Tonight’s episode of Eureka sees the return of a slightly older Zoe, an mysterious meeting between Dr Grant and what appears to be a secret organization, as well as some genuine movement in the ‘never quiet there’ relationship between Carter and Allison.
The episode’s main disaster-averting adventure revolves around a dodgy archaeologist who, whilst trying to fake a fossil discovery, inadvertently (why can’t it sometimes be deliberate) creates a compound that makes people get hard when they touch it. No it isn’t some kind of nasty Viagra; it quite literally turns skin to stone. I like my idea much better, but I don’t think the world is quite ready for it just yet.
The entire drama acts as a vessel for Zoe to be reintroduced into the story and it works quite successfully, even if it is the most exciting of situations. Imagine House of Wax, but without the suspense or dead bodies. In fact, once Allison creates the inevitable antidote, we don’t see any of the people that were affected apart for Zoe, which is strange since the first victim was the guy who caused it all. It would have been nice to have a little explanation or at least an “I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for you meddling kids” scenario.
The main reason for this was to make room for some other developments in ongoing stories. Henry is trying to woo his new wife, but everything he thinks of has already been done by the original Henry. He therefore decides to think laterally and performs one of the most out of place and cringe worthy musical numbers I have ever seen. He breaks into song and dance in the atrium of G.D. with Fargo as the DJ. I spent the entire couple of minutes biting down on my own fist; it was truly embarrassing and to make it worse, completely unnecessary. But luckily it felt so separated from the rest of the episode that it really didn’t impact on it at all.
Zoe has a crush on an older man who it is later revealed is none other than Zane. Jo is not happy and neither is Carter and there is sure to be some conflict ahead as this story develops. I do like the tension this produces, although it does skate the line of creepy, seeing as Zane is at least 12 years older that Zoe.
Dr Grant is finally being allocated a place in the story with a panic surrounding the possibility that somebody is checking out his [fake] back-story. The team manage to hack into the government mainframe and finds that it is merely a query over his tax history. But just when everything seems to be fine and dandy, Grant receives a gift basket containing wine of a 1947 vintage. The note directs him to a small dinner where he meets a mysterious woman who reveals that they have been waiting for Grant for a very long time. So we now have a more substantial ongoing subplot with which to maintain audience interest. It’s unclear as to who the ‘they' refers to, however. Maybe Grant left a message for someone before he came to the future, or perhaps the woman is a relative. Who knows a t this point?
Carter finally acts on his feelings for Allison. At first it appears that his attempts to organise a date have fallen flat on their face, with Allison unaware that it was a date at all. However, at the episode close they have an awkward conversation where Allison says the words every guy dreads: “Maybe we should just be friends”. However, Carter is having none of it and embraces her with even some mild dry humping against a wall. It is about time we put an end to this high school romance and had them behave like sexually charged adults. Hopefully this will maintain momentum, because if they flip-flop again then I will be breaking into my own impromptu song and dance routine in protest.
