Friday Syfy premieres its new original series Helix. The series focuses on a team of scientists of the Centers for Disease Control who come to the Arctic Biosystems research facility, at the request of Dr. Hiroshi Hatake (Hiroyuki Sanada) to investigate what could be a disease outbreak. The team is led by pathologist Dr. Alan Farragut, played by Billy Campbell, whose brother Peter (Neil Napier) is one of the infected patients. He is joined by his team members including cellular biologist Dr. Julia Walker, played by Kyra Zagorsky, who also happens to be his ex-wife, as well as virologist Dr. Sarah Jordan (Jordan Hayes) and veterinary pathologist Dr. Doreen Boyle (Catherine Lemieux). Also in the mix is Army liaison Major Sergio Balleseros (Mark Ghanimé) and Daniel Aerov (Meegwun Fairbrother), head of security at Arctic Biosystems.

While the main action of the beginning of the series is focused around Peter, that's not all that's going on. It's obvious from the start that Dr. Hatake knows much more than he's letting on. Also, it isn't your normal virus, and it causes a lot of havoc at the facility.

Another big part of the series is the interpersonal relationships between the characters. Things are tense between Alan and Julia, and his relationship with Peter was already strained.

It's hard to really talk about what happens in the first two hours without spoiling a lot, but needless to say, it's an exciting ride as the virus spreads.

This show has been described as The Thing meets The Walking Dead, but I would look more to the former. On watching, I really did not get the sense of zombies at all, but maybe that's just me.

Helix has a very claustrophobic feel and does an excellent job of keeping up the tone of being in danger with nowhere to run. The series takes place almost exclusively at the facility as they attempt to contain the virus. It also plays to people's fears, because an epidemic is definitely something that could happen, so it feels very real at many points.

Helix is not a feel good show. It's a tense, drama filled sci-fi thriller, as it should be. It's definitely got that creepy factor, without delving too much into horror. While there is some gore, it's not extreme, which I really don't feel the show needs anyway. It's character driven and is about their survival.

There is a large ensemble cast, and they all shine in their own way. Campbell takes the lead well; Alan is brilliant and levelheaded, and Zagorski's Julia is a great match. Lemieux and Ghanimé make an excellent team, and she brings levity to the seriousness that fits in very well. Sanada as Dr. Hatake is mysterious and I'm excited to see more of his story open up as things are revealed, and I have questions about Ghanimé's character as well. Also, Napier is suitably creepy and I'm really eager to see how he changes as the series progresses. He is not someone you want to run into in a dark alley.

Although the locations will not expand beyond the facility much most likely in the series, the sets are quite massive and detailed. Executive Producer Steven Maeda also revealed in a recent interview that the series will take viewers outside the base with character hallucinations, which promises to be interesting in unexpected ways.

While I have not seen the finalized version of the pilot, and therefore the special effects were incomplete, it's still easy to tell that the visual effects are going to be exceptional. Syfy has put quite a lot into this show and it's easy to see that from the getgo.

Another part I want to mention is the music. There are some upbeat tunes that are interspersed in the first few hours which is funny in a creepy way and really works.

With Ron Moore (Battlestar Galactica)'s name attached to the project, the series is sure to garner some attention. It also boasts other well-known names, such as writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach, who is probably most known for Lost, and of course executive producer Maeda (Lost, The X-Files) as well. The series creator and writer, new comer Cameron Porsandeh, may not be known in a lot of circles yet, but if the episodes I've seen so far are anything to go by, that's soon all about to change.

I'm really loving the series so far, and I think it's different than what's on television right now. I really hope that it gets the attention that it greatly deserves.

Stay tuned for more of our coverage of Helix, including exclusive photos from the set