Contributor: Gregg Wright
Last year, “Eureka” and “Warehouse 13″ both put out their first Christmas specials, with positive results. I found “Eureka’s” special to be particularly good. I was skeptical of the nebulously non-canon approach, and of the very idea of “Eureka” doing a Christmas special, but the final product was surprisingly wonderful. So, for that reason, my expectations for this year’s special were relatively high, even with my worries about the animation. I probably should have been more worried.
Going into this episode, I thought to myself that the quality of the animation would probably be what makes or breaks the episode. The idea of doing a completely or mostly animated Christmas special isn’t all that bad. After all, “Community” successfully utilized stop-motion for its 2010 Christmas episode. Stop-motion has become deeply connected with Christmas, thanks to that classic “Rudolph” TV movie. Unfortunately, in this case it ends up being, at best, hit or miss.
I think it was an unwise decision for the episode to periodically switch between multiple animation styles. I’d have much rather that they’d stuck with just one for the duration. The first segment is undeniably the worst, with the second being only slightly better. I’ve always liked stop-motion, so I did find the third segment to be a significant improvement on the first two. Oddly, the anime-inspired sequence near the end is the most visually interesting of the bunch, and that’s coming from someone who dislikes anime.
The science behind the episode is completely ludicrous, even by “Eureka’s” standards. I could maybe buy the photon generator changing how everything looks, but having such dramatic physical effects on reality? No way. The writers of “Eureka” usually at least put forth some effort in trying to incorporate real science into the show, but the photon generator is a magical plot device allowing the writers to throw the characters into a wacky, fantasy world. I get that it’s not an episode that’s meant to be taken as seriously as most, but I’ve come to expect more from “Eureka”.
A lot of this might have been forgivable if the episode had contained a strong story. There are elements of character and theme that drop in occasionally (like Jo learning to appreciate the holiday, Andy’s self-esteem boost, and Allison’s somewhat excessive appreciation of the holiday), but the bulk of the episode is one nonsensical thing after another; be that snowmen ninjas, Taggart as a polar bear, a talking Jeep, giant snowballs, avalanches, and oh yeah… a giant snowman ninja.
The poor quality of this special episode does little to affect my excitement about the upcoming final season of “Eureka”, but it is a disappointment. I was looking forward to having a brief visit with these characters to hold me over until season 5, but the animation and writing don’t really do the characters justice. And the few bits that are live-action left me longing for the more traditional approach of last year’s special.
Rating: 5/10
*****
Even before reading Gregg’s equally valid take on the episode, I knew that this would be a somewhat divisive holiday special. It seemed pretty clear to me that enjoyment of the episode would depend greatly upon one’s take on the nature of the episode itself. When compared against a typical episode of “Eureka”, it has a lot of obvious flaws. But when viewed in relative isolation, I think it fares a lot better.
I think the 2010 Christmas special set the stage for this year’s event in my mind. I remember struggling a bit to place that episode in context. This time around, I didn’t even bother; I just let the writers have their fun. So when we saw a return of the “Santa Claus” analog from the 2010 special, and then a completely madcap homage to some of the most beloved animated Christmas specials stretching back nearly 40 years, I couldn’t help but have a huge smile on my face.
In a lot of ways, this episode (and the reaction to it) felt a lot like the “Stargate SG-1” episode “200”. The fandom was completely divided along love/hate lines with that episode as well, and it had a similar level of self-referential comedy. I loved it; others I know with otherwise similar tastes dismissed or outright hated it.
The bottom line is that this episode is probably not for everyone, and it really doesn’t matter how much of a fan you are of “Eureka”, when it comes right down to it. For me, it was a string of glorious moments strung together by the most bare of plot devices. I was laughing throughout, and by the end, had a huge smile on my face. And of course, I can say Jordan Hinson was utterly gorgeous, sninjas are a very real winter threat, anime-Fargo is kick-ass, and it’s about damn time we heard Carter’s jeep tell it’s side of the story!
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4
Final Rating: 9/10
