Warehouse 13: "Magnetism" Review

Okay so I really meant to post this Wednesday or Thursday, but it's the end of my summer program and things got super busy.

Anyway, just when I think I have Warehouse 13 all figured out as a decent enough show that's fun enough to keep you interested and that'll run for three or four seasons (maybe) the writers/producers spin around and give us something like "Magnetism" (not sure where they get that title, but oh well). Last week's episode, while a solid second episode for a series with pretty big shoes to fill, quality wise, had a disturbing propensity to be silly and sappy and a bit annoying. "Magnetism" starts off with Pete dangling upside down from a ceiling, stealing a guillotine blade, and the episode just gets better after that, turning into the ultimate "be careful what you wish for" tale.

With "Magnetism", we're finally starting to see some of the darker side of these artifacts. Throughout the first two episodes, I was thinking that there had to be something going on with this show that gave it its TV-14 rating as opposed to, say, Stargate Atlantis or The X-Files's relatively mild TV-G or TV-PG ratings. Now, we see that the artifacts aren't all fun and games. So, we saw a little of it in the pilot, but now Warehouse 13 is taking the time to actually explore issues prevalent in society today. Especially powerful was the end, which addressed the issue of suicide bombing in a truly scary way. The final confrontation in the church, with time running out and Myka scrambling between pews desperately trying to buy time for Pete to disable the chair was an extremely powerful scene . . . far better than I had thought. Here's hoping Warehouse 13 continues on this more mature line of storytelling. But, on the other hand, "Magnetism" had plenty of humor too, what I appreciate was that the writers were able to strike a good balance between the two. (I loved the very end scene where Myka and Pete played the joke on Artie about his car being destroyed).

Character wise, I'm beginning to get a bit frustrated with the -- again with this word -- maturity gap between Myka and Pete. "You're eight years old!" Myka yells at Pete in frustration, and really, she couldn't be more right. I'm getting sick of his stupid comments and constant mucking about with Myka's plans, and it's only the third episode. He says he has more experience and is the "natural choice" for a field leader, but he's not, and it's really annoying that he doesn't see his faults, at all. On the plus side, his arguing with Myka leads to both of them geting drenched with purple slime, which was quite amusing :). Myka, on the other hand, has a past with at least one major mess-up (we're still not quite sure what happened in Denver, although it was obviously bad) but she knows it. She understands her faults, knows what she does right and wrong and her strengths and limitations. Apart from her constant subconcious desire to punch Pete in the face (and really, who can blame her?) she has a type of self-awareness that lets her function much more effectively, even if she does have a "tortured" aura (or whatever Leena was saying, I can't quite remember).

Other than the increasingly improving writing, one thing that I'm really starting to love (and this is non-episode specific here) is the idea that the warehouse is, if not exactly alive, then at least it has some type of a mind of its own. The things in it are so full of energy and strange powers that it would be hard for it not to, but this will be an interesting idea to see developed a bit more.

I do wish Warehouse 13 would put a bit more effort into actually explaining what the artifacts actually do. I know the whole premise of the show is that Artie and his team have to find the artifacts and then neutralize them, but I think that just finding the artifacts will get pretty boring after a while. I mean, obviously they know what the effects of some of the artifacts are, or else they wouldn't have been able to find them. But it seems a total waste to just shove everything in a corner of the warehouse and never hear from it again. I know it's just the third episode, but it's something I'll be on the lookout for in the future.

Something else that Warehouse 13 does with great success is seamlessly blending modernity and antiquity to come up with almost futuristic technology. Video communication? A staple of scifi shows. Also developed right after the television. Artie's computer can do anything a modern computer can and more, but it looks for all the world like it got taken out of a junkyard. It's these little things that that make me think this show is going places after all.

So Warehouse 13 is keeping me coming back for more . . . and for the first time, I am actually excited for the next episode, after this (actually) really good cliffhanger.