Eureka Season 3

I didn't catch it, but my wife loves the show . . . I like it as well, although it sort of feels like "Sci-Fi Matlock," comfort food television that occasionally involves lasers.

Pretty good. It's good we have a new villain.

I still say this show has a very dark view of personal relationships, and Carter is never going to get the girl. Good show though and a lot of fun. I really enjoyed how thye kept flipping what was the cause of the drone's rebellion. Loved the fridge: "It's like Narnia."

I was highly disappointed. Carter is lacking in the spunk and charisma from the first season and was even more moapy then in the second season. I didn't like the cast dynamics. I didn't like the general tone of the show and I'm not digging the villian or that Alison is engaged to Stark. I also miss Henry.

I feel like an ass for recommending this show to so many people with such a shitty fucking start of the thrid season. If it wasn't for the fact that it's summer and there's hardly anything on TV I wouldn't watch this. It's got two more episodes to improve and show some of that spunk and charm and chemistry that it displayed in the first season and some of the episodes of the second season before I give up and decide to play a game instead of devote time to this empty shell of a show.

Carter being all weird over Alison kind of bugged me. I thought he'd gotten over her last season and was involved with the hot dry cleaner chick, and now he's all sad that Alison and Stark are getting back together? Weak sauce.

I was happily surprised by how much I liked season 1, but season 2 really disappointed me with the fairly dull wrap-up to many interesting plotlines. It's just one episode, but the season 3 opener didn't reverse the trend for me. It makes me wonder if SciFi pressured them to reduce the ongoing storylines, because the show seems 'simplified' these days. Less ambiguous characters, less lingering plot threads, etc.

It's not bad, and I'm hopeful it'll improve, but it's gone from "really anxious to watch" to "I'll get around to it"...

And in case anyone didn't know, due to the strike, only 8 or 9 episodes will air before it's off again until next year.

My major nit was at the end, for a show which supposedly is aware of it's borrowing from the genre for it's plots, the vial not being filled with a green glowing liquid was just plain wrong.

So.....

When did the show become the Degree Deodorant Variety Hour?

Did I miss that memo?

And did the show's producers miss the memo that gratuitous and obnoxious product placement is not alleviated by referring to it cutely within the show?

If this is the future of television advertising I want no part of it.

I've enjoyed this show the way I enjoy movie popcorn - it's light, puffy, topped with things that are bad for me, and curiously satisfying on a very limited basis. Didn't think much of Season 2, but I like the show's leads enough to Tivo it.

The gale-force deodorant barrage, however, is making me more and more inclined to skip it. Anyone else thrown by this? Or is this just one of the signs that I'm becoming crotchety and old?

I've been assuming, rightly or wrongly, that the blatant advertising is to help shore up the cost of the show/the show's effects. If that's the case, I doubt Fischer's departure will change that. I hope it does, though. It really bugs the crap out of me. It'd be one thing if each portion of the show was bookended by "brought to you by Degree" announcements, or if they did a once-a-show 'pseudo commercial' like the one with Zane, or if they chose strictly to meta-comment on the placement by using the 'profitability' angle that Fischer talks about.

But all three? All at once? Congratulations, Degree. I hate your product now.

I liked that they brought Henry back as well, and I think Carter and he have a really nice chemistry together, so I'm hoping that they explore that friendship some more.

I think, depsite it being blatant placement advertising, the Dergeee thing is going to play a role in the plot of the show. The town being the center of test for a new product line and it affects them in someway, either the Fixer controlling them, with that vial she was seen with, or the new research lab curing the problem.

I guess I'm just getting old.

I hate that idea. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

I hated it when "Nissan Versa" was the most oft-repeated phrase on Heroes, and I hate it now. It completely sucks me out of the show and makes me loathe what I'm attempting to enjoy.

I'm aware that with the growing influence of DVR tech, advertisers are having to come up with ways to get our eyeballs on products, and that this kind of synergistic marketing is ideal as far as forcing the audience to absorb the product and its message. I'm also aware that television isn't truly 'free,' and must be paid for somehow...

But I still despise it.

It was a lot better then the season opener (Stark, Henry and Carter are the A Team!).

I don't care too much about the degree thing, maybe because everytime I see blatant product placement a little clip of George Clooney from Return of the Killer Tomatoes! plays in my head and it makes me chuckle.

Loved the bit about the mars mission before they entered the habitat.

As to the end scene... WHoA! I had to rewind my DVR to catch the actual date on the canister. Six years before the Trinity test in New Mexico!!! Is she learning new things about Eureka or is she trying to find something in Eureka? either way...Just a reminder..

