Details are sketchy

This blog post is about the show that everyone’s talking about with it being renewed for a fifth season; Eureka.

The team of writers at Eureka have yet again surprised us with this latest turn of events; a rewritten future. In a sense, it has taken the series and again proved that there are no limits with what direction it can take. After spending the morning reading an essay by Scott Westerfeld on alternate worlds in science fiction television (in this case Buffy the Vampire Slayer). I felt I needed to write a blog on the subject as I found that his ideas really applied to Eureka and their most recent season in particular. This is not the first time that the writers at Eureka have used time or interdimensional travel and the characters have wrestles with the moral implications of it, but I believe it is the one that has affected the show the most. Of course, anyone reading this is probably a fan of sci-fi and so I don’t really have to explain the ideas behind time travel and chaos theory etc. So I’ll just go ahead with a recap of what has been happening so far this past season.
Last season left us with Carter’s life in disarray; his daughter had left for Harvard (another great character development from struggling teen to someone who realises their capabilities), his girlfriend Tess Fontana has left for Australia for work and the love of his life, Alison has given birth the late Nathan Stark’s baby. Things are shaky for him to say the least. As for Jo, her relationship with Zane has finally taken shape and things are looking up, helping her so soften as a character from the angry, strong woman she has been so far. Fargo, typically is jealous of this but continuing his normal life, he decides to date a fellow scientist (who is sadly for her second choice). As for Henry, his feelings for Kim have again resurfaced and do in the beginning of the fourth season with an unexpected arrival. Other than that, he is named mayor of Eureka and continues saving the day with his superior knowledge as always.

But onto the next season there are some drastic changes in this little town. The season opens with Jack, Alison, Fargo, Jo and Henry going back in time on founder’s day to the original opening of Eureka as a town sometime in the 1930’s. After a while trying to get back to their own time they manage to, but things aren’t as they left them. Characters were getting set in their ways and although I haven’t seen it happen yet, there was a real danger of storyline getting repetitive as many shows have done. This is why I believe the writers decided to shake things up a bit. And shake things up they did. Bet they’re just happy bending the space-time continuum isn’t so farfetched in this town.

By doing this, I think that Eureka has successfully made the transition from being a short-lived show with a cult following to what will be a long-running show remembered by many. Some shows (some great shows actually) have been cancelled way before their time for many different reasons but I am so happy this one survived and now, after being renewed for its fifth season, I think it’s definitely in the running for a couple more yet. Each season opening and finale have had gripping twists and revelations that have kept us coming back for more and this one is no exception. I was a bit hesitant of it at first, mainly because, as a general rule I’m weary of time-travel arcs as the can be easily confusing or messed up, but there is nothing wrong with this one. It’s dead on and there isn’t a problem in sight.
Coming back to the first thing I said about reading Scott Westerfeld this morning and it making me think, he says of science fiction that there are two distinct types of stories; “Trespass” and “Alternate World” stories. This first thing I should probably mention is that if you’re watching a TV show, it’s pretty much guaranteed you’re watching a Trespass story. Eureka is no exception. A Trespass story is one in which a stranger comes to town and they must be dealt with and all evidence of them ever being their removed before the characters can go on with their normal lives. In short; strange things can happen, but only if they’re dealt with and resolved at the end of the episode. In Eureka’s case, it is not so much a person that comes to town (although that has been known to happen) who has to be dealt with but instead, an idea that someone has dreamt up in a lab and experimented with, often resulting in it reacting badly with some unforeseen problem, thus leading to often deadly consequences. These problems are systematically solved by a combination of Carter’s logical thinking, the main character’s expertise in their fields and with the help of the person at fault (who are very rarely doing anything maliciously). The nature of these universes is that they return to normal at the end of every episode, which makes them perfect for television.

