… in which our favorite time-traveling Eurekans continue to discover and adapt to the changes in the altered timeline.
‘A New World’ picks up right where we left off with Carter getting blind-sided by the discovery that Tess is still a very big part of his life in this reality. He then promptly gets gobsmacked by Normal Teenager Kevin strutting into his house, venting about Allison, and stealing Carter’s breakfast before heading out with Tess. Welcome home, Carter!
And thus begins a heady day of discovery for our heroes, as they learn that Dr. Grant purposely hitched a ride back to the future; Henry is married to the heretofore unknown Grace Monroe; and there’s been a major changeup in the GD management structure --- Allison is now the Medical Director, Jo is the Head of Security, and Fargo (!) is the overall Director. At least Carter’s still sheriff and Henry’s still mayor.
This episode was just a ton of fun. Discovering all the changes from minor to major left me grinning from ear to ear or gaping in slack-jawed wonder. I actually enjoyed the arc-building stuff so much, that my notes for the episode included little to nothing on the disaster of the week. (I believe it had something to do with positronic lightening. Catastrophe was averted.)
Mostly, I’m thrilled that the altered reality continues to be the new status quo. The changes inject a new energy into the storytelling, and serve as a great engine for character drama and development. I particularly love that the effects on the “Eureka Six” are so diverse and emotionally complex. Jo finally being promoted to a position of real authority is so exciting and well deserved --- I loved Carter being so proud and happy for her! --- but it coming at the cost of her relationship with Zane is just crushing (especially since he’s back to his rebellious, troublemaking, horndog ways in this reality --- ack!). Similarly, Fargo getting to live his dreams and run Global apparently comes at the expense of the sweet and hapless guy we’ve come to know and love. Grant got to see the future he helped make possible, but it isn’t as exciting as he thought it would be. “I thought there’d be more flying cars. Robotic servants. Super-highways stretching into the sky. Less … ’47 Chrysler New Yorkers.” Henry seems like he managed to find the kind of loving and supportive partnership he was never able to have with Kim, but unfortunately he doesn’t know his supposed love at all. And, of course, Carter got his girlfriend back without the pesky long-distance relationship part, but now he’s not sure if that’s what he really wants. “I spend a year realizing we don’t work as a couple. We break up. She’s spends a year thinking it’s great. Which is it?” I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone come to grips with the New World in the weeks to come. Especially since they need to keep the truth quiet, lest they get “isolated and sanctioned” by the Department of Defense.
The only one who doesn’t seem to have a major downside in her altered reality is Allison. She’s no longer the head of Global, but she is the Medical Director --- a role for which she seems infinitely better suited --- and she gets to have the normal kid she’s always wanted. Maybe Tess’s continued presence in Carter’s life is Allison’s downside. Or maybe her tradeoff is that she still doesn’t quite get to have the close connection with her son she’s always wanted, because most normal teenagers don’t want to be obsessively smothered. Either way, these are both “prices” she’s willing to pay, as she made it perfectly clear she’ll do whatever it takes to preserve her new reality. “I didn’t do it, Carter. But, honestly, I think that I would have.”
Other Thoughts
Carter’s shock and wonder at Normal Kevin was almost as delightful as Allison’s.
Zane’s kind of a jerk in this reality. “He’s in your jail so much, he has his own pillow.” I hope Carter’s right that people “are who they are” at their core, because I want Jo’s Zane back.
I guess we’ll never know if Autistic Kevin purposely engaged the bridge device or why, since his intentions are “locked in a boy whose consciousness of that event no longer exist.”
In the New World, Julia and Fargo never met. She’s a gazillionaire and married to an astronaut. Good for her. Hopefully she didn’t have to steal someone’s identity to make that happen.
Jo: “This reality blows.”
Fargo: “Amen, sister.”
Henry noted that the bridge device could be supporting an “unstable temporal wormhole,” which could cause space-time to unravel. So if the device is dead, are we to assume that space-time unraveling is no longer an issue? Or can they still “further contaminate the timeline” and tear the universe apart?
Jo (walking out in an oversized deputy uniform): “Look at this. You know what this means? I’m fat. In this timeline, I am the fat deputy.”
I was really jazzed to see Sheriff Andy again (now as Carter’s deputy), and got a big kick out of him immediately figuring out their predicament and just rolling with it. “Did you happen to go back to 1947 and come back to an altered timeline? […] Don’t worry, I know it’s all on the down low.”
I couldn’t help but be amused by the meta-ness of James Callis being awed by an “extremely lifelike” robot. Too funny.
Grant: “I’ve been chasing the future my entire life. When the opportunity presented itself, I simply couldn’t resist.”
Larry is Fargo’s toady! Love it!
Never tell Vincent anything. “I’m the vault,” my ass.
Kevin: “Dude, she has lost her mind! She won’t stop touching me, asking me stuff. She keeps feeding me!”
Carter: “I know, I know. It’s hard watching your kid grow up.”
Kevin: “Seriously, I think she’s on drugs!”
I’m really liking Normal Teenager Kevin.
Dougie the Vampire Slayer. Tee hee! It’s good to know that even though he’s apparently a total dick in this reality, Fargo still has his Buffy obsession. There’s hope for him yet!
Deputy Andy saying “Yippee-ki-yay” before heading off to be the lighting rod cracked me up!
Carter’s comments that he spent a year realizing he and Tess don’t work as a couple confirmed that it has been a year since the end of ‘What Goes Around, Comes Around.’ It feels really strange to have missed a year in the lives of our favorite Eurekans. I find it hard to accept that they went disaster- and adventure-free for that entire year! But at least now we are roughly caught up with real time.
Of course, now I’m even more perplexed as to why Jo would have said no to Zane’s proposal. They would have been together more than two years at that point. I can’t believe that after all that time she’d have any reservations. Still, I found the scene in which she voiced her regrets to Carter very affecting.
Jo: “I just wish I said something. You know, I know that it wouldn’t make a difference, and I know that he wouldn’t remember now. But, you know, at least it would be out there in the universe, somewhere. I love the guy. And he loved me … once.”
Final Analysis: Another strong episode, both fun and poignant. Looks like we’re settling in for the long-haul with these timeline changes. Yea!
Screen cap credit: rawr-caps
Jess Lynde is a highly engaged television viewer. Probably a bit too engaged.
'Dude! She has lost her mind!' I really enjoyed this episode as well. Kevin's exasperation with his mother's behavior and the glimpses into his comfortable friendship with Carter were delightful. Kevin is the most changed of all our characters and I think I am most curious to see his reaction to the time-travel and especially his role in it.
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