EPISODE RECAP & REVIEW

Season 3, Episode 9 (1 of 10 new remaining in season 3) “Welcome Back Carter”

Show homepage: www.syfy.com/eureka

Eureka season 3.5 starts with a… well… THUD!  Even with the danger of random objects falling down all around them, the premiere ep continuing season 3 hits the nail on the head for all the reasons why we love this show.

Here’s a quick recap in bullet points to remind you of what happened in the first 8eps of this season:

• Allison does not marry Dr. Stark, as he is KIA saving the world, but she finds out that she is pregnant with Stark’s child.

• Lexi, Carter’s sis is pregnant with twins and is staying with Carter.

• Henry get voted in as the new Mayor of Eureka.

• Carter is relieved from his Sheriff’s position when he doesn’t turn in Eva Thorne.

But you say, “They can’t fire Carter! The whole show revolves around him and what he brings to the town of Eureka as Sheriff!”  No worries, this ep addresses this very question and practically sparkles with all the elements that make Eureka such a loveable and fun show.

SPOILERS WARNING:  Recap starts here!

*BEGIN SPOILAGE*

What? They want to replace Carter with… Robocop?  Sheriff Andy is a prototype 2.9 billion dollar DoD robot built to be a personable, small town-type of friendly lawman with a hard drive full of the latest protocols in criminal investigation, town laws, customizable sensors to be calibrated to whatever the situation may call for, a complete medical diagnosis program, and best of all, he fits in a box.  He’s so nice, you just want to punch that smile right off his face.

Of course, this elicits a “heeeeeell, no!” reaction from Deputy Sheriff Jo, who has been passed over for promotion to Sheriff for the third time.  Jo will NOT work for a robot.

Eureka’s brand of strange starts happening when fully grown trees fall across a road outside of town.  Sheriff Andy sees no oddities in this, but Carter’s spidey sense is going off.  Carter insists that Sheriff Andy investigate this matter further, but Robocop doesn’t see the need. Then a satellite dish falls and crushes Andy.  After Fargo fixes Andy up, Andy is smashed again when his car is flattened all by itself.  Strange much?  Carter cannot help but investigate. It is just who he is!

Even though Carter is offered and will take a job at the Department of Homeland Security, he can’t help but work this case.  As it turns out, S.A.R.A.H. (the Carter’s house, in case you forgot) has feelings, too.  She is someone with things to lose as well if the Carters leave Eureka!  S.A.R.A.H. struck up a dialogue online with one of Global Dynamics’ lesser scientists researching zero gravity fields (who incidentally, is the same scientist we see at the top of the ep that Lexi wants to use his near-zero gravity bubble for her home birth; Carter boiled this tech down by calling it a ‘baby aquarium’).  S.A.R.A.H. managed to further his research to create gravity wells as a ways to dispose of this Robocop-replacement for Carter.

Of course, things always get worse before they get better and the gravity wells are out of S.A.R.A.H.’s control when GD & this lesser scientist tried to correct this problem without knowledge of S.A.R.A.H.’s involvement.  Now the entire West Coast is in danger of falling into a black hole if the gravity wells come together!

The solution?  Blow something up!  An explosion by overloading the ‘baby aquarium’s tensor field would negate the effects of the gravity wells.  The perfect person for the job is Andy since he is not flesh and blood and basically cannot die- except that bravery and self-sacrifice is not one of the subroutines running in Andy’s hard drive.  Carter volunteers to place the bomb amidst gravity well- central.  In the end, Carter manages to rectify the situation with Andy’s help (who managed to grow a pair after understanding Carter’s dedication as a lawman).  Andy, who has learned a lesson in self-sacrifice, decides that he doesn’t really like this job.

At the end of the ep, Carter is informed that he never was fired in the first place because even though the DoD can fire any local authority, it must have written approval of the Mayor.  Henry Deacon is the Mayor of Eureka and gave no such documentation with the General’s firing of Carter so it did not happen.  Clever of Andy to have had this bit of information in the town’s Charter in his hard drive, no?  Poor Andy is now at a crisis of programming with the occupation he was designed for.  Bet GD didn’t think that Andy would have free will!

My two cents: I was surprised that Andy had free will.  He’s like a cylon on countrified-happy drugs, but all in all, turns out that he’s a decent guy… that comes in a box.  I hope they bring Andy back into the storyline at some point.  And how exactly was Lexi going to pay for her ‘baby aquarium’?

*END SPOILAGLE*

THE WRAP UP:

This ep serves as the perfect reminder about what is charming about this show- its sense of humor, clever use of technology and mis-fires of tech, the fun and light nature of the show, and most of all, Sheriff Jack Carter’s in-tune-with-Eureka-spidey-sense, dogged determination to seek out the truth, and his devotion to his fellow townspeople.  Sheriff Carter IS Eureka’s lucky charm!  The odds are always better with him around.

NEXT WEEK:

Our folks in Eureka will investigate the interference with their Nav Sat array.  This new big-bad is from outer space and headed straight for Eureka!

EXTRA SPECIAL GOODIE:

Syfy’s interview w/ Eureka’s Allison, Salli Richardson-Whitfield and series co-creator, Jamie Paglia answering fan questions about the new eps.

What did you think of the premiere?  Leave us your thoughts in the Forum!