Oh, man. I know I've been a little hard on Eureka lately, but it was only because I knew the show could be even better. And clearly, I was right. Tonight's episode, the second part of this season's finale, was fantastic! Twists, turns, and some fabulously quotable writing. I wasn't even annoyed that it was all about Artifact stuff! Luckily for us, Sci Fi has ordered 13 more episodes for next summer, so at least we have that to look forward to.
Apparently, a Code Red biohazard at GD, such as the deadly bacteria that it appears Henry did NOT make up (contrary to my suspicions last week) activates a panic room protocol which turns the Director's office into an impenetrable bunker. Beverly and Henry act surprised, which indicates that this wasn't part of their plan. No, they're there to take Kevin someplace where the consortium that Beverly works with will exploit him and his connection to the Artifact while giving him "all the care and attention he needs." And Henry is totally Super-Evil Kidnapper Henry, agreeing that Allison and Kevin can't possibly control and protect all that power. Yikes.
While Allison is trying to convince them that kidnapping her son is probably not a good plan, Akashic field and all human knowledge or not, Stark, Carter and Taggart are trying to break through GD's defenses to get to the bunker. They're in a bit of a hurry, since DoD protocol is to do a "thermal cleansing" if an outbreak of this type can't be contained. The cleansing isn't exactly friendly to organic matter.
Zoe's party has become a command post, seeing as SARAH has a periscope with a backdoor electronic link to the GD system. Of course. Fargo and Zane fight over who gets to play hacker, which gives Jo her quote of the night: "Boys, there's plenty of backdoor access for everyone!" It's the delivery that really sells it. They help Carter and Stark (and Taggart, before he gets sidetracked playing Pied Piper/Jedi Knight to a bunch of lost GD employees) navigate the GD defense system, which seems to be a little aggressive. Like, cooking people with microwaves and shooting at them with lasers aggressive. I loved Carter's quote when Taggart and Stark decide that he should be the one to serve as human bait for the lasers: "Why do I always have to be the someone?!" So true, Carter. So true.
After discovering live, uninfected employees in the morgue (and making a funny zombie joke), Carter, Stark and Taggart realize that the bacterial infection was a ruse on Henry's part. I totally called it after all! After Taggart leaves, Carter and Stark have a little heart to heart. Much as Stark rubs me the wrong way, I do enjoy the generally good-natured dislike and rivalry that these two share. Carter asks why Allison went along with the whole "hiding Beverly and the evidence of her crimes" thing, and Stark responds, "Did you ever think she was trying to protect me?" Carter, with Colin Ferguson's perfect timing, answers, "Noooo...that's not it." Ha! So he figures out part of the connection to Kevin, and Stark fills in the rest, including what he's risked solely to protect Kevin. I'm hearing some death knells for the Allison/Carter ship, you guys.
Aaaat any rate, it seems that the Directors' bunker is also equipped with secret (untested) teleportation devices which read one's DNA and reconstruct it elsewhere, leaving an empty shell body behind. Of course. Henry and Beverly intend to use it to escape with Kevin, but Stark realizes that the device, which he helped to build, could safely separate Kevin from the Akashic field, if only the user had his pre-Artifact DNA code.
After a catfight in which Allison totally and completely kicks Beverly's evil butt, knocking her unconscious, Henry explains that he's not working with Beverly, and that he faked the bacteria thing so that they could use the teleportation device to separate Kevin from the field. WHAT?! Actually, no, that kind of makes sense. Except...why did he even bust Beverly out of prison? And how did he find out about the Kevin thing? And wasn't he being evil all season, what with the Carter-hating and all? Beverly wakes up and tries to convince Henry that they have "all the knowledge of the universe at their fingertips." When Henry refuses to help her, she tries to attack. Luckily, Carter and Stark get there just in time, and with the right information to separate Kevin from the field successfully. He seems good as new, so...yay!
Beverly escapes using the crazy teleportation thing (duh), so I guess we'll be seeing her next season. Stark, though, lies to DoD that she died, and Henry claims responsibility for the whole mess. Which, fair enough. At least for the latter part. They handcuff him and take him away, hopefully to be heard from again, since he's all Not-Evil Henry now. The season ends pretty much the polar opposite from how it began, with Allison, Kevin and Stark more of a family than ever. And possibly WAY more of a family, since Stark re-proposes to Allison. Aww, I kind of liked her chemistry with Carter. And that dry cleaning chick was nowhere to be seen in this episode, so nuts. So that's it for this season, and it'll be almost a year before you can get your Eureka on again. Sigh. On the plus side, it'll make Tuesdays at 9 a little easier on my DVR...
