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Warehouse 13: Love Sick

... in which Artie and Claudia investigate a potential artifact-related outbreak, while Pete and Myka get to play out their own version of The Hangover.

I liked this one. It was a bit of a strange mishmash, but I enjoyed all the parts. I particularly enjoyed the main plot with Claudia, Artie, Vanessa, and Hugo. The case was really intriguing, it was delightful to see both Vanessa and Hugo again, and I’m always a sucker for poignant character stuff with Artie. Especially with Claudia playing cheerleader and offering emotional support! I’m not usually one for romantic roadblocks, but I rather liked the tension between Artie, Vanessa, and Hugo. I especially loved that Hugo’s arrival and the reveal of his past with Vanessa led to that wonderfully bittersweet scene in which Artie confessed to Claudia that he’d given up on the possibility of love, until he met Vanessa.

Artie: “Given my line of work, and my advanced years, I had pretty much made peace with the fact that I would not find romantic companionship. A love. And then … Vanessa. And so, I started to hope. False hope, it would seem.”
Claudia: “Artie, it’s hope. How can it be false?”

As we’ve seen countless times, being a Warehouse agent certainly presents a serious challenge to romantic happiness, and it’s an issue with which I imagine we’ll continue to see all our agents struggle. Fortunately, as the ever-positive Claudia notes, hope remains. Notably for Artie and Vanessa. Yea! It was very nice to see Artie win the day and get the girl, especially after his selfless willingness to sacrifice his own happiness for Vanessa’s and Hugo’s. I really loved the sweet irony that Hugo’s drawing and his past with Vanessa were what led Artie to step aside, but were also the very reasons she wanted to pursue something with Artie. “When Hugo looks at me, he sees this girl. This young girl, she lives inside me somewhere, but … you know, she’s just a small part of me now. When you look at me, you see me.” Eeeee! (That’s Claudia’s squee of happiness!) I’ll be looking forward to more stories with Artie and Dr. Vanessa.

While I can see the connection to the romantic entanglements theme of the main plot, the “fun with artifacts” B-plot with Pete, Myka, and Jinks was so ridiculous it was borderline awful. I’m rather embarrassed to admit that it had me chuckling throughout. I guess, once in awhile, I just enjoy watching Pete and Myka banter and be childish together. After last week’s lingering tension and awkwardness, it was very nice to see them comfortably back in their old grove. And, of course, I’m much relieved that Pete and Myka didn’t actually sleep together. I’m even more relieved that the whole plot seemed intent on diffusing that “repressed sexual tension” notion completely. “We did not whammy each other, okay? And I will prove it, or I will die trying.” I was delighted that their insistence on not thinking of each other that way was played as quite genuine and not as the two of them being in denial. Pete’s heartfelt admission that he views Myka as his partner and best friend, and nothing’s going to change that, was quite lovely. And Myka’s later realization that she staged them being in bed together because she knew it would drive her to discover the truth would be hard to interpret as “I’m just denying my true feelings.” Although I guess you could spin it as she’d never let herself go down that path again, regardless of her feelings, because of what happened with her last boyfriend/partner. Sigh. I’m gonna go with Option A and choose to believe that, for all its over-the-top goofiness (they bronzed Jinks!), this storyline put the proverbial nail in the coffin of any romantic tension between Pete and Myka. Whew!

Other Thoughts

This week’s artifact was a necklace that spelled the Hebrew word for truth. Its power was linked to the Jewish myth of the golem, in which a clay figure was animated to appear human. Here, the necklace animated the inanimate by making a computer virus “come to life” and begin turning people into clay. Cool and seriously creepy.

Everyone teasing Artie about primping for Dr. Vanessa was great fun. I love that he was wearing the coat Claudia got for him!

Artie (to Claudia as she moves to block his exit): “Did I not leave enough food in your bowl?”

So Artie sleeps at the Warehouse, huh? Did we already know this? If so, I must have forgotten. And yet, I’m not surprised.

Myka: “There must be some simple explanation. Why you and I would be in bed. Together. Naked ... with Artie’s toothbrush?”
The toothbrush really kicked up the horrific awkwardness to another level.

Artie: “In fact, it was such a successful promenade, that I was thinking, perhaps, we should take it to the next level.”
Vanessa: “A jog?”
Artie: “Well, I could buy some shorts.”

Pete’s reaction to the news that Jinks is gay was hilarious! “Finally! Thank god, there’s someone to appreciate all this. It’s a waste of time working out for these people.”

Pete: “It is very hard to fire a ray gun in the movies. How many times you see a Stormtrooper hit what he’s firing at? Not once.”

Pete: “How come every other artifact makes me have to call my sponsor?”

Love the running gag about Jinks being a “poopy pants.”

Manager: “Your attitude just wrote one too many checks your butt can’t cash.”
Seriously? This line and the line delivery was soooo bad. The whole firing scene was pretty bad actually.

Interesting product integration in this one. Definitely not over-pimping the awesomeness of TigerDirect or its employees. Except for the assorted store signs in the background letting you know what they do.

Hugo’s drawing of young Vanessa reminded me of Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy.

Why didn’t Claudia just Tesla Tyler, instead of trying to jump across the gap between rooftops? It looked like she had an easy shot.

I had forgotten that Hugo went to Eureka with Fargo at the end of that crossover episode. I wonder if maybe we’ll be seeing him at some point in the back half of Eureka’s Season 4.

Artie: “I hope … that you know I wish you and Hugo nothing but the best …”
I love the way Saul Rubinek got caught a little on “I hope.” A very subtle and wonderful reference to his earlier conversation with Claudia.

Claudia getting all excited in the background after Vanessa kissed Artie was so much fun.

Looks like Team Evil is maybe building its own artifact-hunting crew, and Sasha Roiz is onboard! Yes! When I saw his name in the opening credits, I got super excited. After he still hadn’t put in an appearance by the halfway point, I figured he’d be part of Team Evil (since Agent Sally was in the “previously on” clips), and I got even more excited. Recurring status! Roiz was so awesome as Sam Adama on Caprica (one of the few parts of that show I never had any qualms with), and I hope they give him some cool, meaty stuff to do on this show.

Final Analysis: A bit awkward and messy at times, but an enjoyable episode, nonetheless. I hope we never again have to hear any nonsense about Pete and Myka being anything other than platonic. (I’m kidding myself, right?)

Jess Lynde is a highly engaged television viewer. Probably a bit too engaged.

3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Yeah, at first my husband was totally confused and asked "Who was that?" I had to tell him it was Myka with a blond wig on. She definitely looked weird. It gave me some perspective on her new regular do. I guess I don't mind the flat-ironed, wave look so much, after all. :)

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  3. It was fun. A bit uneven, as you pointed out, Jess.

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