Anybody else not like Helen Magnus.Spoilers up to S3 Ep 10.

[D Toccs]

I love this show, it has some great characters, but I can't help but strongly dislike Helen. Not all the time mind you, but some of the things she does and the attitudes she has just really annoy me. To save room I will only give a few examples.

- In "Folding Man" , Will says that they are not dealing with a wild animal to which Helen and Ashley reply "yeah that's exactly what we're dealing with". Come on the folding men were just people with a strange power, hardly wild animals.

- When Adam asked for her help with Imogen. I agree with not using the Source Blood on her, but in that scene Helen came off as extremely rude and uncaring, gruffly saying "my condolensces" and then leaving. She may not have liked Adam but the guy was just trying to save his daughter.

- She transports Abnormals in crates and shipping containers, even fully intelligent sentient beings like that little fairy guy.

- The term "abnormals" which I belive she coined really annoys me. For starters most of the "Abnormals" we've seen are naturally occuring, reproducing species which are just unkown to science. Calling them "Abnormals" is saying that humans and already known animals are normal. It's an attitude that seems contradictory to a place that offers "Sanctuary to all". Although I am willing to overlook this as I see it as an attitude of her character which is from the 1800's.

In summary, I just find Helen to be incredibly hypocritical and self righteous and I can't understand why intelligent can capable characters like Tesla, Druitt and Watson all fawn over her. (apart from the fact that Amanda is gorgeous)
I don't want this to be an all out hate thread, just wondering if anyone else shares my feelings on the issue.

[Steff]

Sorry, but I take all your excellent points to actually add to reasons I adore her. She is flawed and does seem to have a hard shell. The few times we get to see under that shell adds depth to the mystery that is Helen Magnus. Another character that appeals to me is the extremely horrible John Druitt. Evil, yet again we have little windows inside through the amazing acting ability of Chris Heyerdahl , an extraordinary actor.

[jelgate]

The only thing I dislike about Helen is that I think she is overused at some times. But that is more a production issue then a character one

[D Toccs]

Absolutely I belive that the examples I have included add depth to character, I agree with you on that. All I'm saying is that when taking all that depth into consideration, I do not like the character. I think the fact that I have such a reaction be it positive or negative is a testament to Amanda's acting skills. I'm just curious if other people do not like her also.

[fumblesmcstupid]

I was all excited about Sanctuary. Then she spoke..with her really fake accent and it turned me off of the show, toot sweet.

Every once in a while I try to watch, but I think to myself (well just cause Amanda was BORN in England don't really mean much) whatever.

[Selene1212]

I was all excited about Sanctuary. Then she spoke..with her really fake accent and it turned me off of the show, toot sweet.

Every once in a while I try to watch, but I think to myself (well just cause Amanda was BORN in England don't really mean much) whatever.

Ditto.

I really wanted to like the show, but her character was just so unlikable to me.

[General Jumper One]

Sorry, but I take all your excellent points to actually add to reasons I adore her. She is flawed and does seem to have a hard shell. The few times we get to see under that shell adds depth to the mystery that is Helen Magnus. Another character that appeals to me is the extremely horrible John Druitt. Evil, yet again we have little windows inside through the amazing acting ability of Chris Heyerdahl , an extraordinary actor.

Ditto, I like Telsa more than Druitt though.

[Steff]

Ditto, I like Telsa more than Druitt though.

Telsa is the third on my list.

Characters I love in order.
1. Helen Magnus
2. John Druitt
3. Nikola Telsa
4. Ashley Magnus
5. Bigfoot

[lizzy4ever]

- When Adam asked for her help with Imogen. I agree with not using the Source Blood on her, but in that scene Helen came off as extremely rude and uncaring, gruffly saying "my condolensces" and then leaving. She may not have liked Adam but the guy was just trying to save his daughter.

I think this was Adam's vision/perception: he blames Helen for his daughter's death, so in his mind she appeared not to care. if you re-watch the episode, you'll see that this was Adam's account of events, and that later we have this scene told again this time from helen's perspective, when she tells her side of the story to Will, and this time we see that she cares and that she's really trying to save Adam's daughter.
Of course now you can believe Adam's version of the story, not hers, and believe she was uncaring

[Samantha.Majka]

Hey, I am going to add my opinion here. It is a TV show. It is supposed to entertain us and I really enjoy it.
Every TV show or movie has its mistakes and bad things but Sanctuary has an awesome story line and great characters. I don't mind that Helen's accent isn't so good .. but I enjoy the story of every single character in this tv show. And I try to focus on TV show as a whole not to think about Helen or anyone else like about someone who just rises from the line.

