Eureka: Season One

 

 

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Upon discovering the answer to a now-legendary problem, Archimedes famously yelled "Eureka!" ("I have found it!"), jumped out of his bath, and ran naked through the streets.

So "Eureka" seems like an appropriate name for the Sci-Fi Channel's quirky, well-written sci-fi series, all about a tiny town that brims over with geniuses and scientific breakthroughs. A few of the storylines are draggy, but the series also has some great acting, brilliant dilemmas, and mysteries that promise to fuel future seasons.

While dragging his delinquent daughter back to L.A., Marshal Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson) accidentally crashes the car. The only nearby place is the picture-perfect small-town of Eureka. But Jack starts to suspect that Eureka is a little odd -- a woman making triangular bubbles, a quartet of clones, and a little autistic boy making physics equations on the sidewalk are only a few of the oddities.

His suspicions are confirmed when random places get blasted to ashes, including a cowfield and an RV. So Jack is told Eureka's secret -- it's a town entirely inhabited by geniuses, set up by the government to create new scientific advances. But a scientist has done a little project all on his own, producing a tachyon accelerator -- which is ripping the seams out of the universe.

Because the sheriff was badly injured by the accelerator, D.O.D. representative Allison Blake (Salli Richardson-Whitfield) makes Jack the new sheriff of Eureka. Now he has a new job, a "smart house" in an old nuclear bunker, and a trigger-happy deputy who loves her guns.

But he also has has to deal with a bunch of strange problems -- an electrical "ghost," a scientist whose healing experiments transform him, alien paranoia, memory blackouts, a doomsday device from the Cold War, a drug that causes superspeed, killer nanites, problematic pollen, and a mysterious Artifact deep inside the Global Dynamics building...

The first season of "Eureka" is a pretty good example of how to make a sci-fi show -- not many programs can balance out standalone episodes with long-term arcs (the Artifact, Beverly's agenda). Some of these don't work out, like the artificial Jack/Allison attraction, but most of the time "Eureka" stays on solid ground.

Yeah, most of the storylines center on scientific disasters. But the writers sprinkle it with funny scenarios (the baseball teams are called the Protons and Neutrons) and funny dialogue ("Well, car or no car, this is a 30 mile an hour zone"). But there are moments of poignancy, such as Nathan Stark's tearful farewell to his robot "son," or a woman reluctantly starting to care about her clone's little son.

Despite being the lead, Ferguson doesn't stand out as much because his character is so... ordinary. It's the weirdos that are lovable -- Matt Frewer as a deranged Aussie vet, Ed Quinn as a charming head researcher (and Allison's ex-hubby), Neil Grayston as an ubergeek, and Joe Morton as the car mechanic who also happens to be a brilliant inventer. Jordan Hinson rounds off the cast as Jack's troublemaking daughter.

The first season of "Eureka" hits some road bumps, but it's definitely a well-written, intelligent sci-fi series with a quirky, funny twist. Eureka!

Eureka takes place in a high tech community of the same name, located somewhere in the Pacific Northwest (implied in various episodes to be Oregon) and inhabited entirely by brilliant scientists working on new scientific advancements for the United States government that frequently go disastrously awry. The town's existence and location is a closely guarded secret.

U.S. Marshal Jack Carter stumbles upon Eureka while transporting a fugitive prisoner -- his own rebellious teenage daughter Zoe -- back to her mother's home in Los Angeles, California. When a faulty experiment cripples the sheriff of Eureka, Carter finds himself quickly chosen to fill the vacancy. Despite not being at the genius level of most of the town, Jack Carter's ability to connect what others do not see repeatedly saves Eureka, and indeed the entire world, from one would-be disaster after another.

This show has many quirky characters and that provides a large dose of humor but the show also has some touching moments.I think what I enjoy the most is the fact that the brainy people are always needing to be saved by this ordinary man. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Excellent show. Bonus items on DVDs are crap, but that's not what I bought it for so it still gets 5 stars.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun human interaction masked as sci-fi
I came late to the series as I do not watch this type of program on T.V. It has a tendency to pass time and never get anywhere. Read more

Published 10 months ago by bernie

5.0 out of 5 stars Eureka
An excellent TV series loaded with lots of science and comedy, will likely keep you riveted to your screen for the entire series released to date (seasons 1, 2, 3, and 3.5). Read more

Published 18 months ago by Timothy N. Thompson

3.0 out of 5 stars xmas mess
it was really late arriving. but it arrived finally. it was meant to be a xmas present but made it at about the second week of january. Read more

Published on Jan 16 2010 by Claire Rudge

5.0 out of 5 stars Eureka for Eureka
Sometimes finding a series with characters that are interesting (not silly or annoying) and 'care-about-able' (not cutsy or cloying) can be difficult. Well, um, Eureka! Read more

Published on April 8 2009 by Dave and Joe

5.0 out of 5 stars Eureka is awesome!
It's Stargate SG-1 without all the military fighting, mixed with the small-town charm and quirkiness of Gilmore Girls.

Published on Aug 11 2007 by hoktaur

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