Gearing up for tonight’s season finale of SyFy’s Warehouse 13, I am delighted to bring you the first part of my interview with show stars Saul Rubinek (Artie) and Eddie McClintock (Pete). Just what is the Warehouse’s secret weapon? Read on for the answer in this excerpt of the SyFy Q&A session with Rubinek and McClintock.
[Above: Pete (Eddie McClintock), Myka (Joanne Kelly), and Artie (Saul Rubinek)]
SciFi Mafia: Saul it looks like Artie was right all along about H.G. Wells (Jaime Murray) and it seems like we’re finally going to get see the rest of the MacPherson plot line reveal itself. When we spoke to CCH Pounder she indicated that the MacPherson plotline will likely continue into the third season of Warehouse 13. And since we’re just starting to see the Egyptian roots of the Warehouse in these last two episodes of this season, what can you tell us about the Egyptians symbology behind the Regents with the Eye of Horus and the MacPherson plot line?
How will Artie play a role in all of this?
Saul Rubinek: Well I can’t tell you too much without spoiling stuff. What I can tell, you know, it’s hard to… I don’t want to give away anything, but I may – it looks like Artie is right but maybe not. There are always going to be surprises. I can give that away. So that whatever you expect is going to happen, you will find that there is a twist on it.
As far as far as the Egyptian symbology and all of that, they do a lot research. They have fun doing research. It’s almost like they have a – it’s hilarious. It’s like their own dorm over there, the writers, and their own study group. And they…
Eddie McClintock: Nerds.
Saul Rubinek: And they have – they really go into it. And they really get off on it, you know? I mean I remember at one point I heard that Artie goes into the old – what is called? The old relics room where he is trying to match the photograph of the kid in front of the symbols with scrolls [in “Buried]. My son, Sam, was working as an intern in the Art Department and helping out making stuff this summer.He told me that the guy who is actually creating the ancient scroll and was doing everything vertically. And the designer came in and said – and [the guy creating it] had been working on it for an entire day or two. Intricately creating these symbols based on real symbols – the designer said it’s all beautiful except they have to be horizontal.
SFM: Oh, no!
Saul Rubinek: And he just looked at him. And to save themselves they had to go, well is there any way that maybe it could be interesting – they went to the director. What if I went to the director and said, maybe Artie has to turn it because it’s not what he expects. Then the direction designer said, yes. You can tell him that – he’s Italian, you can suggest that but you cannot tell him “because you made a mistake”.
So the director said…
Eddie McClintock: Oh no.
Saul Rubinek: So they went to the director and they went, do you think it might be interesting that it’s vertical? Artie has to turn the picture around? And he went, “Oh yes sure that’s a good idea,” saving him two whole days of work. So they do spend a lot of time on these symbols and on all of the stuff that they do.
The Art Department is certainly one of the best in – after 35 years of working on this – on television and film. I’ve never seen a more meticulous and a more dedicated and more imaginative group of people. They kind of away from us, because we get to see the results on set. But because my son was interning in the department and I went to visit him quite often I could see.
He told me stories about what they did and the kind of research that they do. I am so impressed. I think it is the secret weapon of our show, is production design and the art department and the props. It is…
SFM: And we fans are paying attention, too. Very close attention.
[Above: The Eye of Horus pin on Mr. Valda, played by Mark Sheppard]
Saul Rubinek: It’s a prop show and I think it’s the stuff that’s talked about least in all of the stuff that I have read – the writing, the acting, the premise of the show, guest stars. All of that stuff is talked about a lot; even the music has been honored with an Emmy nomination and all of that stuff is wonderful and deserves all of its accolades.
But I have to tell you that for me I really believe that key – major key to the success of this show is the dedication and brilliance of the production design in the art department.
SFM: Wonderful. That is awesome. And I love the thorough and intriguing details of the show.
Eddie McClintock: And the accounting department.
Saul Rubinek: Yes and the accounting department, otherwise this would not…
Eddie McClintock: Want to be best accounting departments in the business.
