Contributor: Gregg Wright
Written by Terri Hughes Burton and Ron Milbaugher
Directed by Colin Ferguson
Despite the fact that this episode marks the marriage of Carter and Allison, as well as the reveal that Holly is still dying, this felt like something of a step back from the longer-term story arcs. “In Too Deep” is mostly about exploring Carter and Allison’s relationship issues against the backdrop of another Eureka disaster. I was a bit disappointed to see Allison devolving into such childish behavior. I almost audibly sighed when the old issues of recent episodes started to crop up again, albeit only from Allison’s mouth. In fairness, I suppose there’s an argument to be made that Allison isn’t totally off the mark, given what we’ve learned about the Matrix, and the fact that she was in there a good deal longer than Carter was. But I was really hoping that we were past this.
I find it funny that a prank day is allowed in a town full of geniuses with access to advanced technology, and where something disastrous related to said geniuses and technology seems to occur every few days. And I’m not surprised that Zane loves this holiday. Perhaps just as amusing as Zane’s love of the holiday is Jo’s absolute hatred of it, and her incessant demand that every single prank be pre-approved. I’ll congratulate myself for knowing who Richard Feynman is, but I’ll admit, I didn’t know about his propensity for practical jokes. Creating a holiday in celebration of a great physicist is just the sort of thing that happens in Eureka, and why I love the place.
Another point of great amusement is how recent events have resulted in Carter’s house becoming more crowded than ever. First, it was just Jack, Allison, their two kids, and Sarah. Then Andy started visiting pretty regularly. And now that Holly has arrived, Fargo has basically moved in and given up on all hygienic concerns. (And just to get this out there, I vote “yes” on Fargo with a beard.) Carter asks Deputy Andy to gently find a way to get Fargo to leave, and Andy happily complies. (How else would he comply?) Andy’s initial attempt starts out as funny as expected, and then we get a very interesting twist, after which the kindly Deputy Andy can’t bring himself to kick Fargo out.
The discovery that Holly’s time may be severely limited better explains why Fargo would be shirking all responsibilities to spend all his time with Holly. One of the best things to come out of this Holly situation is the growth for both Fargo and Zane, and the friendship between the two of them. I did find all the Allison/Carter drama to be a bit tiresome, but everything else in the episode was great. I loved that Fargo promoted Zane to head of Section Five, and that Zane refuses to believe it for the majority of the episode. I liked that little scene where Fargo gets a chance to give something back to Zane for being such a great friend throughout the Holly crisis.
The playfully antagonistic relationship between Zane and Jo is probably a lot of what keeps it fresh. I liked that Jo got some payback against Zane for the wardrobe pranks he’d inflicted on her before. Zane’s not much of a “suit” type of guy, but he’s happy to wear it for Jo. And this comes at the same time that Zane is declaring his intention to repay Fargo by doing everything he can to save Holly. Again, it’s great to see Zane growing as a character from the smarmy jerk he once was. He sort of had to go through this transformation twice, but he never got this far in the previous timeline. New Zane seems more likable and selfless than ever before. I’m looking forward to seeing how he handles his new position at GD.
“In Too Deep” was a bit more of a mixed bag episode. “Feynman Day” proved to be an amusing stand-alone concept, and I liked the developments regarding Zane, Jo, Fargo, and Holly. The abrupt wedding for Carter and Allison seemed a little too convenient and easy, and the preceding arguments felt like more of the forced drama that’s been plaguing this season since the Matrix incident. I keep saying to myself, “Yes! We’re finally done with this crap!” and then it just pops up again, like it never left. It might seem like such a jubilant marriage would mean the end of it, but I’m not so sure.
Rating: 7/10