TV Review: Eureka 3.17 & 3.18

Posted by Kevin Carr (kevin@filmschoolrejects.com) on September 19, 2009

Eureka, SyFy, Airs Friday 9/8c

Episode: “Have an Ice Day” (Season Three, Episode 17)

Synopsis: With Allison on maternity leave (and making only a single appearance on a laptop screen), Tess is in charge of Global Dynamics. On her first day as the big cheese, she faces a chilling situation when a giant ice core in the basement starts to freeze everything and everyone around it. Sheriff Carter helps discover what is causing this rogue ice problem while Deputy Lupo is distracted by her boyfriend being aloof and, shall we say, giving her the cold shoulder.

Review: I am torn. I like both Allison Blake and Tess Fontana. Both are fine-looking women, and they are great characters. I couldn’t tell you who I’d prefer to carry the baton for Global Dynamics into season four (though I think I am leaning a bit towards Allison, I suppose). The fact that Sheriff Carter has solidified his non-platonic relationship with Tess breaks the sexual tension a bit, but they both still work in their roles. I do miss Allison, though.

This episode did feature relationships abound, including Zoe’s tenuous relationship with her boy genius (which is a bit irritating to me, since I never liked that guy in the first place). We see the plans being set for Zoe to jump out of the nest, putting a strain on her relationship with her dad and boyfriend because she’s more interested in pre-med than robotics.

There’s also a nod to Deputy Lupo’s former flame, played by Max Headroom. I never quite got that one, and it just seems gross to me now.

For a basic disaster-of-the-week Eureka episode, this will do. Still, I never have figured out why people in this town never suspect odd behavior as having to do with the major problems facing the town.

Episode: “What Goes Around, Comes Around” (Season Three, Episode 18)

Synopsis: Sheriff Carter faces separation anxiety for two reasons. Daughter Zoe has been accepted for early pre-med enrollment at Harvard, and main squeeze Tess is heading off to Australia for a new job when Allison plans to return to Global Dynamics. And to make matters worse, it looks like there’s a new North Pole forming above the town of Eureka.

Review: This is the season finale? Seriously? I mean, after waiting for the better part of a year for the second half of season three to start airing, we’re giving this very mundane episode as the way to cap off year three of Eureka?

For your average episode, “What Goes Around, Comes Around” works well enough. It’s another innocent science experiment gone horribly awry, which threatens to wipe out the earth. I’ve come to expect this from this show. However, as a set-up for the end of the season with only a bittersweet B-story of Carter’s separation anxiety as the cliffhanger, this kinda blew.

We get the sense that Sheriff Carter might want to leave town to be with Tess, but haven’t we been down this road before?… like in the mid-season cliffhanger (which aired last September)? And that got resolved in a single episode.

Still, this finale wasn’t a total loss. Craig Ferguson threw down with some excellent physical comedy during the climax, and that had me laughing.

Up Next Week: Nada… and let’s just hope that SyFy gets off their ass and brings the show back in a timely manner.

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Did you watch Eureka this week? If so, feel free to discuss below.

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