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Eureka: Back on track for the season finale
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Eureka: The beginning of the end (of the season)
This week's installment of Eureka, part one of the two-part season finale (already?!), was extremely eventful. Drama, intrigue, alchemy--the whole kit and caboodle, at a breakneck pace. It also confused me a little, possibly due to the aforementioned breakneck pace, so we may need to work through this one together in the comments. (Bear with me, I'm operating on very little sleep and a long day at work.)
First, let's get the crazy science malfunction of the week out of the way: the town's turning to gold. Specifically, all the metal in the town, thanks to some kind of infectious, gold-creating bacteria. "Not so bad," you may think to yourself, but Henry points out that gold is substantially softer than steel, which makes up most of the town's infrastructure. Best exchange ever: “We’d be rich, but dangerously unstable.” –Henry “Like…Paris Hilton.” –Jo. Things take a turn for the even worse, though, when the bacteria mutates and quickly begins to corrode the gold, causing heavy metal objects to crash to the ground (including some of GD's support beams).
They manage to deduce that Zoe's bracelet, a gift from now-boyfriend Lucas,is the source of the bacteria, and that Lucas made it out of scrap metal from an artist's studio. Here's where things get a little crazy--the artist is also a secret alchemist, and claims that the metal must be infected with "the alchemist's curse," which causes chaotic mutation in metal until the society that dared to try and master the elements is destroyed. (See: Babylon, Atlantis, and the Maya.) In a scenario that's a bit too deus ex machina for my taste, Kevin uses his magic Artifact-given powers to complete the formula that will stop the infection. Despite not even knowing about the formula in need of completion in the first place.
Kevin, you see, is practically a normal kid now. Aside from the whole "being able to read minds" thing and all. Allison is really worried, especially when she thinks about what happened to Carl Carlson, the "invincible" scientist killed by his interaction with the Artifact last season. Allison, it must be noted, is being pretty darn cold to Carter, especially when it comes to all things related to investigating Henry, Kim's death, Beverly, and the Artifact. Stark seems pretty confident that Carter will never find Beverly, though. I wonder why?
Maybe because he has her locked up in a cell, out at his old lab. DoD transferred her there from Guantanamo so that Stark could speak to her first, after he promised DoD the evidence against her. BANANAS!!! Allison and Stark both offer Beverly potential freedom if she shares her information about the Artifact. She simply tells Stark that she knows what he knows, including that it’s capable of human interface, and that the energy release can be life-threatening if the cellular mutations aren’t reversed, “which is why he’s probably already dead.” She plays coy when Stark asks how to help "him," even though she totally knows he's referring to Kevin.
Stark tries to get Kevin to read Beverly’s mind, but Henry interrupts them to tell Stark about the alchemy developments, totally overhears everything, and sees the security camera video of Beverly’s cell. Oooh, BUSTED. Stark: “Guests usually knock.” Henry: “Friends don’t usually care.” Snap! Henry also recognizes a couple formulas in the alchemist's studio as part of Kim’s research on the Artifact, and tries to get Stark to let him help. Stark refuses, and so Henry breaks into Beverly’s cell. He's angry that she murdered the love of his life and all, but she claims to have left behind the evidence of her sabotage for Henry to find, because he’s the only person who could understand why she had to do what she did. She claims Kim's death was an accident, and goes on to explain the Artifact/Kevin human interface issue. She doesn’t believe that humans should or can control such power.
Later in the episode, and this is where things get confusing for me, we get an oddly sudden cut to Henry showing Carter a skeleton in the morgue that could have contracted a mutated version of the metal-eating bacteria which affects the iron in bodies and essentially eats people. Henry says he told Stark, but when Carter asks him what they’re going to do about it, Stark doesn’t know anything about the problem. Hmm. Meanwhile, Henry drops in on Allison, and explains to her that he knows what’s going on with Kevin. Oh, and that he busted Beverly out of her cell, and here she is! Of course, now GD goes into emergency security lockdown due to the mutated, people-eating bacteria, trapping Allison and Kevin with Henry and Beverly. Craaazy! And also confusing. Is the people-eating bacteria a real thing, or was it just a ruse for Henry to get Allison and Kevin alone? Everything happened so fast!
