Warehouse 13 Wednesday: A Faire To Remember

EPISODE: 5.3 "A Faire To Remember"

Original Air Date: 28 April 2014

MYKA: "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of Artie"

Warning: This review may contain spoilers.

This episode started to get back to the basics the series should be on. There was the main artifact quest search mystery and then the back at the warehouse picking up the pieces sort of back story part. Things start off at a Renaissance faire where Oswald "The Doofer" (Ryan Cartwright) is having problems juggling some wooden clubs and starts getting heckled. A mysterious masked figure magically appears and sends some energy to the heckler causing him to have a heart attack, the mysterious figure then disappears.

Meanwhile back at the ranch or rather the Bread and Breakfast Artie announces that the new dark vault is ready and he needs help returning the artifacts from that section, he tells the team about a ping (the incident  at the Ren Faire) He sends Pete and Steve to the Faire and enlists Myka to help with the artifact restocking. But first she has to "locate" Claudia. Claudia is determined to revive her sister Claire (Chryssie Whitehead) and somehow Myka has figured that out, she also has figured that she is doing it behind Artie's back.

At the fair Pete and Steve interview Oswald (Cartwright SyFy fans will remember played Gary Bell on Alphas which is sort of in the same universe as Warehouse 13 because of Doctor Vanessa Calder (Lindsay Wagner) appeared there as well) and learn that he has been cursed by the Faire's Gypsy fortune teller Madame Dooriya (Mary Lou Rosato) or so he thinks. He was actually cursed from the main artifact Mother Shipton's Tarot Cards which make the cards predictions come true. To confuse matters a little it was not Madame Dooriya but her granddaughter Catarina (Erin Way who played Kat on Alphas) disguised as Madame Dooriya. Pete and Steve deactivate the deck of cards, but their full hand has to be played out. Oswald has to show the courage the cards are drawing out of him in order for him to win the hand of the Princess of the faire, but his heart belongs to Catarina.

Claudia revives Claire with Myka's help by combining some artifacts. However in the process Myka gets Whammied by the Music Box that had originally possessed Claire. When Myka returns to help Artie restock the dark vault artifacts he discovers her possession and eventually gets things under control. In the process however Claire has to be put back into a coma. This was a disappointment to me as I thought they should have found a way to keep her revived, maybe they will do so in the last episode.

Series Regulars:
Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock)
Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly)
Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubenik)
Claudia Donovan (Allison Scagliotti)
Steve Jinks (Aaron Ashmore)

Guest Cast:
Oswald "The Doofer" (Ryan Cartwright)
Catarina (Erin Way)
Claire Donovan (Chryssie Whitehead)
King (Richard Fitzpatrick)
Princess (Victoria "Tori" Anderson)
The Herold (Andre Arruda)
Madame Dooriya (Mary Lou Rosato)
Joe "Puppet Jester" (Danny Smith)
Magician (William Fisher)

Except for the unresolved Claire in a coma problem I really enjoyed this episode. I think they are sort of getting back on the right track. I am still annoyed that the series is ending before it reaches its full potential. If I were a professional writer and could come up with new and cool artifact ideas I would love to work on a series of novels for the show.

I give this episode 4 Warehouse artifacts ****

Myka Monday: Semi Smile

4 More episodes to go yay, but the Final Season is almost half over. So smile sort of.

Image from "Vendetta" Season 2 Episode 9

Warehouse 13 Wednesday: 5.2 Secret Services

EPISODE: 5.2 "Secret Services"

Original Air Date: 21 April 2014

MYKA: "I liked it better when you just stared at my boobs."

Warning: This review may contain spoilers.

Before I get into this review I need to do a little bit of a rant. This episode touched on the subject of character relationship "Shipping" which I feel is OK for fan fiction but NOT for the actual canon of a shows on-air history, unless the evolution of the characters were planned like that from the start. I'm talking about the Pete and Myka relationship, they hinted at taking it to a real level. UGH! Warehouse 13 is first and foremost a Sci-Fi action/adventure with touch of Steampunk NOT ROMANCE FANTASY FICTION. I've seen plenty of fans for the Pete/Myka relationship in online forums, but I have been dead set against it from day one. Their relationship is one that needs the tension. They are also like brother and sister not romantic lovers. From day one it has been obvious that Pete has the hots for Myka (who wouldn't even H.G. was hot for her) but Myka has NEVER shown, shared or reciprocated the feelings/thoughts (I know the feeling). Hooking characters up just to have them hook up is never good for a show, especially if they have had this tension type of relationship. Shows like Moonlighting and The X-Files tried shipping the main characters and it totally ruined the show. OK Warehouse 13 is in the final episodes, but come on people don't stoop down to that level. Sadly it looks like the producers and the writers have listened to the minority fan-girls of the show that want the relationship to be real. Again UGH! The time they spent on the "relationship" affected my rating of this episode. Yet Again UGH! - End Rant

Now onto the review: This episode had three plot points when it really should have only had two. The main artifact was one of the main plots that brought in some Secret Service acquaintances of Pete and Myka who had been working on an unrelated case. That brought in the awful Pete and Myka shipping angle I ranted about because the pair of acquaintances Agents Ted Simkins (Mark Deklin) and Elise Mayer (Janet Varney) were partners who grew to love each other and started suggesting that Pete and Myka should follow their feelings. UGH! The third plot point was Claudia digging into what has become of her sister Claire (Chryssie Whitehead) whom she had previously presumed had died along with her parents. She gets Artie to show her what really happened since he had lied to her about it previously.

