Warehouse 13: "Pilot" Review

I'm cautiously optimistic for Syfy's new show, Warehouse 13. Well, considering that their other options include Stargate: Universe, which promises to be a disgrace to the franchise, and Caprica, which is I-don't-know-what, but it's certainly not Battlestar Galactica, I don't really have much choice.

So, the basic idea of Warehouse 13 is that two agents with wildly different styles who really don't get along at all are forced to work in this middle-of-nowhere warehouse in the middle of South Dakota, and they have to collect all these weird and dangerous things that promise to, as the proprietor puts it, "ruin the world's day". In other words, it's the X-Files with artifacts instead of aliens, and there's a bit of Indiana Jones and some other action movies thrown in. I mean, seriously, the two agents (Myka Berring and Pete Lattimer are just lesser versions of Mulder and Scully. They didn't even bother to swap the gender roles and make the girl agent the one with the crazy ideas).

It has some potential though, especially since both Rockne O'Bannon (from Farscape) and Jane Espenson (from Battlestar Galactica) worked on the pilot. It follows on the new "Syfy" theme of dumbing things down, but at least it's a sign that Syfy hasn't completely given up on good TV. Just mostly given up. But Warehouse 13 has promise and at least bothers to set up a nice mythology/history type mystery (I'm sorry, I just could not make that not rhyme), and I'll be following this for at least the first season. If nothing else, it's a chance to see some pretty funky objects, including a teakettle that grants wishes (or ferrets, if the wish is impossible to grant) and a wickedly fast football.