Much of this post was originally in my sneak peak teaser from Saturday.
In Eureka, nothing is what it seems, especially banal things such as a noise complaint call. When Carter and Jo look into the disturbance, they find a scientist with an incredibly noisy machine with many gyrating components. Carter gets clubbed on the head after standing too close (not one of his smartest moves), and reality falls apart for him shortly after.
This episode is reminiscent of Star Trek: TNG’s “Remember Me” and “Parallels.” Like “Remember Me,” people keep disappearing into never-existence but Carter and Eureka’s history keeps adjusting where he experiences some alternate scenarios like in “Parallels.” The changing scenarios also reminds me of Sliders. How they handle continuity with Carter as the constant is very clever. Pay attention to what happens to one of the props after one or two people disappear.
Is this all a result of Carter getting bonked on the head? Is Carter going crazy? Is the universe truly coming apart? Are parallel realities intersecting where they shouldn’t? Or, is there something else at work?
Without giving much more away, Carter’s keeping his emotions close to his vest has something to do with reality unraveling itself. Are his emotions that powerful? Perhaps, but nothing is as it initially seems in Eureka. The emotional angle of the story, which gives “The Games People Play” one of its mysteries, is a strong part of this show and makes it a rewarding view.
Check out iTunes tomorrow and scifi.com for the episode.
