This is an interesting episode - a little break before the two-episode season finale two weeks from now. I also accidentally deleted the episode before I can finish the recap, so I apologize if things are a bit out of order and if I miss anything.
This episode begins with a couple of teenagers making out. They were getting really into it when they heard a noise in the woods. The guy went into the woods to investigate with a flashlight. He heard the noise again and then something jumped at him. He ran out bleeding to the girl, and the thing attacked her, too.
At the Warehouse, Pete kept questioning Artie about his mom. Artie said that she was protected by Regent Security, and he had no say in what they did. He sent Pete and Myka to Ithaca to investigate the bitten humans. Artie had given Claudia a couple of days off. She sang again at the open mike at the coffee shop, and after she was done, she was approached by Dwayne, the lead singer for the band Dead End. He said their guitarist had left and he wanted her to replace him. She tried calling Jinks afterwards, but he did not pick up again.
Pete and Myka went to Ithaca and talked to the victims. They showed Pete and Myka the bite marks that they got. Pete was convinced it was either vampires or werewolves, and Myka was skeptical. They went to the woods where the attack happened, and heard the same noise. They investigated and found a guy looking like a zombie. He flinched at the bright flashlight shone on his face (important later). Myka Tesla-ed him and found his wallet. His name was Kevin Monroe. They brought him to the hospital, and he was very blue and freezing. He also tried to tell them something, but they did not understand him. They showed Kevin to Artie over the Farnsworth, and Artie said he was flying over. Artie called Claudia as she was leaving to jam with the band, and told her to start researching living dead artifacts.
Artie had told Pete and Myka to go to Kevin's house, and when they got there, they found Kevin's son, Danny, hiding in the closet. They figured out that Kevin had tried to tell them to help his son. They brought Danny back to the hospital and met Artie, and told Artie that Danny hadn't said a word. They got word of another zombie attack at a frat house. Myka and Pete went to investigate while Artie reluctantly stayed behind with Danny.
When Myka and Pete got to the frat house, they talked to the victim and the other frat brothers who told them that the guy started complaining of being cold and hungry, and then he started attacking him. Myka and Pete went into the house and there was a bit of bickering about the lack of light bulbs in the hallway. Pete also noted all of the taco wrappers on the floor (important later). They ran into the zombie frat brother, who was eating everything in sight. The zombie attacked them and ended up biting Pete, who freaked out. Eventually they Tesla-ed him but he got back up. Pete had to pull his gun on the frat brother, who eventually collapsed again. When they went back outside, Pete was freaking out about being bitten, but then he got distracted by how hungry he was. He spotted a taco truck and went to buy some tacos. Myka had to spot him and paid for his food. The zombie frat brother was eventually brought to the hospital.
At the hospital Artie was attempting to talk to Danny, but did not get anywhere. Kevin's body temperature kept falling, and the nurse was worried that pretty soon his organs were going to fail. When the nurse left to get the doctor, Artie pulled the curtains around Kevin's bed and pulled out a pair of glasses. When he put the glasses on Kevin, Kevin's body temperature immediately went up again. The nurse came back and was surprised at the change, and asked where the glasses came from.
After Myka and Pete got back to the hospital, Pete was obsessed about changing into a zombie. But Artie found out that the couple from the beginning of the episode was fine and was already sent home, so it did not seem to be passed by biting. Instead Myka started to feel really cold, just like the other victims. Artie talked to Danny about helping out, and Danny eventually told them that Kevin started exhibiting symptoms last night after dinner. Danny said they were going to go for burgers, but the line was too long, so they went for tacos instead. Pete pulled out the menu from the taco truck and asked if that was where they went, and Danny said yes. They decided something in the taco truck must be causing the symptoms, but they were not sure what since Myka did not eat anything from the truck. Pete found through Twitter that the taco truck was now at a construction site not far from the hospital.
In the meantime, Claudia was able to reach Jinks while in the Warehouse, and Jinks told her to lose his number and to stay away from him. Claudia was upset and spoke out loud about what was wrong with her, and a creepy coin-operated boardwalk fortune teller (like to one in Big that turns Tom Hanks into an adult) suddenly came to life and spit out a card saying that Claudia was going to die tonight. As she walked away, a heavy statue fell and almost hit her.
Claudia was unable to find the artifact because the searches were going very slowly on the computer. Perhaps this was because of those bugs that escaped from the Van Gogh painting? She got her arm pulled into some sort of pneumatic tube, and only managed to get out when she cut the power. Leena called and told Claudia that Dwayne was waiting for her at the B&B. Claudia raced back and found Dwayne in the living room. She started doing her spazzy Claudia thing, and there was definitely some chemistry between the two of them. But a chandelier almost fell on the two of them, and Claudia freaked out. She told Dwayne to stay away form her because she was marked for death. Claudia went back to the fortune teller, who kept spitting out cards saying Claudia was going to die. Eventually she sprayed the fortune teller with some purple goo. When she was walking away, she noticed a puddle of water on the floor and water dripping from an artifact. The water went up to enclose Claudia's body and she was screaming for help. Mr. Y said that it looked like the anthropods in the movie The Abyss. Leena saw that an artifact was active and rescued Claudia. Claudia started freaking out about what a horrible day she was having and realized that she was also completely dry. Leena just rolled her eyes and reminded Claudia that it was artifact. Claudia then admitted that the fortune teller had said she was going to die. Leena then walked over to the fortune teller and asked it what she would have for dinner later in the day. The fortune teller spat out a card that Leena proceeded to hand over to Claudia. Claudia read it and the card said that Leena's tumor was terminal. Leena then told Claudia that she should not listen to the fortune teller, because he doesn't tell the future, but just creates dread.
Pete and Myka arrived at the construction site, but then Myka turned and attacked Pete. Construction workers started pouring out of the site and attacked the car. Pete was trying to hold off Myka, and eventually managed to kick Myka out of the car and locked the door. But then he realized that the keys were outside the car. He called Claudia and told her to hack into the power grid and turn the lights on because the zombies were sensitive to light. Claudia managed to turn on all the lights, and the zombies collapsed. Pete ran out of the car and to the taco truck. The taco truck operator was inside freaking out and originally refused to let Pete in because he was afraid Pete was one of the zombies. The lights blew and the zombies came back to life, and started chasing after Pete again. The taco guy let Pete into his truck, and he frantically tried to find what the artifact was while the zombies were attacking them from the outside. He eventually lit on the tip jar, and he remembered that Myka had put money in it. He asked the taco guy where he found the tip jar, and he said that it was found in the Utah dessert. Pete didn't have a static bag, so he just broke the tip jar. That broke the spell and all of the zombies went back to normal. Artie called them on the Farnsworth and showed them Kevin coming back to normal and hugging Danny on the hospital bed.
Later at the Warehouse, Artie explained that the tip jar came from the Donner Party. The Donner Party was a group of pioneers resorted to cannibalism when they were stuck in the Sierra Nevada during the winter. Only 48 of the original 87 survived to reach Sacramento. The extreme situations imbued the tip jar with the power to turn humans into zombie-like creatures. Even in the middle of tough circumstances, the pioneers were burying jars like this one to save up money in case they survived.
We ended with Jinks at a bar drinking, and he got a text from Claudia. He smiled at the text. But then the bartender came back saying that his card had been declined. Jinks was upset that his credit line was cut, too, in addition to being fired. At that point Marcus showed up and offered to pay for Jinks's bill. He said he recognized that everyone needed a friend sometimes, and called Jinks by name. Jinks became very wary. Marcus explained who he was, and told Jinks that they wanted him to work with them, because they like that he had scruples. At the end Jinks pulled out a chair for Marcus and we left them talking at the bar. Mr. Y's theory is that Jinks is undercover and was sent by Mrs. Fredericks to infiltrate Walter Sykes's organization. We'll see if he's right.
Showing posts with label Recaps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recaps. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Warehouse 13 Recap - Episode 309 - Shadows
Hello, this is Mr. Y, guest blogging for my wife who is still recovering from her hand surgery and can't type any long blogs... which a recap of Warehouse 13's latest episode surely qualifies. So, anyway, where to begin? Lets start with a full disclosure - this will be the first time I've blogged about anything, so please bear with me :)
Like most of the previous episodes this season, this episode was again split between a pair of separate story lines, one following Myka and Claudia and the second following Pete and his mom, Jane (Kate Mulgrew!). Both stories start at the same point, with Pete coming to terms with the fact that his absentee mom is really a Warehouse Regent (revealed at the end of the previous episode) and no one ever told him, even after he became a Warehouse Agent. Pete is confronting his mom about this fact and Jane is just about to sit Pete down to explain why he was never told when Mrs. Fredericks does her trademark magical appearing act and suddenly shows up to interrupt them. She notes that, with a number of Regents being recently killed, the Warehouse is at war. She notes that Artie was able to trace Sally Stutowski (Ashley Williams' character, killed at the end of the last episode) to a company called A To Z Technologies, but hasn't been able to turn anything up on that company. Jane immediately channels her inner Han Solo and remarks that "she has a very bad feeling about it." This gets Pete all fired up again because he suddenly realizes that his "Spidey Sense" ability may not be some random ability that he has, but something that he may have inherited from his mother. He also realizes that if the Regents had never come under threat, he would have never learned any of this about his mother. He then leaves in a huff after which... we learn that Mrs. Fredericks's first name is Irene! (Jane calls her that in the quiet moment after Peter storms off.) Mrs. Y insists that Mrs. Fredericks's first name was revealed previously, but I feel like that this is the first time they acknowledged it. We also learn that Mrs. Fredericks has a son (who is NOT an agent).
The story then segues to Portland where we're shown a man mowing his lawn. After a brief conversation with his wife, who is going to the store, he glows in bright flash of light, we see his skeleton (like in an x-ray) and he vanishes. All the nearby lights blow out. The story then comes back to the Warehouse, where Artie gets the ping about the anomaly in Portland and assigns Myka and Claudia to go investigate. This is a pretty funny scene because Myka and Claudia spend the whole time complaining to Artie that Jinks shouldn't be fired (from the last episode) while Artie single-mindedly ignores them to give them their assignment. At this point we get a minor spoiler from the opening credits. Aaron Ashmore's name doesn't appear in the Guest Star list, which means Jinks won't show up in this episode so it's doubtful that there will be any resolution on his firing this week (and there wasn't, though it was teased at the very end of the episode). On the other hand, we see that Anthony Michael Hall is in this episode and we can safely assume that if he's hired, he's going to play someone important.
On Myka's way out to go on her assignment, she stops by Pete's room to try and give him some emotional support in regards to his anger/frustration at learning his mother was a Regent and had been lying to him for almost all his life. She's not particularly successful, but it's a nice scene to show that Myka and Pete continue to have a very strong, caring (and, for once in these type of shows, a non-sexual) relationship. From this point, the stories completely diverge and I'll recap them one at a time.
Myka and Claudia
Myka and Claudia go out to Portland to investigate the person's disappearance (a one Jason Kinser). They learn from eyewitnesses at the scene that Jason just disappeared in a flash of light, afterwards all the nearby electrical power went out for a few seconds. They then go to Jason's place of a work, a novelty t-shirt manufacturer and learn that he was manager there and pretty well disliked by all the workers because he "didn't respect the artists" and laid off a number of people. As Myka and Claudia are interviewing the staff, one of the managers tells one of the designers to "add more glitter" to one of the t-shirt designs (important later!) prompting Claudia to ask whether glitter is making a comeback. One of the female staff members responds that she finds it everywhere, including on her vijayjay. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, SyFy went there. The look that Claudia gives is pretty funny and Myka wraps up the interview by asking the manager to give her a list of all former employees that were laid off by Jason.
We then jump to a scene where an angry young man (who we later learn is named Brandon Hill) is trying to get into an apartment building but the person inside is clearly ignoring him. It becomes quickly obvious that he's either an ex-boyfriend or a soon-to-be ex-boyfriend as he yells from the outside of the apartment that "he's not angry" but wants to talk. Despite his proclamations to the contrary, he gets steadily angrier as he screams up at a window that is strangely boarded up with old pizza boxes. Someone is clearly peaking through the pizza boxes which only makes Brandon angrier. Then, all of sudden, Brandon disappears in the same fashion as Jason (flash of light, x-ray effect, nearby light bulbs blowing out). The only noted difference is that this time, he leaves a clear shadow outline on a bin that he was standing near before he vaporized.
Artie calls Myka and Claudia via their Farnsworth and informs them he got a second ping that coincides with Brandon's disappearance and tells them that they need to make the connection between the two victims. Myka and Claudia call on Brandon's roommate, who had just reported his disappearance to the police. He tells them that they were supposed to meet up at a David Lynch festival, but Brandon never showed. He said that the last thing he knew Brandon was doing was going to go pick up his girlfriend, Megan Reese. That name instantly rings a bell with Myka who remembers Megan being on the list of people that were laid off by Jason from the t-shirt factory.
The ladies go pay a call on Megan and, lo and behold, Megan is the girl hiding from Brandon. They arrive at the apartment building and see the same window boarded up with pizza boxes and (surprise, surprise) she doesn't answer the outside buzzer for them either. Instead of getting angry and yelling like Brandon, they instead case the building and Myka notices the shadow outline on the bin along with nearby blown-out light bulbs. She tells Claudia that it reminds her of footage that she's seen of Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped... that there were shadow outlines of many of the victims that were vaporized by the blast. This causes her to wonder aloud whether the artifact that they're dealing with is nuclear in nature.
They find the landlady of the building and get her to let them into the building and lead them to Megan's apartment and the landlady is happy to oblige. When the landlady knocks on Megan's door, Megan tells them to leave. After a heated exchange between Megan and the landlady, Myka shoos the landlady away. Myka then kicks the door in and her and Claudia storm in with their Teslas armed and ready. They find Megan sitting on the floor looking very scared. She tells them that they're going to die and puts her head down, which causes Myka and Claudia to dive for cover. Fortunately, nothing happens. After picking themselves up, they quickly discover that Megan doesn't have an artifact. Instead, they learn that Megan believes that she's personally causing the deaths and doesn't seem to have any real control over it other than whenever she gets angry at somebody, that person dies in a flash of light. She tells them that she had accidentally killed a couple of people in her home town, which caused her to flee to Portland. (At this point, I actually thought that this episode would turn into a crossover with Alphas, especially as Alphas has already had one Warehouse character show up in their series. Alas, it's not the case.)
Instead, they convince Megan to leave her apartment and come with them to the t-shirt factory to see if they can find any clues for an artifact there. As it turns out, it wasn't a great idea because as they leave the apartment building, the landlady spots them and immediately accosts Megan. Megan gets very distraught and then suddenly, the landlady disappears in flash of light. Megan freaks out and makes a run for it. Fearing that they might get flashed next, Claudia and Myka let her run off.
Once Megan is gone, Claudia and Myka carefully examine the scene. Myka notices that the shadow left by the vaporized landlady on the apartment building sign seems to indicate that the she was hit from a different direction than from where Megan was standing. Myka realizes that the landlady must have been blasted by something or someone else standing at an angle from Megan. She tells Claudia to go find Megan and then traces the angle of the shot to a nearby building.
