Last summer I fell in love with Warehouse 13, SyFy’s series chronicling the adventures of two Secret Service agents assigned to a massive government storage facility housing mythical, supernatural, and otherwise unclassifiable objects. As agents Peter Lattimer and Myka Bering, Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly have a dynamic chemistry that hooks the viewer from Moment One. At times sweet, sexy, and sarcastic, others serious and sobering, their relationship is the beating heart of the show and absolutely tops my list of Reasons to Watch. Reason number two? That would be the out-of-this-world storylines in which the norm is never the same thing two days in a row. The show is a dream for die-hard genre fans, but still remains accessible enough for those who only care to dabble.
SyFy is offering a catch-up marathon on their site in anticipation of the July 6 U.S. premiere. I highly recommend that those of you who haven’t seen the show head on over and give it a watch.
For those of you who tuned in last year and are in need of a refresher course, check out Warehouse 101: What You Need to Know, after the jump, with major spoilers.
What is Warehouse 13?
Located in South Dakota, the Warehouse is the latest in a line of top-secret government facilities used to store fantastical artifacts gathered from around the world. Some of the relics shown or mentioned: Lewis Carroll’s looking glass, Pandora’s Box, Ben Franklin’s lightning rod, the Studio 54 disco ball, Sylvia Plath’s typewriter, and Edgar Allen Poe’s pen and notebook. Of import: the artifacts’ powers can be neutralized by soaking them in a strange purple goo.
Who are the characters?
Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) is a Secret Service agent and all-around charmer who is transferred to the Warehouse after a night protecting the President takes a turn for the strange. Intelligent but a bit of a man-child, he is initially more accepting than Myka of the extraordinary nature of their new job. He lives by his own rules and often achieves optimum results by seizing the moment and acting on instinct. Has a level of metaphysical ability that kicks in when danger nears.
Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) is a Secret Service agent who lives and loves the job, and is less than happy to be assigned to the Warehouse after the aforementioned Presidential strangeness. She operates by the book, and it rarely leads her astray. Her emotional walls are solid and averse to crumbling. She prefers to plan ahead and is not very good at going with the flow.
Dr. Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubinek) is the current caretaker of the Warehouse. He loves and respects the facility and its relics, and has little patience for those who don’t feel the same. In the past he was a cryptographer, and was charged with treason for selling government secrets to the Soviet Union.
Claudia Donovan (Alison Scagliotti) is a tech genius who breaks into the Warehouse and kidnaps Artie to force him to retrieve her missing brother. She later joins the Warehouse team, often activating relics without permission. Though she and Artie are sometimes at odds, they clearly have a caring relationship.
Mrs. Frederic (CCH Pounder) is the enigmatic government director responsible for assigning Pete and Myka to the Warehouse. Not much is known about her, and she seems to appear and disappear at the drop of a hat.
Leena (Genelle Williams) is the owner of the bed and breakfast where Pete and Myka stay. The B&B has been around as long as the Warehouse, and it’s inferred that Leena may also be much older than she appears. She can read auras, and often helps Artie solves problems with the artifacts.
MacPherson (Roger Rees) is a rogue Warehouse agent who abused the oath he swore to protect the place and its relics. Artie’s former partner, he was banned and cannot return without running the risk of his blood boiling through his veins.
What happens?
Pete and Myka are transferred from Washington D.C. to Warehouse 13 in South Dakota, where they would become what Artie referred to as “the gatherers and protectors of secrets”. Their purpose is to hunt down artifacts causing disturbances in the world, and bring them back to the Warehouse; “bag and tag” as Artie and so many others have called it.
The pair take up residence at Leena’s, a bed and breakfast near the Warehouse, and are soon drawn to Iowa, where a decorative comb is causing its bearer to channel Lucrezia Borgia. Next is Chicago, where bank robbers are hypnotizing people with a device that causes severe resonance, as Artie deals with a breach back at the Warehouse. Following Chicago is a small town in Colorado where citizens are made to lose all inhibition, while the Warehouse experience peculiar surges of energy.
Soon after the energy surges, Artie is kidnapped by the Warehouse’s security breach- Claudia a young
woman from his past who blames him for the disappearance of her brother. She forces Artie to find him, and after a reunion that wasn’t meant to last, she joins the team.
Next, Pete and Myka search for a Native American artifact, followed by an item that attaches itself to Pete’s spine and pumps him with dangerous amounts of electricity, nearly killing him. Afterward, they return to D.C. to retrieve a samurai sword, where they meet MacPherson for the first time and learn of Artie’s treasonous past.
Up next the agents are meant for Vegas, but Myka becomes trapped in Lewis Carroll’s mirror, while her body is possessed by the insane Alice Liddell, leaving Pete on his own to take an artifact from a pair of gamblers intent on duping the house. Once Myka is herself again, she and Pete head to a Florida prison to investigate a rash of suicides, while Claudia takes inventory of the Warehouse.
Later, Pete, Myka, and Claudia become trapped in the Warehouse while Artie has a meeting with his superiors in a clandestine diner in town. Among the issues discussed are MacPherson, and the superiors’ dissatisfaction at the way Pete and Myka handle their job, and subsequently, the way Artie handles them.
The search for MacPherson continues, but is temporarily halted when Myka must save her father from being destroyed by Edgar Allen Poe’s notebook and pen.
In the season finale, the agents are led to MacPherson, who is trying to sell the Warehouse’s artifacts. We learn that Leena is working for him, taking the form of Claudia and stealing relics, causing Claudia to be ejected from the Warehouse by Mrs. Frederic. The agents try to trap MacPherson in the Warehouse’s Bronze Sector, which is essentially for carboniting evil baddies, but he manages to escape. Also, the end of the episode makes it seem that Artie is dead, being that he’s standing in a tunnel as it, well, blows up. Somehow I think it's all going to work out fine.
I may have another Warehouse article or two before the premiere, and will recap weekly once the season starts. It’s looking to be a great one, and my inner Browncoat is positively squeeing at the promised appearances of Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, and Gina Torres**. *
*If that Firefly reference was lost on you, run to the store and pick up the complete series on DVD because you are seriously missing out.**Edit to add: SunKrux has informed me that Gina has been replaced by Tia Carrere.
My blog: http://nerdvillerhapsody.blogspot.com/
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