H.G. Wells' Time Machine". Helena's time machine in Warehouse 13 differs from the machine described in the novel ''
The Time Machine
''The Time Machine'' is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively for ...
'' by H.G. Wells in that the device she presents is not a vehicle. Instead, it transports consciousness to a directed target across time.
After several failed attempts to save her daughter's life Helena eventually realizes she is unable to change events from the past, and after murdering the men who killed her daughter, she continues to behave recklessly until she eventually inadvertently causes the death of a fellow agent. This event shocks her into the realization that she has become a danger, and she chooses to be bronzed to prevent any further damage. Bronzing is a form of punishment the Warehouse utilizes after conventional imprisonment has failed or is not an option. The subject is cast in bronze in a special machine, and thereafter remains conscious, but in a state that resembles cryogenic sleep where the aging process is stopped. She remains bronzed until set free by
Leena Leena is a feminine given name. It is a variant spelling of Lina and Lena.
It is a direct Quranic Arabic name, meaning "young palm tree", or figuratively "tender, young, delicate".
In Persian, it means "light", "a ray of sunlight" or "beautiful g ...
on the order of
James MacPherson
James Macpherson (Gaelic: ''Seumas MacMhuirich'' or ''Seumas Mac a' Phearsain''; 27 October 1736 – 17 February 1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of epic poem ...
in the season finale of season 1.
Character arc
Awakened from bronzing in the Season 1 finale by Leena, Wells is taken away from the Warehouse by MacPherson. She later kills him during the Season 2 premiere episode "
Time Will Tell". Throughout Season 2 Helena attempts to be reinstated at the Warehouse as an agent and enlists the aid of Myka Bering as an advocate for her cause. She is eventually reinstated in "Vendetta", but in "
Buried" it is clear the ulterior motive for being reinstated is to destroy the world by inducing an
extinction event through use of a stolen artifact. Planning to trigger a massive earthquake with the Minoan Trident in Yellowstone, she later fails to follow through when Myka Bering convinces her to stop by forcing her to have to shoot Myka if she wishes to carry out her plan. She voluntarily gives herself up for arrest following the confrontation and is taken away.
During her incarceration in Season 3, Helena has no corporeal body, and is instead a holographic image. Her consciousness is projected by an artifact allowing her to speak to others while preventing any physical interaction. While in this state she persuades Myka to return to work at the Warehouse in the premiere "
The New Guy
''The New Guy'' is a 2002 American teen comedy film directed by Ed Decter, written by David Kendall and starring DJ Qualls and Eliza Dushku.
The film tells the story of high school loser Dizzy Harrison (Qualls) who gets himself expelled so t ...
", and is not seen again until she is brought in for consultation on a case she unsuccessfully worked in 1893 as shown in "
3...2...1...."
In the finale episodes of Season 3, "
Emily Lake" and "Stand", the main antagonist for the season,
Walter Sykes, pursues finding Helena's physical form as well as her consciousness in order to reconstitute them. Myka Bering and Pete Lattimer find Helena's physical body in the personage of Ms. Emily Hannah Lake – a high school literature teacher living in
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne ...
. They later discover Helena's consciousness was separated from her physical body by using the Janus Coin artifact. They are unable to save her from being abducted by
Marcus Diamond and their under-cover Warehouse agent
Steve Jinks who deliver her to Sykes. Sykes reintegrates Helena's body and mind before taking her to China where he forces her to help him open a portal directly into Warehouse 13. She complies only to save Myka Bering's life after an unsuccessful attempt to save Tyler Struhl. Shortly afterward, Helena chooses to sacrifice her life in order to save the lives of her fellow agents from an explosion that obliterates the warehouse.
In the Season 4 premiere,
Artie Nielsen
Agent Arthur "Artie" Nielsen (née Arthur Weisfelt) is a fictional character on the U.S. television science fiction series ''Warehouse 13'' (2009–2014), portrayed by Saul Rubinek. He is the Special Agent in Charge of Warehouse 13 and is the im ...
uses an artifact to turn back time 24 hours, and successfully finds a way to defuse the bomb that would destroy the Warehouse. Since he is successful in saving the Warehouse, Helena's death, her tragic hero's redemptive act of self-sacrifice, never happened. Artie later successfully advocates on Helena's behalf to keep her from being re-incarcerated. Helena becomes aware of this alternate timeline in "
Second Chance", after she deduces, in the previous episode ("
Endless Wonder"), that Artie used a time travel artifact to save the Warehouse. Also in this episode,
Mrs. Frederic tells her to take the
astrolabe and hide it where no one can find it.
In the Season 4 episode, "Instinct", Helena is shown working as a forensic scientist for the Wisconsin police. She is also living, and romantically involved, with a man named Nate. Nate has an eight-year-old daughter named Adelaide, to whom Helena has taught
Kenpo as well as deductive reasoning. When Myka confronts Helena and states her belief that Helena is running away from who she is by holding onto the surrogate daughter she has found in Adelaide, Helena becomes incensed and asks her to leave. Later, however, the two women reaffirm their bond and part ways on good terms.
