Warehouse 13 - Mild Mannered, S02E02

Warehouse 13 certainly got its geek on in this episode which centered around comic books and guest starred two actors from the beloved series Firefly. Seems like the show has gone from a more historical approach to one of major pop culture, but I'm not complaining as long as history isn't completely removed from the mix.

There's certainly something charming and humourous in the use of lines like "Who was that masked man?" and "With great power comes great responsibility," or "And so the city was safe once again." I'm sure most young men can relate to Pete (Eddie McClintock) and his obsession with comic books, while I understand Myka (Joanne Kelly) and her books a little better. Still, I do enjoy most of the main superhero stories and appreciate their value.

What I did not appreciate was Pete's hair. What is with his new hair cut? It looked absolutely ridiculous; I hope it grows out soon. Also, I'm not sure I exactly understood the point of Artie (Saul Rubinek)'s plot line. Hopefully it will resurface in the future, giving it more meaning.

The question I have for you was whether teaming up Sean Maher and Jewel Staite, who played Simon and Kaylee on Firefly, made this episode even better, or took away from it. On the one hand, seeing them reunited and as a couple certainly made me happy, but on the other hand I couldn't help but be as excited about seeing them as I was about the rest of the episode. What are your thoughts?

Warehouse 13 - Time Will Tell, S02E01

Warehouse 13 continues to be absolutely goofy fun. The show completely lacks seriousness or sophistication, but that doesn't prevent it from being quality entertainment. Despite months since the finale of the first season, we were quickly reminded both of what previously happened, and of the key rules of the functioning of the artifacts and the world. It should be a good summer.

I was actually surprised to find Artie (Saul Rubinek) had survived the explosion at the end of last season, although pleased. I had truly believed he had been killed, which made events matter so much more than they might have otherwise. His survival was also quite credible, with the phoenix device saving him and still taking the life of another, and the escalation of danger remained when MacPherson (Roger Rees) died at the end of the episode. I did, however, wonder what the hell happened to Joshua (Tyler Hynes) after he was thrown off a balcony.

The pop culture humour increased significantly since last season; half of Pete (Eddie McClintock)'s comments were his amusing wit/sarcasm/silliness, and the other half were references. My favourite was the "Put the candle back" which he stole from Young Frankenstein, though the "I could have been a doctor" imitation of Marlon Brando was priceless. However, I wished that Mika (Joanne Kelly) had been given a slightly more prominent place in the script. I guess that there was too much going on to manage it, and Pete provides more entertainment than she does and thus got more attention.

Finally, I love love loved H.G. Wells (Jamie Murray). That she turned out to be a woman was brilliant, and her sexy yet determinedness was also well appreciated. Looking forward to having a female villain, particularly one who is a historic figure with a whole lot of bizarre scientific knowledge.

While Warehouse 13 will likely not be a priority for me this summer - obviously I've fallen behind on many shows and must chose a few to properly stick with while others fall behind, I will watch the entire season and posts will go up, even if they are a few weeks late. Will you be watching more frequently than I?

Warehouse 13 finishes its season with a BANG

Warehouse 13's first season has been quite interesting. That it airs in the summer is certainly an advantage, for while I enjoy it immensely, it would quickly lose out to other shows. Notice how this posting on its finale, its last episode until next summer, finds itself in the 6am slot, while Castle and The Mentalist have their second season premieres spotlighted.

In the summer, however, it will earn a plum spot since fewer shows air in those months.

And the finale certainly makes you want to see what will happen next summer. MacPherson was naturally the focus. Pete, Mika and Artie pursued him with uneasy success, knowing they were being led into a trap. It involved misdirection and a man able to take-on Artie's appearance with the use of a thimble. Though Artie was nearly killed in said trap, Mika and Pete managed to defeat MacPherson and save him.

Back at the Warehouse, Claudia and Leena discovered that MacPherson had known Claudia, and indeed had helped her break into the Warehouse's firewalls back in episode 5 when she first appeared. Then Mrs Frederick and Leena discover that MacPherson has been stealing Warehouse artifacts, and Claudia's ID was used to do it. Though Claudia has no memory of doing this, MacPherson has access to artifacts which may have mind control aspects.

So we aren't sure if Claudia will be okay, now that MacPherson is arrested, but at least he's been stopped. He gets taken to be bronzed... essentially frozen like Han Solo. And Artie says good bye. No more MacPherson, as one expects from a finale...a little confusion for next season, with the main problem resolved...

But it wasn't. No! Claudia releases MacPherson from his bronze prison, and waves at the camera. Together they head for the exit, when we discover it is Leena, not Claudia, using the thimble. MacPherson sets the place to blow, and leaves. Artie pursues him, not waiting for Pete or Mika, and while they escape the explosion, he has no where to go.

Now there is an exciting ending which almost makes me kick and scream that I have to wait for MONTHS until I get to see what happens next.

But then, with everything else I'm watching, I can't be too too angry.

And so I will wait patiently, distracting myself, until Warehouse 13 returns.

Warehouse 13's penultimate episode of season 1

So Syfy is out of the dog house, with this week's episode entertaining and hitting the right intellectual buttons. Called Nevermore, there is no surprise we had an artifact belonging to Edgar Allen Poe take over the minds of two people and wreak havoc.

Mika's father, played by BSG star Michael Hogan*, reads a notebook delivered to his book shop and soon has the text crawling through his skin. This awakens a raven-feathered pen in a high school, and an over-looked intelligent boy is drawn to it. He then attacks his bullying classmates with words written on paper, such as WALL (the cask of amontillado) and PENDULUM (do I need to explain this one?). Indeed, Pete was led to the man trapped in the wall by a sound strongly resembling a beating heart.

An artifact belonging to Poe and creating scenarios resembling his stories is exactly the kind of thing we want to find in Warehouse 13.

Other highlights include Mika and her father learning to understand one another a little better, a guest appearance by Philip Akin*, and the continued hunt for MacPherson (Roger Rees*).

Speaking of Philip Akin, I had the pleasure of having coffee with him (or rather tea and a chai latte) this week. As the Artistic Director of Obsidian Theatre Company in Toronto, he is busy making important theatre happen here in Canada, while still finding time to act and, even more impressive, to talk to young theatre people like me.

Warehouse 13...did Syfy have a bad week

Last week's Eureka was not up to par, but Warehouse 13? Even worse.

Mika and Pete finally get a day off, and what do they do? They go to visit Claudia in the Warehouse. Now I'm not saying this wasn't a good thing for Claudia, who nearly managed to make the entire place explode (or whatever would have happened with all those artifacts getting released), but really? Didn't Mika get warned about getting sucked into the warehouse and having it become her life? Well I guess that already happened.

Not that it isn't always entertaining to see what sorts of things are in the warehouse, even though they are often a little on the wrong side of ridiculous. Killer dodge balls and entire houses that you can't leave, as well as Sylvia Plath's typewriter threatened our heroes. But never fear, they got to the machine that was breaking, and thus creating the impending doom on time.

Though, really, Claudia took off her purple protection glove because it was too hard to use them and then got stuck pulling the sticky string out of the machine. It was not at all believable; the lines were terrible and the acting poorly delivered.

Of course Artie's adventure was even less interesting. It's like the writers didn't feel like writing a good episode, so they just through in a few things to make it interesting while revealing some important infor, and that was it.

Come on Syfy! You're lucky the show is almost done for the season, cause it does not compare to the competition.