Eureka - Founder's Day

Eureka season 4 is here! The first episode is up on Hulu, and what an opening it was. They've set up a situation with plenty of plot for the whole season, and I really hope they string it out for a few episodes, because it's a fun one. And we have an awesome new character. He's on the new title banner even, which gives me hope that he's here to stay. He's got a great hat.

Okay, go watch the episode now if you object to spoilers, and then come back and read the rest of this post. ;-) First of all: Tess. I didn't like Tess when she first turned up. She wasn't right for Jack. I still think she isn't right for Jack. He needed to get together with Alison, which could have been okay after Nathan heroically melted or de-timed or whatever it was (and I was just getting reconciled to him), and then everybody would have been happy. Well, Jack and Alison and I would have been happy. Only that didn't happen. I was finally getting reconciled to this Tess character when they got rid of her and I was rooting for Alison again. And NOW THEY BROUGHT TESS BACK. Aargh!

Second: Fargo. Who in their right mind would have put him in charge? This can only end in disaster - very humorous disaster, probably involving a swing dance since he didn't get to go to that other one. Incidentally, I want to see Pierre Fargo, Fargo's grandfather who was resurrected from cryogenic sleep in whatever episode that was. He would be perfect in season 4. I predict he hangs out with the new guy, though if I'm remembering the chronology, he didn't go to Eureka until the fifties, so that might not have worked. But now that we're in that parallel universe, all bets on chronology are off. Who knows what's going to have changed. Maybe Fargo got put in charge in the parallel world because Pierre Fargo rose to importance after Dr. Trevor Grant was out of the way.

We thought the time travel itself was quite well handled. Eureka is still so Eureka, even sixty years ago. You've got the scientists, and the overbearing military types, and very similar jail cells, and Jo can still mop the floor with mere military men, no matter their credentials. The contemps were just as smart and well characterized as the moderns, which was nice. The time-travel science was a little hazy, but at this point, we don't really care. Eureka has earned its scientific stripes, so to speak, and we're willing it to run with it.

They've set up several bittersweet plots in the parallel universe. Jack will, of course, just be confused about the Tess/Alison thing, but he needed to make up his mind anyway. Henry will likely be anxious to go back to the original universe, though it depends on Grace. Unless, oh no, what if parallel Kim isn't dead?? And poor Jo, about Zane! Parallel Zane is so not an improvement. Who knows what Fargo will do. He might decide he prefers the bronze Archimedes, or get drunk on power, or something. Alison might decide she likes the parallel universe better because of her son, whose name I can't remember. And Trevor... what if he decides to stick around for Alison?