Claudia goes and eventually finds Megan sitting in the middle of a cemetery. They have a bit of a silly bonding moment. In the meantime, Myka is standing on the roof of the building that she traced the blast to. As she's looking around, she spots glitter on the roof. She immediately calls Claudia and they realize that it must be someone at the t-shirt factory that has the artifact. Also, since Megan said the incidents started at her hometown, it must be someone that she knew from back then that had then followed her to Portland and the t-shirt factory. Myka races back to Megan's apartment and finds her old yearbook and immediately figures out who the culprit is, Jeff McMasters, the head designer at the t-shirt factory (and one of the people they interviewed about Jason Kinser's death). It turns out that he's in Megan's yearbook, but Megan said that she barely knew him and didn't even realize that they had gone to high school together.
Myka, Claudia and Megan concoct a scheme to lure Jeff out. Megan goes to the t-shirt factory, seemingly alone, and approaches Jeff. Jeff is initially thrilled that Megan is talking to him and eventually reveals that he's been using a pair of binoculars to "help protect her." However, he starts to get suspicious when Megan gets progressively nervous. Claudia and Myka jump out with their Teslas drawn but Jeff is able to grab Megan and use her as a human shield. He pulls her into a warehouse and shuts the door. Claudia and Myka follow them into the warehouse and, after a bit of cat-and-mouse (where Jeff tries to use the power of the binoculars on them), they're able to get the jump on Jeff and capture him. It's revealed that the binoculars were from one of the pilots of the Enola Gay, the WW2 bomber that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It has the power to absorb nuclear energy and project it forwards through the lenses as an energy beam.
Myka and Claudia's sequence ends with them saying goodbye to a much happier Megan. Claudia then goes off to give Jinks a call. Myka asks Claudia to say hi to him from her.
Pete and Jane
Jane and Mrs. Fredericks are still talking after Pete leaves them and Jane mentions that she wishes she can remember why A To Z Technologies seems so familiar to her. That causes Mrs. Fredericks to think of something and she takes Jane into the Warehouse to see Artie. Mrs. Fredericks tells Jane and Artie that there is an artifact in the Warehouse that will allow Jane to travel through her own memories. She believes that it will allow Jane to figure out why A To Z Technologies keeps reminding her of something. Artie knows of this artifact and warns them that it can be very dangerous as the user of the artifact can be permanently lost in their own memories. Jane states that it's a risk that she's willing to take and Mrs. Fredericks interjects that the risk can be mitigated if a second person travels along with the user to "ground them" and "pull them out if necessary." Mrs. Fredericks says that she'll be that second person to watch over Jane when Pete suddenly steps into the room and insists that he be the one to ride shotgun. After some quick melodrama, it is agreed that he'll go with Jane.
Artie retrieves the artifact from the Warehouse shelves and the artifact turns out to be a bronzed pair of baby shoes. Strangely, they never state what this artifact is called as this show is generally very good about naming and providing histories to virtually all of the artifacts it features. He tells Jane to concentrate on what she wants to discover ("A To Z Technologies") and the artifact should take her to that part of her memories. Jane and Pete each touch one of the baby shoes and are instantly transported into Jane's memory.
As it turns out, they arrive at their house on the day that there is a wake at the house honoring Jane's husband (Pete's dad), who recently died fighting a fire. Jane quickly realizes that Pete subverted her control of where in her memory they would go as this memory doesn't seem relevant to her solving the "A To Z Technologies" mystery. Angry that Pete has seemingly hijacked her memory, she tries to get him to refocus on the mission, but he is insistent on revisiting this memory and steps into the midst of the wake. As the memory unfolds around them, Mrs. Fredericks shows up to the wake to talk with the younger Jane. Like Richard Alpert of Lost, Mrs. Fredericks seemingly has not aged at all (though she doesn't have his thick lush eyelashes). Peter is shocked to realize that Mrs. Fredericks has effectively known him his entire life. He also sees that his mom was a former Regent that had retired once Pete and his sister were born. Mrs. Fredericks had come to recruit the younger Jane back to being a Regent because of a local artifact situation involving a young boy. It's clearly implied that Jane has a soft spot for children.
After some persistence, Mrs. Fredericks finally convinces the younger Jane to come out of retirement. We then follow the younger Jane as she takes the assignment and then, later, approaches a young boy standing in his yard hitting baseballs with a baseball bat. She engages him in idle chitchat and clearly takes note that he's wearing what appears to be a rope bracelet around his right wrist. As they chat, the boy grows suspicious as to why Jane is talking to him. His eyes suddenly turn all black before quickly reverting back to their original blue color. The younger Jane seems to note this too and bids the kid farewell and walks off.
Pete and the older Jane are standing nearby watching this memory unfold. Pete doesn't seem to understand what just happened so his mom explains it to him. It turns out the rope bracelet that the kid was wearing was Carlo Collodi's Bracelet. Collodi is credited with writing the original The Adventures of Pinocchio, a much darker, mean-spirited story than the modern Disney version. The bracelet enables a person's legs to move, but gradually increases the darkness within a person's soul. As it turns out, the boy was crippled from the waist down, but the bracelet gave him his legs back. However, it was slowly turning the boy evil. Thanks to Jane, Warehouse Agents (a younger Artie and MacPhearson) were able to bag the artifact.
Jane then explains to Pete that the reason why she came out of retirement wasn't because of anything Mrs. Fredericks said or did. It was because she wanted to protect him and his sister from some of the horrors of the world. She reveals that it was actually Pete's dad that helped convince her of that. With that, Pete is finally able to come to a better sense of closure as to why his mom is a Regent. Jane then holds Pete's hand and they exit out of the memory and back into reality.
Artie and Mrs. Fredericks approach them to see if they discovered anything. Pete apologizes, thinking that he may have screwed up the mission. However, his mom interrupts him and says that, no, she figured it out. She remembers back to the boy that she saved from Collodi's Bracelet, Walter Sykes. After the artifact was bagged, the boy returned to being in a wheelchair and could not longer play baseball. However, it seems the artifact had done its damage and planted a "dark seed" within the boy's soul. More importantly, Jane remembers the baseball hat that the boy was wearing. It said AZTECS (which clearly is inspiring the name A To Z Technologies).
We then flash over to the mysterious man in the wheelchair that's been hinted at over the course of this season, Walter Sykes. It turns out to be Anthony Michael Hall! He's the major baddie of Season 3! It's revealed that he's killed off another Regent, Lok Archer, but that before Archer died, Sykes was able to extract some important piece of information from him. The episode ends with him telling his right-hand man, Marcus, to go and try and "turn" Jinks. He also told Marcus that he will be meeting Jane and Pete very soon.
Like most of the previous episodes this season, this episode was again split between a pair of separate story lines, one following Myka and Claudia and the second following Pete and his mom, Jane (Kate Mulgrew!). Both stories start at the same point, with Pete coming to terms with the fact that his absentee mom is really a Warehouse Regent (revealed at the end of the previous episode) and no one ever told him, even after he became a Warehouse Agent. Pete is confronting his mom about this fact and Jane is just about to sit Pete down to explain why he was never told when Mrs. Fredericks does her trademark magical appearing act and suddenly shows up to interrupt them. She notes that, with a number of Regents being recently killed, the Warehouse is at war. She notes that Artie was able to trace Sally Stutowski (Ashley Williams' character, killed at the end of the last episode) to a company called A To Z Technologies, but hasn't been able to turn anything up on that company. Jane immediately channels her inner Han Solo and remarks that "she has a very bad feeling about it." This gets Pete all fired up again because he suddenly realizes that his "Spidey Sense" ability may not be some random ability that he has, but something that he may have inherited from his mother. He also realizes that if the Regents had never come under threat, he would have never learned any of this about his mother. He then leaves in a huff after which... we learn that Mrs. Fredericks's first name is Irene! (Jane calls her that in the quiet moment after Peter storms off.) Mrs. Y insists that Mrs. Fredericks's first name was revealed previously, but I feel like that this is the first time they acknowledged it. We also learn that Mrs. Fredericks has a son (who is NOT an agent).
The story then segues to Portland where we're shown a man mowing his lawn. After a brief conversation with his wife, who is going to the store, he glows in bright flash of light, we see his skeleton (like in an x-ray) and he vanishes. All the nearby lights blow out. The story then comes back to the Warehouse, where Artie gets the ping about the anomaly in Portland and assigns Myka and Claudia to go investigate. This is a pretty funny scene because Myka and Claudia spend the whole time complaining to Artie that Jinks shouldn't be fired (from the last episode) while Artie single-mindedly ignores them to give them their assignment. At this point we get a minor spoiler from the opening credits. Aaron Ashmore's name doesn't appear in the Guest Star list, which means Jinks won't show up in this episode so it's doubtful that there will be any resolution on his firing this week (and there wasn't, though it was teased at the very end of the episode). On the other hand, we see that Anthony Michael Hall is in this episode and we can safely assume that if he's hired, he's going to play someone important.
On Myka's way out to go on her assignment, she stops by Pete's room to try and give him some emotional support in regards to his anger/frustration at learning his mother was a Regent and had been lying to him for almost all his life. She's not particularly successful, but it's a nice scene to show that Myka and Pete continue to have a very strong, caring (and, for once in these type of shows, a non-sexual) relationship. From this point, the stories completely diverge and I'll recap them one at a time.
Myka and Claudia
Myka and Claudia go out to Portland to investigate the person's disappearance (a one Jason Kinser). They learn from eyewitnesses at the scene that Jason just disappeared in a flash of light, afterwards all the nearby electrical power went out for a few seconds. They then go to Jason's place of a work, a novelty t-shirt manufacturer and learn that he was manager there and pretty well disliked by all the workers because he "didn't respect the artists" and laid off a number of people. As Myka and Claudia are interviewing the staff, one of the managers tells one of the designers to "add more glitter" to one of the t-shirt designs (important later!) prompting Claudia to ask whether glitter is making a comeback. One of the female staff members responds that she finds it everywhere, including on her vijayjay. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, SyFy went there. The look that Claudia gives is pretty funny and Myka wraps up the interview by asking the manager to give her a list of all former employees that were laid off by Jason.
We then jump to a scene where an angry young man (who we later learn is named Brandon Hill) is trying to get into an apartment building but the person inside is clearly ignoring him. It becomes quickly obvious that he's either an ex-boyfriend or a soon-to-be ex-boyfriend as he yells from the outside of the apartment that "he's not angry" but wants to talk. Despite his proclamations to the contrary, he gets steadily angrier as he screams up at a window that is strangely boarded up with old pizza boxes. Someone is clearly peaking through the pizza boxes which only makes Brandon angrier. Then, all of sudden, Brandon disappears in the same fashion as Jason (flash of light, x-ray effect, nearby light bulbs blowing out). The only noted difference is that this time, he leaves a clear shadow outline on a bin that he was standing near before he vaporized.
Artie calls Myka and Claudia via their Farnsworth and informs them he got a second ping that coincides with Brandon's disappearance and tells them that they need to make the connection between the two victims. Myka and Claudia call on Brandon's roommate, who had just reported his disappearance to the police. He tells them that they were supposed to meet up at a David Lynch festival, but Brandon never showed. He said that the last thing he knew Brandon was doing was going to go pick up his girlfriend, Megan Reese. That name instantly rings a bell with Myka who remembers Megan being on the list of people that were laid off by Jason from the t-shirt factory.
The ladies go pay a call on Megan and, lo and behold, Megan is the girl hiding from Brandon. They arrive at the apartment building and see the same window boarded up with pizza boxes and (surprise, surprise) she doesn't answer the outside buzzer for them either. Instead of getting angry and yelling like Brandon, they instead case the building and Myka notices the shadow outline on the bin along with nearby blown-out light bulbs. She tells Claudia that it reminds her of footage that she's seen of Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped... that there were shadow outlines of many of the victims that were vaporized by the blast. This causes her to wonder aloud whether the artifact that they're dealing with is nuclear in nature.
They find the landlady of the building and get her to let them into the building and lead them to Megan's apartment and the landlady is happy to oblige. When the landlady knocks on Megan's door, Megan tells them to leave. After a heated exchange between Megan and the landlady, Myka shoos the landlady away. Myka then kicks the door in and her and Claudia storm in with their Teslas armed and ready. They find Megan sitting on the floor looking very scared. She tells them that they're going to die and puts her head down, which causes Myka and Claudia to dive for cover. Fortunately, nothing happens. After picking themselves up, they quickly discover that Megan doesn't have an artifact. Instead, they learn that Megan believes that she's personally causing the deaths and doesn't seem to have any real control over it other than whenever she gets angry at somebody, that person dies in a flash of light. She tells them that she had accidentally killed a couple of people in her home town, which caused her to flee to Portland. (At this point, I actually thought that this episode would turn into a crossover with Alphas, especially as Alphas has already had one Warehouse character show up in their series. Alas, it's not the case.)
Instead, they convince Megan to leave her apartment and come with them to the t-shirt factory to see if they can find any clues for an artifact there. As it turns out, it wasn't a great idea because as they leave the apartment building, the landlady spots them and immediately accosts Megan. Megan gets very distraught and then suddenly, the landlady disappears in flash of light. Megan freaks out and makes a run for it. Fearing that they might get flashed next, Claudia and Myka let her run off.
Once Megan is gone, Claudia and Myka carefully examine the scene. Myka notices that the shadow left by the vaporized landlady on the apartment building sign seems to indicate that the she was hit from a different direction than from where Megan was standing. Myka realizes that the landlady must have been blasted by something or someone else standing at an angle from Megan. She tells Claudia to go find Megan and then traces the angle of the shot to a nearby building.
Claudia goes and eventually finds Megan sitting in the middle of a cemetery. They have a bit of a silly bonding moment. In the meantime, Myka is standing on the roof of the building that she traced the blast to. As she's looking around, she spots glitter on the roof. She immediately calls Claudia and they realize that it must be someone at the t-shirt factory that has the artifact. Also, since Megan said the incidents started at her hometown, it must be someone that she knew from back then that had then followed her to Portland and the t-shirt factory. Myka races back to Megan's apartment and finds her old yearbook and immediately figures out who the culprit is, Jeff McMasters, the head designer at the t-shirt factory (and one of the people they interviewed about Jason Kinser's death). It turns out that he's in Megan's yearbook, but Megan said that she barely knew him and didn't even realize that they had gone to high school together.
Myka, Claudia and Megan concoct a scheme to lure Jeff out. Megan goes to the t-shirt factory, seemingly alone, and approaches Jeff. Jeff is initially thrilled that Megan is talking to him and eventually reveals that he's been using a pair of binoculars to "help protect her." However, he starts to get suspicious when Megan gets progressively nervous. Claudia and Myka jump out with their Teslas drawn but Jeff is able to grab Megan and use her as a human shield. He pulls her into a warehouse and shuts the door. Claudia and Myka follow them into the warehouse and, after a bit of cat-and-mouse (where Jeff tries to use the power of the binoculars on them), they're able to get the jump on Jeff and capture him. It's revealed that the binoculars were from one of the pilots of the Enola Gay, the WW2 bomber that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It has the power to absorb nuclear energy and project it forwards through the lenses as an energy beam.
Myka and Claudia's sequence ends with them saying goodbye to a much happier Megan. Claudia then goes off to give Jinks a call. Myka asks Claudia to say hi to him from her.
Pete and Jane
Jane and Mrs. Fredericks are still talking after Pete leaves them and Jane mentions that she wishes she can remember why A To Z Technologies seems so familiar to her. That causes Mrs. Fredericks to think of something and she takes Jane into the Warehouse to see Artie. Mrs. Fredericks tells Jane and Artie that there is an artifact in the Warehouse that will allow Jane to travel through her own memories. She believes that it will allow Jane to figure out why A To Z Technologies keeps reminding her of something. Artie knows of this artifact and warns them that it can be very dangerous as the user of the artifact can be permanently lost in their own memories. Jane states that it's a risk that she's willing to take and Mrs. Fredericks interjects that the risk can be mitigated if a second person travels along with the user to "ground them" and "pull them out if necessary." Mrs. Fredericks says that she'll be that second person to watch over Jane when Pete suddenly steps into the room and insists that he be the one to ride shotgun. After some quick melodrama, it is agreed that he'll go with Jane.
