What the frak did I just watch? That was an absolutely crazy, rollercoaster ride of a season premiere! I didn’t see any of the twists coming, did you? Kudos, Eureka writers!
A four-year time jump isn’t unrealistic for Eureka; they did travel back in time creating a new timeline after all. And, why not create another obstacle to keep our favorite couples apart? Will there ever be a happy ending for Carter and Allison? Or, Jo and Zane?
Even though Eureka is a unique show, this “new” town and cyber-controlled Global Dynamics were both just too far out there to be real. Would the DOD really let a computer, even as awesome as SARAH, run the secret scientific facility? Or, manipulate the scientists to follow their every demand, which would restrict their creative, scientific discoveries? But, of course, it was done in a believable manner, so I bought it all while watching.
On my second watch when I knew it was fake, it came across as ridiculous. The mini-spy planes that Jo confronted and shot Zane — crazy! The big robot that captured Henry and Grace — also crazy. The situation was believable only due to the character’s reactions. Those that returned on the ship acted as would be expected, as did Carter, Henry, and Jo.
In reality, it was all about the ASS: Adrenaline Suppression System. It’s interesting that the device that is controlling the Astraeus crew made it into their alternative reality. One thing that has remained consistent throughout the seasons is that the core crew of Eureka have been able to work together as a team. They’ve understood and connected with each other.
Before the reveal, I was upset about Carter and Jo hooking up. While I could see it happening if both Allison and Zane disappeared, it was just so wrong. The last thing the show needed was to keep our favorite couples apart again after everything they have been through. With the reveal, could it be that the love of these couples is what overcomes the ASS?
Yes, Beverly has the smartest of Global Dynamics working for her now, but … she has the smartest of Global Dynamics. If any group of people could overcome brain control, it is them.
How are Carter, Henry, and Jo going to save the Astraeus crew? Beverly cannot win! She just can’t! These last 13 Eureka episodes are looking to be a fun, adventurous ride after all. Yes, at one point in the premiere, I wished the season away!
Clacked by Carla Day 
on Apr 16, 2012 @ 23:45 EST5EDT
I felt proud of myself for seeing that big twist coming. I was suspicious that might be the case, then there was the strange vision when Zane was losing consciousness after the shock…
I’m glad it’s like this, though. That whole Carter/Jo thing was bothering me too!
Eureka has alway been a show that continues to surprise and take their characters into new directions. The strong
writing is matched by actors with the talent to make the incredible believable. Curious that there isn’t a fanbase pushing to continue the show.
There is a huge fanbase that has been vigorously pushing to continue the show. It’s fallen on deaf ears, but hope remains for a movie or other resurrection (e.g., webisodes, animated series, etc.). All the more reason to watch this season and deliver ratings that may convince someone to take a chance on the show again. In the meantime, the opener promises to give us a great send-off for one of the most truly unique and entertaining shows to grace TV in a long time.
And ITA, Carla. There will be pitchforks found if Zane and Jo don’t end up together at last!
I get my news from this site, CBR and Newsarama. A google search doesn’t offer any fan sites. If you could suggest some, it would be greatly appreciated.
I thought there were only 6 epis this time?
*POST AUTHOR*
Originally, Eureka was going to be renewed for a short sixth season, but then Syfy decided not to do that. Instead they added one more episode to season five to allow the show to have a true series finale.
I was hating the show because it turned into a sickly love fest.
Glad to have Eureka back.
I would have thought it was one of those Dark Future timelines that they would have to steal the Astraeus and reverse the time jump to prevent, until Zane’s matrix glitched.
The shared reality that all the Astraeus crew helped create is plausible in the Eureka universe for just that reason. Considering all the trouble they’ve had with the past heads of GD, the Pentagon would welcome an accommodating entity like SARAH. Consider that she’s logged over 1800 days without a workplace safety incident (prior administrations threatened to destroy the GD facility, Eureka, Oregon, the Western U.S. or the Sun every week), she keeps the military technology floating to them, and they can even reprogram her if they have any problems. The fact that Eureka is no longer a pleasant place to live wouldn’t matter to Washington, DC.
Also, the ASS turns aggression into submission, but needn’t necessarily affect scientific creativity. Even if it did, the DoD would consider that a small price to pay for being able to direct the geniuses into exactly the avenues of research that they wanted.
The MARTHA drone has been a recurring character since the Season 3 premiere, and had a flight of sisters. The fact that they’d been converted to urban pacification and mass-produced was entirely reasonable, just as the Evil Andys were. The big robot that grabbed Henry and Grace was just Tiny, the Titan Rover with the “unnecessarily creepy design,” that has also appeared in multiple episodes. The giant MARTHA was the only silly bit, although I had to laugh when she blew up Carter’s Jeep again.
Beverly was just using the same mind reading technology she had last time. The ASS is a completely different piece of tech which, as it was introduced by Parrish in the shared reality, may or may not actually exist.
Keep in mind that the show’s endgame couples are not everyone’s favorite couples, and have even been preceded by other canon pairings. Jo and Carter have had their moments over the years, as have nearly all the other permutations. Personally, I always felt that Allison/Stark and Jo/Taggart were better relationships, although anything that keeps Jo away from Zane’s massive gravitational field of toolishness is okay in my book.
*POST AUTHOR*
Thank you for the reminder of what the machines were called. I couldn’t remember.
I hope we learn more about the device that Beverly was using. I took the ASS to be a manifestation of Beverly’s device in their shared reality, but they could have been entirely separate.
You don’t love Jo and Zane? I love them together. I’ll be sad if they don’t end up together by the series finale.
I may have written Martha as MARTHA incorrectly, as it’s a nickname, not an acronym for the AAD-001 drone, according to her HUD.
I have no strong feelings toward most of the possible couples except for an intense disdain for Jo/Zane. I like/love them both separately, but hate their relationship dynamics. To me, it always seemed that Zane’s insults went beyond teasing or flirting to a fundamental disrespect for Jo’s intelligence and career choice, and this continued even after the two of them got together. Jo always seemed weak, indecisive, and passive when with Zane, and often unhappy, yet forgave him again and again every time he hurt her, without him having to earn it, or even gain any maturity (very reminiscent for me of Logan on Gilmore Girls).
Granted, the showrunners wiped out most of that with the time reboot. The new Jo/Zane relationship seems much healthier (even though the Zoe/Zane stuff was creepy), and they even acknowledged how lost and aimless Jo has seemed the past couple of years by having her realize this and go on walkabout to strengthen and redefine herself. Hopefully when she returns to the relationship, I’ll find it more palatable, but I still find it hard to let go of the negative feelings I had toward the most recent timeline.
It’s not even the actors, as they were a great couple on Warehouse 13. It’s the writing I watched throughout the seasons.
I was just wondering how did they all end up in “Beverly’s Virtual World” ? Did i miss something or is that yet to be revealed?
The episode itself was great but that last part confused me a bit.
Eureka is one of the highest rated shows on SyFy,
but they say its too expensive to produce.
WTF is that, thats the most ridiculous reasoning I have ever heard
When Beverly infiltrated GD she planted the device that let her takeover the ship. Since everyone on board was unconscious it would have been cake to grab them and plug them into the artificial reality. As for Parrish’s ASS device…that was a failed invention from the past (as Fargo pointed out)