Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

Warehouse 13: Insatiable

... in which Pete and Myka attempt to identify the artifact causing apparent zombie attacks. Meanwhile, Claudia continues to struggle with Jinks’s firing.

Zombies. Why did it have to be zombies? Sigh.

Okay, okay. I know the artifact victims weren’t actually zombies, but they were pretty much treated like zombies for the bulk of the hour, and it all came down to a moment in which one character was trapped by a horde in a single-minded feeding frenzy, so close enough. Sigh. I find zombies incredibly dull, and Claudia’s love life is something the writers have never been able to make interesting, so other than a few laughs here and there, this episode didn’t really do much for me. I didn’t actively hate it or anything, I just found it rather “meh” and a bit of a chore to get through. (At least I was able to fast-forward through most of it on the rewatch.)

Even the final reveal of the artifact and how it came to be was a little underwhelming. I like the idea of something associated with the Donner Party turning people into monsters suffering from hypothermia and an insatiable hunger, but the item being a jar that was triggered by putting money into it was just bizarre. I give the writers credit for keeping me guessing through most of the episode, but the ultimate answer to this mystery was less than satisfying.

The only bits keeping ‘Insatiable’ from being entirely disposable were the snippets with Jinks. His harsh attempt to sever his relationship with Claudia, and his later smile when he received her “you can’t get rid of me that easily” text, just confirmed for me that he’s playing a role here. He needed to appear burned and completely cut off from his friends, so that Team Evil would come knocking. Which, of course, they did.

I liked the way Jinks worked the recruitment scene. Before the “mole” idea occurred to me, I thought the notion that he would turn to the dark side because Mrs. Frederic tortured Agent Sally was patently ridiculous. It made sense that he would object to her methods, but why would he then throw in his lot with a group that uses those same methods? Highly illogical. So I was very glad to see the issue addressed here. “You people are murderers. […] Why would I work for you?” Given that the Warehouse burned him so thoroughly he’s now got “no career, no prospects, no future,” I can see how “the enemy of my enemy” would, in fact, have some appeal. On the surface at least. I don’t actually believe Jinks would be that easy to sway, but since he’s likely still working for the good guys, I’m cool with the rationale presented. And he very effectively sold himself as a “reluctant” recruit. Well played, Jinksy!

Other Thoughts

Ithaca! I love Ithaca. Especially this time of year. Ithaca is Gorges!

The continued presence of the Warehouse dog amuses me.

Pete: “If some psycho tried to off your mother, wouldn’t you want payback?”
Artie: “You never met my mother.”

Myka couldn’t recognize a human bite mark? Seriously? At least she knew how to use her Tesla this week.

Myka: “It kind of sounded like he said ‘Peas. Elk. Bison.’”
Pete: “Well, at least there’s some vegetables in there.”

Artie: “I changed my mind. I’m mercurial. Deal with it.”
Claudia: “Not exactly the adjective I’d use right now.”

I feel like we haven’t really seen enough of the Claudia and Jinks pairing to buy into the idea that she considers him her very best friend in the whole wide world. I know they care about each other, but they weren’t partners for that long. Would they really become besties so quickly? It feels a little forced. Then again … after seeing how cagey Claudia had to be with the musician --- and knowing how isolated she was for most of her life --- I guess it does make a certain amount of sense that she would quickly bond to someone with whom she was able to have such open, honest communication.

The mouse skittering across the floor in the basement of the frat house cracked me up. It totally looked like a phony mouse on wheels getting dragged! Ridiculously fake!

Myka’s hair was kind of curly again this week. Yea!

Artie’s attempts to connect with the first victim’s son were painfully awkward. Please, no more forcing Artie to interact with young children! Dogs, yes. Children, no.

Claudia threatening the “Sultan of Suckwad” was hilarious. “It’s on.”

So not a fan of the Claudia romance stories, but I did like how she laid things out for Duane at the end. “Listen, Duane, this is the warning label on Claudia Donovan, okay? Stuff happens to me. A lot. Sometimes weird stuff, sometimes bad stuff. But, it puts things in perspective. I never know what fresh hell tomorrow’s gonna bring.”

Final Analysis: Zombies. Meh.

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

3 comments:

  1. first off the really important stuff...

    YES! Myka seems to have lost her very strange hairpiece and we seem to be back on track with curly-ish normal looking hair!

    I am glad you addressed the jinksy/claudia issue..I kept feeling like the "besties" thing came out of no-where as well. But as I think about it more I am wondering if we are just supposed to realize that he was her first official warehouse agent partner and they must have done dozens of "bag/tag" operations together that we just did not see... so after a ton of weirdness/stakeouts then yeah i guess i can see the love.

    sucks though that he has to play claudia... even if he is going all undercover... claudia has not had alot of great relationships in her life and i feel like she is not going to be psyched when she uncovers his duplicity.

    zombies were a little goofy but i liked seeing artie care about the boy when he really stopped to see what the kiddo was going through. it was neat for artie to get to be a bit of a hero in someone's eyes.

    sort of a dopey sideplot with claudia and the carnival robot thingie (anyone else think of BIG here?) i kept wanting her to just look at the label of the artifact and read what it does... they are all labeled... kind of an over-reaction for someone who is usually pretty jaded.

    an alright "artifact of the week" episode but i am hoping we pick up the broader arc again soon... the relationships between the crew are what warehouse 13 does best..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Definitely thought of Big. The hubby and I couldn't figure out if we'd seen the Sultan on WH13 before and were supposed to remember what he does, or if we were just having Big flashbacks! Must have been the latter.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hope you're right about Jinx! That's the idea that popped into my head as well, but I was worried it might be wishful thinking... :s

    And this episode did not catch my interest at all! It felt like an unecessary break while Captain Janeway is in danger! I'm all with Pete on needing to solve this pronto! ;o)

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.