Artie retrieves the artifact from the Warehouse shelves and the artifact turns out to be a bronzed pair of baby shoes. Strangely, they never state what this artifact is called as this show is generally very good about naming and providing histories to virtually all of the artifacts it features. He tells Jane to concentrate on what she wants to discover ("A To Z Technologies") and the artifact should take her to that part of her memories. Jane and Pete each touch one of the baby shoes and are instantly transported into Jane's memory.
As it turns out, they arrive at their house on the day that there is a wake at the house honoring Jane's husband (Pete's dad), who recently died fighting a fire. Jane quickly realizes that Pete subverted her control of where in her memory they would go as this memory doesn't seem relevant to her solving the "A To Z Technologies" mystery. Angry that Pete has seemingly hijacked her memory, she tries to get him to refocus on the mission, but he is insistent on revisiting this memory and steps into the midst of the wake. As the memory unfolds around them, Mrs. Fredericks shows up to the wake to talk with the younger Jane. Like Richard Alpert of Lost, Mrs. Fredericks seemingly has not aged at all (though she doesn't have his thick lush eyelashes). Peter is shocked to realize that Mrs. Fredericks has effectively known him his entire life. He also sees that his mom was a former Regent that had retired once Pete and his sister were born. Mrs. Fredericks had come to recruit the younger Jane back to being a Regent because of a local artifact situation involving a young boy. It's clearly implied that Jane has a soft spot for children.
After some persistence, Mrs. Fredericks finally convinces the younger Jane to come out of retirement. We then follow the younger Jane as she takes the assignment and then, later, approaches a young boy standing in his yard hitting baseballs with a baseball bat. She engages him in idle chitchat and clearly takes note that he's wearing what appears to be a rope bracelet around his right wrist. As they chat, the boy grows suspicious as to why Jane is talking to him. His eyes suddenly turn all black before quickly reverting back to their original blue color. The younger Jane seems to note this too and bids the kid farewell and walks off.
Pete and the older Jane are standing nearby watching this memory unfold. Pete doesn't seem to understand what just happened so his mom explains it to him. It turns out the rope bracelet that the kid was wearing was Carlo Collodi's Bracelet. Collodi is credited with writing the original The Adventures of Pinocchio, a much darker, mean-spirited story than the modern Disney version. The bracelet enables a person's legs to move, but gradually increases the darkness within a person's soul. As it turns out, the boy was crippled from the waist down, but the bracelet gave him his legs back. However, it was slowly turning the boy evil. Thanks to Jane, Warehouse Agents (a younger Artie and MacPhearson) were able to bag the artifact.
Jane then explains to Pete that the reason why she came out of retirement wasn't because of anything Mrs. Fredericks said or did. It was because she wanted to protect him and his sister from some of the horrors of the world. She reveals that it was actually Pete's dad that helped convince her of that. With that, Pete is finally able to come to a better sense of closure as to why his mom is a Regent. Jane then holds Pete's hand and they exit out of the memory and back into reality.
Artie and Mrs. Fredericks approach them to see if they discovered anything. Pete apologizes, thinking that he may have screwed up the mission. However, his mom interrupts him and says that, no, she figured it out. She remembers back to the boy that she saved from Collodi's Bracelet, Walter Sykes. After the artifact was bagged, the boy returned to being in a wheelchair and could not longer play baseball. However, it seems the artifact had done its damage and planted a "dark seed" within the boy's soul. More importantly, Jane remembers the baseball hat that the boy was wearing. It said AZTECS (which clearly is inspiring the name A To Z Technologies).
We then flash over to the mysterious man in the wheelchair that's been hinted at over the course of this season, Walter Sykes. It turns out to be Anthony Michael Hall! He's the major baddie of Season 3! It's revealed that he's killed off another Regent, Lok Archer, but that before Archer died, Sykes was able to extract some important piece of information from him. The episode ends with him telling his right-hand man, Marcus, to go and try and "turn" Jinks. He also told Marcus that he will be meeting Jane and Pete very soon.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Warehouse 13 Recap - Episode 308 - The 40th Floor
This episode is definitely one of the best and one of the darker ones in Warehouse 13 history, and it is really fast paced. It also moves the Warehouse 13 mythology forward by quite a bit. Another sci-fi casting - Kate Mulgrew, aka Captain Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager, shows up as one of the Warehouse 13 regents, Jane.
The story started with a voiceover about how the Regents have served the Warehouse faithfully throughout the years. As the voiceover is going on, we see a pretty horrific scene of one of the Regents, Theodora Stanton, being tortured by Sally Stutowski using the doorknob that she stole from Claudia and Jinks in the last episode. We see the doorknob burning Theodora until she was immolated and disintegrated. At the Warehouse, Artie explained how Sally was tied to four regent deaths in the past year, and Theodora was the fifth one missing. Pete stated that it was time to talk to Sally.
Sally was in a bar in Atlanta, and Pete and Jinks approached her. She played up her southern belle charms, but Pete put a picture of Theodora in front of her and demanded to know what she knew about the disappearance. Sally played dumb, but attacked Pete after pretending that she was going to leave with them. As she ran outside, she ran into Myka, who promptly used the Tesla on her. When Pete came out of the bar, he saw a mysterious guy (we found out later his name is Marcus) in a car watching, and then he drove off when he saw Pete looking at him.
The team took Sally back to the bar, where they searched her purse and found the doorknob, which was promptly dropped into a safe bag. Sally said smugly that what was done is done and done. Artie pulled out an empty piece of parchment, and Sally joked about how they were going to torture her with it. Artie said Warehouse agents don't torture people to get information, but they have other means of finding out the information. He told Myka and Jinks to put Sally's hands on the parchment. Artie said the parchment used to belong to Sir Henry Morton, the famous explorer who supposedly said, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume," when he found the missionary David Livingstone. When Sally's hand was pressed on the parchment, it turned into a map who told them where she had been in the past 12 hours. A space on the map was marked with an X that indicated she had been there more than once.
The team went to the address, which ended up being a very tall skyscraper (the title did say the 40th floor). When they entered the building, they were greeted by two guards who were unimpressed by Artie's NSA badge. Artie told the team to leave while telling Claudia to take care of the guards. She released a Tesla grenade that knocked the guards down. While checking the guards, Artie noticed the tattoo of the eye of Horus on one of the guards, and found a name card that stated Diana K. Snow on one side and Suite 4013 on the other. Artie told Myka to come with him, and for Claudia and Pete to examine the building's security footage to see what Sally was doing there.
Jinks was standing guard over Sally at the bar, and Sally started playing mind games with him. She said that the Regents were not good and virtuous, and she could prove it. Mrs. Frederic arrived at that moment and told Sally she would be very interested to hear what she had to say. I have to say that I love CCH Pounder - she always lends the perfect amount of gravitas to everything.
Claudia and Pete were checking the security footage and saw Sally and another man entering the building dressed as painters. Using Sally's SIM card, Claudia found an address related to a phone number that Sally called the most in the past 48 hours. Artie told Claudia and Pete to check them out.
When Artie and Myka knocked on the door of suite 4013, one of the Regents, Kasan, is there with two other Regents - Jane and Phillip. Artie wanted them all to evacuate immediately, but the Head of Regent Security, Jackson, gave them a hard time. Artie explained that Sally, who had been picking off their fellow Regents, and another associate were seen entering this building. The Regents stated that this location was only chosen three hours ago, but clearly the situation had been compromised. Jackson agreed that they needed to leave, and wanted them to get into the elevator. Myka suggested the stairs, but Jackson won out and they got into the elevator. The elevator went down a few floors when the brakes suddenly engaged and the elevator came to a stop. Jackson gave Myka a boost through the top of the elevator, and she saw that the cables were slowly being destroyed by some reddish, fiery material. Myka asked Artie if he had the grappler, and Jane made a comment that it was not standard Warehouse-issued equipment. Myka said it was standard in 1849, which referred back to the fact that she got the grappler from H.G. Wells. They used the grappler to keep the elevator in place while they forced open the door and escaped. Just as the last person, Myka, came out of the elevator, the cables completely broke and the elevator crashed to the ground.
Mrs. Frederic told Sally to drop the southern belle act - she knew Sally was from Connecticut. Mrs. Frederic also told Sally that she would pay for what she did to the Regents, who were also her friends. Sally said the Regents started this, but it was not explained what "this" was.
Claudia and Pete went to the address, and it turned out to be a bank. Sally's partner, James Aquino, was in there to close his account and to transfer his money to a Grand Cayman account. Claudia found out that according to Interpol, Aquino was a demolitions expert who was wanted in nine countries. Artie called Claudia to tell her about the elevator having been compromised with the reddish, fiery corrosive material, and that it was possible Aquino still had whatever caused it.
Pete entered and silently flashed his badge to evacuate as many people as possible. He got closer to Aquino, but Aquino saw his reflection on a silver desk lamp. He pulled out a spray can from his bag and took the banker hostage. He sprayed the banker's back with the corrosive material, which caused the jacket to burst into flames. Pete and Claudia ran after Aquino and saw him entering a black car.
Myka and Artie investigated different stairwells and found that they were both compromised with the same corrosive material. Jane had gone with Myka, defying Jackson, who was still being a jerk. Jane and Myka talked while going to check the stairs, and Jane made a comment about how she stayed on top of what Myka and Pete were up to. Phillip suggested that since they could not go down, then they should go up. The group went to the rooftop, and Kasan found that a helicopter could get there in 30 minutes. Artie pointed out the reflection of their building in the opposite building to Myka, and they saw the corrosive material working its way up. They realized they did not have 30 minutes.
Pete and Claudia talked to Artie on the Farnsworth. Pete told Artie about the artifact (the spray can), and Artie said that explained the Anarchy symbol that they saw. Artie said they had to find the spray can soon. Pete and Claudia realized they could use the footage from traffic cameras to see where Aquino went.
Mrs. Frederic took a call from Kasan and told him that she would do whatever it took to get the information from Sally. As Mrs. Frederic was talking to Sally, we saw that she was attempting to slip a ring off her finger behind the chair where her hands were duct-taped together. Mrs. Frederic showed Sally an artifact from Unit 731, a special Japanese military unit during WWII that performed human experiments and biological warfare research. The artifact was a badge from the commander of unit 731, and it simulated drowning when pressed against a person. Mrs. Frederic had no problems using it on Sally to try to get the information out of her about the spray can and how to stop it. Jinks looked horrified at the torture.
Pete and Claudia realize they can use traffic footage to see where he went, because Aquino was on the run and he was probably not paying attention to traffic signals. They found him by following the red light violations. Claudia also found that he had rented a private jet out of a private airport. Claudia had a device that allowed her to hack into Aquino's GPS and gave him directions to where they wanted him to be.
Mrs. Frederic continued to torture Sally. Jinks tried to stop it by saying that studies have shown that intel obtained under torture was not usually reliable, but Mrs. Frederic kept going.
Artie spotted a window washing rig on the 15th floor that might be their way to get out. On their way down the stairs, Jane told Myka that she was reinstated because she was a natural born leader, and that they were all meant to be there. Myka said she did not believe in destiny, but Jane said at the time the Warehouse needed them the most, all of them answered the call. She said if that was not destiny, then what was destiny? They tried to make their way down, but the stairs were already corroded up to the 17th floor. Everyone else made it back up, but Jackson was caught by the corrosive material. He told Myka to save Phillip no matter what it took, and ended up falling into his death. We saw him being immolated and disintegrated as he touched the corrosive material. Myka had to tell Artie, Jane, Phillip, and Kasan that Jackson died. Jane comforted Myka by telling her that Jackson knew the risk of his job, as did Myka, and they were "not out of Dodge, yet, so cowboy up!"
Mrs. Frederic continued to torture Sally, who told her to go to hell. After another application of the artifact, Sally told them that the spray can came from the Berlin Wall, but she did not know how to stop it. Jinks continued to be really horrified and finally pulled a gun on Mrs. Frederic to stop the torture. While they were arguing, Sally slipped off the tape, hit them both with a chair, and escaped. Mrs. Frederic told Jinks that now he had to deal with the consequences of his actions.
Mrs. Frederic talked to Claudia and Pete, and they realized that the artifact came from East Berlin, where the young East Berliners used to spray paint anarchy signs on the Berlin Wall as a symbol of their rebellious spirit. So the spray paint can turned into an artifact that could corrode more than just walls. Pete and Claudia cornered Aquno and pulled the Teslas on Aquino. Pete told Aquino that he just wanted the spray can and how it worked. Aquino said that either Pete killed him or "he" will, and Pete was confused as to who "he" was. Pete tried saying that they could protect him, but Aquino said either way, he was dead. Aquino sprayed the corrosive material into his mouth and he was immolated and disintegrated. Pete and Claudia bagged the can, but it did not stop the effects in the building where Myka, Artie, and the Regents were.
The ceiling started coming down in the room, and a piece of the ceiling hit Kasan and caused his head to bleed. Phillip was trapped under another piece that had the corrosive material, and it was making its way up his body. Phillip said there wasn't enough time, and they had to make the transfer now. He pulled his sleeves to reveal a wide, metal band. Kasan said it was the Remati Shackle, and that Genghis Khan went to great and terrible lengths to create it to make sure Warehouse 7 remained under Mongol control. He said no Warehouse agent had ever seen what they were about to witness. Kasan pulled out a key that was used to unlock the bracelet from Phillip's wrist and transferred it to Jane's wrist. Jane did not want to leave Phillip, but Phillip told her that she must leave him and that she was the Guardian now. The corrosive material reached Phillip and he was immolated and disintegrated. Artie used an artifact to disintegrate the window, and used Frank Lloyd Wright's pick up sticks to make a ladder (this was a pretty cool artifact). Artie said Frank Lloyd Wright's son used to play with these sticks to copy his father's designs. Artie climbed down first, followed by Kasan. But before Jane and Myka could climb down, the corrosive material reached the ladders. The window washing unit could not go up, only go down. Jane and Myka told Artie and Kasan to go, and they would find another way out.
Artie and Kasan reached the ground. Emergency personnel rushed to them, and Artie told the fireman that it was toxic chemical spill. The fireman said they were not prepared to deal with that, but Artie said he had a team coming and that there was nothing they could do. He told the emergency personnel to get out of the area ASAP. Artie told Kasan to get medical attention after Kasan kept repeating that Jane had to be rescued. He saw the big Anarchy symbol on the wall next to where he was standing, and the corrosive material was originating from it.
Jane and Myka were walking down the hall trying to figure out what to do, and Myka asked what they would do if there was a fire. Jane got the idea to pull the firehoses from the wall - there were two on every floor, and they could use the hoses to go down four floors at a time through the elevator shaft. Jane said this was a trick her husband taught him (this would be important later). They used the hose to go down four floors.
Pete and Claudia pulled up to Artie, and Pete had to be stopped from going in to rescue Myka. They figured out that on the Berlin Wall, the German taggers were constantly drawing over each other's graffitis, and they needed extreme emotion to neutralize the corrosive material. Pete started painting a blue peace sign over and over again over the Anarchy sign.
