Eureka: "Stoned" and "The Ex-Files"

I'm happy to report that the last two Eureka episodes have been good again! And there was much rejoicing. Sadly, next week's will be the mid-season finale, to be picked up again with a single Christmas episode and then the rest of the season sometime later. Sigh.

Despite the title, "Stoned" had no drug references whatsoever (at least that I caught). When Jo tries to rebuild her house (that someone blew up with his cheating rocket, LARRY), the local archaeologist teaching at the high school finds an ancient human bone and puts the construction on hold. Regrettably, several people associated with the dig turn into stone too, slowly and from the outside in. Whoops.

Even though the archaeologist was one of Zoe's favorite teachers, she cleverly and scientifically figures out that he was trying to pull a hoax with an aging potion he used in class. Zoe gets turned to stone too - and Jack finds the potion - and Allison reverse engineers it for a cure - and the local spa owner pitches in with a micro-mist to get it through the victims' petrified pores so it'll work. And they live happily ever after.

Well, kind of. Jack and Allison finally have their Define the Relationship kiss, so they're happy. Zoe and Zane really are sweet on each other, so Jo is not a bit happy. And, in a bizarre cliffhanger, Trevor has a clandestine meeting with... Beverly?? Beverly, for those of you who may not recall, was the horrifically sexy therapist from Season One, who was thankfully hauled off for treason. She made a regrettable brief return a couple seasons later in which she took Allison's son hostage and then escaped via a teleporter thingy, never to be seen again. So, naturally, when they brought Trevor back with them, it didn't occur to anyone to warn him she was Trouble.

"The Ex-Files" was quite a ride. Nathan turns up in Jack's office, re-materialized from the space-time warp and sarcastic as ever. Then Tess turns up at Alison's and chews her out for dating Jack. (Hello? Tess dumped Jack, so what's Tess' problem?) Zane shows up at Cafe Diem and is nice to Jo - nice like pre-parallel Zane. He says he's going to break up with Zoe and everything. Fargo's fifth grade-nemesis, a smart-aleck girl, turns up still as a fifth-grader and gives Fargo an earful whenever he lets General Mansfield boss him around. (In Fargo's defense, Mansfield is technically his boss.)

Just to finish out the weirdness, Beverly reveals herself as the daughter of one of Trevor's friends from the forties, which friend mysteriously turns up as well, and they convince Trevor they are part of a large web of scientists out to protect the world from evil superweapons, like the EMP generator being tested that very day at Eureka. And Only Trevor Can Save Civilization. Here's the computer code. You'll know when to use it.

They soon discover that Nathan, Tess, nice Zane, and the smart-aleck girl are hallucinations that nobody else can see. It really does cause some hilarious scenes. Meanwhile, the General is there to oversee the EMP weapon, which doesn't work right because Beverly is aiming an oscillator at it. While Fargo and Zane fiddle around with it, trying to keep it from going off, Trevor sneaks up to the computer and enters Beverly's code. It causes a minor explosion, which makes the General order the EMP transported away from Eureka, much against everyone's recommendations.

But Beverly and her dudes had actually been manipulating Trevor (surprise, surprise) and captured the EMP machine for themselves. He came back to her, all hurt, and she showed him what they really wanted: the EMP's power supply, with which they have fixed the time machine and will send him back to the forties! Ta-da!

Meanwhile, the rest of them have been exorcising their hallucinated friends. Jack gets rid of Nathan by telling Allison he's loved her for years. Allison gets rid of Tess by admitting to Jack that she's terrified of another relationship (seeing as the last one went rather badly, Nathan dematerializing on their wedding day and all). Fargo gets rid of his nemesis by out-politicking the General. And Jo...

Jo gives Zane back his engagement ring, that she's been wearing around her neck all this time, and says she's over him and he can date Zoe if he likes.

But it turns out she's telling this to parallel Zane, not hallucination Zane. Parallel Zane says, "Why do you have my grandmother's ring?"

And just then they come in to arrest Zane for messing up the EMP device (thanks for setting up a fall guy for Trevor, Beverly).

Whew.

What I want to know is, why does everyone in this episode act like the EMP is the next horrible atomic bomb? It's actually much more humane than conventional weapons, because it doesn't kill people or even destroy buildings. It knocks out electronics. Yes, this will mess up a high-tech society and cause disruption in communications, mess up the food supply, that sort of thing. But it's not like an EMP actually fries people or razes entire continents to dust. It is possible to live a happy life without your cell phone. Just saying...