Eureka: Season 3.5

Clearly, everyone that is crying marketing shenanigans does not know what they are talking about. Season 3 was stopped in its tracks by something called the writers strike. Ever heard of it? Once it ended, SyFy made an increased order of episodes for the show and they filmed what became Season 3.5 but SyFy decided to not air those episodes until Eureka's normal season slot.

Here's a math lesson based on current Amazon prices.

Season 1 - 24 dollars for 12 episodes. 2 dollars per episode.
Season 2 - 29 dollars for 13 episodes. 2 dollars 23 cents per episode.
Season 3/3.5 - 40 dollars for 18 episodes. 2 dollars 22 cents per episode.

Boy, that's grand larceny right there. Please check your anger and conspiracy theories at the door.

Now, back on topic. Love this show and I will absolutely buy Season 3.5 because I know exactly why it is being released as it is.

It's a little awkward that "Eureka Season 3" was split into two independent mini-seasons instead of one -- and somehow "Eureka Season 3.5" doesn't quite reach the heights of the previous 2.5 seasons of sci-fi wackery. While the individual plots are nice little nuggets of sci-fi, the season is hampered by the lack of a season-loving overarcing storyline.

There's a new sheriff in town: Sheriff Andy, a creepily cheerful android who has arrived to replace Carter. But job-hunting and Alison's pregnancy are not Carter's biggest concerns -- instead, he has to deal with strange gravity fluctuations that are plaguing Eureka. Even weirder, they seem to be targeting Andy. Coincidence? Not in Eureka.

But even if Carter manages to regain his old position, he'll still have a bunch of problems to deal with: Jo acting like two different people, a poltergeist, a trip into the 5th dimension, a giant green blob, people drowning on dry land, a wave of amnesia (cue clip show!), and an arctic core that seems to be freezing GD. But a signal from space causes the residents of Eureka to start building strange structures while they sleep -- and heralds a mysterious vessel's arrival, carrying a precious cargo that no one expected...

The biggest problem with "Eureka Season 3.5" is that it has no season-long arc -- both of the previous seasons (and the first half of this one) had an over-arcing plot that lasted the entire season. The writers have a mini-arc with the whole "space object landing" and its aftermath, but it's kinda anticlimactic and ends up lasting only a couple episodes. It's just not as gripping or suspenseful as the Artifact or the Mystery Bunker, and it feels like something is missing.

Fortunately, the episodes themselves are still solid standalone material -- lots of weird wacky science, a budding romantic triangle, and lots of funny quirky dialogue ("This is blasphemy, okay? Madness!" "This is EUREKA!"). What's more, it has some new developments that might make the fourth season pretty interesting -- including the reopening of Section 5, and all the dangerous stuff inside it.

When he's not being the "average guy," Carter is grappling with some age-old problems -- Zoe is about to graduate, and he's the male leg of a love triangle between a Alison and Tess Fontana. Erica Cerra gets to have some fun as Jo and a doppelganger, and Salli Richardson-Whitfield does a good job with Alison's confused romantic feelings (and pregnancy woes). Best of all: Matt Frewer finally returns as the mildly insane Taggart ("Everything I'm wearing I killed meself, including my walrus skivvies!").

But the most powerful performance this season is from Joe Morton, whose tragic romantic past comes back to haunt him. After seeing Henry grieve for so long, it's nice to see him experience some closure.

"Eureka Season 3.5" is a weaker expanse of light sci-fi than the previous 2.5 seasons (HAVE I MENTIONED there's no full arc?), but it's still an enjoyable ride with amazingly weird mysteries.

I agree that the second half of season 3 was not quite as good as the rest of the series so far, but I disagree with the people complaining about the half season release.
Eureka's season 3 was aired over 2 years, going on its mid-season break in September to return in the following July, what Syfy did was release the first half of the season on dvd before it restarted so that viewers could be caught up if they had missed episodes or had forgotten things in the 9 month hiatus. I do not feel that Syfy is being greedy, I think that they were trying to help the fans when the released the first half of season 3.