Eureka – Bite me, Kermit

Apparently it’s still too early in the season for us to get any real detail on just what “The Signal” is all about. Something is headed for Eureka, and plenty of folks seem to be all kinds of nervous about it, but that’s all we know. In that respect, we’re in the same boat as Carter, as nobody is telling him anything. I have a bit of an issue with that, but we’ll get to that later. “It’s Not Easy Being Green” also introduced us to Eureka’s rivals, from Area 51, and brought a quick resolution for last week’s Lexi/Duncan cliffhanger.

Taking that last bit first, Duncan was back after taking a little time to think about things. He decided, as expected, that he and Lexi should be together to raise the twins. But that was just too easy, and Lexi was having none of it. Because… well, there are 44 minutes in an episode, so you can’t just go and say yes right away. At least, that’s how it felt. We’ve never seen anything that remotely suggests Duncan wouldn’t want to be part of his children’s lives, but Lexi was completely sure of it. Of course, in the end, they got together and are now headed for parts unknown with promises to visit. I’m good with that resolution.

Carter’s part of this episode, and really the whole beginning of this second half of the season, felt very similar to Lexi’s story. That is, there’s a huge part of the story that doesn’t actually make any sense, except to stretch the story out. Why is Carter, of all people, not privy to what is going on with “The Signal”? Yeah, top secret, national security, pornocakes… This is Eureka, not your average American town. Crazy shit happens and, more often than not, Carter is smack in the middle of fixing things. Plus, he essentially works for GD. When Allison calls, it’s not a “we’ll get to it when we can” response. It’s an answering to his boss response.

The fact that Carter isn’t cleared to know about the impending doom is just silly, and feels like it’s there to keep from having to explain to the viewer just what “The Signal” is, and to ratchet up the drama between Carter and Allison. That’s Allison, who is slowly becoming a strange meld of Stark and Thorne. They could have let Carter in on the secret and still kept the viewers in the dark. The fact that they still are not able to get a good look at whatever is coming accomplishes that well enough.

I suppose that sounds rather negative, but really it’s more of an annoyance. I’m not really buying that angle of the story, but the show is still great fun. The appearance of the rival team from Area 51 made for a series of great gags. From the leader being named Bismarck (Sean O. Roberts – Painkiller Jane), to the crazy, high-tech, bowling balls, right through to the gamma-ray altered skin pigmentation. Fun stuff.

The case of the week also managed to give us just a little more development where Carter and Tess are concerned. She’s slowly learning, as we all have by now, about the Carter thought process. It was fun to watch her scoff at his bumbling attempts to get a grasp on what they were up against. And then see her surprise as he worked around to the solution. The roundabout genius of Carter is fascinating. Or, as Tess put it, an enigma. It should be fun to watch the two of them as we move forward. It’s looking more and more like they are going to come down on the side opposite Allison, which brings all sorts of touchy interpersonal dynamics into play.

All things considered, I’d call it a fun episode. There’s a bit of treading water as the big story gets pushed off, but it was still an entertaining Eureka adventure at its core. That’s good enough for now. And if the preview for next week is to be believed, it looks like things are about to get a whole lot more serious.

Clacked by Brett Love
on Aug 01, 2009 @ 08:32 EST5EDT