WAREHOUSE 13 Recap: “Shadows”

Hey, WAREHOUSE 13 fans! I’m going to go on record and say this has been my favorite episode so far this season. In “Shadows”, we had a good case, some creative artifacts and some character backstory. But those elements are what make up the “usual” WH13 ep. What made this one above average was the way we received answers. If you’re like me, you’ve had a few questions — who was Sally Stukowski working for, how is it that Pete’s mom is a Regent, and, something I’ve been working for a few seasons now… exactly how old IS Mrs. Frederic?

All season long, we’ve seen that the agents, and most recently, the Regents, have been tormented by a mysterious man in a wheelchair. He’s armed himself with artifacts and double-crossing agents (like Stukowski) and taken down Regent after Regent, but we’d never seen his face. I found myself wondering if a baddie from the past (MacPherson, HG Wells, etc) was behind the chair so to speak — but this man seemed more evil than past villains…more likely to kill for practically no reason at all, making him even more dangerous for the warehouse agents and remaining Regents.

The lead Regent, Jane (played by Kate Mulgrew and revealed to be Pete’s mother in the previous episode), begins the ep with Pete, and he’s acting somewhat childish (perhaps? Maybe it was justified?) toward his mother — how could she not have told him she was a Regent, especially once he became an agent! Jane begins to offer her story, but Mrs. Frederic appears (in her usual from out of nowhere way), saying there is no time. They must continue to figure out exactly who is attacking them. Their only clue is “A to Z Technologies,” and Jane has a vibe (much to Pete’s dismay), telling her that there are more clues to this in her past.

Pete is frustrated and feeling betrayed, and when Myka joins him as he tosses a ball against his bedroom wall (again, another child-like behavior?), she tells him that she understands how he must feel. He says it’s not likely, and she confesses that when she learned that Sam’s death had been artifact-related, she’d wondered if they were all just pawns in a bigger game controlled by Mrs. Frederic and the Regents. Pete also confesses that he feels the same way. Myka asks him if he’s happy, and even if they ARE pawns but happy…does it make it wrong or right?

When Jane is later required to go back in time through her memories, Mrs. F requires someone travel with her, in order to pull her back to the present if needed. She offers to go, but Pete insists he wants to go. They travel back to Pete’s childhood home, and Jane immediately bristles when she recognizes what past day it is — the day of Pete’s dad’s funeral. She and Pete both watch the events, and Pete is surprised when Mrs. Frederic shows up from the future. Except…and yes, this was pretty awesome, Mrs. Frederic literally walks right through his holographic image and begins talking to past-Jane. So we at least know that Mrs. F has been the same “age” for the past 30 years or so. Very cool.

They watch as past-Mrs. F talks to past-Jane, trying to convince her to come back to the warehouse team. Pete wants to know if his dad knew about this, and Jane tells him “Of course. He was my ‘one.’”

Meanwhile, Myka and Claudia are on a mission in Portland (after receiving instructions from Artie, who, in one of his best lines of the series, told them to stop bickering. “This isn’t snag, bag and nag.” Ha!)

They are there to investigate the disappearing death of a man named Jason Kinser — a local t-shirt manufacturing owner. His body was affected by some sort of electrical shock, and then he disappears.

Myka and Claudia examine his property and the warehouse, but they don’t come up with much of anything. There are a few graphic artists there, and one of them, Jeff, claims that Kinser only cared about the bottom line and not about art or artists. When another guy, Brandon, is killed in the same way, Myka and Claudia realize they have to somehow connect the two victims to determine the possible artifact and killer. Both Jason and Brandon’s death resulted in shadow-like images of their destruction — indicating the agents are dealing with a possibly nuclear artifact. They talk to one of Brandon’s friends, and he says Brandon was currently dating a girl, Megan. Myka recognizes Megan’s name from the list of Kinser’s employees, and bingo — connection.

Megan is locked in her apartment, distraught that her angry thoughts are causing the death of people she knows. It’s uncontrollable, and Claudia wants to leave immediately for their own safety. Myka insists that they stay and help her. Myka insists that Megan hand over the artifact, but Megan has no idea what they are talking about. So then it’s up to the three women to figure out what is causing the deaths while keeping Megan from affecting anyone else.

Megan tells them she was in Indiana a few months back, and she was mugged. Ever since that, each time she gets mad, someone explodes. Myka thinks her yearbook might be the artifact, but it doesn’t react with artifact-ian properties…so they have to keep looking. Eventually, they realize Megan is being affected by someone else — someone is using her or perhaps stalking her and killing others in order to “protect her.” When they take her back to the t-shirt shop, she is approached by Jeff, the graphic artist. He’s an old classmate, and it’s clear that he is the one stalking her. When Myka and Claudia approach, Jeff reacts and threatens danger to Megan. He has the artifact (binoculars from the Enola Gay), and when he attempts to use them, Claudia interferes and refracts the artifact’s powers back onto him. He is affected, but he doesn’t die.

Jane and Pete continue to navigate Jane’s memories, and Mrs. Frederic had asked her to retrieve an artifact from a young boy. He was highly skilled at baseball and other movements with his body — all due to Collodi’s (writer of Pinocchio) bracelet. When past-Jane received the bracelet (with the help of a young Artie and young MacPherson — also a very cool touch), the boy, Walter Sykes, was back in a wheelchair. The bracelet would have given him incredible power and strength over his own bodies, but would also have affected him for evil.

Pete watches a memory of a conversation he had with his dad about the importance of work that might be dangerous. It’s worth it if it helps people. Jane tells him it’s time to go back to the present, but Pete is hesitant to go back. Rather than him helping her get back, she pulls him back to their present-bodies. She has a realization about A-Z Technologies. It’s run by a grown Walter Sykes, whose baseball cap had once read “Aztecs.”

As the episode ends, we see Walter’s face, and he is talking to one of his employees. They discuss that Steve Jinks is vulnerable and perhaps their next target. Walter points out another dead Regent on his couch, and it’s clear that whatever game he’s playing is not even close to being over.

So what do you think? How did you like this episode? Did Pete seem childish or just childlike, and if so, was he justified? Do he and Myka need to worry about being “pawns” in the hands of Mrs. Frederic and the Regents? Will the “shadows” of his past affect him for good? Will Jinks be back or will he turn to the dark side, so to speak? Who else might Walter strike next?

There is a lot more to discuss about this episode, so sound off in the comments below!