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Warehouse 13: Don't Hate the Player

... in which Claudia, Pete, and Myka attempt to save a friend from an artifact-induced gaming disaster, while Artie and Jinks assist Agent Sally on a “weird” case.

Oy. I actually sat in stunned silence for awhile after this one ended. I honestly don’t know what to make of it. Was it better than last week’s episode, worse, or about the same? I’m leaning towards “about the same,” with the proviso that, after seeing this one, I think perhaps I was a bit too hard on last week’s episode. The costumed in-game craziness was rather over-the-top and sophomoric at times --- Pete’s reaction to boobalicious Leena was particularly groan-inducing --- but I enjoyed it more than the flashback material last week. However, the character moments were nowhere near as strong in ‘Don’t Hate the Player,’ so on balance I think it was fairly even with ‘3… 2… 1’: not good, but not bloody awful.

When Claudia’s fears began to manifest, I thought they were actually going to take this silly story some place deep. The look of pain and terror on her face was really quite something to behold. Unfortunately, the thread quickly devolved into a campy shock therapy scenario. (Anyone remember when Syd went undercover in an institution on Season 1 of Alias? Now that was some terrifying shock therapy!) I love that the writers recognized Claudia would very likely still struggle with spending her formative years trapped in an institution, where no one believed her claims that her brother was still alive. And the notion that she secretly fears her newfound family and happiness is all a delusion she created to escape the misery of her life is very potent. I just wish they had treated it with the same seriousness they treated Pete’s struggles with alcohol in ‘Queen for a Day,’ instead of playing it for laughs and a quick hero moment. Maybe they’ll return to the idea someday and give it a better treatment.

On the flip side, Artie and Jinks attempting an art heist was fairly entertaining. Artie’s nifty artifact gadgets are always a source of great amusement and his frustration with Jinks’s inability to play coy was funny. I was bummed that they seemingly got completely played by Agent Sally, but it is rather interesting that Jinks can’t read her. I wonder if there’s something special about her, or if she’s using an artifact. Maybe she really is just an exceptional liar. Of course, perhaps she didn’t play them as well as it appears. Artie did have a niggling feeling that something wasn’t right as they walked away with the painting. Perhaps he put some countermeasures in place to deal with a potential Trojan horse? Guess we’ll find out next week.

Other Thoughts

The title for this episode really amused me. And I adored Claudia’s elf costume. On the other hand, Pete, Myka, and Artie looked rather ridiculous. Don’t get me started on Leena.

As noted, I didn’t care for Pete’s excessive drooling over Leena, but I did get a good laugh out of Claudia’s reaction to Fargo objectifying her as Princess Claudia. “What are those things on my chest?”

When are we going to see the magical transport device the Warehouse crew uses? How did they get from South Dakota (presumably that’s where Claudia picks up Artie’s coffee for a late night of inventorying) to Palo Alto (where Fargo’s death appeared imminent) so freaking fast? Did they really arrive several hours later? Did his condition not escalate until shortly before they arrived? I think they’ve got a transporter and we just haven’t seen it yet.

The disturbing Beatrix Potter journal drawings cracked me up. Especially after my husband commented, “Well, he was a pretty bad bunny.”

Oh, Sasha Roiz. I’m so hoping that you get something better to do this season than sit in a car and nod in a sinister and knowing manner.

I enjoyed Claudia’s coffee house performance. I wasn’t super crazy about the song itself, but I liked how she really put her inner pain and confusion out there with those lyrics, and it was a lot of fun to see her playing for an audience.

Final Analysis: Another weak episode for me. It had its moments, and it did advance the season arc, but I really wish they had given the story about Claudia’s demons more depth.

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

4 comments:

  1. I wasn't crazy about this episode, but it was fun in places. It seemed wrong that Sally could have completely fooled Artie and Jinks. On the music side, I just heard the song Claudia sang on the radio. It's by Placebo, I think. Also, I have to say I just loved that they played Star Trek music during Pete's fight in the game at the end with the girlfriend. I think it was from the original series The Gamesters of Triskelion, though they might have used it more than once. Maybe Billie knows. -Kathy

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  2. Kathy, the Star Trek music was introduced in "Amok Time" when Kirk and Spock were fighting to the death. :)

    I wasn't crazy about this one, either. Dan liked it more than I did, but he's a gamer and I'm not. If they're going to continue doing Eureka crossovers, I'd like it to be better than this. BTW, they crossed over Dr. Bionic Woman on Alphas. She was even wearing the same CDC badge. So apparently, we could quite possibly get an Alphas crossover, too.

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  3. The song is "Where is my mind" by the Pixies..Placebo did a cover of it. I rather liked Claudia's version. Not the best episode but an okay one.
    Anna

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  4. Never too late to comment ?

    Billie, Jess,

    That scene with Amok Time's music made me crack up and LMAO. I confess that I can watch it 3-4 times in a row since it makes me laugh so much.

    BRING IT BEEEEE-ITCH !

    And yes, Claudia's singing ? Nice touch. Not glee-esque, just nice.

    ReplyDelete

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