(I've actually been there, if you get a chance.. it's cool. They open it twice a year I believe)

There was a discrepency with the date on the cannister and the date on the film. The date on the cannister was from 1938 but the date on the film was 1945, the actual year of the first test.

So do you think they're hinting that:

a) Eureka's scientists were responsible for the creation of the Atom bomb, and that Oppenheimer was a resident, or

b) That their scientists invented a similar weapon prior to the Trinity detonation, or

c) That in the wake of the Trinity detonation, the military turned to the folks from Eureka for an as-yet-undisclosed reason, or

d) None of the above?

OR

e. Time Travel???

i need to rewatch it.

I'm not sure what the date discrepency means. When I was watching it I thought they were showing how Eureka was created, clearing the area and creating the huge underground area with the explosion but when I realized there was a date problem they lost me on their intent.

Any of those are possibilities. Also, she might have been looking for something and the explosion was a key to what she wants. Like Oppenheimer being a resident and needing his research for some reason.

The problem with the Degree stuff is that since it's a real product, they can't really attack the commercialism angle with any teeth, addressing the issues with anything but a nod and a wink would piss off a very real advertiser. So it's not a genuine part of the show, it's a very blatant and awkward commercial that stops the show dead.

As for the episode itself, I also was confused as to what the big reveal at the end was supposed to mean... it's not much of a cliffhanger if we can't see the cliff.

One big problem with the show right now is that while I understand they want to milk the love triangle for all its worth... All three characters are extremely boring in this configuration. Allison and Carter acting awkwardly around each other is dull, Allison and Stark acting lovingly is repulsive, and Stark and Carter acting cordial is a waste. I never really cared about the love triangle before, but now I desperately want this phase of it to end, in hopes that the next phase is more interesting.

Also, I hated how they brought Henry back. his arc was a full season of anger and scheming and vengeance, that led to the very real consequence of jail time... undone with a, "Thanks for the pardon." So basically we've now fully hit the reset button on every interesting story the show has told. I like Henry, but this was weak.

I guess my main disappointment with Eureka now is how we've lost the conflicts between the "good guys". Henry working against Carter, Stark running secret projects, Allison hiding her son's nature from Carter... these were interesting storylines not so much because of the plot points, but because of our ability to indetify with both sides of the struggle. That's way more interesting than "new evil bitch vs everyone", and less predictable too.

And the corporate synergy thing doesn't even make any fucking sense. Why would any company pay another company to put their logo on their uniforms and everything else when the second company is an ultra top secret government run think tank that no one in the world knows about?

And seconded on the Henry thing. I knew that eventually they'd get him out of prison, but I thought they'd wait until midway through the season to do it.

I really do like this show, but I'm in agreement with some of y'all that they shouldn't have resolved the issue of Henry being in jail so fast. But Colin Ferguson is great as Sheriff Carter.

I don't know what to think of the last episode. Was very boring and they made light of Henry getting out of jail.

I was thinking the explosion had something to do with the artifact since the cloud had a purplish color. Or at least with whatever liquid the new boss was playing with.

The good news:

Product placement reduced to a minimum this week. No in-show references to deodorant, and no in-character plugging of product.

The bad news:

The show seems content to be a goofy lark, shot through with occasional moments of half-hearted suspense, and nothing more. It has the potential to be more, but the writers/producers/execs seem content to keep it closer to Murder She Wrote territory rather than Twin Peaks.

I'll continue to watch for Colin Ferguson's performance (this dude has Marvel's ant-man movie written all over him. Someone hook him up with a good agent), because he's consistently entertaining with inconsistently entertaining material.

I liked it! I especially like how they brought back some of the guest stars from last season for the dog competition.

I don't like Sci-Fi's wording with a charcter being 'gone' ... Hopefully it's the daughter or Fargo but it will probably be someone in the triangle, fuckers.

Also... Isn't Henry still keeping the secret that he came back from the future and that he hates Carter and blames him for his wife's death?

I think Henry got over being angry at Carter when he figured out that it was Beverly's scheming that was responsible for the accident. I'm hoping they address his memories of the no longer existent future timeline in some way, though it might explain why he seemed more bemused by finding the radiation and the Fixer's reaction.

I'm pretty sure they dropped that alternate reality plot at the end of last season. It was a pretty complicated plot to carry over a season let alone to pick up again this season, a season which is supposed to be lighter.

I liked this episode more than the last two, but man did they kill it by running the promo advertising major changes right before the last 10 minutes. Hard to pay attention to what you're watching when you're still trying to figure out who's getting the axe next week.

It's either Henry or Stark. Both are too content right now, and both are on the wrong side of the plotlines. Stark marrying Allison, and Henry about to figure out something huge and tell Carter... tough call... I'll go with Henry.