Well, anyway, it seems that next week we're going to see a lot more of Evil Henry. Like, to a scary degree. I kind of love it. Although I don't love Allison's new, super-professional look. It's so cold! Intense Mother Allison is way less fun than Flirting with Carter Allison, though I suppose they both have something to contribute to the show, and depth of character is usually a good thing. Can I also say that I love that Jo chaperoned Zoe's boy-girl party? And then got busted by Carter while making out in the closet with Zane? Awesome.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Eureka: Feeling hot hot hot!
In Eureka, if it isn't one thing, it's another. (In this case "one thing" refers to a breakdown of Eureka's underground cooling system, and "another" refers to Mild-Mannered Sheriff Jack Carter being transformed into Irresistible Man-Meat Jack Carter.) All in all, I'd call this episode a successful bounce back from the bottom-of-the-barrel junker last week, although it was totally Zoe-less, which is sad.
I really loved the opening scene, in which Carter and Jo are forced to act out a sexual harassment scenario in front of a bunch of G.D. employees. While I would never want to see the characters linked romantically, I love the great back-and-forth that Colin Ferguson and Erica Cerra have in scenes when they're together. Great platonic chemistry, if that's an actual thing.
Anyway, it seems the air conditioning in Eureka is on the fritz, and a bit difficult to repair due to its being literal "air conditioning." Eureka's cooling, plumbing, and everything else are run through an integrated underground network mimicking a biological system. You know, the inconvenient kind where if one thing goes wrong, everything goes wrong. And, of course, the guy who designed and maintains the system has gone missing. I still totally love finding out things about day-to-day life in Eureka, like the aforementioned high-tech cooling system, and the fact that women use lasers to pluck their eyebrows. It's the little details that really flesh out the Eureka universe.
At any rate, as Carter is trying to solve the Mystery of the Broken A/C (and, at this point in the chain reaction spectrum, Mystery of the Exploding Toilets and Crazy Shockwaves), he suddenly becomes irresistible to women. Like, Jo kisses him right in front of Zane, and Allison and the sexual harassment instructor get into a fight over him. While I can totally understand Carter having this effect over women, the good townsfolk are concerned, especially once they test him and realize that he's producing gallons of the hormone that causes sexual attraction. Best quote of the episode goes to Allison: "Carter, I can't have you running around out there! You're too irresistible. I thought I was going to tear you apart!" Awesome. Of course, in the end, it's a crazy spore in the underground tunnels that's causing all the harm, and once they rescue the similarly-affected tunnel scientist from his randy wife and flush the air of spores, it's no harm, no foul. Well, mostly. Carter and Callie have a few uncomfortable moments to recover from, which it seems they plan on doing at her uncle's cabin in the woods, so all's well that ends well, I guess.
In the meantime, though, Carter has started digging around about Beverly's role in Kim's accident, asking Allison for the files on Kim's death. Allison shares his request with Stark, who expresses concern that if Carter keeps investigating, the DOD will find out about Kevin's relation to the Artifact and want to experiment on him E.T.-style. To protect Kevin, Allison shuts down all research on the Artifact, revoking Henry's clearance to study it. Which, fair enough, but it looks like she caved to Stark's request to continue his research, which is totally sketch. He doesn't care about Kevin, Allison, he only cares about the Artifact! Duh! And wow, I think Evil Henry is going to rear his ugly head pretty soon--the dude seemed pissed. Just goes to show how awesome Eureka is, that they can take the most friendly, innocuous character and make him broody and menacing, eh?
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Eureka: Losing my religion
At the risk of angering the many rightfully loyal Eureka fans who frequent this website, I'm gonna go ahead and say that this episode wasn't one of Eureka's finest moments. To me, it felt like they worked overly backwards in writing it--"You know what would be cool? Biblical plagues happening in Eureka! But hmm...what would cause that?" A fine process much of the time, but one that in this case led to a contrived and unbelievable result, in my opinion.
