Eureka Episode 401 "Founder's Day" Review

Eureka's back with a bang! A time travel accident shakes things up by firsts sending Jack Carter, Allison Blake, Jo Lupo, Henry Deacon, and Doug Fargo back to 1947 for the original Eureka Founder's Day, then shoots them forward to the whole new "butterfly effect" future they've created. And they brought a friend- 1940's scientist Trevor Grant hopped along for the ride, probably doing the most damage to the time line and potentially, to the blooming romance between Jack and Tess. I really enjoyed the episode- the humor and tone of the show seemed to be much more on track with what we had before season 3.5. I was actually laughing out loud, as were the people watching with me, which we rarely did in 3.5.

Unlike some people I've talked to, I am loving the addition of James Callis as Trevor Grant. He's got great chemistry and a nice character to add to the mix! Plus, he's such a phenomenal actor that I'm definitely looking forward to how he plays into the show's new direction! And I love that there's tension and chemistry between him and Jack and not one word regarding brains and IQ has come into it yet. Finally a rival for Jack who wants to spar and fight not because he thinks Jack's dumb, but because he wants what Jack has. Majorly digging that!

The romantic quadrangle/octahegan/whatnot totally rocks in my book! I never liked the Tess arc, she was just as shoehorned in as every other romantic entanglement Jack's gone into, so seeing it get genuinely messy now, with him rebounding into Allison then everything changing so that's no longer what happened- I'm thrilled! I like things complicated and messy, more like Season One Jack-Allison-Nathan genuine messy we got! I liked that he was flirting with Allison, liked Grant flirting with Allison, even liked the little beat of Grant and Jack outside when Grant puts his hat on Jack's head-- like I've said before, great chemistry! I still don't like Tess, and I'm going to be thrilled if Grant adds to this mess and tangles it all up as well in a way that eventually cuts her out.

Nice to see Kevin Blake, played by Meshach Peters, back in the mix. Anyone else suspect Kevin was aware of exactly what he was doing? I had originally subscribed one motive to this (he was trying to trigger a butterfly effect to save his step-dad) and at the end wondered if he hadn't also been trying to trigger the effect of his own "cure" of his autism. Will be interested to see if they explain exactly what the wrinkle in time there is-- a cure, a treatment in utero type of thing, or genuine different genetics at play (i.e. he was conceived a week earlier, different father, who knows).

Just have to take a moment to fangirl Noah Danby as Major Ryan! Loved him in Painkiller Jane, so it was nice to see him again!

Thrilled to see Eureka back on the right track and rocking an episode that was funny, played with the genuine chemistry between the characters, and shook things up in an awesome way! Can't wait for next weeks episode! (And how long has it been since I said that!?)