Review: Warehouse 13, S4, Mid-Season Finale, Ep. 410 – “We All Fall Down”
Air date: Monday, October 1, 2012 9/8c on Syfy
Rating
“As darkness overcomes the light, so shall evil overcome goodness.” — Brother Adrian
Mrs. Frederic goes to Budapest to retrieve Artie but when she arrives, Artie is already gone.
Tissues handy? Check. If you are a die-hard fan of Warehouse 13 like I am, experiencing the emotional discovery of Leena’s (Genelle Williams) lifeless body will have you sobbing as much as Myka (Joanne Kelly), Pete (Eddie McClintock), and Claudia (Allison Scagliotti). I think the most unbelievable part about Leena’s death is not that she’s actually dead but that Artie (Saul Rubinek) is the murderer. Sure, it’s not the real Artie but his psychotic evil doppelganger that resides within him—nonetheless, he’s the trigger man and that’s a tough pill for our team to swallow. Even Mrs. Frederic (CCH Pounder) gets a lump in her throat when she mentions a promise she made to Leena that will now go unfulfilled. It’s sad to know Leena is gone, but like many people say, her spirit lives on. Unfortunately, Pete’s the only one who can actually see her spirit. Leena’s final message leads Pete to a clue to help them find where Artie is headed next.
Pete, Myka, Claudia, Jinks, and Mrs. Frederic will travel the globe to Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Germany to stop Artie from getting his hands on an ancient artifact from Warehouse 8. Artie is trying to access it to leverage obtaining the astrolabe. Did anyone else notice the curious expression on Brother Adrian’s (Brent Spiner) face when Mrs. Frederic reveals she “entrusted” the astrolabe to H.G. Wells (Jaime Murray)? Mrs. Frederic thanks Brother Adrian for his assistance, “Thank you, Brother Adrian. We are in your debt,” but there is an ominous tone interlaced in his response, “Yes, you are. And if all this works out, I’d like to have my astrolabe back.” I’m still not sold on Brother Adrian’s noble deeds. Yes, he’s been very helpful deciphering if there is a way to save Artie from his evil self, but that doesn’t erase the concerned expression on his face when he finds out H.G. has the astrolabe. There’s more to his story that I’m sure will be revealed in the second half of the season.
Claudia tries to appeal to the good Artie she believes is still inside but evil Artie is starting to win out.
The team rallies together throughout “We All Fall Down” to stop Artie but they also take time to stop and reflect on the cruel reality of Leena’s demise. Do you think Mrs. Frederic will try to find something to bring Leena back? I have a strange feeling that we haven’t seen the last of Leena. And I empathize with Claudia, who seems to look to Artie more as a father figure than any of the others. Evil Artie is quite callous. Rubinek plays evil quite convincingly, but I think his transformation was a bit rushed. I didn’t see this coming from the beginning of the season. One minute he’s cranky, crabby, but lovable Artie; the next he’s this evil incarnation. Rubinek’s portrayal of a cold and distant person is frighteningly good. Although Claudia tries to reason with him, the good Artie only makes a brief appearance when he asks Claudia to help him. It looks like his vision of Claudia stabbing him with the dagger comes to fruition. I think we all know Artie isn’t dead…right? But after unleashing a deadly plague on the world that has no cure, will anyone be alive to stop it? Perhaps Mrs. Frederic will have no choice but to use the astrolabe, as Artie did, to reverse this new crisis. However, I don’t want to think about the evil of Mrs. Frederic own making. That’s just too scary.
Observations:
I loved the various artifacts used—mostly by Artie for his own gain—throughout the episode. “The barometer of the U.S.S. Eldridge” can stop time—about 47 seconds, which turns out to be long enough to make an escape; “Issac Parker’s noose” belonging to a notorious judge of the Old West, which Artie uses in a Czech museum causing not only Pete and Myka to hang from imaginary ropes, but several patrons who are also caught in the crossfire. It’s amazing how the writers and creators come up with such elaborate artifacts and their uses. It’s one of the most intriguing aspects of the show.
***
Pete and Myka try to stope Evil Artie, but didn’t plan on his resourcefulness and Pete becomes a hostage.
I loved the actors’ portrayal of mourning and their various reactions to finding out Artie killed Leena. Leena was a key character and become more interesting in this season as to her role in the warehouse and it’s a shame she’s gone now. These actors have been working together for so long, they’ve become like a family and now that one of their own is gone, the emotions felt so real their tears couldn’t be completely faked. I got teary-eyed and had a lump in my throat watching Myka kneel over Leena’s body. And when Pete rounds the corner, he stops dead (no pun intended) in his tracks, stunned at what he sees.
***
Funny dialogue:
After Claudia tells Pete and Myka that she’s detained Artie in Budapest on charges of being a suspected terrorist, Pete says: “Man, you are good. I’m gonna get you a list of kids from the 3rd grade that beat the crap out of me… (an incredulous look from Myka), you know, before I buffed out.”
***
Claudia explains why she’s in Germany but Jinks has some concerns:
Jinks: “Wai-wuh-wuh-wai-wai-wait, Pete and Myka get a dagger and we get a plague? When did we start being the B-Team?”
Claudia: “We are not the B-Team, fool. We are the second A-Team. We can’t go after the dagger because Artie had a dream I’m gonna stab him with it. So that’s why we’re the ones going after the plague that can wipe out All. Of. Humanity.”
Jinks: “Thank you. I feel better.”
***
It really sucks that we have to wait until next spring for the second half of the season to return and because there are so many episodes this season, creator Jack Kenny said at Comic-Con there probably won’t be a Christmas episode. I’m a bit peeved about that. I guess we all have to wait to find out what’s going to happen next. Will the plague consume Europe then cross over to North America? Will Artie survive? Will they find H.G. Wells?
Warehouse 13 returns with 10 all-new episodes in April 2013 only on Syfy.
For more on the show, go to http://www.syfy.com/warehouse13/
Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/warehouse13
Follow these cast members on Twitter: Eddie McClintock https://twitter.com/EddieMcClintock, Allison Scagliotti https://twitter.com/allisonscag, and Saul Rubinek https://twitter.com/saulrubinek.
Like Warehouse 13 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/warehouse13
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Photos © 2012 Syfy, a Division of NBC Universal. All Rights Reserved.
Judy Manning
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