Eureka (2006-2012)

[Looney]

EPISODE 4.2
A NEW WORLD

IMDB SYNOPSIS: The gang returns from 1947 and discover that things are not as they remember them. And Dr. Grant came along.

LIKED.....
I admit that I really enjoy this concept just because it has shaken things up so much and is more of a long run crisis rather than pure crisis of the week. LOVE that Zane is back to being someone I can enjoy not liking instead of a guy I'm supposed to like.

DIDN'T LIKE.....
While I admitted above that I enjoy what the show is currently doing I have to admit I am equally not a fan of how it has just given them an excuse to play with emotional entanglements. The only one that matters to me is Allison and Kevin.

So I am getting more enjoyment from the show at this point, but don't get any hopes up. I was sailing with love for Season Three at this point and that took a nose dive within a few episodes. But we'll see.

[Looney]

EPISODE 4.3
ALL THE RAGE

Partial IMDB Synopsis: Wil Wheaton guest stars as Dr. Isaac Parrish, an underappreciated scientist whose hostility appears to have gone viral.

LIKED.....
Wil Wheaton Guest Starring. The premise was decent enough. I like how Fargo says "Does anything in this lab actually do what is supposed to do?" That is basically the plot of so many Eureka episodes.

DISLIKED.....
Would have liked more Wheaton.

Why does this show insist on soooo much interpersonal romantic relationship focus?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Anyway, decent episode. Surprising this new plot line isn't more dramatic. It is like they are telling the same stories only slightly minor character dynamic shifts.

[Looney]

EPISODE 4.4
THE STORY OF O2

IMDB Synopsis: Allison deals with a major problem during Eureka's space week festival.

(LOVE HOW SHORT AND APPLICABLE TO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MANY EPISODES THAT SYNOPSIS IS.)

LIKED.....
I enjoyed this one. Another name guest star, Jamie Kennedy. It seemed to really hit all the notes well.

DISLIKED.....
(I'm not even going to write anything. The stuff I didn't enjoy was short enough that it was easy to sit through.)

So I would say the last two have been pretty okay. And one improving on the other.

The reason I posted twice, I thought I had already said something about Episode Three.

[Looney]

EPISODE 4.5
CROSSING OVER

WAREHOUSE 13 CROSSOVER

IMDB SYNOPSIS: Claudia Donovan pays a visit to Eureka, hoping to see some amazing technological wonders. She gets more than she bargained for when seemingly random objects begin appearing around town. Working with Sheriff Carter and Fargo, Claudia has to help solve the mystery before the strange anomalies have deadly consequences...particularly for newcomer Dr. Grant.

LIKED.....
Another one I enjoyed. I think James Callis has been a good addition. Allison Scagliotti was a good crossover choice.

DIDN'T LIKE......
The ridiculous idea that Claudia Donovan would have a thing for Fargo. Talk about forced. Kind of wish it had been more involved with Warehouse 13, but still it wasn't just a cameo.

So I would have preferred a crossover with Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubinek), but Claudia is not a bad choice. I enjoyed the episode. Hope they can keep this up.

[Looney]

EPISODE 4.6
MOMSTROSITY

IMDB SYNOPSIS: Allison accepts Carter's offer to include Kevin in a camping trip for some guy time, and Henry decides to level with Grace while a very peculiar -- and dangerous -- relationship threatens Eureka and the not-so-happy campers.

LIKED.....
I liked this one for the most part. I think the stuff with Henry might have worked the best. The camping trip was a good idea.

DIDN'T LIKE.....
I thought the Carter/Grant stuff was a bit forced, but everything about that relationship has seemed force for a purpose that will I'm sure conclude at the end of the season with the inevitable . The A.I. stuff was kind of meh.

I think they missed a real opportunity by not having Lupo on the camping trip. I think they could have really used her training as a counter weight to Fargo's pampered setup. All and all a decent episode. Glad the stuff with Henry finally happened.

[Looney]

EPISODE 4.7
STONED

IMDB SYNOPSIS (Partial): Romantic relationships are in flux.

LIKED.....
Despite the RED FLAG of that partial IMDB Synopsis, there were parts of this episode I really enjoyed - at least a couple. Firstly I will spoil that there is a Musical Number and I greatly enjoyed cringing through the whole thing. Second I absolutely loved the predictable ending with Dr Grant.

DIDN'T LIKE.....
About 90% of this episode was just relationship NONSENSE that was a waste of my time. And it was a total missed opportunity involving the MOST CRINGE-WORTHY thing Eureka has ever done. I have no clue what they were thinking or why, but Zoe is back and she helped serve it up.

On the whole I can see why some would find this episode appealing. I was going to rank it pretty low until the Grant stuff paid off at the end.

[Looney]

EPISODE 4.8
THE EX-FILES

IMDB SYNOPSIS: As Grace (Tembi Locke) finds a way to share her memories with Henry (Joe Morton), the rest of Eureka's citizens face the return of people from the recent - or not so recent - past.

SPOILER GUEST STAR FOLLOWS!!!!!!

LIKED.....
The return of a certain guest star Ed Quinn. He did not disappoint. Honestly if you broke the entire episode down to only his scenes it would be one of the best episodes in a long time. ?

DIDN'T LIKE.....
This episode had ONE redeeming quality - the return of Ed Quinn. The premise really wasn't bad and the comedic parts were wonderful, but that still doesn't mean I would need to see this one again. As I've said before, their insistence in focusing on interpersonal relationships just ruined this show. ?

The episode wasn't bad. They had a lot of fun with the concept. I still can't say it is a redeeming episode. When I started I was hoping this show would be a keeper, but it has not proven itself and at this stage there seems to be no chance of redemption.

