Eureka Episode 4x13 Review

Episode Title: Glimpse
Overall Season Rating: B+
Episode Rating: B+

This week, we got a look at the real beginning of the arc of the second half of the season. The Astraeus Mission to Titan is both very cool, and sad. It's cool because well, a manned mission to Titan is friggin awesome, but it's also sad because in reality we are no where even close to something like this. The technology in Eureka always has been crazy, and super advanced, but usually it's something fun. The tech used in this episode for example are a pair of super contact lenses that give you a computer read out of security risks. Very cool, but that's Eureka. I know a space mission to Titan is science fiction, and belongs in a show like this, but I find it sad that in reality it many not happen for many decades.

We also get more development with Allison. Last week we saw her kidnapped, and changed in some way. We don't really get more information on that, but it's clear this also is a major issue this season. The relationships on the show also are given a lot of screen time, and I am starting to get a little sick of them. That may sound bad, but every week it's the same story with Jo and Zane. The time line reboot appears to be an annoying way to go back to the beginning with the two, and go through this all again. Finally, we get two amazing new people this week. One of them has to be one of the greatest cameos in TV history. I'll get to that a little later though.

Read on for the episode recap.

As the episode starts we learn via a promotional video that Eureka is leading the way on a new manned mission to Saturn's moon Titan. The ship will be called the Astraeus, and they are selecting the group of scientists to go in about 140 days. Fargo and Holly will be the two making the selections, and they have to pick 20 people out of 387 applicants. One of these scientists is Dr. Parish played by WIL WHEATON!. I've loved Wheaton for years. From Star Trek: The Next Generation to The Big Bang Theory he always is a wonderful addition to any show. I hope he's on for a number of episodes. Naturally, Dr. Parish and Fargo do not get along.

Jack tells Allison that he's planning a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame(which is in Cooperstown, NY btw). This doesn't cause a problem, but when everyone starts suggesting Allison go on the mission he starts to get a little upset. Zane and Jo have is seems have been spending a lot of time together, and sleeping with each other every night for an indeterminate amount of time. Jo remarks later that it's a number of weeks, but that throws the whole time line of the show out of whack for me, so I'll ignore that. Back to work, Zane has developed some cool contact lenses that give you the ability to the predictability of security risks all around you. He calls them PALs. Very cute. Carter doesn't want them cause he's a "real cop"

They get a call to Dr. Parish's lab, and he says he's being sabotaged. Carter finds a valve to solve his issue, and gets drenched in a type of gel used to cryo-freezing. This seemed like a silly event at the time, but you know it's always events like this that end up being the most important thing later.

We then see Fargo and Holly doing the assessments. Fargo is saying no to pretty much everyone. I thought he was just being an ass, but as we will find out he's using the PALs to get some help assessing the candidates. He does allow Henry through which is great for him. Fargo then starts to really hit off with Holly. She's clearly into him, and he even quotes Carl Sagan to her. He asks her out to dinner, and she says yes. It's nice to see Fargo getting some love, even if it is short lasting.

In the Lobby of GD Jo saves an explosion from happening proving that the PALs work very well in predicting events perfectly. Again, this becomes very important later. This event gets Jack to use the PALs too, and he goes to see Allison. While she's talking about not wanting to go on the mission he sees that she has a high percentage for deception. I thought that was a strong word, but maybe it means different deception. At Cafe Diem, Parish is still pissed and after Jack saves him from choking he storms off. They then see a massive explosion with the PALs. One large enough to destroy the town. Jo agrees to go talk to Zane, and Jack will go talk to Parish to see if they can avoid it.

Then, a moment of greatness. In the assessment meetings Fargo is listening to an elderly man talk about gamma rays. IT'S STAN LEE!! As in Marvel Comics STAN LEE. Playing Dr. Lee(AKA Generalisimo). He says that he's used Gamma Rays in the past and he's fine, just don't make him angry. I loved this scene more than I can even express. However, The PALs start to malfunction. It turns out, since Fargo had "borrowed" a pair it's overtaxing the system. It ends up failing. Now Jack and Jo can't use them to help with the explosion. Zane says he can try to take them to Henry and see if he can help.

Jack tells Allison that he wants her to go to Titan because it's her dream. This was a great moment for Jack, since he can be somewhat clingy and over protective. Fargo also has to tell Holly that he was using the PALs, and she is not happy. She gets over it a little bit later in the episode, but things don't end well for the Director of G.D. Henry uses his awesome holodeck type technology to see exactly what the PALs saw, but it takes a while to render. They find out that the explosion started at G.D, and maybe is the result of the same propellant container as before. The scientist tell them, that this explosion is caused by a meltdown, not a propellant. They realize it's caused by Zane and the PALs core.

They attempt to evacuate everyone as Zane tries to fix the problem. Parish refuses to leave without his experiments, and Jack realizes he can use the same cyro-gel from before to cool down the core. They reroute the gel, and Jo has to manually open the valve. She momentarily gets trapped, but Zane helps her up.  Meltdown averted, everything is fine. Hooray!

Fargo says he will restart the assessments, this time without the PALs, but Holly is still a little put off. Especially when he says that there was a high chance she would kiss him. "Douglas Fargo, too dangerous to love".  Allison also has news, and tells Jack she will not be going on the mission. Henry though ruins the happy moment as he calls Jack over to show him that not only did the PAL register Allison as Deception, but also as a 99% security threat. Very wild!

I'm very interested in both the Astraeus mission, and Allison's story this year. Love the season so far!