TV Review: Warehouse 13 1.03 – Magnetism

Review: Warehouse 13 1.03 – “Magnetism”
Original Airdate: July 21, 2009
Rating: TV-14 (Recommended for people 14 or older)

I am officially hooked on Warehouse 13.

The pilot and second episode were good enough to interest me, but now that some familiarity has been laid down, I’m really enjoying the humor, suspense and development that come as we better understand Warehouse 13, Pete, Myka and Artie; the more I know, the more intrigued I become. Unorthodox detectives solve paranormal mysteries and shenanigans ensue, in the most charming way possible, is a premise I can dig.

So let’s jump to it. “Magnetism” starts off with a quick scene in Paris as our two quarreling agents retrieve the guillotine blade responsible for separating Marie Antoinette’s head from her neck. Pete is rigged up in some Mission Impossible-inspired gear: we see him dangling trying to avoid security laser beams. He’s good, but he’s no Catherine Zeta-Jones. Some Gendarmes bust in on nearby Myka, and we see her awesome hand-to-hand combat skills, as well as some fancy taser work using Artie’s laser/phaser/gun gadget.

The dialogue post-heist is ridiculously funny and full of tension. After seeing Myka beat up well-trained men for not the first time, Pete jokes, “you must be fun on a date.” The writers have done an excellent job keeping the bickering ongoing without being annoying (yet). Artie, meanwhile, is back at the Warehouse, watching incoming clips that are clearly meant to set us up for the main plot of this episode. Strange sparks are emitting from items in storage, and he seems to be running tests looking for the source.

I will admit, the show is a bit formulaic so far, sending out the agents in search of an artifact while Artie stays behind and somehow provides very clutch and difficult to retrieve supportive information. Yes, the flow of the episode seems predictable to me, but the plot itself and the twists aren’t necessarily so. I am okay with the routine; it keeps up congruity between each episode to always start and end at the Warehouse. Also, at the same time we’re able to see a whole case followed through start to finish, without ending each episode on a huge cliffhanger; I like the closure and the progress made each week.

Myka and Pete are sent to Unionville, Colorado where the most seemingly benign residents are acting out in violent, sexual, and bizarre ways. The pair must discover what is the tie binding each similar, but isolated incident. As we get an idea of the case, I realize that I appreciate how bawdy the show is; I feel like it pushes the envelope more than network primetime usually does. The sexual tension is thick, and the skin shots are frequent. An elderly woman spray painting “F-U-C” got a smirk out of me as well as Pete’s “use a condom” remark to Myka. A fair mix of reasonable slang and straightforward dialogue pushes the storyline quickly. A man talking on a Bluetooth is referred to as a “Bluetool,” and Myka tells Pete he is a “ten year old.” Some of it can be a bit cheesy at times, but so far, it’s easily tolerable.

Priests, paramedics, and townspeople are interviewed in Unionville as the intensity of the victims’ acting out quickly increases. A nun jumps off a building and a schoolboy is in a coma; an “infected” victim lashes out by grabbing Myka’s breasts. Stakes are rising, situations are becoming more bizarre, and the agents must discover the common link between the outbursts. Pete goes to an AA meeting, a local therapist is suspected of owning the item sought, and Myka is inadvertently infected. The “curse” causes her to punch Pete in the face a few times, as well as the local Johnny Law figure.

Meanwhile, Artie is back at the Warehouse observing as the mystery hacker gets closer and closer, and Leena the psychic is helping him out here and there. I’m developing more curiosity about the Warehouse, the people involved and what’s going on in a bigger picture sense. I’m curious about the hacker, and why Artie can’t prevent the breach. On another note, I’d like to know more about the technology and gadgets accessible to Artie; did he develop them? Do other parts of the government know how sophisticated his equipment is? I hope these are answered as the series goes on.

Finally, in Colorado the light bulb moment happens as all of the seemingly unrelated victims are walking into the same church, all members of the same congregation. A hostile cop with a bomb is talked down and an old chair belonging to “the father of hypnotherapy” is destroyed and all will be well again in the sleepy western town of Unionville. But it’s not a neat and happy ending after all — the final thing we understand is that the hacker has successfully breached Warehouse 13, sending a daunting “knock, knock” to Artie. I like the show enough already to stick around without such a cliffhanger ending, but I’m hoping maybe the trick will work to help hook some fence-sitting viewers.