SyFy: Eureka season 3.5 preview
The previous entertainment strike disrupted a perfectly good third season of Eureka and it has taken what seems to be forever to broadcast the second half. Eureka was already SyFy’s top watched show of last year before the strike. I imagine the dropping of the flies in the final season of BSG started taking its toll on the viewers. You can only take so much doom and gloom. A good number of misadventures and tragedies had beset on the inhabitants of Eureka. Eva Thorne was nosing about trying to find a hidden research facility and nearly blew up the town. And Dr. Nathan Stark had sacrificed his life to save Eureka from impending doom, once again; but not before gracing Allison Blake with a new child.
As the season 3.5 begins life continues for Jack Carter with all its zany incidents except Carter was fired at the end of the first half of the season. Oh no, what will happen? Viewers of the show know how it works and what they can expect at the beginning of the second half. Every day it’s the same thing. Either, an experiment had gone awry, a neglected scientist just wants to get noticed, one of the endearing cast members is inflicted with a weird kind of disease or genetic mutation or radiation leak. There is always someone teetering on the edge between sanity and mad scientist and they always manage to get found out and reprimanded before too much harm befalls the citizens of Eureka. That someone may have nearly unleashed unholy havoc upon the town but because of the advances they have made in science while doing so they are merely given a slap on the wrist. Heck, for once I would like to see someone go completely mad scientist on the town of Eureka, escape and then there’s always that question in the back of your mind, ‘when will they come back again’?
But the real reason for Eureka's success is the appeal of the characters because let's be honest you're not coming back for the intricately woven plot. As far as serial plots go they were pretty abandoned in Season 2 once the producers of the show figured out that there was success to be had in being a polar opposite to a show like BDG. Eureka is light and funny. It is an hour each week of light entertainment that makes us laugh and forget our troubles. There will be time to brood later, right now let’s sit down in front of the tube and laugh a bit.
In the second half opener Carter has been fired as sheriff of Eureka and replaced with a state of the art robot, Sheriff Andy, played by Ty Olsson from BSG. Once again strange things are happening and Carter’s curiosity cannot keep him from investigating the strange occurrences: large trees being uprooted, large satellite dishes keeling over. Things get heavy pretty quick. And in Episode 10, Your Face or Mine, while Carter is undergoing a bi-annual dexterity test of sorts Deputy Jo Lupo becomes the acting sheriff but soon has everyone concerned about her rash behavior and mood swings.
What else can you expect from Season 3.5? Well, we are promised shows that pay homage to films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind – in the season opener Henry tells Allison that they are receiving and signal from space – and The Blob. And another liner note in the package I got with the first two episodes was that Carter’s daughter, Zoe, encounters a new love interest, a Dr. Tess Fontana. Oooh, how progressive. And this character will be supervising the re-opening of the infamous Section 5.
Not that is has any bearing in how the season plays out but the beginning of the second half is a flip flop of episodes, what is episode 9 was originally supposed to be episode 10 and vice versa, Colin Ferguson took his turn behind the camera and directed episode 10 Your Face or Mine which will air on July 17th. Joe Morton, who plays Henry Deacon, will also get behind the camera later is the season and direct an episode.
Season 3.5 starts this Friday night, July 10th at 9:00pm ET/PT.
