Reviewed by: Samuel K. Sloan (Farpoint Media News Consultant)
Network: SyFy Channel
Pilot Air Date: July 7, 2009
Actors: Joanne Kelly, Eddie McClintock, Saul Rubinek, CCH Pounder, Genelle Williams and Simon Reynolds
Story by: Brent Mote and Jane Espensen
Teleplay by: Brent Mote and Jane Espensen and David Simkins
SoSF Rating = 3.0 out of 5.0 Stars
“Think ‘X-Files’ only not as well written, ‘The Frighteners’ only not as frightening, ‘Indiana Jones’ only not as adventurous, ‘National Treasure’ only not as action-packed. All that being said — I still kind of liked this pilot episode of SyFy Channel’s new show.”
“Warehouse 13” definitely lives up to its name. It is the story of an underground government storage facility hid away in the Badlands of South Dakota that houses every conceivable strange and harmful device both modern and ancient. This is the place where the Ark of the Covenant was stored in the final scene of the Indiana Jones film “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. It is the U.S. government’s most Top-Top secret facility and is supervised by a very politically powerful and mysterious woman named Mrs. Frederick (played by CCH Pounder) since the early 1950’s who seems to haven’t aged beyond her cougar years over the last 50+ years. The on-site director of this gargantuan warehouse is the beefy Artie Nielsen (portrayed by Saul Rubinek).
The two main stars of the show are relative newcomers Joanne Kelly (“The Dresden Files”) and Eddie McClintock (“Bones”). They portray Secret Service agents with totally differing styles of investigation. Kelly’s character, named Myka, is a Type-A details-driven no-nonsense agent while Pete (McClintock’s character) is a hands-on vibe-feeling investigator who may miss the fine print but always sees the big picture. Even though the two of them get off to a rocky start it soon becomes clear that together they make one helluva investigative team and are the perfect pair for work of this type. They’re a bit like Fox Mulder and Dana Scully without that FBI couple’s sulleness. In fact, think “X-Files” only not as well written, “The Frighteners” only not as frightening, “Indiana Jones” only not as adventurous, “National Treasure” only not as action-packed. All that being said — I still kind of like the SyFy Channel’s new show.
The pilot episode, which airs on SyFy July 7, 2009, begins a bit shaky and awkward but soon picks up the pace.
Two reasons I hold out hope for the show’s long future are Pounder and Rubinek. While Kelly and McClintock are a delightful couple to watch on screen, it is these two veterans that really make this show work. Rubinek, known for roles in other genre features such as “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Lost” and “Stargate SG1” brings credence and credential to the show. The award winning Pounder always brings her A-game to any performance. Most may remember Pounder in her Emmy-nominated role on the Emmy winning FX dramas “The Shield” and NBC’s “ER”, however, Pounder is also no stranger to the scifi genre. She stars in the upcoming James Cameron big screen film “Avatar,” was the voice of Amanda Waller in the TV series “Justice League” a regular character of fan fave “Millennium” and guest-starred in a host of genre-related shows like “X-Files,” “Quantum Leap” and more.
The only advice I can give our readers is don’t let the pilot episode dissuade you from watching the next episode…or the next. Like most pilots these days it won’t necessarily grab you instantly…and we are the instant gratification generation. Stick with it for week two and three and I have a feeling that, just like “Farscape” you will get hooked on these characters and their weekly adventures.
Thanks for the review Sam. I’ve been looking forward to this show. As long as it doesn’t end up as a device of the week every show thing, I think it might have a future.
Thanks indeed. This sounds like a rip-off of another show, I beleive it was Friday the 13th, the TV series? The show I am thinking about had a group going to retrieve some artifact each week that were evil and having an impact on society. The minute I heard about this show I knew it was nothing new. I guess originality died in the 90’s as it is certainly gone now.
OUCH, $y$y really put together some crap this time. Do they even remember what sci-fi is. Seems like just another by the book main stream lets make a comedy and call it sci-fi. That way we can get all of main stream Americas money who won’t watch real sci-fi.. Well they should have called it Euraka 2 or changed both names to dumb and dumber. I love sci-fi, please $y$y channel try to produce some again.
I got to see the first episode and it rips from Friday the 13th (tv series) so badly it isn’t even funny. Originality is definitely dead.
Having never seen the Friday the 13th series, I can’t speak to how much it rips it off, but you know what? I don’t care. I enjoyed Warehouse 13 quite a bit. I found it loads of fun and I plan to keep watching.
While not a real rip-off of the Friday the 13th TV series, it has similarities. However, as my above review indicates..it has similarities to several past shows and films. But, the characters are endearing enough to be worth a continued viewing.
Horrible mishmash. Will give it a few more episodes and hope it gets interesting. I was hoping it would the warehouse from “Raiders of the Lost Arc”, but its more like Sid & Marty Krofft doing “National Treasure”.
I think this show sucks. Why oh why do we have to have this reparte thing all the time. Damn, just investigate. The X-Files was great at that. No joking around crap. I swear the shows just get sillier and sillier all the time
I am really enjoying this show, it’s all about the characters. The Items they go after are merely a driving point for character development. I see a lot of potential for this show
Do you think thay can get that photo of the President in some more shots?
Ok…. So it’s not “the best” show, But what show really is right? Besides, As long as they have allison scagliotti on the show, I’ll be in front of that TV every tuesday.
I don’t see why horrible shows like Warehouse 13 are always the most popular and the fantastically enjoyable shows like Caprica and Stargate Universe always rate much lower in TV ratings.
Take heart Warren; not everyone discriminates between these shows. I am equally indifferent to all three.
Seriously, it seems to me that while most people claim to want “dark”, the lighter fare shows often have a better chance of doing well.
I think, but don’t know for sure, most people prefer to be entertained rather than get sucked into artificial angst, contrived drama, and examination of difficult concepts which seldom (never) go beyond a platitudes-heavy treatment.