Eureka Reboot – Is It Working For You?
I promise that this site is not going to devolve into one based solely on SyFy shows. But, honestly, they have the market cornered on genre right now so if you are going to talk about SciFi you are bound to bump into the SyFy folks. That said, I have been watching the new season of Eureka and just can’t make up my mind if I like the reboot and addition of James Callis (Baltar from BSG).
First, Eureka did something that I have always quite liked. They extended the romance between Lupo and Zane. This has always been a neat twist, which I believe was mastered in Farscape between Erin and Crichton. I mean lets face it, Farscape really rocked that plot twist. How best to extend a romance on a TV show? Make two of one of the love birds, have the girl fall in love with one, that one dies, the other is reunited but has to start all over from scratch. Brilliant. Eureka didn’t do quite as good a job as that but still it wasn’t bad. Send Lupo to an alternate reality where they hate each other and poof instant romance reboot. So on that score I give them a thumbs up.
Second, Baltar. What’s he doing there? Is he just being thrown in because he’s one of SyFy’s greats? I don’t mind him being on the show but just not sure what exactly he’s contributing so far. He pops in occasionally, gives some stupid sage advice and disappears to smoke cigarettes and bang chicks. Wow, it really is Baltar…
Next, what’s up with the whole Jack’s love interest thing? Can we say being dragged on a bit too long? Just get it over with already. First he’s all about Allison, and then Tess, and then he has Tess, kicks her out, for what? I don’t get it, maybe he’s gay. Still, I’ve just about had enough of Jack’s love life.
And why did they feel the need to replace the robot sheriff? Was there some contract dispute or another job offer behind the scenes? Poor move. Not that I have anything against the new Andy, but the old one was doing just fine. And this one, though it’s only been one episode, feels a little forced for the actor.
Henry’s life seems to have improved but, eh, so what. Now he has a wife that’s just like he is. He basically married himself. Nice going Henry. It’s kinda funny at times but overall doesn’t add much to the story for me.
Allison’s son doesn’t have Autism anymore. Neat.
Fargo seems to be the real changer here. It is fun to watch Fargo, who is a sweet character and a little jumpy, be forced to act like a asshole. We all knew that he had that in him of course, but to see it brought to life is funny. Having him bumble through things and ask Allison how to do them is also funny but it can get old after awhile.
Lots of SciFi shows do this type of plot of course, one of the first was Star Trek. Send your characters into an alternate world and watch as they have to unravel events and situations that are at the same time familiar but also alien. It works for an episode or two but for an entire series change? Even just a season of it feels like it could get out of hand. This is the first I think we’ve seen this plot twist on this scale. Of course, Eureka did it once before with Henry but it was pretty mild compared to this. For me, i’m not yet sure if it’s working. It’s fun right now, but either we’ll forget it happened or they will be forced to decide to switch back to the real, though now alternate, time line. Allison won’t like that for sure.