I mean, I'm willing to accept that a town like Eureka has a church, and that a few people in town actually attend it on a regular basis. There's no law preventing scientists from being spiritual, or even religious (aside from perhaps that big one...but we won't get into that here). However, I do take issue with the fact that a seemingly unrelated string of odd events--group laryngitis, red water in a fish tank, bioluminescent skin (which aren't even obviously religious in nature)--would send the genius scientists running into church to pray that the end times aren't nigh. There have been plenty of crazy, unexplainable events before that didn't cause everyone to abandon science altogether. That's not the Eureka we know and love! It just seems out of character to me, and thus distractingly contrived.
Plus, the cause of all the crazy problems seems similarly convenient. A grieving widow wants to go to heaven to see her husband again, and invents a crystal radiowave temporal-rift-creating machine, which just happens to cause the exact, but varied, biblical-style problems in homes with crystalline glass? I'm not quite buying it, which is surprising, because while Eureka's plots often seem far-fetched, the storytelling doesn't usually strike me as lazy. I'm also not quite sure what to think about Kevin/the artifact curing Allison vs. Carter curing her by turning off the machine. I'm sort of taking it as open to interpretation, although Stark seems pretty sure of Kevin's abilities.
A few other notes:
- Jerky Awesomington, or "Zane," is back! And dating a very, very hot-looking Jo. Like, wow. At any rate, I think it's sad that Jo's worried he's too smart for her, when she should really be worried that he's too much of a jerk for her. He totally bashed her practical job in favor of his theoretical work, which is just rude, even if he does believe his work is superior.
- Man, I can't wait for the Carter/Evil Henry situation to blow up. Now that Carter remembers Henry telling him that he blames Carter for Kim's death, and now that he saw Henry recklessly wondering whether Kim was on the other side of the "portal to heaven," I think he may realize the danger and extent of Henry's obsession (although probably not entirely what he did to Carter's memory). Although the episode ended with Carter confirming their friendship, I think Carter is probably feeling anything but.
- Carter looks really hot in his Sunday best (with no sign of the dry cleaner, hmm). And I sincerely hope that Zoe's fake tattoo (a cliché rose tramp stamp) isn't what she's really planning on getting. Because I expect better of Zoe.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Eureka: Now you see them...
Ah, invisibility. Such an apt metaphor for a wide variety of situations. On the one hand, we've got a literal invisibility crisis. On the other hand, we've got the classic "nerdy loner turns from invisible to desirable when cute girl is forced to interact with him" situation. On the other, other hand, we've got the magically appearing new cast member, who was but an invisible Eureka resident to us until she became a love interest.
Let's tackle the invisibility crisis first. Seems there are certain chemicals missing all over town, as well as radioactive isotopes run amok at GD. Oh, and cars hitting invisible objects before turning invisible as well. Hmm. In fact, after Carter cuts himself on Zoe's now-invisible super-Smart Car, he starts turning invisible himself. Yep, the invisibility is infectious (also radioactive and deadly). Look, Sci Fi execs...I don't watch this show for an invisible Jack Carter, you know what I'm saying? Fix it!
Apparently, invisibility is illegal in Eureka, with a treaty to back it up. However, the likeliest suspect for the current crop of invisible chaos is a CIA surveillance expert who worked on the original invisibility research before it was shut down. An invisible Carter and an extremely scared Fargo go hunting for the invisible spook, and are successful in retrieving both his research (yay) and his invisible, radiation-poisoned body (uh-oh). The moral to this story, though, besides "invisibility is bad," is "ask for help," because it seems the spook could have been cured with a little teamwork and chemistry.
Thus, happily, Carter is cured and able to go on a date with Callie. Who's Callie, you ask? Why, she's the town drycleaner/invisibility expert who happens to be a hottie with a thing for men in uniform. What, you never noticed her before? Good job predicting the incoming non-Allison love interest, readers--it wasn't the veterinarian, but still! Allison, for her part, seems to be growing closer to Stark.
Speaking of Stark and the lesson about teamwork, his new alliance with Henry is pretty interesting. I mean, I know they used to be friends, but I feel like Stark is the shady new best friend for the shady New Henry, where Carter was the happy-go-lucky best friend for the happy-go-lucky Henry. They're both very worried about what Henry told Carter during his stupid period last week, and don't want Carter messing around with anything that could harm GD. I'm especially surprised that New Henry is trusting Stark with Beverly's recalibration device that sabotaged Kim's artifact project. I thought New Henry was all secretive and paranoid!
