Archimedes just couldn't keep it

[omorka]

Spoilers Ahoy! A few thoughts about Eureka Season 4 :

Okay, that was an interesting way of doing a character reset. I like what they're doing with what was previously the secondary cast; Fargo and Jo are definitely main cast now, and Zane almost is. Unfortunately, other members of the secondary cast - Vince, especially - seem to be being pushed farther into the background. Larry is stepping up into the buttmonkey slot nicely, and while I can't tell you quite why I think he makes a better buttmonkey than Fargo, Chris Jacot is certainly hamming up the role with gusto. The show seems to be deliberately 'shipping Jo with everybody in sight; she's had chemistry scenes with Zane, Fargo, and Jack, and I'm intrigued by the relationship this-universe's-Jo has with Deputy Andy. And the Taming Of The Jerk storyline is going interesting places.

I'm faintly annoyed by what they did with Tess - bringing her back just to send her away again. I don't even like the character very much, and I think that was kind of crappy. Similarly, I'd really like to find out more about Grace - this is the woman who got this-universe's-Henry over Kim, and is obviously brilliant in her own right. She's going to figure everything out Any Minute Now, and I can't imagine what sort of hell there will be to pay. And yet, the show seems more than content to just let her linger in the background.

All that being said, I have some Big Honking Questions:

1) Kevin's autism, and the fact that he reacts unusually well to Jack, are key points in the plot of the pilot. How did TU!Carter come to Eureka? Was it still Walter's End-Of-The-World-Machine? Did TU!King still get sent to Alaska?

2) Is TU!Henry a returnee from Yet Another Erased Timeline, like this one is? Or did Grace mean either that the first season plotline with Kim didn't happen, or that TU!Henry didn't need to obsess over her death the same way?

3) If it's the first, did the accident with the artifact happen at all? If not, is it still down in Section 5?

4) Where is TU!Beverly? (For that matter, what happened to Beverly Prime? I'm still angry at them for not ever resolving that end of the artifact storyline.)

5) If the artifact accident did happen, but TU!Kevin wasn't in the building - as he would have no reason to be, not being autistic and thus not needing therapy - where did it go? Did it grab someone else? Escape into the stratosphere? That's the plot for the entirety of Season 2 gone, there.

6) Did the Fixer ever come to Global in this timeline? Hell, was Allison ever head of Global?

7) The question we've all been waiting for: if the Fixer didn't ever come to Global, then Weinbrenner didn't get redacted. Did some version of the events of 3.04 happen anyway? If not, then is Stark still dead or not? And why have neither Allison (who has his damn baby, for crying out loud) nor Fargo explicitly checked this yet? If Stark is still dead, how did it happen? Did TU!Fargo call for the redactions in this universe? If so, does TU!Allison blame him for Stark's death? Or was TU!Stark in charge at the time, and his death the reason why there was a vacancy for TU!Fargo to be made figurehead?

8) Where is TU!Taggart, damn it? Did he and TU!Jo date? If so, did they split up, or does he think of her as his hometown girl?

9) How much of the personnel makeup of Global is the same in this universe? Does Dr. Hood still work here, for instance? (Related to 1 and 6, again: is TU!Carl Carlson still dead/merged with the artifact?)

10) Just for grins: is Kevin's father dead in this universe, or is Allison just divorced from him? Similarly, where are Abby and Lexi Carter?

I don't expect answers to all of these, but I'm going to be damn upset if the writers clearly haven't thought about them.

Comments

[quantumduck.livejournal.com]

I rather suspect the writers have only a dim sense of resolutions to any of those issues. This season feels like a complete reset in several senses.

[kamiki-seto.livejournal.com]

I don't think it can honestly be said Tess was brought back 'just to send her away again' - three or four episodes is over a third of the first half of the season, and that's enough to close out her storyline and give the character an exit, and I thought given the characters as established it was handled appropriately. It's just about what Lexi got in Season 3.5. I suspect folks would be complaining if they hadn't brought her back at all; the writers were damned if they did and damned if they didn't. I'm happy with how it was done. Given that the season was filmed way out of order to work Allison Scagliotti in, I suspect we'll see Tess in at least one more episode.

Being one who actively seeks out spoilers (see: my LJ), I think from what I've seen/heard it's pretty safe to say at least a few of the questions on your list will be addressed before the mid-season finale. I won't way which ones unless you really, really want. :-)

[omorka.livejournal.com]

I've seen the spoiler photo that has an image of Stark in it; I imagine that episode will settle the question of whether he's dead or not, at least. But it still bothers me that Allison is raising his daughter and hasn't thought to check.

[kamiki-seto.livejournal.com]

It's not just Stark in some of the photos (though that's what most people are focusing on); we're apparently going to be seeing at least two other former major characters return, as well. One of them is in the same photo set as Stark, and for the other it's not new news that Matt Frewer is scheduled for a guest slot this season, possibly in the Christmas episode - that was in the very early press releases.

I can see the Stark issue you raise from both sides. On the one hand, no one has (obviously, anyhow) questioned Stark's presence or lack thereof. You would think if the 'memorial hallway' were absent at GD than Fargo, at least, would have noticed...or Allison would have noticed clothes in the closets and things in her house, or Kevin would have said something to her.

On the other hand, I can see where it would be believable for everyone to simply work on the assumption that while there are some differences, everyone who was previously alive in the original timeline is still alive and everyone who was previously dead is still dead. There's been no evidence to the contrary; even Fargo's girlfriend, Julia, is alive and in existence, just somewhere else. And making those assumptions may come back and bite them all in the butt, which could be rather amusing. (Henry has flat out said that differences seem to be few, which may have given them all a false sense of security.)

You make a really good point with it. I'm waiting to see what happens. I'm expecting some of the Grace issues to be addressed this coming week; they seem to be building slowly on that. I love Grace and I hope they keep her on permanently!

I think the writers have thought some things through very, very well, they're just not in a rush to reveal them all. I think other things have been left open for future development and stories, and new potential plot-toys to play with. I just hope we don't have to wait until next July to see the back half of the season. :-(

Keep posting this kind of thing, you make me think about this stuff instead of just reacting to it and going 'shiney!'

[blueburndown.livejournal.com]

While I love the fact that we now get more Fargo... I really hope they thought this whole reset thing though. So much of the last two seasons was driven by stupid shit that specific employees did, I'm not sure how they can wrap this up without leaving a bunch of plot holes.

And why the hell hasn't ANYONE checked on Stark. It's driving me nuts.