Contributor: Gregg Wright
I’d be remiss to not at least mention the cancellation news. “Eureka” has been something of a staple for SyFy; enough so that there have even been cross-over episodes with two of SyFy’s other flagship shows: “Warehouse 13″ and “Alphas”. Fans are, understandably, disappointed at the news. There’s even a “saveeureka.com” already. I too am disappointed, but it’s important to have some perspective. Considering how a lot of cancellations go (“Firefly”, “Stargate Universe”, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”, etc.), things could have been a whole lot worse. I don’t know how far along the filming for season 5 is, but this seems to be a situation in which they have a whole 12-episode season to give the show a proper finish, unlike many cancelled shows whose stories are simply cut short. (Ed: There will be an extensive discussion of this topic on an upcoming episode of the Critical Myth Podcast.)
It does bother me a bit that this was ultimately a business decision, especially considering that the recent viewership numbers aren’t all that different from those for “Warehouse 13″ and “Alphas”, though I suppose it’s important to remember that “Eureka” is probably more expensive, on average, to produce. Setting an end date for a show is not a bad idea, and five seasons does constitute a pretty good run for a sci-fi show, but I still would have preferred that it be set by the creators. Thankfully, it’s going to be a while yet before I have to deal with the loss of “Eureka”. It’s extremely doubtful that SyFy will reverse its decision on this, but it will be interesting to see what effect (if any) the knowledge of a fixed end date will have on the numbers during the remaining episodes of the show.
Now, onto this week’s episode, which is heavy on the myth-arc. Beverly (now in full control of Allison’s body) is made acting director of GD, giving her the chance to finally put her plan into action. But before she can, Carter, Henry, and Zane determine the secret behind Allison’s recent behavior. Once discovered, Beverly puts the whole town into a coma, apparently utilizing the injections noted at the beginning of the episode in Fargo’s Astraeus mission update. The only exceptions are Jo (the only citizen to refuse the injections) and Zoe (visiting from Harvard). The rest of the episode becomes something of a “Die Hard” situation where Jo and Zoe must avoid capture while attempting to thwart the Consortium’s plans, which seem to revolve around obtaining a specific set of plans in the GD archives.
My guess? I think they want the plans for the FTL drive, so they can build their own ship, possibly so they can reach Titan first. The Consortium sees themselves as the “watchdogs of scientific progress”. Building an FTL drive and launching a ship to Titan seems like something they’d want a degree of control over. But rather than attempting to sabotage the mission, they seem more interested in developing something “Eureka” has on file.
I think that the creators/writers wanted to take advantage of Jordan Hinson’s brief return by giving her more time in the spotlight. So whether or not you like the episode probably depends on how much you’ll enjoy seeing Zoe and Jo taking the forefront. I like Jo, and I like Zoe, but I think they were stretching it a bit to have her single-handedly take out the two Consortium baddies before rescuing Jo. It does make sense to explore the conflict between Jo and Zoe over Zane, since this is the first time Zoe has been around since Jo and Zane got back together (and probably the last we’ll see of her for a while). And I suppose the idea was that forcing Zoe and Joe into a situation where they had to work together for a common goal would help smooth over their issues. But there’s very little of that on screen, so the resolution ends up feeling a bit artificial.
How much you like the episode will probably also depend a lot on how interested you are in the Beverly Barlowe/Consortium arc, since the episode spends a lot of time with either Beverly or Salli Richardson-Whitfield acting like her. Personally, I’m rather neutral on Beverly herself. I don’t dislike her, and don’t think she’s amazing either. But I think she works well for her purpose in the story, and I’m glad to see an episode devoted to the Consortium arc. This seems like the perfect point in the season to have such an episode.
Rating: 7/10