Back to the lesson about invisibility, we've got Zoe and her nerdy new boyfriend. See, at first, he was the socially invisible but perfectly nice geek. But after being partnered up with Zoe for a school project and calling her out for ignoring him just because he's all quiet and nerdy and she's a "hot girl," he totally gets some makeout action, and Zoe finds someone she really clicks with. Unlike Jasper, who doesn't respect her for her mind. Good for Zoe, I guess, although it's certainly bonus when the geeky quiet kid is also really hot. Ah, young TV love.
Finally, Jerky Awesomington, last week's sociopathic genius, seems to have gone missing for the duration of this episode. Or (dare I say it?) invisible... Well, here's hoping he'll be back next week. He was pretty interesting, and I'd love to see Fargo fight it out with him for Jo's affections.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Eureka: Stupid is as stupid eats
Tonight on Eureka, we learned what the show would be like if it were about a secret town full of morons working on government research. Shockingly enough, it seems that such a town wouldn't last very long. We also learned that Stark is way more fun when he's dumb, and Allison is way less hot.
Apparently (and sensibly), GD has a talent scout who travels the country searching for geniuses to recruit. His current find is a troublemaking young particle physicist who's been arrested for stealing millions of dollars from Border Control. Unfortunately for Carter, the new guy (we'll call him "Jerky Jerkington") is both incredibly obnoxious and incredibly smart, and manages to pimp out his jail cell with items purchased with Carter's credit card. Yep, he can hack a computer from his cell using nothing but a remote control.
Over at GD, Stark and Henry have built a device that will recreate the Big Bang in a contained facility. You know, just another one of those completely harmless little projects. At a GD barbeque, Jerky Jerkington refuses to eat the chicken because he's against the conditions chickens are kept in and killed under...and kind of grossed out by eating the results. Nice! I hereby rechristen him "Awesome Awesomington," although it's a wee bit clunky for a nickname. (In case you couldn't guess, I'm vegan.)
Back at the lab, Henry switches from carefully monitoring the device's containment shield to watching professional wrestling. Hee hee...I love that enjoying wrestling is a metaphor for burgeoning stupidity. I have an ex-boyfriend who would probably take offense at that suggestion. (However, though I appreciate the tongue-in-cheekiness of the reference, I'm not sure Dexter's Lab qualifies as stupidity fodder. It's pretty quality for a cartoon...and his teeny little accent is so cute!) Anyway, Henry's not the only stupid one--most of GD seems to have regressed to elementary school.
Upon being rounded up by Carter and a GD veterinarian who is unaffected, the other still-smart scientists point out that if radiation from the Big Bang device were the cause of the stupidity, only someone with a background in string theory and other fancy-pants molecular physics could have set it to the proper wavelength. Someone like...Jerky Jerkington (yeah, we're clearly back to the original nickname), who has coincidentally hacked his high-tech restraints and escaped. Upon his apprehension, Jerky categorically denies putting such an important scientific advance at risk, and helps shore up the containment field so that GD isn't taken out in the Bang.
Unfortunately, no one is getting any smarter post-Bang, and the veterinarian discovers that it couldn't have caused the stupidity after all. Ruh-roh. After a quick trip to Cafe Diem, Carter realizes that all the affected people ate chicken at the barbeque (there's a message here somewhere), and he heads out to the organic farm that supplied the meat. I start to reconsider my gloating when the farmer boasts about having ended the "avian holocaust" on her farm thanks to her technique of growing chicken meat in a lab. And, of course, the substance she's using to fuel the growth is what's making people dumb. Sigh. So...um...I guess the message is to stick with tofu or with actual meat, instead of trying play some kind of mad scientist middle ground. Or, don't mess with nature. Or chickens. Or something. With the stick of a needle, the dummies are cured of their stupidity, although Stark and Allison seem to have grown closer in the meantime. Hmm.
Jerky Awesomington decides to stick around Eureka when the Big Bang data and Jo's comely, polyester uniform-clad figure prove too tempting to leave. Carter's on board with this decision once he finds out that Jerky stole the money for a charity in the first place, and he even gives the guy tips on how to ask Jo out. Zoe is having less luck with the boys, though, with Carter intimidating the object of her crush into oblivion. Hey, at least he's not forcibly stuffing toxic chicken down the dude's throat...
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Eureka: Welcome to the world of tomorrow!