So this decision to switch timelines in the season premier and following episodes was one that everyone immediately expected to be resolved quickly. And so when they were returned to their own time, we believed this was the resolution we were expecting, so you can imagine how great a twist it was when those truly awesome writers decided to change the future they returned to. This was again, another thing that we expected to resolve itself, but it didn’t. The nature of this show had been changed to what Westerfeld describes as the “Alternate World” story. It is “...the reader going on a journey to another era, another planet, a world that follows different rules”.

Not many things in this world are visibly different, but things more personal to each character were altered hugely. For the most part, things appear to have been changed for the better, Tess never moving to Australia, Henry married again to a fellow scientist and most heart-warmingly of all, Alison’s son Kevin no longer is autistic. Of course, not everything is perfect, how could it be? Zane and Jo’s relationship does not exist, as does Fargo and his girlfriend’s. It’s a sad turn of events but they are given different chances in life; Jo is the head of security at Global Dynamics working under the new head, Fargo. These differences, caused by a scientist from the original Eureka camp making his way through time with them to the 21st century has brought a fresh feeling to the show. We now have the constant struggle that these characters go through having to keep from everyone the fact that they are from an alternate timeline, this shared secret bringing the characters together much closer than before. This decision by the characters to not tell anyone for fear of repercussions has thus made this timeline the main one, allowing the show to revert back to the “Trespass” story it once was, giving us great stories that can conclude in an episode in a new world.

This storyline is sheer genius; a perfect plot device to strengthen character relationships and breathe fresh life into the show. With season five confirmed and only part of season four having aired, I have to say that this is one show that has gone from strength to strength, improving with time and I would like to congratulate the writers and everyone who worked on it. Great actors and a well made show that clearly has a dedicated team working on it. Can’t wait for the next episode and bring on season five!

So I ordered Warehouse 13 on DVD from The Hut and after waiting for three or four weeks and sending a few emails on the lateness of its delivery, I finally gave up, cancelled my order and paid a few pounds more to get it from a shop in town today. At had really worked my hopes up for this series after finding out its links with Eureka and from the first two episodes, especially the pilot I can say I'm pleased with the writers. They've done an awesome job on the show.



Warehouse 13 is a show that follows two main characters; United States Secret Service agents Myka Bering and Peter Lattimer who, in the pilot episode are approached by a woman in their respective homes and told to go to South Dakota and wait there as they are being reassigned to the government's secret Warehouse 13 facility.

Upon arriving at the place they were ordered to, they realise it is in the middle of nowhere and is a huge, none-descript warehouse with one door and they quickly meet up with the man currently working at the facility, the eccentric Dr. Arthur "Artie" Nielsen. He beings to explain the the function of the warehouse to them and immediately Myka has a dislike of the situation. She attempts to get transferred back and is told that she will be there indefinitely. This is confirmed after an incident with a ferret which will make more sense if you watch it yourselves.



It is explained that this warehouse was the idea of some of the greatest minds in history and that every item that possesses an ability or energy that cannot be explained must be found and contained at this facility. Everything from Houdini's wallet to a magic kettle and many, many more artifacts are kept here.
The thing that I found most striking about the plot of this show is the explanation of these seemingly magical devices. Rather than leaving the origins of these items up to, simply that; magic, it is explained that humans are always capable of learning more. And many, many things in this world cannot be explained by our current knowledge. Of course, as our minds progress, more and more things can be removed from the Warehouse as we discover they are not a threat to us. But until that day comes, we must be protected from these mysterious forces.



There is an immediate feeling in the show that there is something we haven't been told as with every good drama and this just makes it all the more watchable.
There are many reasons you should give this show a chance, everything from the likeability of the characters for all their unique strengths and flaws to the endless possibilites of the artifacts within the Warehouse. Not forgetting their perfect and brilliant implementation of history into their storylines, drawing on interesting historical figures and ideas. This is a smart show, much like Eureka and I really think SyFy are onto a winner with this one. It combines all the elements for a good supernatural investigative drama and I can't wait to carry on watching. In fact that's what I'll do right now. Anyone who reads this, trust me, you should watch it and kudos to SyFy and the writers of their awesome shows.

G'night all.

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.