Jane and Myka opened an elevator door, but it was full of debris. It appeared that they were trapped. However, Pete's spraying over the Anarchy sign seemed to work to stop the corrosive material. The reddish, fiery material turned blue and stopped corroding the building. Myka and Jane noticed the effects and they hugged in happiness. Myka said she had a feeling Pete had something to do with this, and Jane said he was a good partner.
We saw Sally entering a room to report to the man in the wheelchair, who we assume was the big bad "he" that Aquino was talking about. The man chastised Sally for failing to bring the building down and killing the people inside, and Sally said it appeared that they had more resources that they thought. Sally said that Mrs. Frederic had no problems crossing the lines, but she was working on Jinks and he seemed to start to believe them. The man said it did not matter, and from behind Marcus came and injected something into Sally, who collapsed and died. Marcus said it would look like she had an undetected heart defect, and he would make sure she was found. The man said that Marcus was a good friend, and Marcus left the room. We never saw the man's face.
Myka and Jane were rescued, and Pete hugged Myka tightly once he found her sitting in an ambulance. While they were having their moment, Mrs. Frederic, Artie, and Kasan were talking. Artie said that Claudia traced the number that hired Aquino back to a company called A to Z Technologies. Kasan said they knew far more about the Warehouse than they knew about them, and Mrs. Frederic and Artie made the point that an enemy with an array of artifacts was not only dangerous, but potentially unstoppable. Kasan said that until they identified these people, they must modified their defenses. Once they had been identified, Mrs. Frederic said that they had to strike back hard. Artie told Mrs. Frederic as they walked away from Kasan that this was not an assassination attempt - they were attempting to destroy the Remati shackle. Mrs. Frederic said that the shackle functioned as protection - in an emergency, it was the last line of defense for the Warehouse.
Claudia approached Jinks and he told her that he had been fired because he was insubordinate. Claudia said she was insubordinate all the time, but Jinks said he pulled a gun on Mrs. Frederic. Claudia wanted to talk to Mrs. Frederic to explain the situation, but Jinks stopped her and said he could not do what she wanted. He walked away.
Pete asked Myka what it was like to babysit a Regent, and Myka said that Jane was pretty kick-ass. She took Pete to meet Jane. After she made the introductions and Jane turned around, Pete's face went completely shocked and he said, "Mom?"
That ending totally blew my mind. Looking back at it, there were definite clues. Jane stopped Kasan from saying her last name when she was first introduced and she told Myka she learned the fire hose technique from her husband. Pete's dad was a firefighter who died in a fire. Later Jane also told Myka that Pete was a great partner.
Mr. Y and I knew that if they hired Kate Mulgrew, it must be something good. We just never thought she would be Pete's mom. Pete had previously mentioned that after his dad died, his mom was always busy and never spent that much time with him and his sister. It appeared we'll delve more into his background and see what she has been up to. Perhaps she had been involved with the Warehouse from back then, and maybe Pete's dad's death was also Warehouse-related. I can't wait for the next episode!
The story started with a voiceover about how the Regents have served the Warehouse faithfully throughout the years. As the voiceover is going on, we see a pretty horrific scene of one of the Regents, Theodora Stanton, being tortured by Sally Stutowski using the doorknob that she stole from Claudia and Jinks in the last episode. We see the doorknob burning Theodora until she was immolated and disintegrated. At the Warehouse, Artie explained how Sally was tied to four regent deaths in the past year, and Theodora was the fifth one missing. Pete stated that it was time to talk to Sally.
Sally was in a bar in Atlanta, and Pete and Jinks approached her. She played up her southern belle charms, but Pete put a picture of Theodora in front of her and demanded to know what she knew about the disappearance. Sally played dumb, but attacked Pete after pretending that she was going to leave with them. As she ran outside, she ran into Myka, who promptly used the Tesla on her. When Pete came out of the bar, he saw a mysterious guy (we found out later his name is Marcus) in a car watching, and then he drove off when he saw Pete looking at him.
The team took Sally back to the bar, where they searched her purse and found the doorknob, which was promptly dropped into a safe bag. Sally said smugly that what was done is done and done. Artie pulled out an empty piece of parchment, and Sally joked about how they were going to torture her with it. Artie said Warehouse agents don't torture people to get information, but they have other means of finding out the information. He told Myka and Jinks to put Sally's hands on the parchment. Artie said the parchment used to belong to Sir Henry Morton, the famous explorer who supposedly said, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume," when he found the missionary David Livingstone. When Sally's hand was pressed on the parchment, it turned into a map who told them where she had been in the past 12 hours. A space on the map was marked with an X that indicated she had been there more than once.
The team went to the address, which ended up being a very tall skyscraper (the title did say the 40th floor). When they entered the building, they were greeted by two guards who were unimpressed by Artie's NSA badge. Artie told the team to leave while telling Claudia to take care of the guards. She released a Tesla grenade that knocked the guards down. While checking the guards, Artie noticed the tattoo of the eye of Horus on one of the guards, and found a name card that stated Diana K. Snow on one side and Suite 4013 on the other. Artie told Myka to come with him, and for Claudia and Pete to examine the building's security footage to see what Sally was doing there.
Jinks was standing guard over Sally at the bar, and Sally started playing mind games with him. She said that the Regents were not good and virtuous, and she could prove it. Mrs. Frederic arrived at that moment and told Sally she would be very interested to hear what she had to say. I have to say that I love CCH Pounder - she always lends the perfect amount of gravitas to everything.
Claudia and Pete were checking the security footage and saw Sally and another man entering the building dressed as painters. Using Sally's SIM card, Claudia found an address related to a phone number that Sally called the most in the past 48 hours. Artie told Claudia and Pete to check them out.
When Artie and Myka knocked on the door of suite 4013, one of the Regents, Kasan, is there with two other Regents - Jane and Phillip. Artie wanted them all to evacuate immediately, but the Head of Regent Security, Jackson, gave them a hard time. Artie explained that Sally, who had been picking off their fellow Regents, and another associate were seen entering this building. The Regents stated that this location was only chosen three hours ago, but clearly the situation had been compromised. Jackson agreed that they needed to leave, and wanted them to get into the elevator. Myka suggested the stairs, but Jackson won out and they got into the elevator. The elevator went down a few floors when the brakes suddenly engaged and the elevator came to a stop. Jackson gave Myka a boost through the top of the elevator, and she saw that the cables were slowly being destroyed by some reddish, fiery material. Myka asked Artie if he had the grappler, and Jane made a comment that it was not standard Warehouse-issued equipment. Myka said it was standard in 1849, which referred back to the fact that she got the grappler from H.G. Wells. They used the grappler to keep the elevator in place while they forced open the door and escaped. Just as the last person, Myka, came out of the elevator, the cables completely broke and the elevator crashed to the ground.
Mrs. Frederic told Sally to drop the southern belle act - she knew Sally was from Connecticut. Mrs. Frederic also told Sally that she would pay for what she did to the Regents, who were also her friends. Sally said the Regents started this, but it was not explained what "this" was.
Claudia and Pete went to the address, and it turned out to be a bank. Sally's partner, James Aquino, was in there to close his account and to transfer his money to a Grand Cayman account. Claudia found out that according to Interpol, Aquino was a demolitions expert who was wanted in nine countries. Artie called Claudia to tell her about the elevator having been compromised with the reddish, fiery corrosive material, and that it was possible Aquino still had whatever caused it.
Pete entered and silently flashed his badge to evacuate as many people as possible. He got closer to Aquino, but Aquino saw his reflection on a silver desk lamp. He pulled out a spray can from his bag and took the banker hostage. He sprayed the banker's back with the corrosive material, which caused the jacket to burst into flames. Pete and Claudia ran after Aquino and saw him entering a black car.
Myka and Artie investigated different stairwells and found that they were both compromised with the same corrosive material. Jane had gone with Myka, defying Jackson, who was still being a jerk. Jane and Myka talked while going to check the stairs, and Jane made a comment about how she stayed on top of what Myka and Pete were up to. Phillip suggested that since they could not go down, then they should go up. The group went to the rooftop, and Kasan found that a helicopter could get there in 30 minutes. Artie pointed out the reflection of their building in the opposite building to Myka, and they saw the corrosive material working its way up. They realized they did not have 30 minutes.
Pete and Claudia talked to Artie on the Farnsworth. Pete told Artie about the artifact (the spray can), and Artie said that explained the Anarchy symbol that they saw. Artie said they had to find the spray can soon. Pete and Claudia realized they could use the footage from traffic cameras to see where Aquino went.
Mrs. Frederic took a call from Kasan and told him that she would do whatever it took to get the information from Sally. As Mrs. Frederic was talking to Sally, we saw that she was attempting to slip a ring off her finger behind the chair where her hands were duct-taped together. Mrs. Frederic showed Sally an artifact from Unit 731, a special Japanese military unit during WWII that performed human experiments and biological warfare research. The artifact was a badge from the commander of unit 731, and it simulated drowning when pressed against a person. Mrs. Frederic had no problems using it on Sally to try to get the information out of her about the spray can and how to stop it. Jinks looked horrified at the torture.
Pete and Claudia realize they can use traffic footage to see where he went, because Aquino was on the run and he was probably not paying attention to traffic signals. They found him by following the red light violations. Claudia also found that he had rented a private jet out of a private airport. Claudia had a device that allowed her to hack into Aquino's GPS and gave him directions to where they wanted him to be.
Mrs. Frederic continued to torture Sally. Jinks tried to stop it by saying that studies have shown that intel obtained under torture was not usually reliable, but Mrs. Frederic kept going.
Artie spotted a window washing rig on the 15th floor that might be their way to get out. On their way down the stairs, Jane told Myka that she was reinstated because she was a natural born leader, and that they were all meant to be there. Myka said she did not believe in destiny, but Jane said at the time the Warehouse needed them the most, all of them answered the call. She said if that was not destiny, then what was destiny? They tried to make their way down, but the stairs were already corroded up to the 17th floor. Everyone else made it back up, but Jackson was caught by the corrosive material. He told Myka to save Phillip no matter what it took, and ended up falling into his death. We saw him being immolated and disintegrated as he touched the corrosive material. Myka had to tell Artie, Jane, Phillip, and Kasan that Jackson died. Jane comforted Myka by telling her that Jackson knew the risk of his job, as did Myka, and they were "not out of Dodge, yet, so cowboy up!"
Mrs. Frederic continued to torture Sally, who told her to go to hell. After another application of the artifact, Sally told them that the spray can came from the Berlin Wall, but she did not know how to stop it. Jinks continued to be really horrified and finally pulled a gun on Mrs. Frederic to stop the torture. While they were arguing, Sally slipped off the tape, hit them both with a chair, and escaped. Mrs. Frederic told Jinks that now he had to deal with the consequences of his actions.
Mrs. Frederic talked to Claudia and Pete, and they realized that the artifact came from East Berlin, where the young East Berliners used to spray paint anarchy signs on the Berlin Wall as a symbol of their rebellious spirit. So the spray paint can turned into an artifact that could corrode more than just walls. Pete and Claudia cornered Aquno and pulled the Teslas on Aquino. Pete told Aquino that he just wanted the spray can and how it worked. Aquino said that either Pete killed him or "he" will, and Pete was confused as to who "he" was. Pete tried saying that they could protect him, but Aquino said either way, he was dead. Aquino sprayed the corrosive material into his mouth and he was immolated and disintegrated. Pete and Claudia bagged the can, but it did not stop the effects in the building where Myka, Artie, and the Regents were.
The ceiling started coming down in the room, and a piece of the ceiling hit Kasan and caused his head to bleed. Phillip was trapped under another piece that had the corrosive material, and it was making its way up his body. Phillip said there wasn't enough time, and they had to make the transfer now. He pulled his sleeves to reveal a wide, metal band. Kasan said it was the Remati Shackle, and that Genghis Khan went to great and terrible lengths to create it to make sure Warehouse 7 remained under Mongol control. He said no Warehouse agent had ever seen what they were about to witness. Kasan pulled out a key that was used to unlock the bracelet from Phillip's wrist and transferred it to Jane's wrist. Jane did not want to leave Phillip, but Phillip told her that she must leave him and that she was the Guardian now. The corrosive material reached Phillip and he was immolated and disintegrated. Artie used an artifact to disintegrate the window, and used Frank Lloyd Wright's pick up sticks to make a ladder (this was a pretty cool artifact). Artie said Frank Lloyd Wright's son used to play with these sticks to copy his father's designs. Artie climbed down first, followed by Kasan. But before Jane and Myka could climb down, the corrosive material reached the ladders. The window washing unit could not go up, only go down. Jane and Myka told Artie and Kasan to go, and they would find another way out.
Artie and Kasan reached the ground. Emergency personnel rushed to them, and Artie told the fireman that it was toxic chemical spill. The fireman said they were not prepared to deal with that, but Artie said he had a team coming and that there was nothing they could do. He told the emergency personnel to get out of the area ASAP. Artie told Kasan to get medical attention after Kasan kept repeating that Jane had to be rescued. He saw the big Anarchy symbol on the wall next to where he was standing, and the corrosive material was originating from it.
Jane and Myka were walking down the hall trying to figure out what to do, and Myka asked what they would do if there was a fire. Jane got the idea to pull the firehoses from the wall - there were two on every floor, and they could use the hoses to go down four floors at a time through the elevator shaft. Jane said this was a trick her husband taught him (this would be important later). They used the hose to go down four floors.
Pete and Claudia pulled up to Artie, and Pete had to be stopped from going in to rescue Myka. They figured out that on the Berlin Wall, the German taggers were constantly drawing over each other's graffitis, and they needed extreme emotion to neutralize the corrosive material. Pete started painting a blue peace sign over and over again over the Anarchy sign.
Jane and Myka opened an elevator door, but it was full of debris. It appeared that they were trapped. However, Pete's spraying over the Anarchy sign seemed to work to stop the corrosive material. The reddish, fiery material turned blue and stopped corroding the building. Myka and Jane noticed the effects and they hugged in happiness. Myka said she had a feeling Pete had something to do with this, and Jane said he was a good partner.
We saw Sally entering a room to report to the man in the wheelchair, who we assume was the big bad "he" that Aquino was talking about. The man chastised Sally for failing to bring the building down and killing the people inside, and Sally said it appeared that they had more resources that they thought. Sally said that Mrs. Frederic had no problems crossing the lines, but she was working on Jinks and he seemed to start to believe them. The man said it did not matter, and from behind Marcus came and injected something into Sally, who collapsed and died. Marcus said it would look like she had an undetected heart defect, and he would make sure she was found. The man said that Marcus was a good friend, and Marcus left the room. We never saw the man's face.
Myka and Jane were rescued, and Pete hugged Myka tightly once he found her sitting in an ambulance. While they were having their moment, Mrs. Frederic, Artie, and Kasan were talking. Artie said that Claudia traced the number that hired Aquino back to a company called A to Z Technologies. Kasan said they knew far more about the Warehouse than they knew about them, and Mrs. Frederic and Artie made the point that an enemy with an array of artifacts was not only dangerous, but potentially unstoppable. Kasan said that until they identified these people, they must modified their defenses. Once they had been identified, Mrs. Frederic said that they had to strike back hard. Artie told Mrs. Frederic as they walked away from Kasan that this was not an assassination attempt - they were attempting to destroy the Remati shackle. Mrs. Frederic said that the shackle functioned as protection - in an emergency, it was the last line of defense for the Warehouse.