[Looney]

EPISODE 4.9
I'LL BE SEEING YOU

IMDB SYNOPSIS: Mid-Season Finale Closer than they've ever been before, Allison (Salli Richardson-Whitfield) and Carter (Colin Ferguson) join forces personally as well as professionally when Jo (Erica Cerra) and Fargo (Neil Grayston) enlist them to help find a stolen Global Dynamics project.

LIKED.....
Honestly this episode would have blown my mind if they just rolled with it, but they didn't.

DIDN'T LIKE......
Let's just say if you were watching Eureka for reasons other than I am watching Eureka this might have been your favorite episode. Since I am not watching Eureka for those reasons it was definitely not a favorite episode.

This isn't a bad episode, but when the intensity lacks real weight it isn't very intense. When you know something they have done will be immediately undone because of the softness of the show then it is very meh. I do like some of the plot elements they are playing with so I didn't hate the episode or anything. Just another of many that could have/should have been better than they are, but clearly the entire series was misguided.

I am growing quite concerned about my next choice, Warehouse 13. If these shows are connected I am worried. But you don't worry I have given up any plans to write about it. This exercise has proven to be a colossal waste of time and effort on my part as well as you the reader whom is not reading this. The show has had a lot of fun moments and most episodes have fun moments, but overall the series to date could have been so much more than it is. I'm worried this opinion is going to hold true for Warehouse 13 as well.

[Jan]

HEY!! I'm reading! But sadly, I'd lost track of the show so I'm not familiar enough with it to comment. I have enjoyed them, though.

[Looney]

EPISODE 4.10
O LITTLE TOWN...

My SYNOPSIS: TOTALLY MESSED UP CHRISTMAS EPISODE.

LIKED.....
Seeing some of the guest stars.

DIDN'T LIKE.....
BASICALLY EVERYTHING. I'm going to go into a long-winded rant on this one, and it won't even contain much in the realm of spoilers.

So this is a Christmas Episode. That's fine. All the Christmas stuff they did was fine. The disaster of the week was meh. Where this episode completely fell apart was execution.

O LITTLE TOWN... is meant to be a flashback episode narrated by Carter. So we get guest stars whom were previously on the show because it is supposed to be taking place in the past. We are forced to indulge the fact that while these guest stars look different they are meant to be from a set point far enough in the past that four Eureka youths around the age of twelve don't recall this Christmas disaster of the week. Keeping in mind that their parents might have successfully kept the disaster from them there are certain aspects of the disaster the entire town would have known, but it never registers with these kids during the storytelling. Meh not the worst thing ever, but still an oversight.

Another sub-par quality was that it was meant to be a narrated story. They just didn't do a great job with that aspect of it.

The worst part of the episode is that it tries to demonstrate it is from the past, but it forgets to take into account Season Four is in an alternate timeline. ?HOW DO YOU MAKE THAT MISTAKE?!?!?!?! You bring back characters whom have long left Eureka, but you forget there are five characters living in an alternate timeline. These five characters were living different lives in Original Timeline Carter's past, but this story doesn't account for that. Original Timeline Carter is narrating the story, but he couldn't know a story from the long ago past that had Jo as the Head of GD Security, Fargo as the Head of GD, and Allison as the Chief GD Medical Officer. They should have all been in their original timeline rolls.

Possibly the worst example that points to this mistake is that they POINTLESSLY have Alternate Timeline Kevin in the episode. His appearance serves no purpose, but points to their timeline mistake. ?????It is crazy.

I WISH I could say Carter is telling the story and he could have changed things around so the kids wouldn't question why Fargo wasn't the head of Global Dynamics, but the way the story played out it was necessary for everyone to be in their alternate timeline rolls. I could say the entire story was fabricated by Carter's imagination, but that is even more ridiculous.

Granted in this episode they did not establish how long the characters have been in the alternate timeline, but it would have to be more than a year as these characters living in the alternate timeline seem to be acclimated to that alternate timeline. It also has to have been longer than a year because a sixth character living in an alternate timeline is not in the episode. If it is truly longer than a year or even years, that would be a HUGE leap forward in time from where we left off.

Yes in the end there are ways a viewer could try to extrapolate justification for the enormous oversights of the episode, but is that what is supposed to happen? Should a viewer be forced to try to make connections that really aren't possible in the given Universe this story is playing in? The reality is the writing and execution of the episode just lacked oversight and forethought and the observant viewer is left with the mess.

[Jan]

Looney, Looney...I'm not sure how you feel or what you think about this episode! Maybe you can be more clear?

[Looney]

Sorry Jan I refuse. I wanted to keep it as vague as possible to entice others to watch the episode and judge for themselves............ ??????

[Looney]

EPISODE 4.11
LIFTOFF

IMDB SYNOPSIS: Carter lands in an awkward situation after S. A. R. A. H. And Andy's nuptials hit a snag; Zane keeps harassing Jo for details; an unscheduled launch presents trouble for the gang.

LIKED.....
Honestly not much I liked in this one with the exception of a few jokes.

DIDN'T LIKE.....
Just about everything. Just look at the synopsis spoiler. They are even bringing romance to the Artificial Intelligence. REALLY didn't like Carter being and insecure little &@5$*.

Finding it VERY difficult to continue this exploration. I watched this episode a week ago and had to force myself to come write something down about it.

[Jan]

They are even bringing romance to the Artificial Intelligence.

Granted, I don't remember much about Andy and S.A.R.A.H. but I dont think they'd make a very good couple. At the risk of purient interest, did S.A.R.A.H. happen to get a body?

[Looney]

At the risk of purient interest, did S.A.R.A.H. happen to get a body?

No that has not happened at this point. I'm sure it will eventually because it seems like a plot they would have come up with.