Somebody or more precisely something is killing Congressmen by spontaneous drowning. Long drawn out review short it is the effect of Alfred Dreyfus's Sword Hilt when someone looks at the sword hilt it flashes its power onto them so the next time that they lie they start drowning from sea water. Before Pete and Myka actually know what is causing the drowning Myka figures out a temporary relief by using a necklace made from the silver mines of the Atacama Desert (The driest place on Earth) which dries up the seawater in their lungs. The big revealing connection of the victims was some sort of conspiracy concerning Oil Fracking, yes a Battlestar Galactica reference is made by Pete the Geek.

Meanwhile Artie reluctantly shows Claudia the events that lead up to current condition of her sister Claire through the use of a pair of bronze baby shoes.When holding the baby shoes past events are relived,  apparently you can control what memories are brought up by concentrating on a past event. Claudia discovers that Claire had acted up due to the influence of Frances Farmer's Music Box which causes telekinetic outbursts triggered by anger. Claire activated the music box when she tested to see if it worked at a yard sale. Claire has been kept under an artifact induced coma by the Warehouse Regents through the use of a combination of Joseph Pilates' Resistance Bands to keep Claire's muscles from moving but keep her circulatory system active. and Oliver Sach's Record Player which keeps her mind in the coma.

Series Regulars:
Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock)
Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly)
Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubenik)
Claudia Donovan (Allison Scagliotti)
Steve Jinks (Aaron Ashmore)
Mrs. Frederic (CCH Pounder)

Guest Cast:
Ted Simkins (Mark Deklin)
Elise Mayer (Janet Varney)
Diane Hewlett (Megan Gallagher)
Julia Helmsworth (Emily Alatalo)
Claire Donovan (Chryssie Whitehead)
Young (15 years old) Claire (Abigail Winter)
Young Claudia (T.J. McGibbon)
Claudia's Mom (Fiona Byrne)
Clauida's Dad (Peter Valdron)

Due to the character shipping I had to drop my rating of this episode down one point. The relationship issue was too much of a major plot point. With that in mind I give this episode 3 Warehouse artifacts ***

Myka Monday: I Love When Myka Smiles

I Love it when Myka Smiles.

Possible Blog Format Change?

I've been thinking of making some adjustments to this blog. Specifically the template format for the look of the thing. I mostly want to change it so I can post larger pics. With the current size/template I'm using (on of the older ones on Blogger) if the picture is too big anything on the right side of the picture doesn't show.

I plan on doing some experimenting over the next day or two. So probably by the end of this weekend things will look a bit different.

Warehouse 13 Wednesday: Season 5 Begins To End

This past Monday (14 April) Warehouse 13 returned to SyFy Channel for the beginning of the end of Season 5. This past year I have had real mixed emotions about this whole "last season" business. I love the show and am very saddened that the network decided to pull the plug on the show around this time last year. This season is very bittersweet as it is the final season. I am glad that Sci-Fi had the decency to announce the cancellation before the final season had been filmed so that the writers and production staff could finish things off. Sometimes shows have been canceled with no warning after they had wrapped up the final episodes (Eureka and Alphas anyone?)

I wasn't sure if I was going to do a review of the Season 5 premier or not. I guess I'm going to do a mini-review.

EPISODE: 5.1 "Endless Terror"

Original Air Date: 14 April 2014

CLAUDIA: "Looks like your warehouse still has a little bit of a crush on me."

Warning: This review may contain spoilers

This was a fantastic episode I hope the rest of the season keeps me as interested as this one did. Last season there were a couple of episodes that were about 3/4 interesting and the rest of the episode had me thinking of what websites I need to surf to when the show ended. This episode kept me wanting more and cursing the commercial breaks. I am looking forward to late May when the DVD will be released. Supposedly the Season 5 DVD will have the Christmas episode from the end of Season 3 "The Greatest Gift" which currently is only available on the Region 2 DVD release. But I digress before I even began.

Endless Terror begins where last season left off with a cliff-hanger of course. Claudia was confronting Paracelsus (Anthony Head) who had just taken control of the Warehouse and evicted the team. He starts throwing dangerous artifacts or shooting their projectiles at her and she uses other artifacts to block or counter the attacking artifact. Soon Paracelsus realizes that the Warehouse is protecting Claudia because she is its caretaker, he also realizes since he controls the Warehouse he can control Claudia and he does (with the assistance of an artifact of course).

