Teh heh.
Just watched the most recent episode "No Pain, No Gain". I was quite happy with it.
First, the dramedy is back! Pete and Myka were working to retrieve an artifact that centered around wish fulfillment, and their interplay was entertaining and funny. Especially funny was how hunting for this artifact may have caused a change in how Pete and Myka relate to each other.
Second, we had an excellent B story with Claudia and Mrs. Fredericks. It was a follow up to the story a bit over a year ago where it looked like Claudia would have to take Mrs. Fredericks place, and part of why this worked so well was we got insight into what it means to be Mrs. Fredericks AND saw a more mature Claudia - she looked and acted more adult than we have seen before on the show.
Third, the mystery of artifacts being stolen from the Warehouse expanded a bit. Plus Artie now knows that Steve and Claudia are linked via the metronome.
Overall well done. Got the show back in its proper tone and also advanced the story.
I have to give credit where credit is due - Warehouse 13 is quietly putting out a very strong show this season. And this episode was another strong one. Good plotlines (including bringing back one of the worse baddies from the show's past) and also character development. Claudia now is aware of the problem she created with the Metronome and Artie is starting to flake out over the campaign that Brent Spiner is waging to force him to use the Astrolabe again to undo the changes he wrought - the problem of course is if Artie does that then the whole world comes apart. Plus Artie cannot tell anyone what the situation is.
Ultimately I would think that Brent and Artie will be forced to put their heads together and work out a solution that puts the Astrolabe back but does so without undoing the fixing of the destruction of the Warehouse.
This show reminds me a lot of "Friday the 13th: The Series". It, too, featured a caretaker and a male & female pair who were in charge of a warehouse filled with supernatural objects, spending episode after episode retrieving such objects from the general public.
There are general similarities but when you zero in it is rather different. The artifacts in Friday the 13th were all evil and in fact needed human sacrifice to operate - the occultic element was palpable. Plus the show was dark and gory (it brushes the edges of allowable gore, violence and sex on TV of the time more than once). By contrast, the W13 artifacts exist in a world somewhere between fantasy and scifi - they are not good or evil and do not require human sacrifice to work. The whole tone of W13 is lighter and the show uses dramedy extensively. It is also WAY more family friendly and in my opinion the cast is vastly better in W13.
That's true, although the way I would put it is they took an interesting base concept (looking for objects that have special abilities) and showed how it SHOULD be done - not the way Friday the 13th the series did it which was more the way not to do it. So while the basic concept was not original the execution is far superior.
True, the creators aped F13. But in this case I don't mind so much because while they aped the concept they executed it vastly better, turning a show that was repulsive (Friday the 13th) into one that is outright fun to watch.
That said, I do wish we would see more original ideas. Eureka was on the original side and worked out quite well. So was The Dresden Files but it was prematurely cancelled - pity because it was showing every sign of being a keeper.
WH13 might be a dramedy but they really need to tighten up the comedic moments. The ones with Pete this season have been, for the most part, lame. I watched the last episode with a friend who had never seen the show and the first thing he commented on was how bad the comedy was in regards to Pete. It was interesting to get an objective opinion and I have to say I concur with his assessment. Pete's lines this season are really forced and too over the top. They don't have that believable snappy repartee'. I'm still wincing from that whole "You go girl" schtick they had him do in the previous episode as it was really lame. Seriously, it was lame.
Has the show reached the point where it's cannibalizing itself? Is it becoming a parody of itself? Are the characters becoming caricatures? It sure seems like that's the direction it's headed if Pete is any indication.
WH13 might be a dramedy but they really need to tighten up the comedic moments. The ones with Pete this season have been, for the most part, lame. I watched the last episode with a friend who had never seen the show and the first thing he commented on was how bad the comedy was in regards to Pete. It was interesting to get an objective opinion and I have to say I concur with his assessment. Pete's lines this season are really forced and too over the top. They don't have that believable snappy repartee'. I'm still wincing from that whole "You go girl" schtick they had him do in the previous episode as it was really lame. Seriously, it was lame.
Has the show reached the point where it's cannibalizing itself? Is it becoming a parody of itself? Are the characters becoming caricatures? It sure seems like that's the direction it's headed if Pete is any indication.