Dirt Naps and Yogi Bear? Review: Warehouse 13 - "Parks and Rehabilitation"

Dirt Naps and Yogi Bear? Review: Warehouse 13 – “Parks and Rehabilitation”

Season 4.5, Ep. 12

Air date: Monday, May 6, 2013 10/9c on Syfy

Rating ★★★★★

“Sometimes artifacts, they can do terrible, unspeakable things to people. I mean, heck, one time an artifact made me think I slept with Myka.” — Pete

Oh Pete…we know you mean well.

Just when you think Pete (Eddie McClintock) is going all mature on you, WHAM, he says something like that. In front of the Board of Regents at Artie’s (Saul Rubinek) tribunal, no less. But, I think that’s what makes us love Pete all the more. He throws you off his competent scent with hints of idiocy and untimely awkward jokes. Well played, Pete, well played. But we know you wouldn’t be a warehouse agent if you weren’t “smarter than the average bear.”

As Pete and Claudia (Allison Scagliotti) head to Oregon to investigate a mysterious death in the forest, Myka (Joanne Kelly) and Steve (Aaron Ashmore) stay at the warehouse to keep an eye on Artie. Even though the regents didn’t formally punish Artie for the death of Leena (Genelle Williams), it weighs on him like a ton of bricks. It wasn’t really Artie who killed Leena, but he feels the burden nevertheless.

Artie: “But it doesn’t change the fact that she died by my hand.”

Regent Kosan (guest star Faran Tahir): “And you will have to live with that. I feel that sentence is far more severe than any this tribunal could mete out.”

That statement brings to light a whole new meaning to Brother Adrian’s (guest star Brent Spiner) haunting words: “An evil that will live with you for the rest of your days.”

Leena did so much around the warehouse as evidenced by the list Artie is using to secure artifacts within the warehouse. As Myka and Steve follow Artie around to make sure he doesn’t try to hurt himself, they discover more secrets about the warehouse they could never have imagined. I love the Feng Shui room. It’s peaceful and has a large circular center carved with ancient Chinese symbols. Apparently, Leena used this room to make sure the artifacts were properly categorized and stored. But there is a trick to using the Feng Shui circle, something Artie, Myka and Steve learn the hard way. Will the warehouse get a new Leena? It pains me to even write that but there you have it. I don’t think Artie can handle doing all the things Leena did in the warehouse by himself or even with the help of the team. It seems to daunting a task. I think each person in the warehouse has their own unique talents and though Leena is irreplaceable as a friend to the team, I think they need someone to help out.

Again, we see more artifacts and new dimensions to the warehouse making for an interesting episode. I’m hoping we’ll continue to see more rare and eclectic artifacts in future episodes. I mean, how have the writers kept Da Vinci’s Gargoyle from us all these years?

Pete thinks he knows who the culprit is but ends up on the wrong side of the lantern

Meanwhile, back in Oregon, Pete and Claudia must figure out who is using an artifact to bury people alive. Intertestingly, their investigation leads them to an environmental nonprofit group.

Pete: “So, this is an environmental nonprofit, huh?”

Claudia: “Yeah. What’d you expect?”

Pete: “I don’t know, hippies in tie-dye singing ‘Age of Aquarius.’”

Claudia: “You know Vietnam is over, right?”

Pete: “For those of us who’ve watched the director’s cut of Platoon, it’ll never be over.”

As Pete and Claudia continue their investigation, it leads them to an eco-terrorist group known as “Last People on Earth,” or LPE. They haven’t done anything in over 10 years but with more and more of their former members taking “dirt naps,” Pete and Claudia think someone is out for revenge.

It was really great to see Emily Bergl as a guest star in this episode. While she has been in other TV series, I particularly loved her as Annie in the ABC series, Men in Trees. In Parks and Rehabilitation,” Bergl plays Autumn, a spirited woman whose mission in life is to help the environment, and who Pete jokingly refers to as “Fern Gully.” Bergl brings such an authenticity to her role as Autumn. She’s so convincing in her portrayl that you actually believe Bergl is an environmentalist. And I enjoyed the interaction between Autumn and Claudia. There is a similarity in their stories about having to ‘stab someone’ in the back (or front in Claudia’s case) in order to help them. And if you’re wondering about the Yogi Bear references, it’s all because of Pete joking with the local Park Ranger, Evan Smith (Patrick John Flueger).

Funny lines:

Claudia to mosquitos: “Why am I so delicious to you?”

***

Claudia: “Is there anything about women you understand?”

Pete: “Boobie region.”

***

What I liked:

The Feng Shui room hands down has me enthralled. I want to go to that room. How many artifacts have been cataloged in that room?

What I didn’t like:

The case. I felt something was lacking – there didn’t seem to be enough excitement. And where is the back story to the lantern? Did I miss something during the episode where it says the lantern’s history?

***

Before it’s all over, Pete ends up getting buried alive and the strange lantern artifact used to murder members of the LPE nearly buries a logging site. And back at the warehouse, Artie inadvertently categorizes an artifact incorrectly, leading to other artifacts running amok. While the episode is entertaining overall, I think the case lacked a certain ‘je ne se quois,’ if you will. In spite of that, I was truly fascinated with the Feng Shui room and look forward to seeing more artifacts being properly categorized…and maybe improperly as well.

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Tune in to Warehouse 13, Mondays at 10/9c only on Syfy.

For more on the show, go to http://www.syfy.com/warehouse13/.

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Judy Manning

Dream chaser extraordinaire! Judy tends to be a tad sarcastic and kind of goofy! She is an avid admirer of all things supernatural, paranormal, celestial and mystical. She loves to read, write, and watches way too much TV. She enjoys many genres of film and music (and let's be honest, most music from the 80s). She also has a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes beware.