I missed the past few episodes when my day job and then vacation intervened, but I had a Eureka marathon earlier today to get caught up, and man, this show just keeps getting better. (Of course I miss the episode when Carter walks around naked...sigh.) And just when you think they're getting into a (still highly enjoyable) rut with the "some crazy invention has gone rogue, possibly combined with another crazy invention, and the whole town is in danger!" plots, they pull out a quality stand-alone episode with a very different focus. Seriously, nothing at all goes awry! Quite possibly a Eureka first.
And aside from the genius townsfolk remaining safe for the night, tonight's episode flexed Eureka's drama muscles, giving comedy a lighter night than usual. There were touching moments and everything! Mad props to the writers in particular for making Fargo more than an accident-prone whipping boy. Much as I love to watch him bumble about, it was sweet to see him trying to get his grandfather, and his family name, the recognition they deserve. As we all learned by watching Futurama, getting involuntarily cryogenically frozen can really mess up your life. Although it can get you cool robot friends too, so it's not all bad. I kind of love that Fargo is Professor Farnsworth in this comparison, by the way.
Carter wasn't his usual jocular self, either, as we finally find out that the reason he's SO nervous about Zoe driving is that his high school sweetheart died in an accident while he was teaching her how to drive. Although with all his haranguing Zoe about giving up caffeine before she could learn to drive, was anyone else expecting his story to end with the girlfriend dying when he spilled hot coffee in her lap while she was driving or something?
Over at GD, I found it surprising that Henry shared with Stark his discovery about Kim's lab being sabotaged. Perhaps he's trying to subtly lead Stark to Beverly, for some reason? Guess he might need help at some point, at any rate, and since he blames Carter for Kim's death and all, he's not likely to turn there for assistance. Intriguing. I'm not sure I'd trust Stark, if I were Henry.
And I'm glad to see that Carter hasn't let Allison off the hook yet for basically causing a giant deadly dream crisis last week--but why isn't he giving Stark the cold shoulder too, seeing as Carter knows he refused to turn the device off? Oh, right, because Allison lied to him and hurt his feelings, while Stark is expected to selfishly put people's lives in danger for his own purposes. Or perhaps because targeting Stark could result in negative attention on Allison's role in the crisis. Or more likely, because Carter's shoulder can't get any colder when it comes to Stark. Hopefully he'll cut Allison a break at some point, though, because I do miss the banter, much as she deserves the silent treatment for now. But way to bring the drama this week, Eureka. A little change of pace never hurt anyone.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Eureka: When it rains...
Poor Carter! The dude's just trying to go about his everyman, common sense-having, surprised-at-nothing business, and the universe conspires against him at every turn! Harsh, universe, harsh. You really had to go and pelt the guy with hail? That stuff stings! I gotta say, with a main character as likeable as Carter (and facing so many amusing predicaments), I don't understand why this show isn't more popular. I guess the fact that it's on Sci Fi doesn't help, and it lacks the cult appeal of something like Farscape, but come on, America! Eureka rocks, and is getting ...rock...ing...er (Rockier? Increasingly rocktastic?) every week!
This week, in particular, showcased the dialogue, which has improved by leaps and bounds as the characters have developed. Eureka makes me laugh more than the majority of straight comedies on television, and it's mostly character-based humor, rather than punchline-driven. For example, when trying to find the cause of Eureka's unusual (and deadly) weather, Carter happens upon a giant satellite thingy, and says, "Does this look like a crazy weather machine to you?" On the face of it, that's not a hilarious line. However, Colin Ferguson's deadpan delivery and Carter's perfect blend of being an outsider yet accepting all that goes on in Eureka combined to make me laugh out loud. (Similar example: After Henry translates Eurekaspeak into Carterspeak for him, "Why don't you people just say 'ice funnel of death'?")
Elsewhere on the Carter front, things are getting pretty complicated. With the ex in town trying to steal Zoe (in a sympathetic way, sure, but I still hate her a little), things are going to be a little bumpy with Allison. And what a shame, too, since their chemistry has improved exponentially since last season (yeah, didn't take much). I especially loved their interaction at the beginning of the episode, when she busted him chatting up Zoe's friend: "I’ll remember this when you’re getting arrested on Dateline." Oh, snap! And he actually got a rain check on the coffee date, even after accidentally calling her old! Shame on you, Abbey the Possibly Evil Ex, for making the already-complicated Carter-Allison-Stark love triangle into some sort of love square, trapezoid, or rhombus.
