Eureka 404 "The Story of O2": Review

The great thing about being behind because you're "cable-free" is that before publishing a review, you get blasted in advance with the critiques from people wanting your opinion (who also often end up emailing or tweeting spoilers at me, so knock it off, jerkfaces!) about what they found awful! This week on tap was the "Allison is so out of character you'll hate it!" complaint.

To which I just have to say, Allison stole GD tech, had Stark rewire it, risked the town, lied to Carter, and did it all for her son. (Noche de Suenos). The ethical lines for Allison have always been fuzzy when it comes to her son, and just a couple of weeks ago she admitted that given access to the equipment, she'd have blown the time portal device sky high. Rigging a rocket to win, which she had no idea would cause the secondary problems it did? Low stuff on the totem pole for Dr. Blake! So I actually enjoyed the Allison plot line!

"Huh, I seem to be conflagrating, weird..." Kavan Smith as the new Deputy Andy was an amusing switchup. I'm a big fan of Smith from both 4400 and Stargate Atlantis, so it was nice to see his take on the role, which actually felt almost a little more mechanical and less "creepy android" and more "lovable Data" model for me. I hope it won't be a regular occurrence that we see a new Andy, but it is a great solution to the loss of actor Ty Olssen. If theories of a romance between the mechanical deputy and the talking house hold out, I foresee an episode involving me, crying from laughter.

The guest star of the week once again proved to be the weakest link, but who didn't see that coming? Even in the quirkiest comedic moments of Eureka, the offbeat and rude comedy of Jamie Kennedy was a bad matchup. His off color comments to a general were downright cringeworthy, making me sigh and hope that the writers or network will raise the bar on its caliber of guest stars or simply abandon the glamor appeal of "ooh, shiny guest star of the week" because it isn't working for Eureka so far!

An excellent directing job as usual from series star Colin Ferguson, who had a great minor plot line with his daughter Zoe, played by actress Jordan Hinson. Was great to see that Zoe hadn't changed much from the time line, but rather as a first semester college student was flexing into the role of an adult for the first time and the tension it generated with her dad, who was looking to see if she was still the same little girl for all the wrong reasons.

Out of the park home run from Erica Cerra and Niall Matter on the slowly evolving Jo and Zane arc, which I'm loving! Would still like to see Jo step up a little more and do a little pursuing, maybe get to be the one to ask him out this go around, and work to rebuild that relationship. Liked her decision to have faith in Zane, and that she was rewarded with the knowledge that it's the circumstance that has changed, not the character.

And finally, James Callis still rocking out the character of Dr. Grant. I liked the touch of him going to Allison first when he became certain that Kevin had cheated, and his admonishment of her when he found out what she had done. There's a dynamic I really appreciated, because sometimes Allison's character does need someone to pull her back a bit. Carter does it when he can, but they just end up angry with each other in past situations. Grant did it with a finesse that had her apologizing and solving the problem without a temper flare, which I thought was a great dynamic to explore.

Overall, another great episode from the Eureka team! Would have been a perfect 5 stars from me, but for the brash and out of place comedy of Jamie Kennedy, knocking it down to a 4 stars-- I'd rewatch, but my finger may slip and fast forward through a few scenes!

Eureka 403: "All the Rage" Review

I had the joy of watching this at Comic-Con with 100's, if not 1000's of other Eureka geeks, which was a truly kick-ass experience. A whole lots of laughing, cheering, and in some of the poignant moments, silence.

The episode style and horror movie homages made me incredibly happy, because they were incredibly well done, and as usual, I take my hat off to the amazing Rick Maguire. I like that Eureka isn't really going to go to the far absurd place of having actual zombies, dead rising, etc., but still could do an amazing tribute to the genre. I was holding out a little hope for a HOTD2 reference, but I think that one is just me!

I love that the writers used the episode to really let Jack and Tess fall apart, and to let Tess really get the realization first, and as she observed, he was too late in preventing her from watching it all unravel, because it very much did unravel for them. It felt very appropriate, especially since it seems from what she said, in this time line, they had been together for a year. Not sure how long it was supposed to be in the other time line, especially since there was a real lack of a sense of time continuity in season 3.5. I was never a fan of the Tess arc, but have to say, the last scene between Tess and Jack was played incredibly well by Jamie Rae Newman and Colin Ferguson. Beautiful scene!

