactica and Caprica, as well as Roswell and Carnivale. He’s even supposed to be writing I Robot 2, because that version of Asimov’s book needed further introspection.

But before that, Moore may be returning to the small screen with the thriller Helix, which is nearing a deal with the network Syfy for a 13-episode order. Since Syfy has taken to just ordering full series straight out of the gate, eschewing pilots for already fleshed-out stories, they’ve gained ground in attracting audiences who don’t solely want to make fun of gigantic mythical creatures going head to multiple heads. Not that I watch any of it, but anecdotal evidence tells me Continuum, Haven, and Lost Girl are pretty good shows. I even watched an episode-and-a-half of Warehouse 13 before turning it off.

While most of those shows are a little campy, Helix sounds like it’ll be going the more serious route. The plot revolves around a group of scientists working at an Arctic research facility, and their discovery of a potential disease outbreak that could rapidly spread and destroy the world. It sounds like The Thing, only with germs instead of shapeshifting monsters. I withhold all immediate judgement, but the plot could be interesting, and Moore’s name gives it a definite sense of narrative clarity.

Hopefully hitting TVs later this year, Helix comes to us from Sony Pictures TV, from a spec script written by Cameron Porsandeh, who serves as co-executive producer alongside Moore and Lynda Obst (Hot in Cleveland).