Week of 7/26/10 in Review - "Dear Sarah, We're Sorry"

SPOILERS: Warehouse 13, Covert Affairs, White Collar, SYTYCD, Eureka

(It's my last week in NY, so this is a bit late - however, my total boredom from returning home will make my future posts much more prompt)

After last week's less than desirable turnout, I was rather nervous to turn on the TV this time around. Especially for Warehouse 13; with the premiere fading from mind I was starting to wonder why I watched that show in the first place. Luckily, USA and SyFy heard my distress and seemed to give me an apology this week as I was blown out of the water by Tuesday's shows (which took until Wednesday night to catch up on....). Though the rest of the week did not quite follow suit, I was distracted by the Sanctuary Comic-Con trailer and therefore cannot really bring myself to be truly cynical and depressing about anything.

Who does the coveted episode of the week title go to? (Yep, just made that up on the spot)
Episode of the Week: Warehouse 13, "Age Before Beauty" (very, very closely followed by White Collar's "Copycat Caffery")

Warehouse 13 "Age Before Beauty": Finally. That's why I watch this show! An absolutely adorable episode, made wonderful by it's focus on relationships even among all the action. The artifact was a very interesting choice, and I really loved the ethical debate they have for all of 30 seconds about whether it's right to steal someone else's youth to save Myka if they're a really bad person. I just wished they'd been able to spend more time on it.

Myka/Pete - "Turn around, I can't say this to your face.....Ah, I can't even say it to the back of your head." Though on paper the dialogue of Myka and Pete's exchange in her dressing room goes either toward the dangerously cheesy or the disturbingly objectifying (really, his only opinion about working with her was "damn, she's hot"?), this actually became a truly adorable scene. And the best part was that it didn't lead to confessions of love or making out; it became about friends supporting each other. I always assumed in the first season that Myka and Pete were meant to be a "will they or won't they because they're partners" couple and for the first time in a while, I find myself totally surprised as I realize they aren't! Somewhere along the way, the characters became destined for tight friendship; and possibly nothing more. And that makes me really happy.

Claudia/Artie - Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Just awwww. So many wonderful scenes between them. They have a really excellent chemistry as a grumpy but caring teacher/brilliant willful teen hacker pair. And it's really nice to see them acknowledge Claudia's abnormal history - she didn't graduate high school (do we know if she even went?), has no experience with boys, and really seems to still see herself as a child, or at least rebellious teen. She's clearly uncomfortable by Artie referring to her as a woman. Although she does recognize a "the birds and the bees" talk before it can happen (so, Joshua? before he was trapped in the compass?). All in all, the highlight of the entire episode for me was when Artie choked on the phrase "father figure."

Errors - Even with all it's wonderfulness, I caught a few errors within this episode. The first I'm pretty proud of, since it means I've become a real New Yorker. When Myka is hospitalized, they show a brief outside shot of the building; it's St. Luke's Hospital. The problem? That's located uptown, on 114th St near the Columbia campus - it's way too far from downtown for it to be where they brought her. Also, when Pete realizes that Isabella has been affected we're treated to a flashback; a flashback reminding us what happened three minutes ago. Anyone else offended? Really, I have a better attention span then they gave me credit for. My only hope is that it was a mistake made in editing where they cut some in-between scene. Finally, was "Damn You're a Sexy Bitch" really the best song choice for Myka's photo shoot? It made the whole thing seem much more like male (aka Pete's) fantasy; I got the distinct feeling Myka would cringe if that had really been the music playing at the time. 

Next week (by which I mean tomorrow) - Fargo is coming to the Warehouse! Wooo!

Covert Affairs "South Bound Suarez": Still good. I'm sticking to my claim for best new show of the summer. Course, I'm not really watching much else that's new. Interesting case, once again, a bit heavy handed on how it connects to Annie's life. However, I once again really enjoyed myself; it wasn't forced, gave us a little backstory (Annie's a military brat) without giving us a huge dramatic upheaval.

And I'm very pleased to see an immediate break from the trend I noticed last week. There wasn't much Auggie in this episode, but what there was, I liked. Still snarky and funny, he wasn't Annie's "go to guy." Additionally, we got to see him take a break from Mr. Perfect without being overly vulnerable. We got a small taste of his nostalgia for field work, and a little more of his relationship with Joan. Enough to know there's a real human being in their somewhere, and not just the perfectly well-adjusted image we've been presented with.

Fun fact - Turns out the episode titles come from Led Zepplin songs. Huh. Cool. 

White Collar "Copycat Caffery": Hehehehehe. Imitation truly is the highest form of flattery. And Neal really really likes flattery. However, my favorite part of the episode, and I'm not entirely sure if this is intentional, is the differences in his reactions. He's proud that someone copied his heist - but he's ECSTATIC to find out he's a week's worth of material in a class. It's very telling for his personality. He doesn't steal to "stick it to the man" or else he'd be prouder of other accomplished villainy. And he's not mad that bunches of people are learning about him, his heists, and his methods, making it easier to catch him should he escape. He's pleased that he's made such an impact, and been such an original and innovative con-man that it's necessary to study him specifically. He really prides himself on the uniqueness of his work. The only reason that this isn't my favorite episode is that the rest of the episode is rather less notable; in fact, I can't really remember much of it. Yeah, Alex gave Neal a key, a key that Peter needs.... eh. Honestly, I can wait to find out.

SYTYCD: Billy!!!!!!! Nooooooooo. I knew he was gone once Lauren was in the bottom 3 - no way they'd get rid of their last girl, especially considering how good she's been lately. As I was watching the episode, I realized something - every single person on that show does the same exact things in their solos except Billy. No one ever takes risks. So they aren't memorable. Remember the patio chair breakdance? Or how about the James Brown goofy dance? I might not know the person responsible, but they were DIFFERENT. Same thing with the personal interviews - everyone was nice and sweet and vague. Billy was the only person with personality; his interview was sarcastic while still funny and when the tape finished, and I was like "Damn, I bet he's cool. I'd like to talk to him, I bet he's fun and we'd be friends."

Damn you rest of America, why can't you have the same exact preferences as me...

Eureka "The Story of O2": Since I want to get this post done so I can go to sleep, I'm keeping this brief. It's fun to see the town at work without Carter around - and seeing Zoe was really great. She picks up fast that something is wrong with her father; I don't buy the lack of Lucas though. Could they not get the actor to come back for this season? Or is this an alternate universe thing. To be honest, I was hoping something was radically different about her; I wanted to see Carter freaked out.

And I didn't believe Allison would cheat for her son for a second. Maybe it's cause I'm not a mom, but I can't see her breaking her own moral code that easily. Also, silly Larry not putting in the self-destruct mechanisms because their heavy. Overall, a so-so episode. Well, except for the part where Zane called Lupo "Jo-jo." That part made me smile. :)

Also, I checked - Claudia will in fact be doing her Eureka crossover this week as well! Woo!

Anyway, back to sleep, followed by work, interspersed with the re watching of Comic-Con footage. Good stuff, I'll post about it soon!

~ Sarah