Tuesday 20 July 2010
Eureka!
Hey, I'm back after a day of doing various things, including 3DS Max modelling and French exercises. But the thing that I want to talk about it Eureka (A Town Called Eureka in the UK). This is a show that, way back in around 2006 when it was first aired on the SciFi channel (now SyFy) I watched a few episodes of and although I thought it was good, I never really had the chance to watch it. A year or two ago I bought the first season on DVD and only just got around to watching it properly a few months back. It's brilliant. I immediately went about finding the rest of the DVDs online and after a I found a great deal, I bought season 1 and the first half of season two and honestly, the show has gone from strength to strength.
If you haven't watched this series, it revolves around Sheriff Jack Carter who finds himself working in a small town called Eureka (never would have guessed right..). He moves there with his teenage daughter, who has been causing endless troubles for him and his ex-wife. Little do they know that this town isn't as it first seems. It is quickly revealed that this town was created in the early 20th Century when the government realised that the scientists who had been making the biggest developments in history needed somewhere to thrive and make their discoveries in an environment that would nurture these minds.
The first season looks at Jack and both his struggle to comprehend the goings on in this top-secret world, stopping potentially town-destroying experiments and his day to day struggles in trying to deal with his daughter, Zoe, who also has a journey in the first season to realising that, in this environment she can be much more than she ever thought she could. This continues through the next season as she learns more from her genius teachers, classmates and finds out she might too be a potential Einstein.
There are other characters that play an important part in establishing the feel to this show and to the atmosphere of a town of geniuses:
The brilliant Allison Blake is a great example of this; an agent for the Department of Defense, medical doctor and government liason between Eureka and the Pentagon is key in helping Jack settle down in Eureka and opens up a possible romantic relationship there. Her story with her autistic child and her high-powered and high-stressed job really gives a sense of reality to a very different story and helps ground this sci-fi series in reality which I think is one of the reasons this show has real staying power.
Henry Deacon provides an elder-like character that Jack can look up to who will always have the right answer to both advanced scientific questions that Jack has and also the emotional problems brought up in later series. Storylines involving love and loss in season two will really get people thinking and his attempts at getting over this loss, although pretty unrealistic provide a look at what people would do if they had access to knowledge and the ethical drawbacks of this. A strong-willed character played by a great actor.
Nathan Stark is initially the angtagonist in this show and as the ex-husband of Allison, presents an immediate problem for Jack to deal with. This changes over the seasons as each character develops and truths come to light. His name seems to be an homage to Tony Stark aka Iron Man and his character really reflects upon this character, with a little bit of an unethical streak to him in the beginning. Develops as a character really well and by the end he will be a favourite.
There are many other characters that I won't bore you with mentioning now such as the geeky scientist Douglas Fargo and the tough yet sometimes (rarely) sensitive Deputy Jo Lupo but I won't bore you with descriptions, you should really check it out for yourself.
When I first watched this show I was wary of the seemingly typical set-up of each epsiode that many shows can make the mistake of over-using. Was every episode going to be: Some crazy mishap with a Quantum something-or-other occurs, Jack is set out to find out what happened, It's some scientist from the research facility in the town, Global Dynamics and his experiments at home, Jack thinks of a smart yet dumb at the same time idea to fix it, town saved.
It really isn't like this at all. Yes, the first series uses this formula to help introduce new characters, new scientific ideas and new plotlines that will run through the whole series but as soon as the characters are established it becomes much more than this. The sci-fi element of this series is something that's reall refreshing. Instead of aliens and far-off galaxies, it is much more grounded in reality and uses real scientific theories and rather than blowing them out of proportions, just asks the question "what if?". What if we could really travel between the 3rd and 5th dimensions, what if we could manipulate the molecules in our bodies and wal through walls? It takes these ideas and explains them well, using them as brilliant plot devices that can be both fun and deadly in the same episode.
The development of the series really takes off as it gets into its second and third series, introducing some really interesting storylines that explore some themes in ways that I don't think any other show would be capable of. You will, I guarantee you, watch episode after episode to see what happens next, while the nice conclusions of each episode will leave you feeling fulfilled enough to leave the dvds if you really have to.
It isn't the best series out there, simply because at the moment there are some really great ones. But it is definitely worth watching, it has intelligent and witty dialogue, characters that ae easy to identify with, stunning visual effects and a storyline that is just getting better and better and although I have always thought it was great, in season 3 it really seems to be hitting its stride. I would go into more detail but I really want to get back to watching it.