I was amused by Henry's "I don't keep secrets from my friends... anymore." But did he ever tell Carter about the whole mind-wiping scenario? (I should know since that scene turned the show into must-watch TV for me)...

I bet it's Stark. He's not happy with the changes going on at Global and I wouldn't be surprised if they off'd him to get Allison to run back to Carter.

BTW... much better episode this week. Typical that Fargo would get all high and mighty about the people cheating and then turn and use a real dog to win the competition.

Oddly, I hope they don't kill Stark. While the writers took a good deal of his edge off, I'd miss the contempt between him and Carter. It makes for good character moments.

I'm guessing (hoping?) that they off Fargo. And that something happens to Alison - she's the real wet blanket of the show for me.

Stark does have his moments with Carter, but if this show wants to start taking some chances, Stark is the meaty center that they all share. They tried pushing Henry off to the side and they are still recovering from that hot mess...

But they will probably off a secondary character like Fargo (since he almost died last season) or the guy from Cafe Diem.

I'd argue that Alison is really the problem. Too much sappy nonsense over a love triangle that, dramatically, can never resolve satisfactorily. Killing her, however, would spin both Stark and Carter in interesting character directions.

Killing Stark would just lead to a lot of weeping and doe-eyed gazing from Carter.

Offing Allison makes sense. It would help make more room for Carter and Jo to banter back and forth, but then again he has the boyfriend now but that doesn't mean we can't see the two in action to preserve the man/woman dynamic the show is missing.

And did anyone else think that originally Stark took Carter down to the server room to hook him up with the diamond expert?

Yeah... it felt like a set up from the start but they didn't go that direction. Weird.

I was also thinking this.

In fact, during the show I thought 'she isn't going to be the culprit, because it seems as though they're setting her up to be a supporting character/recurring guest.'

And maybe they should have - the woman they cast was striking, and clearly all of us were thinking that way. It might also help throw some misdirection into the show to once in a while introduce a new character that will stay on the show and not turn out to be a misunderstood/disgruntled scientist causing problems for Carter.

...Remember the dry-cleaning woman? Apparently the show does not.

Totally agree (and I was thinking the same thing about the diamond girl).

They also forgot about Taggert... maybe this season turns out to be a giant VR experiment.

I think Matt Frewer might have had another engagement during filming of these first few episodes. I can't imagine Taggart being gone for the whole season. I am annoyed at Callie being MIA.

Fuckers.

Wow. Now that is more like it. Reminded me a lot of Doctor Who that episode. That is the funny show with the dark edge I am used to. I couldn't believe it was Stark. Nice that it went that way.

Dangit, I was nearly right!

The Degree placement has ensured I'll never buy this show on DVD (assuming it ever returns to the first 1 1/2 season's quality). That's some low-rent shtick they're pulling there. How far are we from Carter and Henry having a long heart-to-heart about how awesome Degree antiprespirant is?

I was surprisingly disappointed in this episode. The Groundhog Day angle on likely the worst day of Carter's life seemed brilliant, but it turned out surprisingly dull. Too much time spent on red herrings and sisters, and not enough spent on the love triangle on the ONE occasion it would have been interesting.

The sister should've been saved for another episode (or better yet, not). The big bad geology experiment should've been a brief tease instead of a focus (since they still didn't tell us much of anything about it anyway). Give Carter enough run-throughs of that day to become unhinged and start -really- messing with things, and the episode could've been hilarious and touching. Instead we got a Cliff-notes version that left me flat.

I mean, how could the episode not address what a total moron/bitch Allison would have to be to ask Carter to walk her down the aisle?!? Everyone's just way too friendly and understanding in this show now - I'm going to hope Henry gets a new girlfriend so they can kill her off and make him go scorched-earth again!

I think it's great they've turned what looks like a blatant placement marketing into what could be a overarching plot. Everyone's so busy discounting the placement that they aren't noticing the product being placed in every home in Eureka.

I doubt Stark is gone for good, but I don't think he'll be back for a while.

I'd like to call for an official moratorium on the "Groundhog Day" homages/ripoffs that have been popping up on the television.

Yet again, this episode feels like it missed the mark. I realize that my feelings about the character are coloring my judgement, but I'm really disappointed that we're getting more of the soggy, uninspired Carter-Alison nonsense.

I've got nothing against the actress who plays her - she does a fine job with what she's given - but what she's given is boring, boring stuff. She's exposition lady/unattainable lady, and that's it. There's no spark between her and Carter, and there's no tension either. It's a limp noodle of a relationship.

As Farsight notes, everyone is way too friendly this season. Conflict makes for interesting television. There is no conflict in Eureka.

*dink!*

Three points!

(Although I wish it would have been Allison)