EUREKA #9:I'll Be Seeing You /Season IV/2010

[Truth Seeker]

I'll Be Seeing You

After the D.E.D. device disappears, Carter, Jo, Fargo and Allison find themselves in a déjà vu situation as their investigation puts Trevor Grant right at the top of the suspect list. The proverbial noose around his neck only tightens when they discover evidence that connects him to Beverly Barlowe, and her motive will put at risk everything they have struggled to achieve.
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[Mark CMG]

The premise for this season cannot end soon enough, IMO.

 

[Ahzad]

The premise for this season cannot end soon enough, IMO.

i cannot agree more, while i like that jack and allie have finally gotten together the rest of it just leaves me flat. the other exception i guess is that deputy andy has grown on me.

 

[Mark CMG]

Yup. Andy is more enjoyable than before. I think this premise might have made for a good two-parter, maybe, but a whole season is stretching it. There have been some highlights, like the "Stark" episode. Many subplots, like the Zoe/Zane thing seems forced, for instance, or Henry's marital status doesn't work for me. Also, didn't Henry fess up to his wife about what was happening? Yet in this last episode the six (five plus Grant) "conspirators" all gathered to discuss how no one can be told, yet I think they all knew Henry's wife was told when they were at the cookout together (which led to a complication because of the mind-linking device), IIRC. It just seems to keep getting more inconsistent and sloppy.

I still like most of the characters, I just wish they'd get beck to a reset position and continue with the show as previously offered. I think there is more they can do with it.

 

[Dog Moon]

Yeah, I was wondering briefly if the characters had forgotten about Henry's wife or the writers forgot. And the only reason I didn't automatically go with the writers is because I thought the wife would be the perfect person to maybe accidentally screw up and tell someone, causing them the trouble that they are now going to be trying to avoid.

 

[stonegod]

I actually am enjoying the premise. I was ready to very annoyed if they used the reset button (making all of this season to-date a waste of viewing time).

I did, however, think the lack of Henry's wife being there an oversight.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I can't disagree more with the idea that this storyline has been banal. I think this season was exactly what the show needed.

I've been a fan of Eureka since the beginning. The show has always been about the characters first and the story second (if at all). I won't claim that it was always perfect, but for the first two seasons it was still pretty good. The third "season" (both halves) was almost uniformly bad, especially with regards to characterization. Most of the characters were not only written terribly. Some were written almost completely the opposite of how they were (Allison, Jo); others were written so over the top as to be nonsensical (Fargo). It could have been forgiven if the story was any good, but the first half (Eva Thorne) was boring and meandering, and the second simply had almost no plot at all.

This season has been more in the spirit of first two seasons by far: consistent characterization (with growth!), a decent plot that tied into previous seasons, consistency and logic, and a mix of seriousness and silliness that served to temper each other rather than fight against each other.

Regarding Henry's wife: I think that they handled it perfectly. Henry had to give it a go to avoid tipping things off, but realized that it wasn't going to be possible and had to tell her. A sudden divorce (or what have you) would have tipped things off even more.

To the episode itself:

Overall I thought this episode was good. I could have done without so many repeat scenes from the first episodes (especially the Jo montage). I liked the subtle mention of destiny vs. free will when Grant tried to stop Allison from saving Barlowe, but she saved him anyway. I'm also very glad they didn't reset everything; that would have been too easy. I liked that the show didn't forget about Jo's reveal to Zane, and Henry's wife wasn't needed in the episode so I wasn't bothered by her absence. One big question I had was about Johnson & Johnson. It seemed a little too convenient to be a chance investment, so my thinking was that the woman was from the future.

 

[coyote6]

I have to agree with LightPhoenix; I was about ready to drop the show last season. It was so formulaic that it was driving me nuts; it seemed like nearly every episode was done by filling in the blanks in a template script.

This season has been much more interesting.

I especially liked the very subtle nod that Henry is on his third timeline, at least (telling Allison she & Jack belonged together).

 

[Mark CMG]

Sadly, this false timeline allows for real growth in only five characters, while all others aren't themselves anymore, and only in regard to the current timeline situation because much of the growth of the five character as regards to the earlier seasons is jumbled or nixed. The growth we saw with Jo up until this season is undermined by the switcharoo on Zanes, which also means previous Zane character growth has been compromised. Some of the growth with Carter has been undermined by us not really knowing Zoe, at least not definitely though they had an entire subplot of an episode with Carter trying to ensure himself that didn't really change. The inconsistencies has caused what we know about Henry to be rather muddled, as cited above. The Alison and Fargo characters are mostly being used to show what happens when someone gains and another loses power, though Alison is a little more multidimensional in that the relationship between her and Carter (the tension of which was utilized through the early seasons as one of the primary dynamics of the show). I'm not seeing true growth in the characters so much as I see the writers using the plot premise as a way to introduce new characters in old, familiar bodies. We'll see what happens at the end of the season.