Claudia approached Jinks and he told her that he had been fired because he was insubordinate. Claudia said she was insubordinate all the time, but Jinks said he pulled a gun on Mrs. Frederic. Claudia wanted to talk to Mrs. Frederic to explain the situation, but Jinks stopped her and said he could not do what she wanted. He walked away.
Pete asked Myka what it was like to babysit a Regent, and Myka said that Jane was pretty kick-ass. She took Pete to meet Jane. After she made the introductions and Jane turned around, Pete's face went completely shocked and he said, "Mom?"
That ending totally blew my mind. Looking back at it, there were definite clues. Jane stopped Kasan from saying her last name when she was first introduced and she told Myka she learned the fire hose technique from her husband. Pete's dad was a firefighter who died in a fire. Later Jane also told Myka that Pete was a great partner.
Mr. Y and I knew that if they hired Kate Mulgrew, it must be something good. We just never thought she would be Pete's mom. Pete had previously mentioned that after his dad died, his mom was always busy and never spent that much time with him and his sister. It appeared we'll delve more into his background and see what she has been up to. Perhaps she had been involved with the Warehouse from back then, and maybe Pete's dad's death was also Warehouse-related. I can't wait for the next episode!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Warehouse 13 Recap - Episode 307 - Past Imperfect
This episode was again split into two storylines: Myka and Pete in one and Claudia, Jinks, and Artie in the other. Another alum from a cult fantasy/sci-fi show makes a guest appearance here: August Richards, who played Gunn in Angel. He showed up here as one of Myka’s former teammates, Zach.
Myka and Pete
Backstory: Myka had a Secret Service partner and lover, Sam, who were killed in the line of duty with Myka watching. Myka had always thought his death was her fault.
Myka and Pete were in Union Station in Denver to retrieve an artifact. Myka acted as lookout while Pete pretended to be a maintenance man. He unscrewed a plaque and found a hollow hiding place behind it full of spikes. Myka reminded Pete to wear his gloves as he was about to reach in. While she was looking around, she saw the man who killed Sam in the train station, Leo. She told Pete she needed to check something out, and ran to chase him down. She almost had him when Pete touched one of the spikes and the artifact burned a hole in his glove. The artifact then started attacking him. Myka went back to help Pete, and lost track of the man.
Pete and Myka were looking at security footage in the train station's security office. Myka saw Leo leaving from the northeast exit, and Pete and Myka ran out. They did not see him on the streets, and Myka got emotional and mentioned how she researched everything about Leo after Sam's death. Pete suggested that they contact the Denver Secret Service office, Myka's old team. Myka was afraid that they had never forgiven her.
At the Denver Secret Service building lobby, Myka saw a display to honor fallen agents, and one of the pictures was of Sam. She flashed back to when she and Sam were together. Pete came over and Myka said she had something to tell him. Pete said the FBI agent (referring to a previous episode) told him that Sam was married when Myka had an affair with him. Myka said Sam had been separated from his wife for about a year before they got together. Myka's old teammate, Zach, showed up and welcomed them. He said that he was now the Director of Investigation, which would have been Sam's position if he hadn't died.
Pete, Myka, Zach, and another one of Myka's old teammates, Jim, were together in a room looking at data. Myka and Pete eventually figured out that Leo was dressed so casually, while he would normally be in a suit, because he was pretending to be a tourist. Leo had hopped on one of those tourist buses, and the last stop was the United States Mint. They had twenty minutes before the bus would arrive at the U.S. Mint. The four of them went out to the U.S. Mint with Myka giving orders. Jim and Zach made a comment about how Myka was acting impulsively and emotionally, which was typical of her. Pete looked confused because in his experience, Myka was normally the cautious, rational one.
Myka and Leo saw each other through the bus, and Leo made a run for it. He knocked over Jim in an alleyway with Pete chasing him, but then he disappeared. Myka was upset and yelled at Pete. While Jim was getting checked out by a medic in an ambulance, Myka saw Pete doing some sort of experiment. She went over to join him and asked what he was doing. Pete said he was trying to be Myka, since at the moment Myka was the emotional one, so he was going through it step-by-step. They figured out that there was no way Leo could have jumped out of that alley that fast. Pete pointed out to Myka that when there was something unexplainable, usually an artifact was involved. Myka said she was going to go back through Sam's files again, but this time as a Warehouse agent.
Myka was looking at Sam's button and his calendar, and flashed back to the day that he died. Sam had approached Myka and told her that he wanted to take her out to dinner. He showed her an envelope that he said he was going to give to her later and told her that it was a game changer. Zach showed up and told Sam that they had intel that Leo was going to be at the National Building, and asked if Jim was going to be Sam's backup. Sam said Myka was going to be his backup. In the present time, Jim came in and asked how Myka was doing. Myka said she didn't find anything, and asked Jim if he knew what Sam was going to give her that night. Jim said he had no idea, but that Sam's personal effects had been sent to Allison, his wife.
Myka and Pete were sitting in a car outside Allison's house. Pete offered to come in with Myka, but she said she had to do it on her own. Allison was surprised to see Myka, and the two of them had an awkward conversation. Myka explained that she was still trying to track down Sam's murderer, and that Sam was going to give her something that night. She asked Allison what was in the box of Sam's personal effects. Allison said there weren't much, just office things, change of clothes, keepsakes, a picture of Sam and Allison, and a picture of Sam and Myka. Allison admitted that she was really angry at Myka, because although the marriage had broken up long before, Myka was a reminder that Sam had moved on. Myka made the move to leave and mentioned that it was probably a card or something that Sam was going to give her, and Allison remembered the card. She found it in a cupboard, and gave it to Myka. Myka opened it in the car with Pete, and found that it was a blank card that played the song "Car Wash."
Myka got a call from Zach that Leo had been spotted at the train station, and they drove over. Myka and Pete met up with Zach and Jim, and Zach explained that he had men covering the exits. Myka said she wanted to play this straight up - no chasing. She asked Pete to stay behind because last time her partner confronted Leo, he died, and she did not think she could survive another one. Pete said he would do it this time just for her. Myka, Zach, and Jim confronted Leo, who stood up and held his arms up. Myka blinked and all of a sudden Leo had a gun in his right hand, but he looked confused. Zach yelled that he had a gun and shot Leo dead.
While the crime scene was being processed, Myka told Pete that something was wrong. Pete told her to trust her instincts. She looked at Leo again and realized that he was holding the gun in his right hand, while he was actually left-handed. They eventually figured out that they must be dealing with an artifact that altered time, enough to give Leo a chance to escape earlier and for someone to plant that gun in Leo's hand so he would take the fall. They compared watches, which had been synchronized earlier, and figured out that Myka's watch was behind Pete's by 47 seconds. They talked to Artie, who figured out that the artifact was from the USS Eldridge, the ship involved in the Philadelphia Experiment. The Philadelphia Experiment, which the U.S. Navy had declared as a hoax, was an experiment done to attempt to cloak the ship, but it only worked for 47 seconds. The artifact replicated the effect by allowing the user to freeze time for everyone else within a certain radius while he himself can move through it.
Myka threw a tantrum about how she was quitting the case because she failed every step of the way. Pete tracked Myka back down outside and told her that she should not give up. Myka eventually remembered that Sam always had a backup plan, and looked for the card again. She said that Sam knew she hated this song and would have made her listen to it to the end. They listened to the song to the end, and after the song ended there was a recording of Leo's voice. Leo was talking to an agent about how he was going to kill Sam at the National Building that night. Myka said only two other agents were there - Zach and Jim, so one of them must have been working with Leo. Myka stated that it was time for her to be impulsive to figure out who did it
Myka and Pete ran into Jim on their way to Zach's office, and told him to come with them to confront Zach. They confronted Zach about being Leo's partner. Zach denied it and Pete blinked, and all of a sudden a gun showed up in Pete's hand. Zach pulled out his gun and shot it at Pete, but at that time Myka saw Jim holding the artifact. She and Jim fought over it and it stopped time. Jim said he knew that Sam suspected him when he picked Myka to back him up the night he died, so he had Leo killed Sam. Jim used the artifact to hold Myka back by 47 seconds so Leo could kill Sam. Myka thought what happened to Sam was happening all over again with Pete and tried to take care of it, but the device started ticking again. Jim was going to pick up the artifact, but Myka kicked him and just as time unfreezed, Jim was in the path of the bullet and was shot. Myka and Pete explained to Zach what happened. Pete asked Myka if she felt better that it was over, and she said no. Pete held her to comfort her. Back in the lobby, Pete was waiting for Myka and Myka explained what she told the FBI agents. Pete congratulated her on solving the case, even if it used a last minute, impulsive sting operation. Myka figured out that Pete knew before, but he had to let her come to her own conclusions. Allison showed up because Zach had called her, and Myka gave her Sam's button.
Claudia, Jinks, and Artie
In the meantime, Claudia and Jinks were tracking down an artifact in a Wisconsin farm. They were pretending to be from one of those Antique Roadshow-type show to look for a valuable doorknob. In reality, they were looking for the doorknob from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, where a tragic fire claimed the lives of 146 garment workers. The garment workers were locked in and could not get out in the fire. This artifact was powered by the pain and suffering of the workers, which made it dangerous. They sorted through a lot of doorknobs. When Jinks picked up the artifact, it burned through his gloves and he had to stick his hand in a pitcher of iced tea to cool it down.
Claudia and Jinks went outside and saw a dog near their car. They were attacked when they were about to enter the car. Steve was hit with a dart, and as Claudia was about to help him, she got hit, too. She caught a blurry glimpse of a car before she lost consciousness. When they woke up, the artifact was gone. Claudia mentioned that she saw a car but she didn't see any details. They contacted Artie and explained what was going on. Artie suggested that they brought the dog back to the Warehouse because it might have seen the license plate number of the car.
Artie explained to Claudia and Jinks that they were going to use fezzes that used to belong an old vaudeville act called Mr. Mental and Coco (a monkey). Mr. Mental had rigged Coco's fez to be a transmitter of its brain waves to the receiver inside Mr. Mental's fez, so he can essentially read Coco's mind.
Artie sat across from the dog, and instructed Claudia and Jinks on how to put the fezzes on. They were warned to keep the fezzes on. The fezzes were put on the heads simultaneously and Artie and the dog immediately had a connection. Artie barked out three numbers. At that time a scarab from a previous episode came out and the dog went chasing after it. Artie went into a trance and Jinks and Claudia chased after the dog. Claudia and Jinks chased the dog all over the Warehouse without any luck. Claudia saw an artifact that could help, Pavlov's bell, but the side effect was excessive drooling for 24 hours. She rang the bell and the dog came, but she got the side effect and drooled a lot. They brought the dog back and Artie snapped back into attention. Artie “barked out” three more plate numbers. Claudia looked up the plate numbers, and found that it was a rental car. She found the driver's license used to rent the car, and Jinks and Artie immediately recognized her as FBI Agent Sally Stutowski, although she was using a different name on the license, Helen Goldby. Claudia asked if they knew her, and Artie said it was worse, because she knew them.
Myka and Pete
Backstory: Myka had a Secret Service partner and lover, Sam, who were killed in the line of duty with Myka watching. Myka had always thought his death was her fault.
Myka and Pete were in Union Station in Denver to retrieve an artifact. Myka acted as lookout while Pete pretended to be a maintenance man. He unscrewed a plaque and found a hollow hiding place behind it full of spikes. Myka reminded Pete to wear his gloves as he was about to reach in. While she was looking around, she saw the man who killed Sam in the train station, Leo. She told Pete she needed to check something out, and ran to chase him down. She almost had him when Pete touched one of the spikes and the artifact burned a hole in his glove. The artifact then started attacking him. Myka went back to help Pete, and lost track of the man.
Pete and Myka were looking at security footage in the train station's security office. Myka saw Leo leaving from the northeast exit, and Pete and Myka ran out. They did not see him on the streets, and Myka got emotional and mentioned how she researched everything about Leo after Sam's death. Pete suggested that they contact the Denver Secret Service office, Myka's old team. Myka was afraid that they had never forgiven her.
At the Denver Secret Service building lobby, Myka saw a display to honor fallen agents, and one of the pictures was of Sam. She flashed back to when she and Sam were together. Pete came over and Myka said she had something to tell him. Pete said the FBI agent (referring to a previous episode) told him that Sam was married when Myka had an affair with him. Myka said Sam had been separated from his wife for about a year before they got together. Myka's old teammate, Zach, showed up and welcomed them. He said that he was now the Director of Investigation, which would have been Sam's position if he hadn't died.
Pete, Myka, Zach, and another one of Myka's old teammates, Jim, were together in a room looking at data. Myka and Pete eventually figured out that Leo was dressed so casually, while he would normally be in a suit, because he was pretending to be a tourist. Leo had hopped on one of those tourist buses, and the last stop was the United States Mint. They had twenty minutes before the bus would arrive at the U.S. Mint. The four of them went out to the U.S. Mint with Myka giving orders. Jim and Zach made a comment about how Myka was acting impulsively and emotionally, which was typical of her. Pete looked confused because in his experience, Myka was normally the cautious, rational one.
Myka and Leo saw each other through the bus, and Leo made a run for it. He knocked over Jim in an alleyway with Pete chasing him, but then he disappeared. Myka was upset and yelled at Pete. While Jim was getting checked out by a medic in an ambulance, Myka saw Pete doing some sort of experiment. She went over to join him and asked what he was doing. Pete said he was trying to be Myka, since at the moment Myka was the emotional one, so he was going through it step-by-step. They figured out that there was no way Leo could have jumped out of that alley that fast. Pete pointed out to Myka that when there was something unexplainable, usually an artifact was involved. Myka said she was going to go back through Sam's files again, but this time as a Warehouse agent.
Myka was looking at Sam's button and his calendar, and flashed back to the day that he died. Sam had approached Myka and told her that he wanted to take her out to dinner. He showed her an envelope that he said he was going to give to her later and told her that it was a game changer. Zach showed up and told Sam that they had intel that Leo was going to be at the National Building, and asked if Jim was going to be Sam's backup. Sam said Myka was going to be his backup. In the present time, Jim came in and asked how Myka was doing. Myka said she didn't find anything, and asked Jim if he knew what Sam was going to give her that night. Jim said he had no idea, but that Sam's personal effects had been sent to Allison, his wife.
Myka and Pete were sitting in a car outside Allison's house. Pete offered to come in with Myka, but she said she had to do it on her own. Allison was surprised to see Myka, and the two of them had an awkward conversation. Myka explained that she was still trying to track down Sam's murderer, and that Sam was going to give her something that night. She asked Allison what was in the box of Sam's personal effects. Allison said there weren't much, just office things, change of clothes, keepsakes, a picture of Sam and Allison, and a picture of Sam and Myka. Allison admitted that she was really angry at Myka, because although the marriage had broken up long before, Myka was a reminder that Sam had moved on. Myka made the move to leave and mentioned that it was probably a card or something that Sam was going to give her, and Allison remembered the card. She found it in a cupboard, and gave it to Myka. Myka opened it in the car with Pete, and found that it was a blank card that played the song "Car Wash."
Myka got a call from Zach that Leo had been spotted at the train station, and they drove over. Myka and Pete met up with Zach and Jim, and Zach explained that he had men covering the exits. Myka said she wanted to play this straight up - no chasing. She asked Pete to stay behind because last time her partner confronted Leo, he died, and she did not think she could survive another one. Pete said he would do it this time just for her. Myka, Zach, and Jim confronted Leo, who stood up and held his arms up. Myka blinked and all of a sudden Leo had a gun in his right hand, but he looked confused. Zach yelled that he had a gun and shot Leo dead.