Skills and abilities
Helena's character was created within the series to have a remarkably tuned quality of
deductive reasoning, extremely calm focus, and extraordinary attention to detail. Within the ''Warehouse 13'' universe this allows her character to be portrayed as a science-fiction type of
Sherlock Holmes.
The Helena character is given an expertise in the martial art of
Kenpo which she displays in multiple episodes throughout Seasons 2 and 3. She is also shown to be an accomplished author and inventor. Two of her many inventions are the Imperceptor Vest (allows faster-than-humanly-detectable movement) and Cavorite (a fictitious metal with anti-gravity effects, as described in the real H.G. Wells story ''
The First Men in the Moon
''The First Men in the Moon'' is a scientific romance by the English author H. G. Wells, originally serialised in '' The Strand Magazine'' from December 1900 to August 1901 and published in hardcover in 1901, who called it one of his "fantast ...
'') - both of which are depicted in "Time Will Tell". Another invention displayed in the show is a grappler gun, shown in episodes "
For the Team", "Buried" and "
The 40th Floor"; and a time machine as seen in "
Where and When", which allows the transference of consciousness to the minds of targeted individuals at a specific date and time. It is implied the character has a fluency in languages as she depicts a fluent grasp of French and a recognition of
Demotic Egyptian
Demotic (from grc, δημοτικός ''dēmotikós'', 'popular') is the ancient Egyptian script derived from northern forms of hieratic used in the Nile Delta, and the stage of the Egyptian language written in this script, following Late Egypt ...
upon hearing it spoken per "Buried". In the same episode, Wells says she "considers the study of dead languages to be a hobby".
In the episode "
Instinct", Helena is shown to be employed as a forensic scientist for a police station in Wisconsin.
Relationships
Helena had three professional relationships from her days at Warehouse 12, with her partner Agent Wolcott, fellow-agent McShane, and her teacher Caturanga – as depicted in "3...2...1..." and "Stand". Her professional relationships from her dealings at the current Warehouse are depicted throughout Seasons 2, 3, and 4 and are with Artie Nielsen who serves mostly as her chief detractor until the Season 4 premiere,
Claudia Donovan who serves as a mentee, Pete Lattimer a fellow-agent with whom she has some difficulties, and Myka Bering who is her fellow-agent, friend, and a romantic interest of sorts.
Romantic interests
Myka Bering
While never explicitly shown or stated on the show itself,
Joanne Kelly
Joanne M. Kelly is a Canadian actress, known for her appearances in films such as '' Going the Distance'', and in the TV series '' Warehouse 13'' as the character Myka Bering, a Secret Service agent.
Early life and education
Joanne Kelly wa ...
addressed the ''Warehouse 13'' panel discussion's audience at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con to assert "Myka will always love H.G.", and reiterated the romantic attraction between her character and Jaime Murray's in a later interview that same day by saying of the characters "we're in love". In the same interview she clarifies her statement by making the sexual undertones of their love for each other definitive.
Nate
In the season 4 episode, "Instinct", Helena is shown to be part of a new family. She lives with a man named Nate and Adelaide, his 8-year-old daughter - to whom Helena has taught the arts of deductive reasoning as well as Kenpo. Helena indicates this new family life is her way of trying to fit into the world again, to find normalcy, away from the Warehouse and the world of the artifacts.
Helena G. Wells versus the real-life H.G. Wells
The Season 2 episode "Time Will Tell" and Season 3 episode "Emily Lake" establish the birth year, birthplace, and later residence of Helena G. Wells to be the same as her real-world counterpart H.G. Wells who was born in 1866 in England.
It is unclear how much of the biographical information available on the historical H.G. Wells would apply to Helena due to her claim that her brother, Charles, is the person history remembers by her name.
Episode appearances
Season 2 (2010)
* "Time Will Tell"
* "For the Team"
* "Vendetta"
* "Where and When"
* "Buried"
* "Reset"
Season 3 (2011)
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...
* "The New Guy"
* "3...2...1..."
* "Emily Lake"
* "Stand"
Season 4 (2012-2013)
* "A New Hope"
* "Endless Wonder"
* "Second Chance"
* "Instinct"
* "Endless"
Critical reception
Jaime Murray's portrayal of Helena G. Wells received critical praise. Her portrayal is described as "saucy", "superb", and as able to "anchor a series." Jaime Murray was nominated for a 2012 Portal Award for her portrayal of Helena G. Wells on ''Warehouse 13''.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Helena G.
Warehouse 13 characters
Fictional bisexual females
Television characters introduced in 2010
Fictional English people
Fictional Secret Service personnel
Fictional chemists
Fictional criminologists
Fictional amateur detectives
Fictional physicists
Fictional inventors
Fictional writers
Fictional female scientists