WAREHOUSE 13: ‘Queen for a Day’

Hey, hey, WAREHOUSE 13 fans! Okay, talk to me — is it just me or does the show have some deep layering action going on this season? Sure, there has always been a nice mix of character work alongside the cases and “artifact of the week” scenarios, but this season, it just feels as if there is more somehow. Thoughts? If you haven’t weighed in on Marisa Roffman’s interview with Joanne Kelly (Myka) on whether or not Pete and Myka should have some romance, be sure to do so.

Even as it seems the writers are at least pushing a little toward the “will they/won’t they” envelope (or again, is that just me?) for Pete and Myka, they are still building a strong foundation of partnership and friendship. Perhaps it will never go beyond those two things — or perhaps the writers are looking to follow other good TV romances and make it so the two lead characters grow so close that they are almost doomed (in a good way) to be together — spoiled for anyone else, so to speak. I’m not sure how I feel about it either way. Maybe it’s just a long, hot summer so far and I’m seeing tension that’s not there. Or maybe it was all of the wedding talk in this week’s case.

The episode begins as the warehouse is abuzz (bad, I know!) with activity. Artie has a cold and is sneezing all over the place. Pete gets a surprise visitor — his ex co-Marine AND ex-wife Amanda (played by Jeri Ryan), but she is FIRST greeted by Myka who has recently returned from Warehouse 2 in Dubai after snagging and tagging a small beehive replica once owned by Hatshepsut, a female Egyptian Pharaoh. The artifact is fascinating, but Myka and Artie and Leena are more transfixed by the fact that Pete was once married and that, oh yeah, he never told them that. Pete shoos them all away as he tries to find out why Amanda is at the warehouse.

She tells him she’s getting remarried, and she’s there to get her grandfather’s ring, presumably from her ex-husband to give to her future husband. Pete understands and as he goes to get the ring, Amanda picks up the beehive artifact. She sets it down quickly, but the contact is enough to set off its properties, making it fairly hum with activity. A buzzing metal bee escapes the hive and lands in Amanda’s open bag. Pete arrives, and in a very nice touch of seriousness, apologizes for his part in how their marriage ended. Amanda accepts his words and leaves the warehouse. When Artie realizes the bee is missing from the hive, Leena remembers that Amanda was handling the artifact, and they all realize she’s got the bee in her bag. Myka and Pete must now crash Amanda’s dream wedding to stop what could potentially go wrong. Of course, in true WH13 fashion, they don’t exactly KNOW what could go wrong. That’s up to Artie who stays behind for research and to make sneezing pun jokes about Egyptian names. Good times.

Pete calls Amanda to try to warn her, but she brushes him off and meets up with her future husband. When she reaches into her bag to pull out her grandfather’s ring, she’s stung by the metal bee. She doesn’t know it’s that, but we do. As she’s walking out of the room, we can see that her finger is getting quite red. Not good!  Immediately, the results of the artifact take effect, and each person Amanda touches becomes fiercely loyal to her — way beyond the loyalty or respect that would come from a rank or title in the Marines. Her bridesmaids become militaristic in their need to serve her, and the groomsmen do also, and we see that she’s become the Queen bee and every person she touches becomes a faithful drone for her service.

The warehouse agents have no choice but to crash the wedding, and they find the bee and drop it in purple goo, assuming the case is solved. Of course, there is still half of an episode left, so we all know that’s not true.

On the other side of the country, Steve Jinks and Claudia are searching for Ulysses S. Grant’s flask among piles of flasks at a Civil War reenactment. I’m enjoying seeing the budding partnership between Claudia and Jinksy…how about you? The flask’s properties invoke its holder to be more aggressive–in this case, more inclined to think he was actually fighting in the Civil War. Steve spots a guy who was recently punched in the face (despite the strict rules against that sort of thing), and he finds out the aggressive soldier was named Johnson. Claudia gets “killed” in action, so it’s up to Jinksy to find Johnson. He does, just as Johnson is about to use his bayonet on a fellow actor. Steve jumps in to save his comrade in arms and finds himself on the angry side of Johnson’s flask-carrying wrath. Claudia rushes to the scene in a southern belle dress and wig (ha!) and saves the day, shooting Johnson with a mini-Tesla.

Back at the wedding, Pete and Myka get info from Artie about the bee’s power as owned by Pharaoh Hatshepsut, and Myka realizes that while they have obtained the bee, the stinger is still missing. Pete recommends taking an x-ray to determine where it is, but they have a hard time escaping the castle when Amanda’s bridal party goes on the attack, per her “orders.” Artie figures out that the bee and stinger are magnetic and if they run the bee over Amanda’s body, the stinger will come out. It does, and the wedding takes place with no further hitches.

Pete and Myka greet the bride and groom and Amanda tells them that they make a nice pair. The agents shuffle around a bit awkwardly, in that, “Who us? Oh, we’re just partners,” sort of way — except that neither one actually says it. Interesting, right?  Like we talked about at the beginning here, it’s almost as if the writers want us to think that something romantic is brewing while what is ACTUALLY happening, (case in point: when Pete and Myka have a heart-to-heart about how he didn’t like the person he was when he was with Amanda), is that the two of them are just getting closer…whatever that means. Thoughts from you?

My favorite part of the episode? Beyond the Laverne and Shirley references, I loved when the Civil War actor was annoyed with Claudia for using her mini-Tesla and accused her and Steve of being the token Trekkies who crashed Civil War reenactments pretending to be time travelers. Ha!

What say you? Did you like this episode? What was your favorite part? We’ve seen Pete and Myka on cases together and Claudia and Steve, but is there a different duo combination you’d like to see in the future? Let’s discuss!