Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that Helix is a tense horror/sci-fi series that's both too scary and too complex for kids. Expect a lot of nightmarish visuals: dead bodies lying in pools of black blood, blood spurting from eyeballs and heads, hacked-off limbs. Characters we've grown to know and like are under constant menace and are sometimes quickly attacked and killed or infected. There are needles, bulging veins, animals kept in cages and experimented upon, and a lot of medical imagery, such as gory autopsies. The overall atmosphere is dark and mysterious, and characters have complicated motivations and backstories. There are references to sex and adultery. Older or sophisticated teens may enjoy the twisty horror with parents, but this is too much for tweens and grade-schoolers.

Sexual Content

The characters have a complicated adulterous backstory, and there are references to sex.

Violence

Horror-style violence with a lot of creepy imagery: cut-off limbs; black, bulging veins; pools of inky blood. Characters we've grown to know and like die suddenly.

Language

Characters are under stress and may speak roughly to each other; there's a very small amount of cursing.

Social Behavior

CDC officials take their important jobs seriously and treat human lives with respect. But the overall tone is dark and foreboding.

Consumerism

Not applicable

Drugs / Tobacco / Alcohol

Not applicable