EUReKA review Season 4 Episode 8: “The Ex-Files”

This was probably one of the more anticipated episodes Eureka has ever had in the pipeline. The return of Nathan Stark, who was vaporized, er, dematerialized one year ago in Eureka time (two years in real time for fans keeping track).

And while his return provided a lot of entertaining mileage, the circumstances that brought him back were fortunately revealed very early on - he was merely a hallucination seen by Carter.

He wasn’t alone in seeing things, as Allison, Grant, Jo, and Fargo were also plagued by hallucinations featuring people from their past.

The hallucination problems made up for one-half of the show’s crisis-of-the-week, the other a plot that revolved around a controversial weapon that may have been responsible for their plight (it wasn’t).

One problem quietly dissolved on it’s own when character foibles were dealt with (the hallucinations), the other was stolen off-camera (the weapon), and in the end we had a mess of a show that only served to plant the seeds for two more story arcs - Grant’s potential return home to 1947, and Zane possibly being onto Jo’s time-line secret.

There were too many flaws that brought this episode down, but still there were a few memorable highlights.

The Good: Stark’s presence was every bit as fun as I thought it would be. His effortless insults he tossed at Carter was excellent fan-service. It’s not everyday you see a character with their own personal troll. Their interaction was a callback to a Eureka that seems like a long time ago.

Jo having to deal with two Zanes was interesting, and it yielded probably the most noteworthy revelation of the week: she just wasn’t really into the guy. Her actions will provoke Zane into further investigating his hunches. I really doubt he sees the former deputy as a thief of family heirlooms.

The Bad: There was so much bad. Where to begin?

Dr. Grant suddenly championing a cause out of thin air. Could this not have been hinted at earlier? Could he not have sounded-off on weapons or something? I don’t mind characters suddenly doing a 180, as long as it is in character. It just seemed forced and lazy.

Grant also apparently had this friendship with the very soldier Allison saved by using a defibrillator comprised of battery cables in the season opener - a soldier who turns out to be Beverly Barlowe’s dad. In that episode he seemed like just another soldier. Again this could have been better thought out. Feels like a tacked-on retcon. Can the show’s producers look forward beyond a few weeks of episodes?

Barlowe’s agenda was also disappointing. Somehow she is with this organization that has been searching for Grant for over 60 years, and now that they have found him, he is enlisted to help with a weapon that is also out of the blue? This sort of overly convenient alignment makes my head hurt.

The Awful: The Hallucinations. Way to jerk with an audience! Fortunately this was revealed early on to help curb viewer fallout, but this also undermined the overall story, as these hallucinations were then frequently labeled as something to be ignored. It was like watching a plot device linger in the background.

Hallucinations with agendas. Seriously? Fargo needs courage. Carter needs heart. Allison needs bravery. Gag.

Eureka has been teeing up interesting story arcs one episode, then dismissing them outright the next. The Carter-Grant-Allison triangle? Gone. The Zane-Zoe-Jo triangle? Gone. Barlowe as an interesting antagonist? Gone. All these had a lifespan of 1.5 episodes. It’s almost like each episode is suffering a bit of an unwanted hangover from the previous episode.

They are stacking up on intros for this show! The unnecessary voice-over explaining the time travel arc that has opened every show this year was followed by a “Previously, on Eureka…” segment. There was a time when the show opened with an extended intro sequence - the hover car, the hover lawnmower, the hover dog-walker, the hover buildings…okay maybe I see why they got rid of it.

Stray Observations: Henry and Grace’s thought-sharing invention is broken. If she could really read a guy’s mind, he’d be getting chased with a frying pan repeatedly. What our minds think of every six seconds is a burden, ladies.

They really need to do a whole episode about providing Carter with a cop cruiser that is impervious to being pancaked.

Poor James Callis, enduring another “I am hallucinating someone who is not there” device. Fortunately his hallucination arc was muted. Unfortunately, this time it didn’t feature an alluring Tricia Helfer. Edit: Re-watched the episode and caught Grant’s hilarious response to who he was hallucinating: “Tall, leggy blonde, slinky red dress.” Hilarious nod to Helfer and BSG.

When they do bring back Stark (and that is still a possibility), I’m sure it will be treated with more gravity than this.

Quote of the week: (Overly smug) “Size thirteen!“

Grade: D- Expectations were not met, the plot was just plain and utter Shyamalan. A filler episode.