Review of EUREKA – If You Build It . . . (2009)

Watching the children of Eureka walk down the road like dead zombies brought back vivid flashbacks of the recent “Torchwood: Children of Earth” special. It brought a level of sinister intent to Eureka that is normally absent from such a fun-loving show.

The episode started innocuously enough with Zoe complaining about feeling unusually tired after a full night’s sleep and Jack worrying that she needed to watch her driving, only to discover that they were both wrong: Zoe had not been getting any sleep and Zoe did not have to watch the road while driving. For something was controlling the children during the night to build something in a field just outside of town; and Henry was in the midst of installing “smart asphalt” which would allow the re-programmed cars of Eureka to drive on auto-pilot. It was an episode heavily laden with the terror of losing control.

On a parallel theme, Fargo having seen Jo’s new fuel-efficient, fast-as-a-rocket patrol car was inspired to upgrade his beaten-up, downtrodden car for a newer, zippier and prettier vehicle; and sold his old car to Larry. This was not well thought out on his part as Fargo neglected to consider that in doing so, he had ticked off the possessive AI computer in his old car, which he affectionately called Tabby. For Tabby did not take kindly to being so coldly jilted and proceeded to exact her revenge on Fargo, by taking he and Larry captive in the trunk of her car.

So, while Zoe and the other children of Eureka suffered the loss of physical control and free-will at night, Fargo and Larry similarly lost their physical freedom and right to free choice as to which car they wished to drive.

Also feeling the loss of control were Allison who was freaked out over the rapidly approaching “signal” for which Earth was not prepared to greet or defense against, and Jack was at a loss what to do with any of them. Jack could not stop Zoe from obeying the impulse to join the other children to build the mysterious contraption in the field, nor could he do anything to assist Allison to deal with the possible threat from the “signal.” Jack echoed Allison’s frustrated thoughts by observing, “not so pleasant having your destiny in someone else’s hands, is it?”

But no matter how hard Jack struggled against things that were out of his control, he still could not stop it. It was only once he, Allison, Zoe, and Fargo stopped trying to control everything that things began to work themselves out.

For as they ultimately discovered, the “signal” controlling everyone was simply trying to protect them all by getting them to build a plasma wave (or in layman’s terms, a “cushion”) for it to land on.  Without it, the ship that arrived would have created a mile-deep crater right in Eureka. So had Allison and Jack been successful in their endeavors to prevent the plasma wave device from being created, they would have allowed a much more devastating and cataclysmic event to occur.

It would seem that all is well and end’s well, but Henry’s surprised exclamation of recognition of the ship is a tease that perhaps all is not well. It still remains to be seen whether the ship is friend or foe.

What Worked

First and foremost, the best scene of the episode was Jo’s speech filled with sexual innuendos to Fargo accusing him of failing to treat Tabby like she deserved to be treated, such as neglecting to change her oil, rotate her tires and buff her hood. The entire storyline of Fargo wanting to upgrade to a newer, younger model vehicle as if he were trading in an old girlfriend for a newer, prettier one was hysterical.

Another adorable moment was when Tess Fontana had brought pizza to Carter’s stake-out and she began to realize that all he wanted to talk about was Allison. The expression on her face when she realized that Carter is in love with Allison was perfect. You could just see the light-bulb going off in her brain.

Also Carter’s steadfast concern over Zoe and his refusal to leave her bedside, even amidst a global emergency crisis, was heart-warming. Not for one second did he consider leaving Zoe alone while she was under-the-influence of some unknown entity. He deserves a special father’s award for such a fine example of parenting.

And special shout-out goes to Larry who made Fargo’s captivity seem much more fun than it should have been. Larry’s anxiety over the thought of Tabby killing them and the resulting exclamation, “I’m too pretty to die!” and his instinct to hug Fargo before he died was pitch-perfect comedy.  Fargo’s subsequent retort of, “This is the worst death ever!” capped it off perfectly. And as Fargo said, “What happened in the trunk, stays in the trunk.” In an episode filled with stress over what was happening with Eureka’s children, it was nice to have comedic rest-breaks.

What Didn’t Work

Bringing in Zane as a filler just so Fargo could be stuck in the trunk of a car for over half the episode seems like a waste. Zane was not allowed to fix or even figure out the crux of the problem. He was simply the straw-man brought in to be “Fargo” while Fargo was held hostage by Tabby. Then he was relegated to being one of the “Village of the Damned” for the rest of the episode. It would have been nice to see Zane given a more substantial and individual role to play than merely being a stand-in for another character or background filler to raise the emotional resonance.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

“If You Build It” was written by Bruce Miller and directed by Mike Rohl. “Eureka” stars Colin Ferguson, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Joe Morton, Jordan Hinson, Erica Cerra, Neil Grayston, Chris Gauthier and Niall Matter. “Eureka” airs Fridays on Syfy.