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Eureka: Best in Faux

... in which Carter investigates exploding robotic dogs and an earthquake that only he felt.

So, yet another week of getting slammed over the head with the theme. Last week it was “balance,” and this time out it’s all about “pressure” (cue up either Billy Joel or Queen, depending on your preferences). Pressure can be a very destructive force! It makes magma and volcanoes! People crack under pressure and do crazy things! But it can also be good for you! Pressure can make diamonds! I actually lost track of the number of times the word “pressure” was used in this episode. Man. Have they always been this heavy-handed with the themes?

Still, ‘Best in Faux’ was an entertaining episode that brought back some familiar faces and introduced an engaging new character in Dr. Hood. It is always a pleasure to see the wonderful Alan Ruck as a guest star and I just loved him as Dr. Hood. Other than Taggart, we don’t get too many rough and tumble science types in this town. His interplay with Carter was very funny, and his excitement about getting dirty again was infectious. I was genuinely upset when it looked like the diamond-making pressure wave was killing him! I know he said he can’t live in the Global Dynamics pressure-cooker environment anymore, but I hope we get to see Dr. Hood again someday.

This was also another one of those episodes, like ‘Duck, Duck, Goose,’ in which a number of seemingly disparate threads comes together as either the cause or the solution for the disaster-of-the-week. As soon as I saw Henry melting copper with acoustic waves, I knew it would somehow tie into the magma pocket situation, but I didn’t expect the logic diamonds, the robotic dogs, the tunneler, and the synthetic mucus to all tie into the resolution. I love it when everything comes together in a way that doesn’t feel forced.

Other Thoughts

It was so delightful to see Carol Taylor and Dr. Young again! They weren’t as fun as they were back in their introductory episodes, but having repeat tertiary characters makes the world of Eureka feel more fully formed. Plus, Dr. Young did get some choice snark. “Well. Looks like the bitch is back.”

Eva sure didn’t waste any time making use of Henry. Nice to see that Henry was immediately wary of her suspicious behavior, even though she was a very, very smooth liar. (Loved the jump cut from the shot of Eva to Dr. Young yelling “She’s a liar!” in reference to Carol Taylor.) Of course, we still have no idea what Eva’s deal is. Her interest in the radiation is obviously tied to what she saw on the historical footage last week, but why? What did Henry’s information about the abundance of different radiation types tell her? I guess now that Henry and Carter are on the case, we’ll find out. Eventually.

Of course, Jo is into weddings! Given all we know about her repressed inner girly girl, why would we ever expect any different? Tee hee!

Carter (to Stark): “Who raised you?!”

Carter: “Sounds good. What’s all that gonna tell us?”
Stark: “Nothing. We just like sounding smart.”

Even before Allison confessed to Carter that she feels like she can’t breathe, her extremely snippy attitude with nearly everyone made it pretty clear that she was feeling the pressure. (Pressure can get to you!) Between Eva, her new role as Director of Operations, the wedding planning, and the latest DOTW, she’s got a lot going on. I wasn’t quite sure how to interpret her “Pressure makes you do crazy things” comment. Are the writers trying to suggest that’s why she’s marrying Stark? If so, consider me baffled. She’s obviously still got some conflicted feelings about Carter, but her interactions with Stark seem very genuine. Like she loves him and wants to marry him. So what gives? Am I just reading too much into an innocent comment?

What’s up with Kevin these days? Have Allison or Stark even mentioned him since the new season started? All the focus has been on Henry’s end-of-season deceptions, but how’s Kevin been since the Artifact-ectomy? And what does he think about Allison and Stark getting remarried?

Carter: “I got dogs exploding all over town.”
Dr. Hood: “[Laughs heartily.] That’s a dog show I could get into.”

The effects shot of the lava streaming into the lake was just poor. Ridiculously fake looking.

Fargo cheating with a real dog was hilarious.

Henry: “I do not keep secrets from my friends. Anymore.”

So is that it, then? All his past deceptions and sins get swept away by simply acknowledging that he’s turned over a new leaf? Does that mean that Henry mind-wiping Carter is just “bygones” now? After all the angst I invested in the Carter-Henry relationship rift last season, I don’t think I’m entirely cool with this seeming turn of events. I mean, I want Henry and Jack to get back to their old dynamic, but I feel like some major unresolved issues need to be addressed.

Final Analysis: I’m getting a bit tired of the flashing neon episode themes, but I still rather enjoyed this outing. Pressure!

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

1 comment:

  1. I had the Billy Joel song stuck in my head throughout this episode.

    :-)

    ReplyDelete

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