When SyFy (back then Sci Fi channel) started this quirky series five years ago called Eureka, I tuned in thinking it was odd enough for me to watch. And I really don’t think I had anything else to watch at that time…well, other than Smallville. I was introduced to Jack Carter: U.S. Marshall who ended up taking over a Sheriff of this odd little town that looked like a piece of small town Americana. The look on his face when Global Dynamics is first introduced to him is what hooked me onto this show. Sheriff Jack Carter was the everyman and we were watching this crazy little town of geniuses through his eyes.
For this final season, I figure it would be fitting to review the episodes, in the hopes that maybe someone will stumble upon them and go back and watch the entire season and come to love it as much as I have.
WARNING: Here be Spoilers! I will try not to get too spoiler-tastic but there might be a couple of things that I have to let slip. Sorry in advance.
Episode 1: Lost
When we last left our hero’s, S.A.R.A.H may or may not have exploded, a wedding had been called off, Jo left to take a walkabout to find herself, and a mysterious force sped up the countdown for the Astreus and sent it off long before it was supposed to, taking Alison, who’d just told Carter she would move in with him, thereby ensuring that us shippers would finally get a happy ending. Alas, this is Eureka and they like messing with us.
The show opens with the Astreus bring landed on where we think is Titan. It is in this first ten minutes that I renewed my love for Fargo. Stepping out of the ship they find that they are not on Titan and in fact did not travel to another planet, but, it seems, through time. (cue Doctor Who music here)
Without giving away too much, we discover there been a whole lot of changes in the four years the Astreus has been gone, Deputy Andy is NOT the sweet jolly A.I. we knew from last season and the future they’ve landed in is a sort of mesh between Big Brother from 1984 and the early years of The Terminator. Only Big Brother isn’t quite human. Relationships have changed, people you’ve trusted before have suddenly turned and there were way too many “What the Hell?” moments through the entire episode. It seems in this episode the phrase “absolute power corrupts absolutely” is very relevant for the A.I units.
For this episode, Henry Deacon and Jack Carter’s storyline tore at my heartstrings the most. This has always been the great friendship throughout all the seasons and what these men went through in the four years the Astreus has been gone and what they had to finally give up was so sad…. Or was it?
As in season four, when Andrew Cosby and Jaime Paglia successfully hit the reboot button and changed the way people viewed Eureka, this season promises changes and surprises. And so far they have delivered. Just as this episode gets the viewer comfortable in the “new universe” that they think is going to be this final season, the last five minutes pulled the rug out from under our feet and left us thinking, “What the hell just happened”?
This seems to be a hint of what the writer’s have in store for us in for this final season. For me this season, Eureka has become “Appointment TV”.
I know I didn’t give a decent synopsis of the show, but honestly this episode is one big spoiler fest and I didn’t want to ruin the “big” surprises for anyone who hadn’t seen it yet.
But in Episode Two titled “The Real Thing”, I promise a better synopsis without so many spoilers.
See you next week!
