Review: Warehouse 13, S4, Ep 402 – “An Evil Within”
Air date: Monday, July 30, 2012 9/8c on Syfy
Rating
“Scones and evil, that’s what we do.” Artie (Saul Rubinek)
Brother Adrian (Brent Spiner, R) asks Artie (Saul Rubinek, L) for his help to find the stolen astrolabe…and compliments him on the delicious scones.
Jumping back into another case and avoiding any confrontation about the use of the astrolabe in last week’s episode would have been very contrite. But luckily, it is Brother Adrian (guest star Brent Spiner) who seeks Artie’s assistance. He’s looking to reverse the effects of the stolen astrolabe. What I find so interesting is Adrian’s warning Adrian to Artie before he used the astrolabe—it felt misleading, as if to say – ‘you can use it but suffer the wrath at your own risk.’ But now, it seems the urgency to reverse it –and lose the warehouse again – is paramount.
Of course, the intensity of their conversation becomes a little muted when Adrian compliments Artie on the “delicious scones.” This is one of the things I love about Warehouse 13 and especially “An Evil Within.” The writers throw you into a frenzied situation, yet give you a gentle reprieve when you least expect it.
Case in point, Pete (Eddie McClintock) and Myka (Joanne Kelly) must figure out why people are seeing outrageous tentacled monsters that look like they’re from a sci-fi movie only to discover that they’re actually not monsters. After the first incident in a diner, Pete comments on what the causes of the strange hallucinations may be: “Well, wha.. uh, artifact intoxication ? Maybe it’s something in the water? Oh, the condiments; you know, I never trusted no Grey Poup; gimme good old-fashioned yella.” A guy is in a coma after beaten nearly to death and Pete talks about his distaste for Dijon mustard. You have to laugh!
And Pete’s a little insensitive about poor Myka’s phobia with tentacles, to which Pete jokingly gibes, “Man, it’s like Indiana Jones with snakes.” I’d like to think after he was seen as a disgusting, tentacle monster, Pete regretted, just a smidge, teasing Myka.
I tried to riddle out the mystery before Pete and Myka did. I tried to figure out who the culprit was, and why but of course, there are always key elements we don’t know about that make it almost impossible to know why the person who’s using the artifact uses it the way they do. There are so many factors and nuances to artifacts – so it keeps the audience on their toes. I’d like to see these stories circle back more often. If the person is in prison for using the artifact, do they ever get released? How does a regular person discover the existence of artifacts? Could I find an ink pen that belonged to Agatha Christie? Will it be the same pen she used to jot her notes down for her famous mysteries – Death on the Nile or Murder on the Orient Express? Wishful thinking on my part. (Note to self – start collecting more antique pens).
Claudia (Allison Scagliotti) decides to take matters into her own hands by going in disguise, of sorts, to the morgue where Jinks’ (Aaron Ashmore) body is. However, Artie miraculously arrives just as Claudia is ready to zap the security guard. Artie’s fear about using the artifacts is increasing and I’m worried he’s going to blurt out what actually happened with him using the astrolabe since he’s the only one who remembers anything about it. Of course, doing that could mean even more disaster. Could the use of any of the artifacts, even if with good intentions, bring about the evil Brother Adrian spoke of?
Claudia must answer to Regent Kosan (Faran Tahir). It seems Regent Jane (Kate Mulgrew) didn’t get the proper permission to revive Jinks and there are serious ramifications to using the metronome artifact. Regent Kosan’s grave question makes me scratch my head: “What if we were to discover that the downside of the artifact is that anyone Agent Jinks has ever touched is now slowly dying?” But aren’t we all dying a little with each passing day? I know he means in some other, direr way, but I wish he would have used another analogy.
Claudia (Allison Scagliotti) tells Jinks (Aaron Ashmore) that he’s been dead for “4,302 minutes.” I guess saying 72 hours was just too simple.
Claudia must explain to Jinks why he feels like he’s been hit by a “truck”. How do you begin to tell someone they’ve been dead for “4,320 minutes” and his stiffness is due to his recent rigor mortis with a straight face? According to Regent Kosan, Jinks will now be forever tied to the metronome. If anything should happen to it would mean the end of Jinks…again.
Funny lines:
Claudia, regarding bringing Jinks back to life: “Will he, um, will he be the same? He’s not gonna come back like some kind of zombie, right?”
Regent Jane: “Steve will be Steve again.”
***
Victim #3’s husband: “What are you, like the Men in Black?”
Pete: “Yeah, yeah, we kinda are.”
Myka: “Sure, why not.”
***
Artie gets a new ping regarding an artifact. It’s the same dagger he saw in his nightmare – the one Claudia put right into his heart. In next week’s clip, it appears that six artifacts are out loose in the world. Could this be the evil of Artie’s own making – his worst fears coming to fruition? Artifacts loose in the world…? Again, another reason why I love Warehouse 13 – always keeps me guessing.
Tune in to Warehouse 13, Mondays at 9/8c only on Syfy.
For more on the show, go to http://www.syfy.com/warehouse13/
Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/warehouse13
Follow these cast members on Twitter: Eddie McClintock https://twitter.com/EddieMcClintock, Allison Scagliotti https://twitter.com/allisonscag, and Saul Rubinek https://twitter.com/saulrubinek.
Like Warehouse 13 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/warehouse13
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Photos © 2012 Syfy, a Division of NBC Universal. All Rights Reserved.
Judy Manning
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