Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits- 'Double Helix' (with Ryan Reynolds)

 I still see no reason to hide the reason I'm covering this.

After all, the only picture from this Episode currently on its IMDB Page is of him.

This is not his first appearance on the '90s revival of 'The Outer Limits.'
This one just sounded more interesting and, as I learned later, it has a Sequel.

In Season 3's 'Double Helix,' a man (Ron Rifkin) is studying the Human Genome.

Since this is Science Fiction, they had it mapped by 1997.
It happened in 2003, so not far off.

He says that he has found a way to activate the hidden parts of our DNA.

To prove his case (and to give the Episode a big moment before the Opening Credits), he shows off a fish that he studied on.

Said fish now has legs and can walk (about 3 inches) onto land.

* A quick note on the Screen Caps.  The best source is not an option, so I got some from a SciFi Channel version and some from IMDB *

He has a contentious relationship with his son- Ryan Reynolds.

The kid (he's 19) wants to leave College to live life and thinks that his Dad worked too much.

The Scientist- it turns out- did the experiment on himself too, causing him to get weird growths on his body and his brain to grow.

He goes on to pick 8 Honor Students for a special Research Class.

He has a series of weird and highly specific requests for his Research Students.  He seems to want the most perfect and complete specimens.
That means a touch of Nudity (that was obviously cut for SciFi).

Among the group is.... Karen from Corner Gas?!?
Canada sure is a small Country!

The group ends up 2 people short (actually 3, but ignore that)...

...so he recruits his Son and his Girlfriend.  He doesn't tell them what they are doing, but they drive out deep into the Woods with him anyhow.

They just have the worst survival instincts.

To find out what all of the strange stuff relates to, stream it now on YouTube (it is the full Showtime Version).

A strong Episode altogether.

Is it most famous for Reynolds?  Yes.
Is there more to like about it?  Yes.

The Show builds up nicely with some good mysteries, a bit of light Body Horror, humor and an intriguing Plot.

There were lots more mysteries about the Genome back in 1997, so this one makes sense as a topic.

Does it cover some familiar ground?  Yes.
That doesn't make it bad per se.

As I said, the big draw is seeing Ryan Reynolds here, but there's actually a neat Story here that got a follow-up, which was rare for this Show.

For now, let's just enjoy the crazy Corner Gas-Reynolds connection that took 24 years to pay off.  Here's Karen on the live-action Show...

...and look who was on the final Episode of Corner Gas Animated.

He even gets his brain removed in this one too!

As a fan of the Show (only watching Sci-Fi Channel reruns, mind you), this was a neat look back.  Let's see how the Sequel Episode goes.