Although Allison, I suppose, has enough to deal with already. You know, what with the autistic savant son who may or may not be channeling a mysterious and deadly artifact that's killed people already. Oh, and the slightly morally compromised ex-husband who, obsessed with the artifact and claiming to be concerned for Kevin's safety, has been studying him, or some kind of crazy business. So yeah, love life? Probably not her biggest concern.
And okay, Beverly? With the cash and the passports and the gun and the mysterious computer chip? Whaaaa? Is she working for SD-6 or something? I love how she's all stealth evil, and Henry's all stealth evil, but they seem to be working to different stealth evil ends. I'm just going to assume they'll balance each other out, and Eureka will come out on top. And let's hope so, since Eureka is probably the awesomest town to ever awesome. And right now, the show has the perfect ratio of overarching plot to standalone episode, so let's hope they keep it that way. It's all about the balance, y'all. The balance, and not underappreciating your weatherman.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Eureka: Meet the new boss
Ah, Eureka. Force fields, crowd control goo, reclusive geniuses fishing with stun guns...I couldn't be happier that this show is back for the summer. Tonight, as is often the case, Fargo gets in a spot of trouble. An ever-expanding, potentially Eureka-destroying, force field of doom-shaped spot of trouble. Oops.
And now that Allison is the most powerful person in Eureka as head of Global Dynamics, it's her job to hold off the military brass who want to nuke Fargo and his force field to high heaven. You know, until Carter can step in and save the day with his everyman logic and rugged good looks. But he can't do it without help! Come in, Team Troubled Genius! We have Stark, the troubled ex-boss who just wants to get away from GD and Eureka. Henry, the troubled mechanic who is supposedly honoring Kim's memory by continuing her research at GD. And special guest Dr. Todd, the troubled scientist who left GD after he basically had to blow up one of his colleagues before the very same problematic invention became The Force Field That Ate Eureka. Goooo Team!
How amazing were Fargo's last words about the women he's got crushes on, incidentally? Hilarious! And SO Fargo. And I love Larry, his new nemesis. He's straight out of Ugly Betty, right? His stealing Fargo's desk was totally like something Amanda or Mark would do! I can't wait to see where they go with him. Assistant fight!
Meanwhile, way for Allison, the boss they're fighting over, to show it to the Department of Defense guy! Especially when he was clearly being sexist when he accused her of using emotions over logic. Like Stark would've been all "Yeah, totally, go ahead and drop Fargo down a miles-deep pit and nuke him." Okay, maybe he would have. But Stark's kind of unpredictable that way. In fact, I can see why Fargo and Larry are so into having Allison as a boss. I loved Stark's exchange with Carter after they revived Fargo:
Stark: Good job, Carter. ...Wow, that didn't even leave a bad taste in my mouth.
Carter: Give it a second.
Stark: [pauses] ...Yep, there it is.
And so far, I don't mind the way the show is handling the Stark-Carter-Allison love triangle. Keep it subtle, keep it simple--not too many longing looks, not too many Significant Conversations. Allison wants Stark to stay largely for his expertise, Stark obviously latches on to any hint she gives about caring for him on a personal level. It's not overwrought or overexamined, it just is. Also, props for whoever wrote the last scene between the two of them. When Stark says that Allison handled the situation better than he would have, and she says, "Not better, just differently," it makes me love the show even more. Because really, how many other shows would have said, "Not better, just different," instead? Grammar, people. It's all about the grammar.
Oh, and in other Allison news, was that her taking something from Kim's desk on the surveillance video Henry was watching? A computer chip, or some electronic part? Crazy! And also worrisome for Allison, given that Henry is now secretly a vengeful maniac (all evidence to the contrary in this episode). Will we find out more about Henry's secret plot for revenge? Will Carter ever understand all that scientific jargon? Will Sci Fi stop covering Eureka up with "Who Wants to be a Superhero?" graphics that take up a fourth of my screen? Tune in next week to find out!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Eureka: Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!
Burn Notice may currently reign supreme as Best Dramedy of the Summer, but last year's titleholder is back, baby, and it's throwing down. Eureka's season premiere was a fantastic reminder of why we loved the show so much last summer (the laughs, the quirkiness, the general awesomeness of Sheriff Jack Carter), and still managed to set a more mature tone for this season. For those of you unfortunate folk who are unfamiliar with the show, Eureka is a small town in the Pacific Northwest made up entirely of geniuses working on super-secret government projects at Global Dynamics. Oh, plus the aforementioned Sheriff, and his rebellious teenage daughter Zoe.
