TVSquad

(S03E05) This week in Eureka wasn't quite what I expected. After the dramatics from "I Do Over" I assumed most of that would be swept to the side and we would be treated to one of the more comedic episodes. The fact that the episode was based on a mummy, and that goofy title, kind of hinted at that as well. It wasn't all yuks and Egyptian mysticism though. Weaved in with that weekly story we had the fallout from those major events from last week.

I was on board with the mummy story from jump street, for the simple fact that it was a mummy story. I've lost count of the hours I've lost to Egyptian marathons on the Discovery, History, and Science channels. Even fictional mummies and tombs fascinate me.

The mummy part of the story started out well. The setup, from Carter's "Eureka had a queen?" to Wilding's warning of a curse, right on through to Sebastian Marx (or Paco Lopez if you prefer) being a giant tool, was all very entertaining. It started to get a little convenient when the swarm left the hazmat tent at the B&B and stayed together to the point that every last one of them was lured into the Cafe Diem freezer by Lexi's yoga hits. I forgive the convenience though, because I always like it when Carter's common sense and reasoning trumps the big brains at GD.

While it was a little by the numbers as a main story, it's worth pointing out that the whole thing looked great. The tomb set, the hieroglyphs, and even the swarm were all very well done. I also liked that they continued with the new, self aware Carter. I was unsure about the addition of Lexi when I heard she was coming, but it's working out rather nicely. The opening scene was very cute. It's still obvious that Carter is working at being a better brother to her, but it also shows that he's starting to get what the benefits of that are.



The Allison story leaves me a little torn. I never really felt like they sold the Allison/Stark romance, which is a big part of why I was so sure that the marriage would never happen. Because of that, I have trouble getting too drawn in by the aftermath. It was ok. The newly complicated Allison/Carter dynamic is intriguing, but the logic diamond hologram didn't do a lot for me. I was disturbed by the loss of Stark, but not from that angle. I'm actually going to miss the Carter/Stark relationship much more than Allison/Stark.

Eva's big plan remains a mystery, but there was some more incremental development. Apparently Henry has had time to look over that pardon and realize that he's not beholden to her, so he's not so game to be involved if he's going to be left in the dark. That came as something of a surprise. I assumed he'd stay as involved as he could in order to gain information. By stepping back from the mysterious "hotel" he left the door open for Zane. The way he is falling in with her scheme tracks well with what we saw earlier in the season.

My best guess is that it also points to what will eventually be Eva's downfall. Zane has certainly been shown to be one with questionable ethics and morals on occasion, but Eureka has given him a chance to straighten things out. When the dust settles, he'll be on the Carter side of the inevitable showdown, much to Eva's detriment. I'm not sure how the cryptex combination lock fits in with the other clues, but the description on the page Eva had ends with "...successful entry of all the coordinates...deactivating the security system." Perhaps this is what gets her into the underground areas we saw earlier? Here's a screencap of the page. Click it for a bigger version.



Other bits:

My favorite nutty science of the night: "Had to use a superconductor to generate a massive anti-gravitational field. It's protected by a thermoplastic multifilament polymer." "Air bags."

The title of Marx's book was the same as the episode, "Show Me The Mummy." Nice touch.

A memorial hallway? Even with a koi pond, it's still a hallway. I expected more for Stark.

Stark is dead... for now.