Anyway, I really urge anyone reading to check it out, I may not give it justice in my review but I can't put in much better than this. It's one of a kind and has the perfect formula for a tv show; Strong, intetesting characters, well-written storylines and great actors. With that splash of Sci-Fi that's missing from todays tv.
G'night all.
If you haven't watched this series, it revolves around Sheriff Jack Carter who finds himself working in a small town called Eureka (never would have guessed right..). He moves there with his teenage daughter, who has been causing endless troubles for him and his ex-wife. Little do they know that this town isn't as it first seems. It is quickly revealed that this town was created in the early 20th Century when the government realised that the scientists who had been making the biggest developments in history needed somewhere to thrive and make their discoveries in an environment that would nurture these minds.
The first season looks at Jack and both his struggle to comprehend the goings on in this top-secret world, stopping potentially town-destroying experiments and his day to day struggles in trying to deal with his daughter, Zoe, who also has a journey in the first season to realising that, in this environment she can be much more than she ever thought she could. This continues through the next season as she learns more from her genius teachers, classmates and finds out she might too be a potential Einstein.
There are other characters that play an important part in establishing the feel to this show and to the atmosphere of a town of geniuses:
The brilliant Allison Blake is a great example of this; an agent for the Department of Defense, medical doctor and government liason between Eureka and the Pentagon is key in helping Jack settle down in Eureka and opens up a possible romantic relationship there. Her story with her autistic child and her high-powered and high-stressed job really gives a sense of reality to a very different story and helps ground this sci-fi series in reality which I think is one of the reasons this show has real staying power.
Henry Deacon provides an elder-like character that Jack can look up to who will always have the right answer to both advanced scientific questions that Jack has and also the emotional problems brought up in later series. Storylines involving love and loss in season two will really get people thinking and his attempts at getting over this loss, although pretty unrealistic provide a look at what people would do if they had access to knowledge and the ethical drawbacks of this. A strong-willed character played by a great actor.
Nathan Stark is initially the angtagonist in this show and as the ex-husband of Allison, presents an immediate problem for Jack to deal with. This changes over the seasons as each character develops and truths come to light. His name seems to be an homage to Tony Stark aka Iron Man and his character really reflects upon this character, with a little bit of an unethical streak to him in the beginning. Develops as a character really well and by the end he will be a favourite.
There are many other characters that I won't bore you with mentioning now such as the geeky scientist Douglas Fargo and the tough yet sometimes (rarely) sensitive Deputy Jo Lupo but I won't bore you with descriptions, you should really check it out for yourself.
When I first watched this show I was wary of the seemingly typical set-up of each epsiode that many shows can make the mistake of over-using. Was every episode going to be: Some crazy mishap with a Quantum something-or-other occurs, Jack is set out to find out what happened, It's some scientist from the research facility in the town, Global Dynamics and his experiments at home, Jack thinks of a smart yet dumb at the same time idea to fix it, town saved.
It really isn't like this at all. Yes, the first series uses this formula to help introduce new characters, new scientific ideas and new plotlines that will run through the whole series but as soon as the characters are established it becomes much more than this. The sci-fi element of this series is something that's reall refreshing. Instead of aliens and far-off galaxies, it is much more grounded in reality and uses real scientific theories and rather than blowing them out of proportions, just asks the question "what if?". What if we could really travel between the 3rd and 5th dimensions, what if we could manipulate the molecules in our bodies and wal through walls? It takes these ideas and explains them well, using them as brilliant plot devices that can be both fun and deadly in the same episode.
The development of the series really takes off as it gets into its second and third series, introducing some really interesting storylines that explore some themes in ways that I don't think any other show would be capable of. You will, I guarantee you, watch episode after episode to see what happens next, while the nice conclusions of each episode will leave you feeling fulfilled enough to leave the dvds if you really have to.
It isn't the best series out there, simply because at the moment there are some really great ones. But it is definitely worth watching, it has intelligent and witty dialogue, characters that ae easy to identify with, stunning visual effects and a storyline that is just getting better and better and although I have always thought it was great, in season 3 it really seems to be hitting its stride. I would go into more detail but I really want to get back to watching it.
Anyway, I really urge anyone reading to check it out, I may not give it justice in my review but I can't put in much better than this. It's one of a kind and has the perfect formula for a tv show; Strong, intetesting characters, well-written storylines and great actors. With that splash of Sci-Fi that's missing from todays tv.
G'night all.
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