While the crime scene was being processed, Myka told Pete that something was wrong. Pete told her to trust her instincts. She looked at Leo again and realized that he was holding the gun in his right hand, while he was actually left-handed. They eventually figured out that they must be dealing with an artifact that altered time, enough to give Leo a chance to escape earlier and for someone to plant that gun in Leo's hand so he would take the fall. They compared watches, which had been synchronized earlier, and figured out that Myka's watch was behind Pete's by 47 seconds. They talked to Artie, who figured out that the artifact was from the USS Eldridge, the ship involved in the Philadelphia Experiment. The Philadelphia Experiment, which the U.S. Navy had declared as a hoax, was an experiment done to attempt to cloak the ship, but it only worked for 47 seconds. The artifact replicated the effect by allowing the user to freeze time for everyone else within a certain radius while he himself can move through it.
Myka threw a tantrum about how she was quitting the case because she failed every step of the way. Pete tracked Myka back down outside and told her that she should not give up. Myka eventually remembered that Sam always had a backup plan, and looked for the card again. She said that Sam knew she hated this song and would have made her listen to it to the end. They listened to the song to the end, and after the song ended there was a recording of Leo's voice. Leo was talking to an agent about how he was going to kill Sam at the National Building that night. Myka said only two other agents were there - Zach and Jim, so one of them must have been working with Leo. Myka stated that it was time for her to be impulsive to figure out who did it
Myka and Pete ran into Jim on their way to Zach's office, and told him to come with them to confront Zach. They confronted Zach about being Leo's partner. Zach denied it and Pete blinked, and all of a sudden a gun showed up in Pete's hand. Zach pulled out his gun and shot it at Pete, but at that time Myka saw Jim holding the artifact. She and Jim fought over it and it stopped time. Jim said he knew that Sam suspected him when he picked Myka to back him up the night he died, so he had Leo killed Sam. Jim used the artifact to hold Myka back by 47 seconds so Leo could kill Sam. Myka thought what happened to Sam was happening all over again with Pete and tried to take care of it, but the device started ticking again. Jim was going to pick up the artifact, but Myka kicked him and just as time unfreezed, Jim was in the path of the bullet and was shot. Myka and Pete explained to Zach what happened. Pete asked Myka if she felt better that it was over, and she said no. Pete held her to comfort her. Back in the lobby, Pete was waiting for Myka and Myka explained what she told the FBI agents. Pete congratulated her on solving the case, even if it used a last minute, impulsive sting operation. Myka figured out that Pete knew before, but he had to let her come to her own conclusions. Allison showed up because Zach had called her, and Myka gave her Sam's button.
Claudia, Jinks, and Artie
In the meantime, Claudia and Jinks were tracking down an artifact in a Wisconsin farm. They were pretending to be from one of those Antique Roadshow-type show to look for a valuable doorknob. In reality, they were looking for the doorknob from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, where a tragic fire claimed the lives of 146 garment workers. The garment workers were locked in and could not get out in the fire. This artifact was powered by the pain and suffering of the workers, which made it dangerous. They sorted through a lot of doorknobs. When Jinks picked up the artifact, it burned through his gloves and he had to stick his hand in a pitcher of iced tea to cool it down.
Claudia and Jinks went outside and saw a dog near their car. They were attacked when they were about to enter the car. Steve was hit with a dart, and as Claudia was about to help him, she got hit, too. She caught a blurry glimpse of a car before she lost consciousness. When they woke up, the artifact was gone. Claudia mentioned that she saw a car but she didn't see any details. They contacted Artie and explained what was going on. Artie suggested that they brought the dog back to the Warehouse because it might have seen the license plate number of the car.
Artie explained to Claudia and Jinks that they were going to use fezzes that used to belong an old vaudeville act called Mr. Mental and Coco (a monkey). Mr. Mental had rigged Coco's fez to be a transmitter of its brain waves to the receiver inside Mr. Mental's fez, so he can essentially read Coco's mind.
Artie sat across from the dog, and instructed Claudia and Jinks on how to put the fezzes on. They were warned to keep the fezzes on. The fezzes were put on the heads simultaneously and Artie and the dog immediately had a connection. Artie barked out three numbers. At that time a scarab from a previous episode came out and the dog went chasing after it. Artie went into a trance and Jinks and Claudia chased after the dog. Claudia and Jinks chased the dog all over the Warehouse without any luck. Claudia saw an artifact that could help, Pavlov's bell, but the side effect was excessive drooling for 24 hours. She rang the bell and the dog came, but she got the side effect and drooled a lot. They brought the dog back and Artie snapped back into attention. Artie “barked out” three more plate numbers. Claudia looked up the plate numbers, and found that it was a rental car. She found the driver's license used to rent the car, and Jinks and Artie immediately recognized her as FBI Agent Sally Stutowski, although she was using a different name on the license, Helen Goldby. Claudia asked if they knew her, and Artie said it was worse, because she knew them.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Warehouse 13 Recap - Episode 306 - Don't Hate the Player
This episode is split into two separate stories, one with Myka, Pete, and Claudia, and the other with Artie and Jinks.
Myka, Pete, and Claudia
A little backstory: Douglas Fargo, played by Neil Grayston, is a crossover character from another Syfy series, Eureka. At Eureka he is known to cause multiple accidents. He had shown up in a Warehouse 13 episode last season, and Claudia had gone over to Eureka.
Claudia, Pete, and Myka rushed to Palo Alto, where Fargo and a friend of his, Jerry, were sitting on the couch with virtual reality headsets on, but their heartbeats were spiking. Claudia tried prying off the headset, but it did not work. Gibson explained that Fargo and Jerry were playing a video game, but he could not get them out and their heart rates had been going up and down. Gibson showed them a video on a computer that Fargo did to tout Fargames, a virtual reality game that he developed with Jerry and Gibson. The game is played using a device called BRAID (BioElectric Reality Augmentation Interactive Device). Claudia figured out that BRAID never worked by itself. Gibson explained that the only way it worked was for them to drink tea from a special tea set, which was an artifact.
The team called Leena, who found that the tea set was previously owned by Beatrix Potter, author of the Peter Rabbit series. The Warehouse had one of the four cups, and the whole set had been on Artie's most wanted list for years. The tea set is known to stimulate the imagination part of the brain. Myka remembered seeing Potter's first editions in the Warehouse, and asked Leena to track it down.
Fargo and Jerry kept seizing, and Claudia said the only way to help them was to get into the game. Claudia reconfigured one of the headsets to be a communication device, so they can talk to the real world. To test it out, Pete drank the tea and went into the game. Gibson was able to talk to him through the headset and told him to look at his belt. On it, Pete had a white game controller. When Pete pressed the button on it, he instantly woke up in the real world.
With that, both Pete and Claudia drank the tea and went into the game. Pete was a gladiator (because he told Gibson that he wanted to be a bad ass) and Claudia was an elf (because she told Gibson that she just wanted to be "myself"... and Pete told her she should have enunciated better... get it?). They noticed that the castle was basically Warehouse 13. They were greeted by in-game Artie, who was a crazy, overenthusiastic version of Artie named General Arthur. General Arthur explained that they had to fulfill a quest to win the game, which involved getting a key and rescuing a princess.
Myka was reading the first editions and it showed some very graphic scenes, not quite the child-friendly Peter Rabbit she remembered. Pete and Claudia went down the yellow road and after going around for awhile, they ran into a hooded figure on the ground shackled to a disco ball. [Mr. Y - The next scene had a lot of very strong Scott Pilgrim vs. The World elements, including in-game sound effects and first person shooter points-of-view.] Pete tried to cut off the chains, but it did not do anything. Claudia pulled out her vial of purple liquid and deduced that since the disco ball was an artifact, she should use the purple goo on the shackles. That worked to release the figure, who turned out to be Leena with wings. This started a whole in-game joke about how all Pete could notice was Leena's ample bosom. Leena thanked them and gave Claudia a feather. She told Claudia to use it if she needed her help, and then flew away. As Claudia and Pete walked away, a large, furry creature followed them dragging an ax on the ground.
They entered another room which looked like the Warehouse's Dark Vault. Claudia noticed a key on a pillow, and collected it. When she was walking back, she noticed that part of the floor was quicksand. A hand came out from the sand, and Pete used his sword to pull him out. The guy in the quicksand turned out to be Fargo. In the real world, Fargo's heart rate went down. But then the creature turned up, and took all of their controllers, which meant they could not get back to the real world. Pete tried to engage the creature in battle, but he cut through Pete's shield with the ax. So they ran.
Fargo said the quicksand and the creature were not original parts of the game. Pete talked to Myka on the communicator, and Myka told them that Potter's first editions were more like dream journals and very dark. They figured out that the tea set was magnifying their fears in addition to their imaginations, and brought their fears to live in the game. Fargo said that he used to have nightmares about drowning, and then he ended up in quicksand. They decided they had to finish the game to get out, so the next step was to go to the Black Tower to rescue the princess.
Myka was trying to figure out what was in Jerry's subconscious, but Gibson had no idea because they never talked about it. Myka remembered seeing a picture of Jerry with a girl in a mug, and figured out from looking through Jerry's phone that her name was Hannah. Hannah came over and was really confused as to what was going on and was very scared for Jerry. She explained to Myka that they broke up a week ago because he kept promising that he was going to propose, but he never did, so she got sick of it and broke it off.
Pete, Claudia, and Fargo made their way through a familiar white tunnel to the tower. Fargo said there was something he needed to tell them before they opened the door, but Claudia opened it before he could say it. It turned out that the princess was a silly, giggly version of Claudia with an enhanced bosom. Pete had the best line in response, "Really, you didn't see this coming?"
They found Jerry cowering in the corner, but before they could do anything, the creature showed up again and killed the princess. The creature then went to Jerry and revealed itself to be a freaky version of Hannah. Hannah then took Jerry out of the tower. They tried following them, but ran into a fiery dragon. Fargo said the dragon was part of the game. They raised Myka on the communicator, but Pete's fear of losing communication was realized and they got cut off. Claudia remembered the feather, and used it to call Leena. She called her steed, which was a griffin with wings, to take them off the tower.
They found Jerry in a guillotine-type device. Jerry was apologizing to Hannah about not proposing and about how he was afraid she was going to say no. Hannah put a candle near the rope holding the blade up to burn it down slowly.
Claudia started to feel her fear, which manifested itself in the form of the doctor who treated her when she was in psychiatric care. He told her this was all part of her delusion and that her brother was dead (a reference to the first season). All of them ended up in straight-jackets and Claudia was tied down to a table. The doctor was administering electroshock on her when a figure in a red hood showed up to temporarily freeze the doctor and the guy holding Pete and Fargo. Claudia killed the doctor herself. It turned to be Myka, who came into the game to save them. Claudia said it was cathartic to kill the doctor. They decided to split up - Myka and Claudia to release Jerry and to talk to him, while Pete and Fargo tried to distract the creature. Pete and Fargo fought the creature and Myka and Claudia convinced Jerry to propose to the creature to save all of them. He finally pulled out a massive ring, proposed to the creature, and the creature turned into normal Hannah. All of them came back to the real world and Hannah and Jerry reunited.
Claudia faced her fears and performed at the coffeehouse to huge applause. Myka and Pete were seen being silly after putting the Potter tea set together. Fargo shut down Fargames and Jerry proposed to Hannah for real.
Artie and Jinks
Artie and Jinks were in a New York gallery meeting up with FBI Agent Sally Stukowski, played by Ashley Williams. (Sidenote: Mr. Y and I always think of Ashley as Victoria in How I Met Your Mother). The first episode of the season established that she was working for some sort of big bad, but we don't know who he is and what his objective is. Sally explained that she called them in because they specialized in weird. The curator of the exhibit fell two stories from the window, but his body looked like it had fallen from much higher. Artie and Jinks looked around, and Artie spotted a significant painting on the wall, Van Gogh's Stormy Night. Artie pretended that he agreed with the coroner's verdict of suicide, and made ready to leave. As they were leaving, he told Jinks that they had been looking for that painting for years, and that they had to come back to steal it later. Sally did not look like she believed him.
Artie and Jinks came back at night and Artie disarmed the various security systems using a couple of devices. One of them, the Eclipse, turned off the lasers for exactly 42 minutes and 59 seconds, which Artie explained was how long the Dark Side of the Moon was. Jinks asked if Artie was a Pink Floyd fan, and in typical Artie fashion, he shot it down. Sally showed up and told them that unless they told her what was going on, she was going to re-activate the security system.
Sally expressed skepticism that they could replace the painting and no one would notice. Artie pretended that he heard something and Sally went to investigate. While she was gone, Artie told Jinks to take out a blank piece of canvas from the purple tube that he was carrying, and using Guttenberg's memory paper and camera, printed an exact replica of the Van Gogh on the blank canvas. Sally came back and accidentally sneezed on the Van Gogh, which activated the painting and a storm started in the gallery. The strong winds were pulling them away when Artie managed to spray some purple stuff on the painting to stop the storm.
Artie, Jinks, and Sally replaced the painting with the copy, and as they were about to leave, a piece of leaf had gotten stuck on the Eclipse and deactivated it, causing the security system to come back on. Sally took the tube and managed to get out of the room before the steel doors came down, as Artie and Jinks looked on in shock.
Artie and Jinks were sitting in the back of a police car arguing about Sally and whether to tell the policemen who they were when a policeman showed up and told them he was talking them to headquarters. All of a sudden Sally showed up and claimed that Artie and Jinks were part of her anti-terrorism squad, and the policeman released them.
Sally apologized to Artie and Jinks and told them that she had always planned to catch up with them later. She returned the painting to them. Artie and Jinks walked away, but Artie couldn't shake a feeling that something was wrong. We see a guy in a cab giving Sally a nod, and Sally looking pleased with herself.
Sally reported to a shadowy guy in a wheelchair and said that it was done. We flashed to the warehouse, where the painting started rippling and tons of metal bugs started flying around.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
So You Think You Can Dance Season 8 Finale
Tonight was the season finale for So You Think You Can Dance. Cat was beautiful in a short red dress, and a lot of the judges came back, including the hilarious Jesse Tyler Ferguson. The judges and Cat chose their favorite dances from the season. Some of my favorites made the list, including the top 10 guys Christopher Scott routine with the doors, Sasha and Twitch in the Misty Blue Christopher Scott hip hop, Marko and Melanie as the statues by Travis Wall, and Tadd and Lauren in Mandy Moore's stylish jazz routine set to Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust." I did wish we had seen more from Iveta, who only danced the top 20 routine.
Of course the point of tonight was the results. Stop reading here if you don't want to know.
Fourth Place: Tadd
Third Place: Marko
Second Place: Sasha
Winner: MELANIE!!
I was very happy with the result. I felt that Melanie was the best dancer from the beginning, and seemed to be an incredibly nice and sweet person. Congratulations to Melanie, and I hope to see her a lot in the future.
Final random question: what's with Alexander's blond hair?
Of course the point of tonight was the results. Stop reading here if you don't want to know.
Fourth Place: Tadd
Third Place: Marko
Second Place: Sasha
Winner: MELANIE!!
I was very happy with the result. I felt that Melanie was the best dancer from the beginning, and seemed to be an incredibly nice and sweet person. Congratulations to Melanie, and I hope to see her a lot in the future.
Final random question: what's with Alexander's blond hair?
