WAREHOUSE 13: It’s All About ‘Magnetism’

Do you smell fudge? Is your gall bladder feeling numb? If so, you might be affected by one of the artifacts in WAREHOUSE 13! Or… you might just be watching the show. I hope you were. And I hope you liked it as much as I did. I thought, with the exception of a couple of botched scenes, that this was the best episode of the season (and not just because Pete was shirtless in the first 10 minutes). Counting the two hour pilot, we’re four episodes into it with 9 more. Yay!

In this episode, Pete and Myka are sent to Colorado where people are acting strangely. A kind nun jumps off a roof, a young music protégé destroys his violin, an elderly widow smashes a pot against a wall and a man’s face against a pastry display case, and it’s up to M & P to figure out exactly WHAT the artifact even is and then retrieve it. Meanwhile Artie tries to figure out who has breached the warehouse.

Pete and Myka don’t fight, they bicker! I thought their timing was very good and fun in this episode. Them getting slimed was dope in a Double Dare kind of way, but the subsequent laughing and wrestling felt a little forced. I guess they…like each other. I’m not talking about love or UST or anything like that, just genuine affection. And, like I said last week, it’s one of the things I love about the show, that Pete and Myka have accepted the importance of their partnership and mission and are really trying to make it work. I think their strength is in the bicker though, and not so much in the collaborating against Artie for tricking them kind of thing (which was a pretty funny trick). What do you think? Are you feeling Pete and Myka as friends? Something more?

One thing I find very interesting is that for all of Myka’s rough edges, she’s actually better with people than Pete is. She is more sympathetic; He says the wrong thing a lot. And why would Pete, super Secret Agent and king of vibes bust into a high risk situation while shouting? That part, and their bickering over who would deal with the chair felt out of character. They are both pros at their job, so I was surprised by that. But when I really thought about it, I decided it’s a good thing that it felt off to me. If the actions feel OUT of character, then that means that the characters have been well established, right? Tell me I’m right!

This show is excellent at creating memorable one off episodic characters, something that is not always prevalent in procedurals. The characters aren’t just a means to an end. On the other side, though, Artie, and Leena, two recurring characters, are hard pressed to be relevant as the season continues. I hope that changes because there is potential there.

And it continues to intrigue me with the way it has managed to not have any ‘bad guys’. Each week features regular people who are affected by the artifact, combined with personal experience. This allows for very creative writing as far as the characters go, and I think presents an interesting dynamic for Pete and Myka, especially Pete, who would like things to be a little more open and shut. But what they are learning, and so are we from week to week, is that the artifacts don’t need evil to take effect. It can be Sister Grace’s need to escape, Dave’s constant struggle against the hold of alcohol (side note: Do you think Pete was at the meeting for research or for real? We know he’s a milk guy now. Regardless, I liked that look into his life), or Myka’s desire to process her relationship with her father (and punch Pete in the face). Either way, it’s those internal issues we all have that pull us between good and evil. The issues themselves aren’t inherently one way or the other; rather, our reactions to them mold us into the kind of people we are, the kind of character we’ll have.

And so far, Pete and Myka are people, and ‘characters’ that I want to be around. I hope you feel the same.

Line of the night…
Pete: “Covers are like the definition of stealth. Plus I’m really good at them!”

THOUGHTS FROM YOU? Has the show made its way into your must see summer Tuesday night TV schedule?