Well,
this is the first review for a Warehouse 13 episode I've posted since
the news broke that the show has been officially cancelled, or
rather, renewed for the last time for an abbreviated six episode
fifth season. I suppose its fitting that this is also the episode
where we finally got a little bit of development for the main story
that I've been clamoring for since this season started. It's not a
lot mind you, just one foreboding scene that really doesn't get us
that much closer to knowing anything about the main bad guy, but at
least its something. And the rest of the episode wasn't too bad
either.
The
title refers to an artifact that has victims in Las Vegas floating up
into the air, succumbing to the lethal rigors of altitude, and then
crashing down to Earth again. Apparently it belonged to a saint,
which makes it suspiciously similar to an artifact I suggested in my
very first Warehouse 13 post on this blog, but weird coincidences not
withstanding, it opens the door for a fun exploration into a subject
near and dear to my heart, the lives of professional magicians. While
it doesn't spend enough time on this as I would have liked, and
perhaps too much time on recurring jokes about strip clubs and
horse phobias, it came together pretty well in the end.
The
heart of the episode is the performance of guest star Joel Grey,
perhaps best known for the film Caberet, though to me he will always
be the creepy lizard dude from Buffy season five. He plays an aging
magician whose finally got a chance to be back on top after
unknowingly finding something really magical, unaware of its deadly
side effect, and not only does his performance add a level of
poignancy to the episode, but the way they wrap up the character using
the mythology of the show is the kind of sweet moment this show comes
to at its best. We also get a too brief cameo from real life
magician Steve Valentine, who would have been a better comic foil if
he didn't literally disappear after a few minutes of screen time.
The
B plot is really just kind of silly, following Claudia and Jinx on
the trail of someone murdering Jockeys riding long shot horses at a
track in the UK. It's mostly an excuse for funny accents and hi jinks,
and except for the aforementioned villain scene, its pretty
forgettable. Apart from that we have more Artie moping, now with a
new psychoanalyst whose a little too keen to use the items in the
Warehouse for personal gain. I'm getting a little sick of this story line dragging on so long in this way. I was hoping that the ramifications of Artie's freak out last season and his own reaction would be
more complicated than this, but now I just want whatever the Regents
are planning to do to him to just happen already.
Still,
overall I'd say this is easily the best episode since the first one
of this block, and enough to remind me just why I love this show and
will miss it when its gone. Apparently we got some H.G. Wells action
in two weeks when the show comes back, and based on some info I read
online, possibly a multi-episode appearance by Anthony Stewart Head,
whose always good, so there's enough to be excited about going
forward. While I wish it would go on past season five, maybe the six
episode structure will be a good thing for the finale in terms of
motivating the writers of this show to actually think about what
information is important and give us the most bang for our buck on
the way out. They've taken their sweet time getting to a point this
season, so maybe this will convince them to pick up the pace a bit.
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