On the flip side, the character of Grace Munroe is amazing! Love that she's playing pranks, love that she wanted to replace Henry's tools so she literally made them fall apart! She's great! And in the conclusion, Grant observing that Henry has a crush on his wife was awesome! I love that while others are deconstructing, you have Henry's plot line as a foil for them, something slowly starting to build in a very positive and fun way!

I hope I'm slowly not in the minority here, but Dr Grant just keeps winning me over more and more! He had some great moments in this episode, with the advice to Jack that got echoed at the end of the episode, which was played beautifully, and his observation that Henry had a crush on his wife was exactly the type of dry wit and humor I love. On the other extreme, the moment with Henry where he lets Henry see a little corner of his loneliness and hating being there was beautifully played. I know Callis is only supposed to be here for the 4.0 half of the season, but I wish they'd change their minds on that! Like Thorne, that's not enough time!!

I probably won't be too popular for saying this, but I'm not sure I get the hype over Wil Wheaton. I get that he's a big geek "in" thing, but I didn't feel he really added much to the episode. He didn't have the same engaged, dynamic, chemistry that I really love the other actors on the show for bringing to their work. He also didn't have a lot to work with, and had it been any other actor, I think Dr. Parrish as a character would have been utterly forgettable and unlikely to be brought back. Then again, from the very subdued reaction at the SDCC panel to announcing that he'd be back for more eps in the back 10, maybe I'm not the only one.

Jo and Zane's arc...wow. Still rooting for it hard, but really want to thwack someone upside the head (mostly Jo) and get her to stop ignoring him, and start trying to change things. Take him up on a bit of the innuendo, surprise him! And then I stop and realize that I used to be holding out hope for Fargo or Taggart to have a chance and am now actively rooting for Zane, so clearly, another aspect of the reboot that's working very well for the show!

Another good episode, though more of a routine episode and a bit overshadowed by the amazing work done of the first two episodes of the season. At SDCC, the writers confirmed that they're not sending us back out to the Eureka we used to know, that the new time line is here to stay, so that makes me incredibly happy. The reboot has really knocked Eureka back into my top show category, and I'm glad to have it back there!

Eureka 402 "A New World" Review

In what show creator Jamie Paglia and show runner Amy Berg are calling the second half of the season opener, the amazing reboot of the Eureka universe continues, this side dealing with the cold reality of how things are. Henry finds himself married to a woman who's name he couldn't remember just hours before. Tess is back in Jack's life. Allison's son Kevin is no longer autistic. And Fargo's in charge. Yeah, I'm stuck on that last one too!

There were some excellent comedic moments in this episode, from Grant somewhat creepily hitting on the robot Deputy Andy (played by Ty Olssen) to Fargo making Larry (Chris Jacot) stand on one leg, that brought back a lot of the fun humor that I loved from earlier seasons, mixed with the very real drama of Allison telling Carter that had she been able to, she would have destroyed the device that changed the time line and could convert it back, for the sake of her son. That fusion is one of the things I love most about Eureka, and I really loved seeing this episode hit it just right!

Jo Lupo (played by Erica Cerra) was an absolute home run performance for me. Her moment with Carter talking about her regret for freezing when Zane asked her to marry him, that somewhere out there in the universe is the fact that she never said yes, was absolutely brilliantly done. It made my heart break for her, then made my resolve for her to get her act together and win this Zane over even stronger.

Niggling the back of my mind and bothering me still is that no one has asked about Stark- is he still dead? When? Where? etc? I would think it would be a natural question that Allison would have dealt with pretty quickly. Which brings me to the next point, they need information! Time for the six to hit the books, do some research, figure out the holes in world history as well as personal history that need to be dealt with. Just a quick scene, Jack doing research on SARAH and baffling her would be enough, but it still needs to happen!

I really love the reboot, love that in spite of the idea of a reboot, we're back to the original feel and tone of the show--the chemistry and dynamics of the characters feel 100x more solid then where they were during season 3.5, and I'm laughing out loud at more than just Fargo again! I think last week's episode was the stronger of the two "beginning" season 4.0 parts, but that doesn't surprise me. Deconstructing and tearing apart the status quo is always more fun that the reality of having to deal with all the hurt feelings that chaos caused! But stronger than any season 3.5 episode, and stronger than the back half of season 3.0, which puts me firmly in the camp of "OMG, can't wait for next week!" which I will be enjoying from Comic-Con, so probably no review next week, or will do one with a rewatch early in the week (Mon or Tues) and a late review mid-week.

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!?)