Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.
Wow, that episode sure did get going in a heartbeat. It's rare that Warehouse 13 starts off with crazy action, but within minutes we've got Artie and Brother Adrian fighting it out. And the pace never slowed down after that, giving us more varied, action-packed scenarios in one episode than we've ever seen before. But too much action can lead to sacrifices in cerebral storytelling, and that's exactly what happens here.
Here's the first sign that something was wrong. After Artie and Brother Adrian scuffle for a bit, the dear brother says, “Come, here. I want to tell you my plan.” And Artie dutifully leans in so the dear brother can whisper in his ear. That was the most awkward thing I've seen in TV in a long time. It's just incomprehensibly contrived and illogical.
But it was still early in the episode, so I didn't give up on it yet. Soon it is revealed that Brother Adrian is playing pretty dirty and he's going after the family members and loved ones of the warehouse agents, and we've got the thrust of this week's plot. Meanwhile, Mrs. Frederic and Jinks are off to the Vatican to get to the root of the problem in a story initially seems pointless, but becomes very important later. Still, the peril of the loved ones dominates this story, and the whole core cast of characters gets set on a different adventure. Myka goes off to see her pregnant sister who is stricken by sudden desire to poison her. Jeri Ryan returns to the show as Amanda, Pete's ex-wife. And Claudia rushes to California to save her brother again. To say this episode has a lot going on would be a severe understatement.
In recent past episodes, the writers tried to do too much. There were one too many stories, which left each mini-plot with less screen time than it needed to really shine. You'd think I'd lay down the same critique here, but...you know...although I was all prepared to be the big bad reviewer on this one, it isn't necessary. Despite the many, many stories going on here, I have to say that it works. Each of these little stories is simple enough that it doesn't need much exploration, and the scattered structure keeps the episode from having any sagging parts.
The most entertaining of these stories is Myka's. The sisterly rivalry is hilarious, and culminates in one scene that has Myka physically fighting with her pregnant sister while trading insults from years worth of juvenile grievances. It could have descended into Jerry Springer material, but it's actually tastefully funny. On the other side of things, Pete's story is the more dramatic one for once. Just as it looks like Pete is going to have something very nasty happen to him, quick thinking saves the day. Myka's conclusion that the leather box was the medium for the tattoo was brilliant, and Pete's idea to just lie on the ground and press the box against his back is immediately obvious, but the obvious sometimes escapes Pete so this is progress for him.
Soon, however, the episode got back to sloppy writing. Artie utters the illogical line, “I'm not a murderer. But don't worry; you're never getting out of here again.” Uhm...wouldn't never leaving be something to worry about? That whole sentence should've never left the writer's room. And since when did Leena not listen to a grave warning from Mrs. Frederic? Run, girl! Run!!!
Still, the shocking revelation that Brother Adrian had never actually been there is one of the biggest WTF moments WH13 ever had, but it's surprising because it comes out of nowhere. We didn't have any really hints for this turn of events. While a good plot twist is never seen coming, you do want it to make some sense based on what the viewer has seen. I don't know if re-watches of the previous episodes would really support this development, so I can't give the producers highest marks for execution. But I'll definitely give out extra points for effort, and this plot point does make it easy to segue into evil Artie doing a truly villainous deed; killing Leena.
Leena being dead is sad, but let's be honest – she was the most disposable of the cast members. It's been ages since she had anything to actually do in this series. Her death just means that we may finally have a permanent change in this series. But we've seen disaster averted so many times in WH13 that it's hard to know if this will actually stick. This is one of the times when the show's own history works against it, and the drama we should have is tempered by uncertainty. Despite that, I'll still be eagerly awaiting what WH13 has in store for a follow-up to this week's intriguing events.
Source : ign[dot]com
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