Warehouse 13: declassified again

    Last summer SyFy premiered Warehouse 13, a show about two Secret Service agents transferred to a mysterious building in South Dakota where their new duties include tracking down and bringing back artifacts with supernatural powers.  Sadly, I gave it only a couple of episodes to hook me, then left, thinking each week would be just a procedural.  Sure, there are elements of that, but the series got much better.  Having now caught up with last night's second episode of season two, "Mild Mannered", I can tell you, don't make the same mistake I did.  Tune in.

     Some of the missteps of season one are gone.  Dickenson (Simon Reynolds), who looked like he might be interesting, but was never really given the chance to be, is gone.  I can only guess that the path of the show must have been changed midway through the first season, because there was no reason for him to be in the theme song with his limited role.  Gladly, Claudia (Allison Scagliotti) has been upgraded to series regular, which she should have been in the first year.  Her introduction was when the show started to get good.  She's sort of like Chole from Smallville, in looks as well as purpose, but coming in with a huge chip on her shoulder.

     In last season's finale, Artie (Saul Rubinek, Frasier) seemed to be blown to bits, but thanks to the Phoenix pendant, he was saved.  The villain that did the deed, both the blowing up and the saving, was his old partner, James MacPherson (Roger Rees, Grey's Anatomy, The West Wing).  Although MacPherson died in the season premiere, he and Artie had a great conclusion in episode two.  Unfortunately, because Artie lives, a bodyguard (Jung-Yul Kim) died.  He will be missed.  These last two episodes have also given an expanded role to under-used Leena (Genelle Williams), who appears to be tied into some ongoing mystery connected to her being mind-controlled by MacPherson.  It should be interesting.

     This week, the two lead agents, Pete (Eddie McClintock) and Myka (Joanne Kelly), traveled to Detroit, where a real-live superhero was bashing criminals to clean up the town.  Two of the town's residents were played by Serenity sweethearts Jewel Staite and Sean Maher, once again playing love interests.  Jewel was more toned down that in the ill-fated series, but Sean played pretty much the same character.  It was very satisfying to see the two of them together again, and the super hero story was pretty exciting, too.

     I don't know what the rest of the season will bring, but Warehouse 13 seems to be on the right track.  Next week the town near the Warehouse seems to be coming apart at the seems!  Tune in on the SyFy channel Tuesday nights at 9pm.

V: Welcome to the Cheese

    This week's installment of ABC's V, the first after a very long hiatus, was called "Welcome to the War".  Unfortunately, it felt a lot like the pilot, where there might have been a grain of something good in there somewhere, but it was well hidden.  The first episode of the series was very similar, however, the other three episodes aired last fall were quite good.  That means to me that the show may be good again in the next few weeks, but I wouldn't guarantee it.

     What really didn't work for me was the recruitment of the mercenary / terrorist, Hobbes (Charles Mesure,Crossing Jordan), over to the small resistance cell four of the characters have formed.  While he seems to be a very tough man, he allowed Erica (Elizabeth Mitchell, Lost) to call in his location to the FBI.  Then he went with Erica and Ryan (Morris Chestnut) back to the church, though they had offered him no payment for his services.  The resistance then tried to appeal to him on a personal level, which, of course, they should have been smart enough to see wouldn't work.  Lastly, Ryan showing Hobbes that he was a V alien won him over very suddenly.  The whole thing seemed a bad joke, and poorly written.

      Also, why hasn't Erica come clean about everything to her son Tyler (Logan Huffman) yet?  She knows that the V are bad news, that they are extremely dangerous.  Sure, she knew they were watching her in that final discussion scene, so she didn't want to let on, but if she were smart, and her character is supposed to be, it's time for her to grab Tyler, tell him the whole truth, and go underground.  Otherwise, her son could easily be lost to her.  So why is she dragging her feet and avoiding telling him?  It's less dangerous to let him hang out with the V then to bring him in the loop?  I don't think so.

     I'd also like to mention that Father Jack (Joel Gretsch, The 4400) was stabbed by a specialized V weapon, which did not look like a typical knife.  But the V doctors who healed him didn't notice this?  Really?  With all their sophistication, they couldn't spot damage from an unearthly weapon?  Because I also watch Bones, and they can do that right now, with current earth technology and expertise.

     What the show did do well, though, are the V themselves.  Anna (Morena Baccarin, Serenity) is chillingly cold as she sets events into motion.  At the end, where she mates and then kills the male, shows the true colors that have been boiling barely below her visage.  Equally wonderful and emotionless is her daughter Lisa (Laura Vandervoot, Smallville).  Lisa handles Tyler perfectly, and between the two, it is clear that we are dealing with a very different race from humans.  If only the human characters showed the same realness and depth.

     V airs on ABC Tuesday nights at 10pm, and has eight episodes left in the series first season. 

V is for ?

     The pilot for ABC's new V was vexing.  I say that, because it was impossible to tell if the series is going to be any good or not.  Pilots can often be decieving, and this one puzzled me.  I am not a fan of the original version, so I can't compare, only write about impressions from the one hour that ABC aired Tuesday.
     On one hand, there was the great cast, led by Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost) and including two Firefly / Serenity veterans (Morena Baccarin and the always fantastic Alan Tudyk), as well as other television stars such as Joel Gretsch (The 4400) and Scott Wolf (Party of Five, The Nine).  It also had wonderful special effects, hints of a mysterious backstory, and potential intrigue.

     On the other, it had cheesiness out the wazoo.  TWO priests assigned to a church that has "stood empty for years", save for a handful of bums?  With the nationwide shortage of clergy, I can't see one such priest staying there, or even the church staying open, let alone two, and it looks well kept up and clean.  Then Elizabeth Mitchell just happened to find her son in the busy city swarming with people?  And speaking of her character, why didn't she notice that Alan Tudyk was ready to give up three seconds after smashing into the shed, despite being a trained FBI agent?  It makes sense to the viewer, because of his twist later, but as far as she knows, he is her loyal partner.  Would the feds really give up that easily?  Even I knew that there had to be some secret trap door down to a basement.  Duh!  I also count casting Smallville's wooden Supergirl, Laura Vandervoot, as a misstep.

     Glaring cliches like those could hold this series back, and earn it a cancellation by February sweeps.  It is a positive sign that ABC is airing it through November.  This was one of the shows I was looking most forward to this year.  By episode two, the loopholes may be fixed, and they'd better be, or else the Viewers may not care to watch the Visitors.