TVSquad

(S01E13) It took a while, but Warehouse 13 finally broke away from the stale case-of-the-week episodes (and the stale dialogue) to become the summer's most amusing slice of sci-fi TV. The shift happened a few weeks ago when Roger Rees' smug and sadistic baddie, Macpherson, showed up to make trouble for the team.

Macpherson turned out to be the big bad Warehouse 13 was missing all along. He was an ex-Warehouse agent with a vendetta against Artie and the regents. His evil plots forced Artie and the agents to bond and trust each other, and they also gave the show a real sense of danger and purpose. Oh, and Macpherson also gave us Claudia and Leena, apparently.

Macpherson returned to twist the knife one more time in a season finale packed with surprises, red herrings, and a few insane artifacts (Timothy Leary's psychedelic glasses? That was a good one.)

That Mrs. Frederic is right about everything, isn't she? She wasn't kidding when she talked about Macpherson throwing his enemies off their game and striking just when they thought they had the upper hand. It was obvious from the start that Macpherson was manipulating Artie and the agents, but I didn't see that final twist coming, even though I never really trusted Leena.

Making Claudia the red herring was a good move. Before the final act, I kept trying to accept the apparent fact that Claudia was in league with Macpherson. Luckily, good ol' Clauds was innocent and Macpherson's spy turned out to be Leena (did I mention I never really trusted her?).

I still don't get Macpherson's plan. He went through all of that trouble just to blow up Artie in the tunnel? Before, it seemed like he had this crazy idea that all the Warehouse artifacts belonged out in the world, and that he was just the man to release them. But I didn't see him take anything from the Warehouse when he escaped the Bronze Sector. Maybe all he really wanted was vengeance on Artie, who never really hurt Macpherson in the first place. I'm sure he'll be back in season two to make use of his new "unfettered access" to the Warehouse.

Myka seemed to hover in the background for most of this ep, but Pete was funnier than ever, especially when he undercut Macpherson's dramatic speech by dubbing him "McNuttypants." (Sometimes, it's the simple things that make life worth it.)

So McNuttypants escaped and is riding the highest high he's ever had before. Leena betrayed the team and left at the big bad's side. Claudia, convinced she's Macpherson's sleeper agent, ran away from home, and Artie apparently got blown up in the tunnel (but I'm sure he'll get better). Oh, and we learned the Warehouse stores the most evil people on Earth in its Bronze sector which, if you ask me, is just waiting to malfunction.

Season two of Warehouse 13 can't come soon enough.