Eureka Season 3 (1 Viewer)

[Joe_H]

Is it just me, or is anyone else getting annoyed at the trend of putting previews for next week BEFORE the show is over? For one, I don't even try to watch them but it's a little more difficult to turn off when the show is on after it still.

Secondly, its bad enough they're ruining next week's episode but it sort of kills the tension a little bit to see that everyone is fine in the preview for next week's before this one was even resolved (not that I expect differently, but that's not the point... at least there's a possibility).

They did this tonight on Eureka, and they've done it on Psych, Monk, and Burn Notice the past few weeks too.

 

[NeilO]

Maybe it would be a better question if you asked if anyone wasn't getting annoyed by this?

The thing about it is even if you are watching on DVR and skipping through commercials, then if you see some scenes from the show, you go back. By the time you realize it is a preview you have may have already seen too much.

Neil

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Plus, I time-shift this show too, I skipped over the preview, figuring I would watch the one after the show, which they never aired. Luckily I could just go back and watch it.

 

[NeilO]

I just got around to listening to the podcast of episode 2 - What About Bob. There were a few things in the podcast that I thought were of interest.

Showing the Degree logo was again part of the deal that they had to do. The bits with the folks watching the Carter and folk on TV and talking about switch-ups and red herrings and so forth - that was a writer inside joke. Those terms are frequently brought up in their discussions about an episode with the network.
The casting for Bob involved the actors demonstrate their ability to writhe around as they were turning into a snake.
The footage at the end was put together from various documentaries about bomb testing from WWII.

 

[NeilO]

Interesting ratings news for the premiere in Viewers Find ‘Eureka’s’ Season Three Premiere - 8/18/2008 1:27:00 PM - Multichannel News

 

[Joe_H]

Next time if you could put something like that in spoiler tags since it says "a shocking turn with the demise of one of the show’s leading characters" that'd be good. Unfortunately because I'd read that, the ending of tonight's episode was pretty obvious way before it happened. Even still, it was a great episode. At the beginning, I thought maybe it was going to have something to do with the time issues from the finale of season 1, but I'm glad they took it in a different direction.

 

[LarryDavenport]

To be fair, EVERY commercial for Eureka on SciFi said one of the main characters was going to die.

 

[NeilO]

I actually didn't notice the article said that when I posted the news (probably due to that information already registering due to the commercials). Sorry. Of course the promo right before the episode started revealed that as well. Still, I was kept guessing how the demise would be handled. I was surprised that they actually did get rid of him. It will be interesting to see what the writers have to say on the subject.

Still, you have to wonder whether the demise will be permanent or not. Given that they were dealing with time you never know.

Neil

 

[Marty M]

I'm surprised there has been as much discussion about last night's episode. Maybe I'm the only one with a lot of time on his hands. Anyway, the ending came as a complete surprise to me. Thankfully, I hadn't read the article or see any commercials for this week's episode. From a previous scene we were aware that Nathan
was vulnerable to the same fate. I kept thinking, they wouldn't do that because he is one of the main characters. It will be interesting to see how this is handled in the next few episodes.

(I wasn't sure if I needed to put the character's name in a spoiler box or not. Thought it might be a good idea since the episode just aired yesterday, but I assume it is OK to divulge information if the episode has already aired.)

 

[Joe_H]

And as mentioned repeatedly on the forums here, not all of us watch the previews and anything that's in them before it airs is supposed to be spoiler tagged. It was still a great episode regardless, but still.

And yeah, I didn't notice the text said anything about someone dying when I first glanced at it, but then as I was closing out of the page it just popped out at me lol.

 

[NeilO]

Executive Producer Thania St. John talks about some of the details behind last night's episode over at EUREKA unscripted
It is an interesting piece. One challenging part of the episode was that (as usually happens on such a TV show) they shoot all scenes in a location on the same day. So, they had to go through the "same scene" with subtle alterations many times in a row.

 

[Rhoq]

Very informative read. Thanks Neil.

 

[BrianW]

They did an excellent job of making this episode more like Groundhog Day and less like The 142 Voyager Episodes Involving Time Loops.

I thought Carter's logical progression through his various theories was engaging.

I was actually saddened by the ending of this one. I wasn't spoiled in any way (but only because of dumb luck), so I thought there was still hope when Nathan was at first just frozen in time. I had no idea someone was slated to die. But then he began to disintegrate, and I knew it was over for him. Stark was an excellent foil for Carter, and I'll miss his character.

I fear they got rid of Stark just to keep the romantic tension going between Carter and Allison, which would be a considerable waste of a good character. As much as I hate Reset Buttons in television drama (even silly ones), I'm actually hoping they find a way to bring Stark back.

Maybe Stark will find a way to communicate to Allison through the HoloDiamond necklace, which got imprinted with his subatomic-neuropathic structure as he disintegrated, and then they'll find a way to bring Stark back to life by offloading the data in the HoloDiamond crystal into the teleporter used to save their son.

At least that's what I would do.

 

[nolesrule]

Sounds like the last 2 minutes of a Star Trek episode.

 

[mattCR]

I don't think it makes the romantic tension any better; in fact, I think her losing the man she was about to marry makes it far more strained then before.

 

[NeilO]

I wrote some questions about the episode (including whether Ed Quinn wanted to leave or not) to the writers at the Eureka Unscripted address and they wrote back:If you go to The Revealing Science of Eric you will see their thought process behind the episode and why they did what they did.

 

[Marty M]

Thanks for the link. This definitely will end any specualation as to the fate of Stark.

 

[Bryan Toth]

I hadn't read (or seen) any of the potential spoilers leading up to this episode, and I have to say I was shocked! While I generally don't like "time loop" episodes (strangely, I love "time travel" stories, but generally not "time loop" stories .... but I digress), I really enjoyed the way they structured this episode. In fact, this might be my favorite Eureka episode ever. I think all the actors did an amazing job - I could really feel the emotion in that last scene between Carter/Allison.

So, looking at those links that were provided, it definitely seems like Stark is gone for good. I really thought they'd bring him back in an episode or two and things would be changed, but relatively back to normal. I'll certainly miss his banter with Carter - as it seemed that over time they had actually become "friends" (or the closest thing Stark has to friends). He seemed to enjoy teasing Carter, but respected him for his abilities. Ironically, when the series first started, I really couldn't stand Stark. However, now he was probably my favorite character. He was almost the perfect antagonist - he wasn't evil, he just had an incredibly huge (and I guess within the context of the show - mostly deserved) ego. So, it made it easy to warm up to the character after he started to respect the ideas that other people might come up with. Anyway, I've rambled on, but I guess it's clear, I'll definitely miss Stark weekly on the show. Hope they find a way to bring him back sometime in the future.

 

[KevinGress]

It does seem like a lot of shows recently are getting rid of critical characters - ex. Zach on Bones. This is no exception. Now, the question becomes, can the show absorb this kind of loss?

I, too, disliked Stark at first but grew to love the banter between him and Carter. I think Stark's prescence will be missed for several episodes.

So, are we getting 4 more episodes before an extended break, or am I completely misunderstanding?

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Also kinda like Stargate SG-1's "Window of Opportunity".

Thing is, with Stark dematerializing, they do have the leeway to bring him back someday, despite what they say. They could say he got jumped into the future or something.