With Claudia's unwilling assistance Paracelsus collects and hooks up some artifacts to H.G. Wells' Time Machine to create a time portal to the past. Meanwhile the team after some failed attempts at gaining entry back into the warehouse with some humorous results, do finally gain access to the warehouse. The team still needs to regain control of the warehouse. To do that they need to split up, Pete and Steve are confronted by the Paracelsus Minion Claudia, who warns them about each of the artifacts she is using against them with some humorous dialogue. Artie and Myka go into the depths of the warehouse to the nerve center to realign the controlling flames that need to be in their proper alcoves they had been removed from to create the ring of fire Paracelsus' control had made them into. Once the flames are returned to their proper places Paracelsus no longer has control over Claudia, but he manages to escape into the time portal he has created.

Before the team can chase Paracelsus through the time portal the warehouse has been transformed. Gone is the steampunk antique mechanical designs to be replaced by shiny high-tech digital and computerized fixtures. They discover that he made changes in the past to not only become caretaker of Warehouse 9 as before, but he also has killed the regents from that time to become the caretaker for all the Warehouses from 9 up to 13.

Pete and Myka go back to Warehouse 9 while Artie goes off to confront the modern Paracelsus instructing Claudia and Steve to stay behind and keep the time portal open for Pete and Myka. Claudia follows Artie leaving Steve to fend for himself. Upon arrival in the past Pete and Myka are met by Lisa Da Vinci (Rebecca Mader) and accused of murdering the warehouse guards and plotting to kill the regents (who haven't yet been killed when they arrive in the past).

Meanwhile in the alternate present Artie is captured by the warehouse security force that is enhanced by artifacts that Paracelsus has duplicated and are lead by Benedict Valda (Mark Sheppard). Paracelsus throughout his reign as warehouse caretaker has experimented with artifacts on innocent people to advance the warehouse technology and increase his overall power. His medical staff includes some familiar faces; Doctor Vanessa Calder (Lindsey Wagner) and Hugo Miller (Rene Auberjonois) who in this alternate timeline are married and are forced to work under Paracelsus to keep their children alive.

Pete and Myka with Lisa Da Vinci's help, save the regents from the past, defeat Paracelsus and rebronze him. Rebronzing Paracelsus in the past cause the Paracelsus of the present to bronze once the changed ripples of time get to it.

The team goes about settling down for the evening winding down from the latest adventure, Artie while putting away artifacts notices that one of the artifact forks from the silverware set he is putting away is missing. He brushes it off with a sort of "oh well" attitude. We as the audience are then shown Valda holding the missing fork someplace else, setting up things for next week's episode or possibly later.

Series Regulars:
Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock)
Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly)
Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubenik)
Claudia Donovan (Allison Scagliotti)
Steve Jinks (Aaron Ashmore)
Mrs. Frederic (CCH Pounder)
Abigail Cho (Kelly Hu)

Guest Cast:
Paracelsus (Anthoney Head)
Hugo Miller (Rene Auberjonois)
Vanessa Calder (Lindsey Wagner)
Benedict Valda (Mark Sheppard)
Lisa Da Vinci (Rebecca Mader)

Season Five has started off with a big bang. I hope that the rest of the season continues to be as exciting and as powerful as this episode was. I wish the network executives hadn't pulled the plug on this wonderful series. I would really like to see the series live on in some form perhaps in the form of novels and some audio adventures.

I give this episode 4 Warehouse artifacts ****

Myka Monday: Season Five Begins To End

14 April 2014:

Warehouse 13 Season Five Begins to End

 Myka is celebrating because tonight Season 5 of Warehouse 13 begins. Unfortunately there are only six episodes so it will be over way too soon. That makes Myka a bit sad but it hasn't sunk in yet.

We shall see what the next few weeks hold in store for us.So keep on smiling Myka we will always love you.

I Stand Corrected: Turk IS a Name

I have mentioned on this blog some of my adventures of people misspelling my name. I mentioned that I have on occasion had people call me "Turk" and I always thought it was a Non-Name. Well it turns out it is a real name (0r nickname at the very least). It is the name of a baseball player in the 1960s, at least one player. Seems there was a ball player named: Turk Farrell (Real name Richard Joseph Farrell) among a few other "Turks": Turk Lown (Omar Joseph Lown), Turk Wendell (Steven John Wendell). Hmm maybe it is just a nickname. However, it is also a last name for a few players too many to mention here. I stand corrected.

I discovered this fact when I got the Turk Farrell baseball card to help complete my 1965 Topps Baseball Card collection. I am trying to complete the set before the 50th Anniversary of the set and specifically before my birthday in April.

So although Turk really is a name it is NOT MY NAME. Neither is "irk" or "erk" or "urk"

The Ting Tings "That's Not My Name".

Fryday Fourtoon: Numba 60

"Faith is knowing there is an ocean when you can only see the stream."

Learn Cbinese - Eggplant qie zi

Lucky Numbers 8, 51, 37, 42, 41, 21

 
*Fortunes and Lottery Numbers are posted for entertainment purposes only.

 

Myka Monday: Don't Panic

 Oh good Myka I caught you before you left. I almost didn't get this one in.

 Now don't look at me that way.

That's much better.