Dr. Helen Bryce, later Helen Luthor, is a supporting villainess appearing on the WB/CW television series Smallville, appearing in Seasons 2 and 3.
She was portrayed by Emmanuelle Vaugier, who also played Madison in Supernatural and Erica Raines in the CBS' Hawaii Five-0 reboot.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Helen was the daughter of Dr. Stanley Bryce, a renowned Metropolis plastic surgeon. Helen Bryce was an intern at Metropolis General Hospital when she was assigned to care for a drunken Lex Luthor.
Her life over the next few years were shrouded in mystery. She claimed that she stopped talking to her father, after she refused to join his practice. She graduated from Harvard Medical School and spent two weeks per year helping children in Rwanda.
Season 2[]
In "Dichotic," Helen treated Jonathan Kent, who gave him a promising prognosis. She met Lex Luthor when he second-guessed her diagnosis but took it in stride. Helen later met Lex at a court-mandated anger management class since Helen drop-kicked an orderly and Lex used a golf club to hit a meter maid's cart. Lex then asked her out on a date. At first Helen refused, but Lex managed to convince her later on.
Helen treated many of Smallville's residents, including members of the Kent family. In "Fever," when Clark Kent was exposed to Kryptonite-irradiated spores through dust and fell ill, Helen managed to collect a blood sample to analyze it, finding it very unusual she kept this a secret like a true doctor, which earned Martha's trust. Martha, who had become pregnant as a result of Clark's spaceship curing her infertility, later asked Helen to be her doctor.
In "Prodigal," Helen was being stalked by her ex-boyfriend Paul Hayden, who later attacked Helen, leaving her seriously injured; this prompted a vengeful Lex to pursue Paul. Lex, however, was surprised to find the strength of will to control himself when he cornered Paul and had the opportunity to kill him for what he did to Helen. He then proposed to Helen and she accepted.
In "Exodus," Lex confesses to Helen Bryce that he did ransack her office to steal the blood sample. He apologizes and declares his love for her, but she seems unmoved. Lex and Helen later get married, and left Smallville for their honeymoon to the Caribbean on a private jet. However, Lex later woke up to find that Helen and the pilot were gone, and the plane was about to crash into the ocean.
Season 3[]
Helen returned to Smallville and told Lionel Luthor that she and Lex woke up to find the pilot missing and that Lex let her escape when they found out there was only one parachute. Lionel organized a search and couldn't find Lex, which prompted him to host a funeral.
When Helen arrived at the ceremony, Lionel accused her of murdering Lex and he successfully uncovered her plot with help from Morgan Edge. After the funeral, Helen returned to the mansion with her arms full of shopping bags where Lionel once again confronted her.
He congratulates her on her "performance" at the funeral and said that he doubts her story about the accident. While Helen stuck to her story of Lex's heroic sacrifice, Lionel knew better and vows that he will get even with Helen for murdering his son and leaves the mansion.
When Lex returned to Smallville and confronted her at the Luthor Mansion, Helen apologized for lying to everyone and revealed that she decided to save herself when she couldn't wake Lex up since Lex was drugged by the champagne that the pilot gave him. Helen sold Clark's blood to Edge only to make Lionel get out of their lives, and Lex decided to give her a second chance when Helen offered to divorce him.
On the plane, Lex revealed to Helen that, when they left Smallville, they lacked fuel to reach the island where he was rescued and discovered that the plane landed in St. Croix the night it was assumed to have vanished. Lex deduced that Helen switched pilots and left when the plane landed.
The pilot then refueled and parachuted away before crashing the plane. Helen then pulled out a gun and revealed she couldn't kill him herself since she really did love Lex. The two of them started to fight, and the gun went off and killed the pilot. Lex rushed over to the cockpit and flew the plane while Helen escaped. Lex organized search parties, but if she survived, he didn't expect to find her before she wanted to be found.
Season 10[]
Years later, Lois Lane asks how Lex was able to clone him and Clark explains that Lex stole a vial of his blood from Helen's office years ago. Lex thought Clark's DNA would stop the accelerated mitosis and it worked resulting in a clone from the DNA of both Clark and Lex called Conner Kent.
Trivia[]
- Emmanuelle Vaugier confirmed that she was not informed until filming the season 3 premiere that her character was going to be revealed as a villain. This was done so that her portrayal would be honest and likeable, and her villainous reveal would come as a shock to the audience.