When last we saw our heroes, they had been living four years in the future, in an alternate time line created by Henry's desperate attempt to save Kim from being killed by the Artifact. Carter had to go back in time to stop Henry—and the dangerous paradox—thus ending Carter’s future relationship with Allison (and Kim's life). The only thing I could think of when I realized that Carter and Henry had to live those four years again is all the times when The Sims crashed on me after I hadn't saved in a while. So frustrating! You have to re-earn promotions, re-hook up lovers, re-re-decorate the kitchen...and it's always like, hello, I already did this! What I'm saying is, I sympathize with Carter, although I suppose it's a moot point now that he doesn't even remember that he and Allison were ever in love. I sympathize less with Henry, now that he's secretly an vengeful, memory-erasing maniac. Although that's a pretty sweet turn for his character to take.
Over at Global Dynamics, it seems change is in the air. And if you ask me, it's about time the Department of Defense realized that Stark is dangerously obsessed with the Artifact, and should probably not be in charge of, well, anything. I mean, haven't there been issues with this kind of thing before? (And being drugged by crazy hybrid flowers along with the rest of the town is no excuse, dude.) I actually wish we had gotten a glimpse of Fargo's reaction to the news that Allison was going to be in charge from now on. I bet it was awesome. And with Secretly Evil Henry in the mix at GD now, well...I'm pretty psyched to see where all this set-up is headed.
I also like that the show is bringing Kevin, Allison's autistic son, back into the mix. He's been largely absent since the pilot episode, which is too bad, because he gives her character some much-needed depth. But wow, is he actually becoming the artifact, or something? How X-Files is that?! I mean, he was apparently in the vicinity when it destabilized, and that amount of energy supposedly doesn't just disappear, and now he's making Close Encounters-style obsessive sculptures, so...this show is bananas!
I hope, however, that Eureka won't get too bogged down in the Artifact/Secretly Evil Henry storylines. Part of the joy of last season was that although there were overarching plots, the episodes could largely stand on their own, with quirky, self-contained mysteries. While I don't mind the more mature storytelling, I'd encourage the show's writers to keep the tone light and easy, just like the show I fell in love with last summer.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Eureka: Surprisingly Likeable
Intrigued by the premise, I tuned into the pilot episode of The Sci Fi Channel's Eureka expecting to find a cheesy, contrived mess. I mean, let's face it, Sci Fi has a pretty mixed record where original material is concerned, and the whole "secret town populated by geniuses" concept, while interesting, has the potential to get pretty stale pretty fast.Two months later, I'm still watching. In fact, when I tuned into channel 62 the other night at nine and found a college football documentary instead of Eureka, I totally panicked, flipping channels manically (and cursing Comcast) until I found Sci Fi on 51 (goodbye, Style Network!). I'm clearly hooked.
But why? The show can be heavy-handed, with ominous music of doom and cheesy dialogue. The main character quite often comes across as somewhat dim-witted. And as much as the writers try to force them together (uh-oh, they have to kiss to get her ex-husband angry in order to save the town!), Colin Ferguson and Salli Richardson don't have enough chemistry to light up a light bulb, let alone the deepest recesses of my admittedly tiny, shriveled heart.
And yet, somehow, it works. I'm a great lover of "quirky," which Eureka provides in spades. The plots are marvelously absurd (did anyone else fall in love with the show all over again when an army of angry Starks marched down the street in the last episode?), and while the town is largely full of oddballs, they aren't just empty stereotypes there to provide a cheap laugh when necessary (although they certainly sometimes do that, too).
Colin Ferguson as Sheriff Jack Carter is the truly essential ingredient. He manages to be insanely likeable, even when he's given goofy dialogue or stupid plotlines. I may kind of love him, despite the fact that he sometimes seems like the quintessential embarrassing dad, which I actually really, really love about his character.
I guess what it all boils down to is that not every show needs to be highbrow, intellectual entertainment. Some are just meant to be enjoyed, and you can't examine those shows for every little flaw. You just have to sit back and enjoy the ride. (Note to Men in Trees fans: The preceding does not apply to you! That show is legitimately bad.)
