This Week’s WAREHOUSE 13 is Tasty
WAREHOUSE 13
Season 3, episode 10: “Insatiable”
[photos: Syfy]
OK, this is another one of those episodes that takes one thing you’ve seen a bajillion times before and turns it into something you haven’t quite actually seen.
We start off with a lot of freaking out. Pete’s freaking out because his mother left without telling anyone, and she’s in danger. Myka’s still a bit freaking out because the Regents are under attack and Warehouse security is lacking and they’re all in danger. The dog is not freaking out.
Claudia’s freaked because Jinks has been burned and won’t return her calls, so she tries to get her mind off things by playing a set at the cafe. I like that the show is using Allison Scagliotti’s musical talents on the show. Not only is it fun to hear her sing/play, but it also deepens Claudia and keeps her from becoming (ahem) a one-note character. (Sorry. Had to.)
Meanwhile, a nice young couple is about to get their groove on in Ithaca, NY. In a park, where the guy hears something and goes to see what it is. Now, between you and me, if I had my girl alone in a park and I heard a suspicious noise, I’d grab the tire iron along with the flashlight, but that’s just me… whatever it is, attacks them both. There’s blood! And screaming! And oh my!
Myka and Pete go to check it out and find a guy eating a deer. And he’s a zombie! Oh My!
So, here’s where I start to appreciate the “Warehouse 13” writers even more. Because we’re at the point where zombies are really not the new black. With “The Walking Dead” on AMC, “Death Valley” on MTV, and who knows how many zombie/undead movies swirling around, the whole zombie thing is just a dead horse that’s not even worth whipping anymore. Which leads me to wonder why WH13 is jumping on the undead bandwagon. And the other part of myself makes the leap that it won’t be like other zombie stuff because… well, it’s “Warehouse 13”. They know how to have fun.
I’m glad I’m right. Jane Espenson and Brent Mote take the usual zombie tropes and give them an Artifact twist, complete with a couple of red herrings and false alarms.
So, the A-plot moves along nicely, with Artie having awkward moments trying to bond with Zombie Guy’s son while Pete and Myka check out another incident at the Psi Phi Zeta frat house (and don’t think we didn’t get that little wink at the network…). When Pete’s bitten, we now have to wonder when he’s going to turn. Only the young smoochy couple got bit, and they didn’t turn. So when Myka turns instead, it’s a nicely played head-fake that leaves you going back over what you’ve already seen to figure out just where the artifact exposure took place.
The symptoms of the condition are extreme cold, hunger for flesh, and then eventual death. And this episode goes almost to the end before identifying the artifact, which is odd, but it works. And to have the artifact be a relic from the Donner Party disaster… I continue to be impressed by the research that gives us such nicely-turned-out artifacts.
So, that’s the A-plot. Claudia gets three B-plots. I guess three branches of a B-plot. The setup with the band is one. Then there’s the whole “Claudia’s going to die tonight” bit, where the fortune telling machine gives her the bad news and she freaks a bit and subconsciously works to make the prediction come true. She’s lucky Leena is in the warehouse updating security protocols and can save the spunky little redhead from drowning.
And then there’s the whole bit with Steve Jinks. When he “got fired” (nudge nudge wink wink), I called it then, and I’m sticking to it. Jinks is infiltrating the anti-Warehouse cadre. What do we call these guys? Jinks is putting out too much effort to be mean to Claudia for this to be real, in my book. And the final scene when Marcus recruits Jinks into the gang…We’ll have to see how this plays out in the season finale October 3rd.
Programming note: Next week, Monday the 26th, there’s no WH13. It’s the season finale of “Alphas” after an all-day marathon of same.
Lines of the Week:
Artie: “I’m mercurial. Deal with it.”
Pete: “Sometimes being obsessed with food and social media is a good thing.”
