Spoilers.
Warehouse 13 Official Site
The Time: Tuesdays, 9:00 PM, Syfy
The Show:
After
saving the President’s life during a museum gala where a worker is
infected by an ancient Mayan idol’s evil, Secret Service agents Myka
Bering and Peter Lattimer find themselves assigned to the government’s
Warehouse 13, a top secret repository where supernatural objects an
artifacts of the unexplained have been stored for over a
century. The agents are chosen for their individual talents:
Bering’s being that she is a driven perfectionist who notices every
detail about a situation and Lattimer getting unexplained vibes about a
situation that usually steer him in the right direction. In
their new assignment, the agents are tasked with obtaining these
artifacts and securing them in the warehouse for the public’s own good
and safety. Helping them are the Warehouse’s eccentric
supervisor, Artie Clark, and their boss, Mrs. Frederick.
The Stars:
• Eddie McClintock – Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock)
• Joanne Kelly – Myka Bering
• Saul Rubinek – Arthur “Artie” Nielsen
• Genelle Williams – Leena
• Allison Scagliotti – Claudia Donovan
• CCH Pounder – Mrs. Frederick
• Samuel Reynolds – Daniel Dickenson
The Episodes: “Resonance” & “Magnetism”
In “Resonance,” the agents are called to Chicago to investigate a series of bank robberies where the robbers use some sort of siren-like music to put the whammy on everyone in the vicinity. The music causes them to freeze in their tracks in a hypnotic trance and also produces short-term memory loss. The artifact doing the hypnosis turns out to be connected to a washed up musician. “Magnetism” has Bering and Lattimer investigating a small town where the inhabitants are acting out on their subconscious desires, with no regard for their safety or others’. When Bering becomes infected by the phenomenon, Lattimer finds it a painful experience. The artifact in question doing the deed would look good in a parlor it turns out.
The Lowdown:
still can’t make up my mind as to whether it’s worth investing further
attention. Think that the chemistry has improved a little between the
two leads, McClintock and Kelly, but the show as a whole isn’t really
grabbing me. Take for instance the premise of “Resonance.” You have
bank robbers who are using an old record by a washed up rock star to
aid in their snatch and grab jobs. The tune is some sort of siren
song-like composition that sends people to a blissful mind trip and
produces short term memory loss.
When the reason behind the thefts is revealed <Spoiler>
(They’re robbing banks to get the scratch to buy back the rock star’s
music catalogue, which was pilfered by his former manager in a crooked
deal. The rock star’s daughter works for his former manager, but he
has the only key to the vault where the masters are stored.) <End Spoiler>,
the obvious question hangs out there like some washed laundry: why not
just go to the source and heist the items in question? Would be a hell
of a lot easier than pulling some Dillingers. Plus, Tricia Helfer is
engaged in some stunt casting that’s not much more than some brand
recognition rather than a meaningful character.
There’s also a
subplot developing where someone is trying to breach security at the
warehouse. In “Resonance,” someone tries to hack the warehouse
computers and in “Magnetism” they hack the power grid. Artie tracks
down the computer attempt to to Dickenson’s office in “Resonance” and
plays handyman as he tries to get the lights working correctly after
the power in the warehouse goes haywire in “Magnetism.” He does have an interesting camera handy for when Dickenson catches him in his office.
“Magnetism” was the better of the two episodes, but even that isn’t saying much. In this episode, the agents go to a small town where the locals are engaging in destructive and self-destructive behavior. An old lady smashes a paper vending machine, and a nun likes to get up on high places and pretend she’s Sally Field circa 1967. The agents eventually discover that whatever artifact they’re looking for is affecting the people’s subconscious desires, bringing them into their conscious actions like a spell.
Bering becomes infected and acts out on her innermost desire: to use Lattimer like a punching bag because he annoys her. A local paramedic likes to play grabby the breasty on Bering, which is somewhat understandable. The explanation of the artifact in question was dubious at best. <Spoiler> (It’s a parlor chair used by physician and hypnotist, James Braid. The chair absorbed all of his patients’ bad mojo in its seat coils and released them ferro-magnetically to whomever sat in the chair and listened to the voice of the local priest, who was a direct descendant of Braid and recently acquired the chair.) <End Spoiler>
There is also a subplot about Bering’s relationship with her father that isn’t particularly gripping. Overall, nothing about this show so far is particularly outstanding. It’s still tonally nebulous also and the attempts it makes at humor fall flat. Friday the 13th: The Series was a better show with much less.
“Resonance”: 5.5 out of 10
“Magnetism”: 5.9 out of 10