[D Toccs]

I think this was Adam's vision/perception: he blames Helen for his daughter's death, so in his mind she appeared not to care. if you re-watch the episode, you'll see that this was Adam's account of events, and that later we have this scene told again this time from helen's perspective, when she tells her side of the story to Will, and this time we see that she cares and that she's really trying to save Adam's daughter.
Of course now you can believe Adam's version of the story, not hers, and believe she was uncaring

I like your idea about the scenes being from either Adam or Helen's respective view point. I never doubted that Helen and Watson tried to save Imogen. All I was saying was that her bedside manner was not great given her attitude towards Adam.

I think we are meant to sympathise with Adam to some extent. He obviously would have been a good addition to the Five. Their rejection of him and the way he dealt with it is all part of the tragedy that is Adam.

[chrono trigger]

i love helen she is the main reason why i watch sanctuary.

[Skydiver]

As others have said, the 'My condolences' scene was from Adam's POV...and adam definitely wanted to remember it in a way that made Helen bad and him sympathetic.

what really happened is likely a mix of helen's and adam's memories.

as to calling htem abnormals, it's a sign of where she came from. She was raised in the victorian era where such terms were quite common. what else should she call them? Monsters? creatures?

I see is less perjorative and more descriptive.

as to shipping them in crates, well as you could see many were able to get out of their crates...but as Henry also said 'a lot of these things shouldn't even be breathing the same air as others' and he said or definitely implied that some of the things in the cargo hold would eat the others....they all needed to be separated yet accessible to feed and water....and you know, we just sent our Hippo to another zoo and how did he travel? a crate.

I would presume the creatures that are sentient and able to control themselves were not contained, however the ones that were as sentient as a hippo let's say, were crated up to control them and to protect the others

[Rocky89]

I love this show, it has some great characters, but I can't help but strongly dislike Helen. Not all the time mind you, but some of the things she does and the attitudes she has just really annoy me. To save room I will only give a few examples.

- In "Folding Man" , Will says that they are not dealing with a wild animal to which Helen and Ashley reply "yeah that's exactly what we're dealing with". Come on the folding men were just people with a strange power, hardly wild animals.

- When Adam asked for her help with Imogen. I agree with not using the Source Blood on her, but in that scene Helen came off as extremely rude and uncaring, gruffly saying "my condolensces" and then leaving. She may not have liked Adam but the guy was just trying to save his daughter.

- She transports Abnormals in crates and shipping containers, even fully intelligent sentient beings like that little fairy guy.

- The term "abnormals" which I belive she coined really annoys me. For starters most of the "Abnormals" we've seen are naturally occuring, reproducing species which are just unkown to science. Calling them "Abnormals" is saying that humans and already known animals are normal. It's an attitude that seems contradictory to a place that offers "Sanctuary to all". Although I am willing to overlook this as I see it as an attitude of her character which is from the 1800's.

In summary, I just find Helen to be incredibly hypocritical and self righteous and I can't understand why intelligent can capable characters like Tesla, Druitt and Watson all fawn over her. (apart from the fact that Amanda is gorgeous)
I don't want this to be an all out hate thread, just wondering if anyone else shares my feelings on the issue.

In Folding Men, they chose to use their ability to commit crimes, and even murder. So yeah, they weren't wild animals, but they weren't acting like human beings either.

Helen knew she couldn't use the Source Blood, but she still went back and used modern day knowledge and medicine to try and save her.

Well, we are talking about "not human" looking abnormals, some look like monsters, so she can't exactly have them moved to the Sanctuary in cars or whatever.

They are abnormals, not monsters, not mutants, so I think the term "abnormal" fits quite well considering what they are. And yeah, this term was made up in the 1880's, if it was a little more later, it could have been a different term.

