... in which Eva’s efforts to permanently bury the underground bunker come to a head as Zoe begins exhibiting signs of advanced aging.So, given that the writers wrapped the main arc of the season, then left us with a cliffhanger, I’m guessing ‘From Fear to Eternity’ was a mid-season finale when the series originally aired. Carter fired?! Say it ain’t so! I’m sure this situation will be resolved fairly quickly in the next episode, but it’s still a terrible place to leave our beloved sheriff.
As for the bulk of the episode, it provided a solid resolution to the Eva story, featuring a few twists I didn’t predict last week and some very nice symmetry with Henry helping to give Eva a new life, after she gave him a new lease on life by securing his pardon. (Looks like it was worth it, huh, Eva?) I’d been wondering if Zoe’s contact with the purple goo would have ramifications down the line, and thought having her fall ill was an organic way to finally get the truth out of Eva. Clearly, nothing short of a direct threat to someone else’s life was going to get her to open up. (Although I’m still not thrilled we had to suffer through the Stupid Teenager Plot to get us to this point.)
So it turns out that, yes, Eva was part of the original team of Eureka scientists and founders. She was a lab assistant, helping her brother on the first atomic bomb project. (I was really surprised to learn she was grieving for her brother, not her husband.) The early bomb prototypes used an element other than plutonium, which unfortunately resulted in a mysterious byproduct (the purple goo) that induced rapidly advanced aging in most people, but in Eva caused her aging to dramatically slow down. To protect the camp and the world, her fellow scientists were forced to seal themselves and their project in the bunker. Eva spent her life trying to put this terrible tragedy behind her, but when her success ironically landed her back in Eureka and she stumbled across the old bomb testing footage, she became determined to put an end to her unnaturally long life and lay her past to rest for good.
I really enjoyed this mini-arc. Unlike our previous arcs, here, all the threads and hints nicely came together in a cohesive whole with no lingering threads, logic gaps, or inconsistent character behavior. Plus, I really liked Eva and enjoyed seeing the mystery of her story unfold. Frances Fisher has been fantastic. She was confident, capable, steely, occasionally villainous, and yet, believably vulnerable and human. “She’s a piece of work, that one.” I’m going to miss her. Obviously, her arc reached its natural conclusion and Carter’s actions necessitated that she leave town, but she was a great presence on the series and always struck me as a more credible head of Global than Allison (although she’s been showing some much stronger leadership lately). All the best, Eva! It’s been fun.
Other Thoughts
Jo (re: Zane): “I put myself out there --- commitment wise --- and he froze. We haven’t talked since.”
Thank goodness Jo and Zane worked out their issues, because I was aggravated as hell that they wouldn’t just talk to each other. That “passive-aggressive thing” really is annoying. People, don’t expect your partners to just be able to read your minds! Tell them what’s bothering you. It’s awesome when partners come to know each other so well that they’re “in sync,” but it’s even better when they just have open and honest communication. Especially about serious relationship issues. That way, everyone knows where they stand and you can work things out, instead of pulling the ridiculous “Well, if you don’t know what’s wrong, I’m not going to tell you!” bit and wallowing in misery. TALK. TO. EACH. OTHER.
Fargo’s cat pictures were hilarious. Dude is weird.
Jo: “In another five minutes I would’ve chewed off my own leg!”
Zane: “Your mouth is probably big enough.”
Carter: “What about you?”
Eva: “I’d rather save somebody now than hold on to it for a lifetime.”
Carter: “Someone oughta promote you.”
Jo: “Yeah.”
Yes, Allison is pregnant. With Stark’s baby. I guess she really will always have a little piece of him. Boy, the town is going to be awash in babies before too long.
Eva: “I can leave here thinking about my future, instead of my past. That’s quite a gift.”
Final Analysis: I’m not thrilled with the cliffhanger, but this was a very good ending to the Eva Thorne story. She’ll be missed.
Jess Lynde is a highly engaged television viewer. Probably a bit too engaged.
I agree that this wasn't as strong a midseason ender as I'd hoped, but the resolution of Eva's arc worked. We could tell all through her tenure that she had a backstory, but I didn't expect it to be such a good one.
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