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Warehouse 13 Recap - Episode 305 - 3...2...1
This episode flashes back and forth between the present time, 1893 London, and 1962 Greenbury, Ohio. It also marks the return of last year's villain, Helena "H.G." Wells, played so brilliantly by Jaime Murray.
1893, London, England
The episode started at a location near Warehouse 12 in London, England. There was a man in a frock coat who ran into someone he knew, but a horn sounded, there was a soundwave hitting the man, and he disintegrated into dust.
1962, Greenbury, Ohio
A man was on a bicycle and looking at birds, when he saw a tangle of metals on the ground. A horn sounded, a soundwave hit the man, and the man disintegrated into dust. We found out later that his name was Doug Varley.
Present Time, Pittsburgh
The same horn and soundwave hit a man fixing a billboard on top of a building, and he also disintegrated.
Pete was sitting in a diner across from the building that had the billboard, and he was eating a piece of pie. Myka came in and made fun of Pete for eating a pie and they were in a middle of investigation. Pete defended himself by stating that the power had gone out and the pie was going to go bad. He also pointed to the waitress, and stated that the waitress heard the sound of a horn before the power went out. Myka mentioned that she went up in a cherry picker to investigate the billboard, and part of it had a strange edge where it disintegrated, and there was strange white dust.
Back in the Warehouse, Pete was angry that he wasn't consulted about a decision, but Artie said that the Regents had approved it. He twisted a black sphere and Helena Wells showed up. Similar to the first episode of the season, it was just her consciousness being projected. She was being physically held in an unknown prison. Helena was there because back when she was an agent for Warehouse 12 in the late 1800s, they were investigating similar deaths.
1893, London, England
The action flashed back to 1893, and Helena was at a house party. Her brother Charles, who pretended to be the H.G. Wells who wrote the stories, were entertaining some women with his stories. Helena was obviously annoyed that her brother was taking all the credit for her stories. An older man, Vincent Crowley, went up to Helena and stated that people had no idea what she was capable of. A young man, Wolcott, ran in and told Helena and Vincent that there had been a curiosity, which is a ping in the present vernacular. They had another hit on the stolen artifact. Vincent stated that maybe he should go with Helena instead of Wolcott, because two agents already died when the artifact was stolen. Helena said she and Wolcott would be fine. Wolcott brought Helena up to speed when she was changing. He stated that the latest incident occurred in Duncan near Piccadilly, and he had the policeman stand guard so Helena would get to investigate the crime scene herself.
Helena and Wolcott went to the crime scene, and found white dust. Helena found a piece of papers with a series of numbers of it, and dropped some dust into a test tube. She deduced that the victim was Sir James Eddington, a famous astronomer. She said she and Eddington were working on a project together, and he was killed to prevent him from getting to the Observatory. Helena said the man with the horn was out to stop Eddington, and she and Wolcott hurried to the Observatory.
Present Time, Warehouse 13
In the present time, Artie ran to some archives room and found the parchment that refers to the horn. The artifact is Joshua's Trumpet, an ancient horn who emits such power that it pulverizes everything in its path. It was used by Joshua in the fall of Jericho, and inspired the Legend of How. Helena explained that she might not be able to help the current team that much because she thought she ensured that no one would get a hold of the horn again. Pete was continuously giving Helena a hard time and making snide comments about her.
1893, London, England
When Helena and Wolcott got to the Observatory, Helena showed Wolcott the project she was working on with Eddington - it was a rocket. She opened the main engine area and it turned out someone had put the horn there as a power source. Two guys held them at gunpoint and the villain showed up - it turned out to be Vincent. Vincent said the British Empire was waning and there were even talks about moving the Warehouse to America. He planned on using the rocket to make a statement about British power and ensured British dominance for another 100 years. Wolcott asked Helena when she knew, and she said she knew it had to be someone close to her when she discovered that her diary was facing the wrong way in her drawer, and it was implied that Vincent and Helena were lovers. While he was busy with the rocket and set a timer, Helena and Wolcott overpowered the men with the guns and Helena ran to redirect the rocket. Vincent fought to stop her, but Helena dropped him to the floor and succeeded in turning the wheel to redirect the rocket. The rocket took off.
Present Time, Warehouse 13
Pete was still giving Helena a hard time, and Helena explained that she thought she had sent the rocket to the stars. Claudia said what went up must have come down, when Artie came back with some files. These were Jack and Rebecca's files, Warehouse agents in the 1960s (who were introduced in a rather poignant episode back in Season 2)
1962, Greenbury, Ohio
Two teenagers were making out in a car, and then they stepped out to see the tangle of metal that killed Doug Varley. They saw Helena's crashed rocket with the horn attached when the horn sounded and pulverized a cow. The two teenagers ran back to the car.
Present Time, Pittsburgh
A unseen man had mounted the horn on a satellite dish and was heard to say that he needed more power.
Present Time, Warehouse 13
Artie read Jack and Rebecca's files and everyone noted the similarities between their report and what happened in 1893 and at the present time. Artie sent Pete and Myka to Greenbury, Ohio to see if they can find any evidence, even though Jack and Rebecca noted in their files that the horn had been destroyed. Pete did not want Helena to come with them, but Artie said she had intel and had to go with them. He showed them how to operate the sphere so they can call her out.
1962, Greenbury, Ohio
Jack and Rebecca visited the house where the two teenagers were telling their story. Doug Varley's wife, Nora, walked in with her son Daniel, who was wearing an astronaut helmet. She wanted to know if the government agents were there to find out what happened to her husband. Rebecca engaged Daniel in conversation, and Daniel asked her if they were there to catch the aliens who took his dad and bring him back.
Jack and Rebecca went out to the site of the crashed rocket, and attempted to bag the horn, but it was too unstable and started shooting around. It pulverized many things, including the front part of their car.
Present Time, Greenbury, Ohio
Pete, Myka, and Helena were at the same crash site. They were investigating the remains of Jack and Rebecca's car. Myka noted that the edges at the front of the car matched the edges on the billboard. Pete found Jack's hat and an old copy of Astounding Tales in the trunk.
1962, Greenbury, Ohio
Jack tried shooting the horn with the Tesla, but it only made the horn more unstable. Rebecca shot it with a regular gun which caused an explosion. But when they walked over, there was no sign of the horn.
Present Time, Greenbury, Ohio
Pete, Myka, and Helena were walking around the crash site, and Pete found a brass piece that Helena stated definitely came from her rocket. They told Claudia on the Farnsworth that Joshua's Trumpet was definitely there in 1962, and it was the same artifact they were looking for now. Claudia said a helicopter was just shot down out of the sky, so someone was amplifying the reach of the horn. Pete went off on Helena and about how this was all her fault and how people die or leave whenever she showed up. Myka twisted the sphere to take Helena out, and told Pete that she knew Pete blamed Helena for her leaving, but she came back.
Pete eventually figured out that Daniel Varley, Doug Varley's son, snuck into the trunk of Jack and Rebecca's car back in 1962, and was with them when they were investigating the horn. The Astounding Tales book was his. Pete and Myka deduced that, after the explosion, the horn must have flown near the car, where Daniel picked it up and ran away with it. Pete and Myka told Claudia to find out what she could about Daniel Varley.
The scene flashed to the present Daniel Varley, who was muttering about needing more power on the horn and the star Gliese 581. He said that this time, "they" were going to hear him.
Claudia and Artie eventually figured out that Daniel Varley was in Pittsburgh, and had been in and out of psych hospitals almost his entire life. When he was well, he was a genius who had worked at SETI. The last time he was well, he taught astronomy at West Pa. Tech (a fictional Carnegie Mellon perhaps?). Pete and Myka headed out there and talked to a colleague of Daniel's, who showed them his office. He said Daniel was always troubled, and then became obsessed with a personal project before he left. Pete and Myka noted that he was obsessed with one particular star, Gliese 581, which was 20 light years away. Daniel's colleague explained that at the end of last year, Gliese 581 was discovered as a series of planets that might support life. Pete and Myka deduced that Daniel thought his father was abducted by aliens, and that he thought he had found the aliens, so Daniel was planning to shoot the star using the horn. Claudia and Artie mapped the spots of the recent incidents, and found that it originated from an abandoned SETI facility. They also found that if Daniel tried to shoot the horn again tonight, it would run through Allegheny Field during a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game, which would kill a lot of people.
Pete and Myka found Daniel at the abandoned facility, but he was protected by some sort of force field, so they could not get to him. They tried talking to him, but he was determined to set the timer and shoot the horn at the star. Pete had the idea of bringing Helena back, and Helena took the blame for Daniel's father's death. She was able to breach the force field (since she was only a hologram herself) and talked to Daniel. She explained how it was just a terrible accident, but causing more deaths was not going to make him feel better or bring his dad back. Eventually Daniel relented and turned off the timer on the horn.
Back at the Warehouse, Helena and Myka had an awkward conversation while Myka was cataloging the horn about how they were a good team until Helena decided to destroy the world. Pete came by and grudgingly gave Helena some praise. Myka then twisted the sphere and Helena was gone.
1893, London, England
The episode started at a location near Warehouse 12 in London, England. There was a man in a frock coat who ran into someone he knew, but a horn sounded, there was a soundwave hitting the man, and he disintegrated into dust.
1962, Greenbury, Ohio
A man was on a bicycle and looking at birds, when he saw a tangle of metals on the ground. A horn sounded, a soundwave hit the man, and the man disintegrated into dust. We found out later that his name was Doug Varley.
Present Time, Pittsburgh
The same horn and soundwave hit a man fixing a billboard on top of a building, and he also disintegrated.
Pete was sitting in a diner across from the building that had the billboard, and he was eating a piece of pie. Myka came in and made fun of Pete for eating a pie and they were in a middle of investigation. Pete defended himself by stating that the power had gone out and the pie was going to go bad. He also pointed to the waitress, and stated that the waitress heard the sound of a horn before the power went out. Myka mentioned that she went up in a cherry picker to investigate the billboard, and part of it had a strange edge where it disintegrated, and there was strange white dust.
Back in the Warehouse, Pete was angry that he wasn't consulted about a decision, but Artie said that the Regents had approved it. He twisted a black sphere and Helena Wells showed up. Similar to the first episode of the season, it was just her consciousness being projected. She was being physically held in an unknown prison. Helena was there because back when she was an agent for Warehouse 12 in the late 1800s, they were investigating similar deaths.
1893, London, England
The action flashed back to 1893, and Helena was at a house party. Her brother Charles, who pretended to be the H.G. Wells who wrote the stories, were entertaining some women with his stories. Helena was obviously annoyed that her brother was taking all the credit for her stories. An older man, Vincent Crowley, went up to Helena and stated that people had no idea what she was capable of. A young man, Wolcott, ran in and told Helena and Vincent that there had been a curiosity, which is a ping in the present vernacular. They had another hit on the stolen artifact. Vincent stated that maybe he should go with Helena instead of Wolcott, because two agents already died when the artifact was stolen. Helena said she and Wolcott would be fine. Wolcott brought Helena up to speed when she was changing. He stated that the latest incident occurred in Duncan near Piccadilly, and he had the policeman stand guard so Helena would get to investigate the crime scene herself.
Helena and Wolcott went to the crime scene, and found white dust. Helena found a piece of papers with a series of numbers of it, and dropped some dust into a test tube. She deduced that the victim was Sir James Eddington, a famous astronomer. She said she and Eddington were working on a project together, and he was killed to prevent him from getting to the Observatory. Helena said the man with the horn was out to stop Eddington, and she and Wolcott hurried to the Observatory.
Present Time, Warehouse 13
In the present time, Artie ran to some archives room and found the parchment that refers to the horn. The artifact is Joshua's Trumpet, an ancient horn who emits such power that it pulverizes everything in its path. It was used by Joshua in the fall of Jericho, and inspired the Legend of How. Helena explained that she might not be able to help the current team that much because she thought she ensured that no one would get a hold of the horn again. Pete was continuously giving Helena a hard time and making snide comments about her.
1893, London, England
When Helena and Wolcott got to the Observatory, Helena showed Wolcott the project she was working on with Eddington - it was a rocket. She opened the main engine area and it turned out someone had put the horn there as a power source. Two guys held them at gunpoint and the villain showed up - it turned out to be Vincent. Vincent said the British Empire was waning and there were even talks about moving the Warehouse to America. He planned on using the rocket to make a statement about British power and ensured British dominance for another 100 years. Wolcott asked Helena when she knew, and she said she knew it had to be someone close to her when she discovered that her diary was facing the wrong way in her drawer, and it was implied that Vincent and Helena were lovers. While he was busy with the rocket and set a timer, Helena and Wolcott overpowered the men with the guns and Helena ran to redirect the rocket. Vincent fought to stop her, but Helena dropped him to the floor and succeeded in turning the wheel to redirect the rocket. The rocket took off.
Present Time, Warehouse 13
Pete was still giving Helena a hard time, and Helena explained that she thought she had sent the rocket to the stars. Claudia said what went up must have come down, when Artie came back with some files. These were Jack and Rebecca's files, Warehouse agents in the 1960s (who were introduced in a rather poignant episode back in Season 2)
1962, Greenbury, Ohio
Two teenagers were making out in a car, and then they stepped out to see the tangle of metal that killed Doug Varley. They saw Helena's crashed rocket with the horn attached when the horn sounded and pulverized a cow. The two teenagers ran back to the car.
Present Time, Pittsburgh
A unseen man had mounted the horn on a satellite dish and was heard to say that he needed more power.
Present Time, Warehouse 13
Artie read Jack and Rebecca's files and everyone noted the similarities between their report and what happened in 1893 and at the present time. Artie sent Pete and Myka to Greenbury, Ohio to see if they can find any evidence, even though Jack and Rebecca noted in their files that the horn had been destroyed. Pete did not want Helena to come with them, but Artie said she had intel and had to go with them. He showed them how to operate the sphere so they can call her out.
1962, Greenbury, Ohio
Jack and Rebecca visited the house where the two teenagers were telling their story. Doug Varley's wife, Nora, walked in with her son Daniel, who was wearing an astronaut helmet. She wanted to know if the government agents were there to find out what happened to her husband. Rebecca engaged Daniel in conversation, and Daniel asked her if they were there to catch the aliens who took his dad and bring him back.
Jack and Rebecca went out to the site of the crashed rocket, and attempted to bag the horn, but it was too unstable and started shooting around. It pulverized many things, including the front part of their car.
Present Time, Greenbury, Ohio
Pete, Myka, and Helena were at the same crash site. They were investigating the remains of Jack and Rebecca's car. Myka noted that the edges at the front of the car matched the edges on the billboard. Pete found Jack's hat and an old copy of Astounding Tales in the trunk.
1962, Greenbury, Ohio
Jack tried shooting the horn with the Tesla, but it only made the horn more unstable. Rebecca shot it with a regular gun which caused an explosion. But when they walked over, there was no sign of the horn.
Present Time, Greenbury, Ohio
Pete, Myka, and Helena were walking around the crash site, and Pete found a brass piece that Helena stated definitely came from her rocket. They told Claudia on the Farnsworth that Joshua's Trumpet was definitely there in 1962, and it was the same artifact they were looking for now. Claudia said a helicopter was just shot down out of the sky, so someone was amplifying the reach of the horn. Pete went off on Helena and about how this was all her fault and how people die or leave whenever she showed up. Myka twisted the sphere to take Helena out, and told Pete that she knew Pete blamed Helena for her leaving, but she came back.