Personally, I think Helen is a strong, smart and overall great character. Yes, she has her flaws, and imperfections, and she's not perfect, but that's a good thing because a too perfect character doesn't give much for people to relate to. The thing I love about the show is that Helen is 158 years old, and she has so much story to tell, she's lived through so many historical events, the wars, the great depression, known so many historical people, lke Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, and many others. She's a living witness to the best and worst of history, and I think all that makes her one of the most fascinating characters I've ever seen, and on TV.

I was all excited about Sanctuary. Then she spoke..with her really fake accent and it turned me off of the show, toot sweet.

Every once in a while I try to watch, but I think to myself (well just cause Amanda was BORN in England don't really mean much) whatever.

I've read critics saying she nailed the accent, and considering no one knows what an 1880 Victorian Era England accent sounded like, I think she does quite well.

Hey, I am going to add my opinion here. It is a TV show. It is supposed to entertain us and I really enjoy it.
Every TV show or movie has its mistakes and bad things but Sanctuary has an awesome story line and great characters. I don't mind that Helen's accent isn't so good .. but I enjoy the story of every single character in this tv show. And I try to focus on TV show as a whole not to think about Helen or anyone else like about someone who just rises from the line.

Well said.

I like your idea about the scenes being from either Adam or Helen's respective view point. I never doubted that Helen and Watson tried to save Imogen. All I was saying was that her bedside manner was not great given her attitude towards Adam.

I think we are meant to sympathise with Adam to some extent. He obviously would have been a good addition to the Five. Their rejection of him and the way he dealt with it is all part of the tragedy that is Adam.

Maybe he could have, but when he didn't, he chose to use all his knowledge and skills and go bad. He build that machine that was going to kill many people, and there's a good chance he wouldn't have stopped there. So what if he didn't join Helen and the others, he had much knowledge, he could have used it do great things, instead, he chose to do the opposite.

As others have said, the 'My condolences' scene was from Adam's POV...and adam definitely wanted to remember it in a way that made Helen bad and him sympathetic.

what really happened is likely a mix of helen's and adam's memories.

as to calling htem abnormals, it's a sign of where she came from. She was raised in the victorian era where such terms were quite common. what else should she call them? Monsters? creatures?

I see is less perjorative and more descriptive.

as to shipping them in crates, well as you could see many were able to get out of their crates...but as Henry also said 'a lot of these things shouldn't even be breathing the same air as others' and he said or definitely implied that some of the things in the cargo hold would eat the others....they all needed to be separated yet accessible to feed and water....and you know, we just sent our Hippo to another zoo and how did he travel? a crate.

I would presume the creatures that are sentient and able to control themselves were not contained, however the ones that were as sentient as a hippo let's say, were crated up to control them and to protect the others

Once again, the Skydiver knows her stuff.

[Jacquelyn]

I Folding Men, they chose to use their ability to commit crimes, and even murder. So yeah, they weren't wild animals, but they weren't acting like human beings either.

Helen knew she couldn't use the Source Blood, but she still went back and used modern day knowledge and medicine to try and save her.

Well, we are talking about "not human" looking abnormals, some look like monsters, so she can't exactly have them moved to the Sanctuary in cars or whatever.

They are abnormals, not monsters, not mutants, so I think the term "abnormal" fits quite well considering what they are. And yeah, this term was made up in the 1880's, if it was a little more later, it could have been a different term.

Personally, I think Helen is a strong, smart and overall great character. Yes, she has her flaws, and imperfections, and she's not perfect, but that's a good thing because a too perfect character doesn't give much for people to relate to. The thing I love about the show is that Helen is 158 years old, and she has so much story to tell, she's lived through so many historical events, the wars, the great depression, known so many historical people, lke Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, and many others. She's a living witness to the best and worst of history, and I think all that makes her one of the most fascinating characters I've ever seen, and on TV.



I've read critics saying she nailed the accent, and considering no one knows what an 1880 Victorian England accent sounded like, I think she does quite well.


Maybe he could have, but when he didn't, he chose to use all his knowledge and skills and go bad. He build that machine that was going to kill many people, and there's a good chance he wouldn't have stopped there. So what if he didn't join Helen and the others, he had much knowledge, he could have used it do great things, instead, he chose to do the opposite.

Oh my goodness. I completely agree with you on all of this!