Warehouse 13 “Nevermore” #111 (Season 1, Episode 11)

Original airdate: September 15, 2009

Summary:

A mysterious notebook is delivered to Myka’s father.  This is not at all out of the ordinary since he owns a bookstore, but what is unusual is the book’s sickening effects and blackouts!  Myka returns home to Colorado Springs, afraid that her father is dying and unaware that an artifact is at work here.  Pete joins Myka to support her and together they solve this mystery of a two-parted artifact, Edgar Allen Poe’s notebook and feather pen, with the Warehouse team.  Myka finally resolves some father-daughter issues that have plagued her all her life.  (Michael and Susan Hogan guest star.)

Meanwhile the hunt for MacPherson is on!  Did he send the book to Myka’s father?  Just what are MacPherson’s goals?

Points to Know:

• At the beginning of this ep, Artie had sent Pete and Myka on a worldwide hunt for MacPhereson.  Pete’s lead checks out and he’s on a footchase after him.  Myka discovers that the artifact they know MacPhereson to be in possession of is not at MacPhereson’s flat.  Pete covers his ears just in time to escape the cymbals’ sonic wave, but MacPhereson gets away.
• In Portland, Oregon’s Kingford Academy, an awkward, bullied boy with low self-esteem has a crush on the popular girl.  Poe’s feather pen is on display at his school and it calls to him, sensing his love of writing and lovelorn soul. He steals the pen and it allows him to make things happen (ie upon reading the word “Wall”as written by the pen, his English teacher gets walled up a la “Cask of Amontillado”).
• When Mr. Bering collapses screaming, Myka and Pete discover the notebook and the writing snaking up his body and ask for Artie’s help.  Artie analyzed the writing to be that Edgar Allan Poe and the notebook is connected with another object, the pen that wrote in the notebook.  It affects Myka’s father through his love for the written word and the fact that it is away from its partner.  Myka’s father is now a conduit between the two objects.  Claudia is sent to help the agents.
• Artie recommends Myka to read books that he loves to her father to combat the artifact’s effects.  Her mother reveals that her father had regrets about not being a father to Myka and a lost career in writing.  He had written a novel long ago but never published it.  It is this book that Myka reads that gives him the strength to hold on.  She is surprised to realize that the book is about father and daughter.
• Pete goes after the pen, but it’s only by Myka’s reading the book to her father that it lessens the hold on the boy and Claudia and Pete retrieve the artifact.
• Myka has not told her parents about her transfer to the Warehouse until she is outed in a fashion by this artifact affecting her father.
• Mrs. Fredricks is furious at Artie for hunting MacPhereson without her involvement, without an “offensive strategy, defensive posture, or containment plan”.  He was not properly prepared to go after MacPhereson.
• The timing of the book being sent to Myka’s father is too coincidental.  They suspect MacPhereson did it as either a distraction or as it turns out, they were being used by him to track down the pen.  MacPhereson holds Myka’s parents hostage with Jack The Ripper’s Lantern (that mesmerizes them in the moment) in exchange for the notebook and pen.
• Mrs. Fredricks’ appearing and disappearing act is really irking Artie.  Just how does she do that and how does she know things before Artie does sometimes?
• Mrs. Fredricks makes a reference to the ashes of the first twelve Warehouses.  They are presumably destroyed in the past in some manner.

Commentary:

• Myka’s parents are played by Michael and Susan Hogan, whom you might remember as Saul Tigh and the lead judge that at Gaius Baltar’s trial on BSG.  They are actually married in real life and play a married couple here without batting an eye.  They make great TV parents for Myka, making her feel like a kid again in minutes of her arrival.  They play her parents as caring, Main Street type of couple who clearly love their daughter.  Their performances are understated and familiar to anyone who has that sort of relationship with their parents, but I did not feel like I could see how Myka came from them.  She appears to have kept them at an arm’s length for quite some time now, but it is clear that they love and support her.
• This ep does great things in furthering Myka’s character development.  It shows that Pete is there for her in a BFF-manner, but somehow Myka seems to just be reactive to these events.
• This artifact plotline seems forced to make the Myka-and-her-father plotline work, but they throw a lot of action to make you not think about the plot holes like: Why does Myka’s father keep reading the book?  There was no letter that accompanied it.  Did he know what he was reading?
• What does MacPherson mean that he doesn’t have the means to retrieve artifacts?  He clearly does have skills, having been a Warehouse agent before.  It’s clear that he is just using Artie and his agents to be cruel and because he can.  I still pose the question: “Who is MacPherson working for?”
• At this point, I’ve given up on liking Pete and Myka.  My interest is still peaked by Mrs. Fredricks, Artie, Claudia, and now, the Regents.  I am watching “Warehouse 13” for everyone BUT the leads!

Check out the preview of the season finale of “Warehouse 13”:

Catch all new eps on the Syfy channel:

Watch “Warehouse 13” on Tuesday nights 9/8 C

Watch full eps on Syfy’s Rewind. http://www.syfy.com/rewind/

Be sure to check out the “Enhanced” versions of the eps as they are the commentary track for the ep!