Pete eventually figured out that Daniel Varley, Doug Varley's son, snuck into the trunk of Jack and Rebecca's car back in 1962, and was with them when they were investigating the horn. The Astounding Tales book was his. Pete and Myka deduced that, after the explosion, the horn must have flown near the car, where Daniel picked it up and ran away with it. Pete and Myka told Claudia to find out what she could about Daniel Varley.
The scene flashed to the present Daniel Varley, who was muttering about needing more power on the horn and the star Gliese 581. He said that this time, "they" were going to hear him.
Claudia and Artie eventually figured out that Daniel Varley was in Pittsburgh, and had been in and out of psych hospitals almost his entire life. When he was well, he was a genius who had worked at SETI. The last time he was well, he taught astronomy at West Pa. Tech (a fictional Carnegie Mellon perhaps?). Pete and Myka headed out there and talked to a colleague of Daniel's, who showed them his office. He said Daniel was always troubled, and then became obsessed with a personal project before he left. Pete and Myka noted that he was obsessed with one particular star, Gliese 581, which was 20 light years away. Daniel's colleague explained that at the end of last year, Gliese 581 was discovered as a series of planets that might support life. Pete and Myka deduced that Daniel thought his father was abducted by aliens, and that he thought he had found the aliens, so Daniel was planning to shoot the star using the horn. Claudia and Artie mapped the spots of the recent incidents, and found that it originated from an abandoned SETI facility. They also found that if Daniel tried to shoot the horn again tonight, it would run through Allegheny Field during a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game, which would kill a lot of people.
Pete and Myka found Daniel at the abandoned facility, but he was protected by some sort of force field, so they could not get to him. They tried talking to him, but he was determined to set the timer and shoot the horn at the star. Pete had the idea of bringing Helena back, and Helena took the blame for Daniel's father's death. She was able to breach the force field (since she was only a hologram herself) and talked to Daniel. She explained how it was just a terrible accident, but causing more deaths was not going to make him feel better or bring his dad back. Eventually Daniel relented and turned off the timer on the horn.
Back at the Warehouse, Helena and Myka had an awkward conversation while Myka was cataloging the horn about how they were a good team until Helena decided to destroy the world. Pete came by and grudgingly gave Helena some praise. Myka then twisted the sphere and Helena was gone.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Warehouse 13 Recap - Episode 304 - Queen for a Day
I have decided to recap one of our favorite summer shows, Warehouse 13.
If you don't know anything about the show, check out the Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warehouse_13
Last night's episode started with Artie chasing after a scarab in the warehouse while Pete was chatting on the Farnsworth with Claudia. Pete wanted to know where the little marshmallows were. Claudia was at a Civil War reenactment with Jinks, looking for a specific flask. After hanging up with Claudia and Artie sniping at Pete for not helping him catch the bug, Leena called Pete on the Farnsworth to tell him his ex-wife was at the B&B, which sent Pete running quickly.
Myka came home to the B&B after a trip to Dubai to pick up an artifact, and met Pete's ex-wife, Amanda, in the living room. Amanda was a major in the Marines, and Pete never told anyone in the Warehouse that he was previously married. Sidenote: Amanda is played by Jeri Ryan, who is famous for playing the Borg Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager. It's awesome how Warehouse 13 has hired several sci-fi icons as guest stars, like Lindsay Wagner (Wonder Woman), Rene Auberjonois (Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), and Jewel Staite and Sean Maher (Kaylee and Simon from Firefly).
Back to the action. Myka was distracted by Amanda, and left the artifact, a golden metal beehive, on a side table. Artie also returned and he was sneezing all over the place. Pete came in and ushered Artie and Myka out of the room. After some awkward conversation, Amanda gave Pete one of his cherished first edition comic books, and made the move to leave. Pete asked her what she was really here for, and she finally confessed that she wanted her grandfather's ring back, because she was getting married the next day at a rented castle in the Poconos. While Pete went upstairs to get the ring, Amanda accidentally triggered the beehive, and a metal bee came out and fell into her bag. After Pete came back, he apologized to Amanda for being a bad husband back then because of his alcoholism, and gave her the ring. They agreed that in the end, it worked out for the best for both of them.
After Amanda left, Artie found that the bee was missing from the beehive, and they eventually figured out that the bee fell into Amanda's bag. Myka and Pete were sent to retrieve it. At the wedding, the bee pricked Amanda when she was reaching into her bag. When she hugged the bridesmaids and groomsmen, they turned into worker bees (Mr. Y's note: in mindset only, they were still physically human) who obsessively followed her as the Queen Bee, but Amanda did not notice. Pete and Myka told Amanda they needed some time alone with her to explain a problem. Amanda granted their request, but on the way to find a private place to talk, she saw her future in-laws heading towards her, and told her bridesmaids to keep them away from her. Unbeknownst to Amanda, the bridesmaids were possessed by the bee and took this order very seriously. They were seen picking up the future in-laws and unceremoniously carrying them away.
Pete and Myka explained that they needed to look into Amanda's bag, and found the bee. They immediately put it in their special artifacts bag, and there was a flash and a bang. They thought it was over. Amanda asked for a little time alone with Pete, and she also apologized for her part in the failure of their marriage. Amanda's fiance Michael came in dressed in his Marine uniform, and was introduced to Pete. To Pete's chagrin, Michael was a nice guy.
When Myka and Pete were leaving, the groomsmen and bridesmaids started chasing them around. They eventually ended up in the same room where Amanda was waiting, and blocked the door. Amanda was furious and confused, and Myka talked to Artie to figure out how they could solve the issue. Artie was in bed, sick and chugging cold medicine, and trying to read ancient hieroglyphics. The beehive was an Egyptian artifact from Warehouse 2, and it belonged to an Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut, who created the beehive to control her subjects. Sidenote: there was a running gag here about whether Artie was sneezing or was saying Hatshepsut's name. However, the subjects were so obsessed with the Queen that they turned on her, destroying anything that might be against her best interest, no matter what her orders were. Artie mentioned that the bee was supposed to have a stinger, and Myka noticed that the stinger was missing. They figured out that Amanda was stung by the bee in the finger, but they did not know how to get the stinger out, since it was somewhere in her body.
Pete had the idea of taking Amanda to the hospital to do an X-ray to find the stinger. They knocked out one of the groomsmen who was guarding the door with a vase, then tried to sneak out. On the way out they saw the bridesmaids destroying the reception area, and the groomsmen had captured the groom and were carrying him towards the head table. Artie explained that they saw Michael as a threat to the Queen, because if he married her, then he would be King and higher than the Queen. The wedding party tied Michael down and was about to kill him with a sword (the groomsmen were Marines dressed in their uniforms with swords) when Pete, Myka, and Amanda burst in. Everyone fought each other and eventually Pete managed to free Michael. In the meantime, Artie figured out that the bee was a magnet and should be held against the left clavicle to draw the stinger out of the body. Myka quickly performed the task on Amanda, and the stinger came out and returned to the bee. At that point, the enchantment was lifted and the wedding party was back to normal, albeit with bruises and torn and dirty clothes from the fights.
The wedding did go on and Pete and Myka tried to explain to the shell-shocked and disheveled in-laws that the bridal party ate a bad batch of wild mushrooms at the rehearsal dinner the night before, so they behaved very strangely. After the wedding, Amanda and Michael said goodbye to Pete and Myka, and Amanda said that Pete and Myka made a good team. When back at the Warehouse, Pete and Myka were cataloging the beehive when Pete explained to Myka that the reason why he never mentioned Amanda was because he was ashamed of who he was back then, and he never wanted anyone at the Warehouse to know that version of him. Myka reassured him and, to cheer him up, semi-jokingly told Pete that Amanda's new husband was a tool.
The other story involved Claudia and Jinks, who were trying to find Ulysses S. Grant's flask in the middle of the Civil War reenactment of the Battle of Shiloh. Drinking from the flask would make the drinker believe that he was really Ulysses S. Grant, and would take the reenactment too seriously. After fruitlessly looking through a lot of flasks in a trunk, they decided to get dressed in Confederate uniforms to look in the field. They found a guy who was bruised and battered, and asked him who beat him up. The guy told him the man's name was Private Johnson. Claudia was "shot" by a Union soldier, who was in turn "shot" by Jinks. Claudia was going to go on, but the Union soldier insisted that she was dead. So she went back to the tent while Jinks kept going. Eventually he found Private Johnson, but Private Johnson took his role so seriously that he knocked Jinks down and was ready to kill him with a bayonet when Claudia showed up in a Southern belle outfit. She shot Private Johnson with a mini Tesla that was of her own design. Jinks looked somber because Claudia in the black wig looked a lot like his sister, who died awhile ago. They bagged the flask and went back to the Warehouse. Claudia was looking up the newspaper article about Jinks's sister, Olivia, who was shot by a stray bullet when she was 20 years old, the current age of Claudia. Jinks came in and opened up to Claudia about his sister, and how she was very similar to Claudia and always had his back. The last shot was Artie looking fondly at the fact that Claudia and Jinks were beginning to form a tight friendship.
If you don't know anything about the show, check out the Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warehouse_13
Last night's episode started with Artie chasing after a scarab in the warehouse while Pete was chatting on the Farnsworth with Claudia. Pete wanted to know where the little marshmallows were. Claudia was at a Civil War reenactment with Jinks, looking for a specific flask. After hanging up with Claudia and Artie sniping at Pete for not helping him catch the bug, Leena called Pete on the Farnsworth to tell him his ex-wife was at the B&B, which sent Pete running quickly.
Myka came home to the B&B after a trip to Dubai to pick up an artifact, and met Pete's ex-wife, Amanda, in the living room. Amanda was a major in the Marines, and Pete never told anyone in the Warehouse that he was previously married. Sidenote: Amanda is played by Jeri Ryan, who is famous for playing the Borg Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager. It's awesome how Warehouse 13 has hired several sci-fi icons as guest stars, like Lindsay Wagner (Wonder Woman), Rene Auberjonois (Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), and Jewel Staite and Sean Maher (Kaylee and Simon from Firefly).
Back to the action. Myka was distracted by Amanda, and left the artifact, a golden metal beehive, on a side table. Artie also returned and he was sneezing all over the place. Pete came in and ushered Artie and Myka out of the room. After some awkward conversation, Amanda gave Pete one of his cherished first edition comic books, and made the move to leave. Pete asked her what she was really here for, and she finally confessed that she wanted her grandfather's ring back, because she was getting married the next day at a rented castle in the Poconos. While Pete went upstairs to get the ring, Amanda accidentally triggered the beehive, and a metal bee came out and fell into her bag. After Pete came back, he apologized to Amanda for being a bad husband back then because of his alcoholism, and gave her the ring. They agreed that in the end, it worked out for the best for both of them.
After Amanda left, Artie found that the bee was missing from the beehive, and they eventually figured out that the bee fell into Amanda's bag. Myka and Pete were sent to retrieve it. At the wedding, the bee pricked Amanda when she was reaching into her bag. When she hugged the bridesmaids and groomsmen, they turned into worker bees (Mr. Y's note: in mindset only, they were still physically human) who obsessively followed her as the Queen Bee, but Amanda did not notice. Pete and Myka told Amanda they needed some time alone with her to explain a problem. Amanda granted their request, but on the way to find a private place to talk, she saw her future in-laws heading towards her, and told her bridesmaids to keep them away from her. Unbeknownst to Amanda, the bridesmaids were possessed by the bee and took this order very seriously. They were seen picking up the future in-laws and unceremoniously carrying them away.
Pete and Myka explained that they needed to look into Amanda's bag, and found the bee. They immediately put it in their special artifacts bag, and there was a flash and a bang. They thought it was over. Amanda asked for a little time alone with Pete, and she also apologized for her part in the failure of their marriage. Amanda's fiance Michael came in dressed in his Marine uniform, and was introduced to Pete. To Pete's chagrin, Michael was a nice guy.
When Myka and Pete were leaving, the groomsmen and bridesmaids started chasing them around. They eventually ended up in the same room where Amanda was waiting, and blocked the door. Amanda was furious and confused, and Myka talked to Artie to figure out how they could solve the issue. Artie was in bed, sick and chugging cold medicine, and trying to read ancient hieroglyphics. The beehive was an Egyptian artifact from Warehouse 2, and it belonged to an Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut, who created the beehive to control her subjects. Sidenote: there was a running gag here about whether Artie was sneezing or was saying Hatshepsut's name. However, the subjects were so obsessed with the Queen that they turned on her, destroying anything that might be against her best interest, no matter what her orders were. Artie mentioned that the bee was supposed to have a stinger, and Myka noticed that the stinger was missing. They figured out that Amanda was stung by the bee in the finger, but they did not know how to get the stinger out, since it was somewhere in her body.
Pete had the idea of taking Amanda to the hospital to do an X-ray to find the stinger. They knocked out one of the groomsmen who was guarding the door with a vase, then tried to sneak out. On the way out they saw the bridesmaids destroying the reception area, and the groomsmen had captured the groom and were carrying him towards the head table. Artie explained that they saw Michael as a threat to the Queen, because if he married her, then he would be King and higher than the Queen. The wedding party tied Michael down and was about to kill him with a sword (the groomsmen were Marines dressed in their uniforms with swords) when Pete, Myka, and Amanda burst in. Everyone fought each other and eventually Pete managed to free Michael. In the meantime, Artie figured out that the bee was a magnet and should be held against the left clavicle to draw the stinger out of the body. Myka quickly performed the task on Amanda, and the stinger came out and returned to the bee. At that point, the enchantment was lifted and the wedding party was back to normal, albeit with bruises and torn and dirty clothes from the fights.
The wedding did go on and Pete and Myka tried to explain to the shell-shocked and disheveled in-laws that the bridal party ate a bad batch of wild mushrooms at the rehearsal dinner the night before, so they behaved very strangely. After the wedding, Amanda and Michael said goodbye to Pete and Myka, and Amanda said that Pete and Myka made a good team. When back at the Warehouse, Pete and Myka were cataloging the beehive when Pete explained to Myka that the reason why he never mentioned Amanda was because he was ashamed of who he was back then, and he never wanted anyone at the Warehouse to know that version of him. Myka reassured him and, to cheer him up, semi-jokingly told Pete that Amanda's new husband was a tool.
The other story involved Claudia and Jinks, who were trying to find Ulysses S. Grant's flask in the middle of the Civil War reenactment of the Battle of Shiloh. Drinking from the flask would make the drinker believe that he was really Ulysses S. Grant, and would take the reenactment too seriously. After fruitlessly looking through a lot of flasks in a trunk, they decided to get dressed in Confederate uniforms to look in the field. They found a guy who was bruised and battered, and asked him who beat him up. The guy told him the man's name was Private Johnson. Claudia was "shot" by a Union soldier, who was in turn "shot" by Jinks. Claudia was going to go on, but the Union soldier insisted that she was dead. So she went back to the tent while Jinks kept going. Eventually he found Private Johnson, but Private Johnson took his role so seriously that he knocked Jinks down and was ready to kill him with a bayonet when Claudia showed up in a Southern belle outfit. She shot Private Johnson with a mini Tesla that was of her own design. Jinks looked somber because Claudia in the black wig looked a lot like his sister, who died awhile ago. They bagged the flask and went back to the Warehouse. Claudia was looking up the newspaper article about Jinks's sister, Olivia, who was shot by a stray bullet when she was 20 years old, the current age of Claudia. Jinks came in and opened up to Claudia about his sister, and how she was very similar to Claudia and always had his back. The last shot was Artie looking fondly at the fact that Claudia and Jinks were beginning to form a tight friendship.
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