Saul Rubinek: Enough said.
[Above: Eddie McClintock and Saul Rubinek with show writer Nell Scovell]
This next question on how Rubinek and McClintock feel about the second season of Warehouse 13 comes from fellow journalist, Kenn Gold of Media Boulevard. Their responses to this also compliment what was discussed above:
Kenn Gold of Media Boulevard: How do you feel about the season now that it is done, or about to be done here.
Eddie McClintock: Well I, God I am really proud of it. I am really proud of this week’s show I just thought [it] was fantastic. There were some – some moments where Pete was kind of cracking jokes and stuff during the show. And they didn’t end up in the edit and I was okay with that. You know, because I thought that totally the show just really worked.
And I loved the fact that the people who are making the show know when Pete should be funny and when he shouldn’t be funny. I mean for me, I am such a laugh whore that I will always go for the joke. Thank God that there is somebody there that will go, you know what? We don’t need it here. And it speaks a lot about the people behind the camera that are making the show.
It shows how smart they are. I think for a second season, you know, my – it’s my first second season after thirteen, fourteen years as an actor. I couldn’t be happier. I couldn’t be more proud. Syfy has turned out to be an incredibly classy operation. I am out here in London right now and Syfy UK and Syfy France has again, shown themselves to be incredibly well put together.
And I am proud of my network and proud of my show.
Saul Rubinek: It’s a really good second season. The writers had quite an interesting and daunting task after creating a show that turned out to be the most successful series audience-wise in the history of the network. And now you have to follow it up. One of the things that they had created which was very smart in the first season was to have an arch with a nemesis which was played by Roger Rees (James MacPherson), a brilliant actor and great multi-dimensional character that provided a kind of a backbone to the show that they continued this year with a very imaginative idea of casting Jaime Murray as H.G. Wells.
[Above: Pete (Eddie McClintock), Myka (Joanne Kelly) and H.G. Wells (Jaime Murray)]
My wife for example, who does not want to know what happens, is intrigued. And my friends who are watching the show who also have asked me not to give away stuff. They want to know how it ends. There is a lot of controversy about whether this is an evil character or not and how it worked out and why Artie is against her. All of that stuff that they created at the beginning of their writing session last fall when they were mapping the show out has brought a lot of fruit.
One of the things that I really like is that they’ve continued to explore the history of the place because one of the things I am – most enjoy about the show is the mythology that they’ve created about the Warehouse. So that you go to Syfy.com and you can look up – with a little bit of search you can find out something about the history of what the other twelve Warehouses – where the other twelve Warehouses were. At what time period and the stories themselves have dealt with that mythology in one way or another.
So while we’re still artifact hunting and there’s adventures to be had simply by the fun of an artifact can do. At the same time they’ve created an overriding arch for each season so far. That has given the show a little bit more depth than it might otherwise have had. And I am really proud of that.
They’ve kept the characters and the relationships very close to their hearts. So that we all care about each other, the stakes get higher and higher for us. And in all good series you will see I think the common denominator like that.
That the characters care – if the characters don’t care about each other the audience won’t. There’s a continuing depth to the relationship and the stakes for the characters. So they’re working on a lot of levels as writers. And the writers, you know, all come to see their episodes filmed to Toronto from Los Angeles.They really love doing the show. That’s a very happy group of people.
As Eddie was saying, it’s unusual in anyone’s career that you’re the number one show of a network. And it is a wonderful thing to see how NBC Universal executives who come and visit us who become our friends, the people who are responsible for the show, and how Syfy has supported it.
I certainly in a very long career have never been a part of anything that has been – where I’ve been one of the stars of the show. I mean I was – years ago I was a recurring character on Frasier,an example of one of the most successful shows in history but it wasn’t my show the way this is with our group. So I am really thrilled with it. I couldn’t be happier.
Stay tuned to SciFi Mafia for more with Saul Rubinek and Eddie McClintock!
Watch the season finale of Warehouse 13 on SyFy tonight,
