Warehouse 13 – “Secret Services” Recap. Ice Cube Trays and Turkey Basters.

Season 5, Episode 2

Air date: Monday, April 21, 2014 at 9/8c on Syfy

Rating: ★★★★★

“Possibilities are what make life interesting.” – Mrs. Frederic

[warning]SPOILER ALERT – Spoilers Ahead If You Haven’t Watched “Secret Services” Yet[/warning]

“Secret Services” is a very analytical episode in the sense that it looks deeper into the characters’ emotional ties to one another. I think with Warehouse 13 in its final season, the writers want to pump in as much as they can to help the fans gain closure before the series finale.

Baby Talk

Pete (possibly Myka’s baby daddy) Lattimer?

Mrs. Frederic (CCH Pounder) isn’t one for beating around the bush when she ambushes an unsuspecting Myka (Joanne Kelly) with questions of procreating. As you know, Myka had a cancer scare recently and says she’s fine. But even if the tumor were benign, it’s a wakeup call for any woman to reevaluate her priorities in life. When Mrs. Frederic asks about the possibility of having children, Myka obviously is astounded at Mrs. Frederic’s interest in that aspect of her life; frankly, so am I. Mrs. Frederic has changed since Warehouse 13 first aired. She has morphed from a fierce, no nonsense caretaker to a more observant and friendlier woman. But in spite of the subtle changes, I appreciate the writers keeping the air of mystery around Mrs. Fredric. How does she simply vanish into thin air while in the middle of a conversation? One minute you’re chatting her up, the next “poof,” she’s gone.

Myka wishes she could “poof” away too, especially when Pete (Eddie McClintock) offers to be her platonic sperm donor. What? He says they can do it without having sex…you know, with “ice cube trays and turkey basters,” but I think these two partners in crime may have deeper feelings for each other than they realize. Remember, Pete was willing to use artifacts to save Myka when he thought she had cancer.

Drowning In Your Lies…Literally

When Pete and Myka go to Washington, D.C. to investigate a strange case of people spontaneously drowning on dry land, they meet up with old friends and Secret Service agents Ted (guest star Mark Deklin) and Elise (Janet Varney), who are a bit more than just partners these days. Ted and Elise’s nuptials have both Pete and Myka thinking and staring awkwardly at each other. As much as I love Pete and Myka, I don’t know how I would feel if they actually became a couple. I think their relationship is better as is. I don’t even feel that kind of vibe from them, and never have. They have a great sibling type of bond and it works great. I hope the writers don’t try to squeeze these two into a serious relationship just for the sake of putting them together.

Pete and Myka figure out why Ted and Elise were being so ‘secretive’

Back to the case — someone is using an artifact on people who are connected by a case of political corruption. These people have been tainted with an artifact so when they tell a lie, their lungs fill with sea water (salt and sand included) and they drown. The acting and special effects are so good, I actually believed these people, Senator Wilton (Brian Paul), natural gas lobbyist Gavin Tager (David Tompa), and the news reporter Nancy Malloy (Karen Glave), were drowning. These actors do a stellar job – the way the water spews from their mouths, foaming like sea water, ultimately, making it impossible for them to get any air, and succumbing, is spot on.

When Pete and Myka, along with Ted and Elise, get too close to solving the case, the mastermind behind the artifact, Diane Hewlett (Megan Gallagher), former Chief of Staff for Senator Wilton, uses it on Ted. He, unfortunately, becomes a victim sooner than Diane anticipates when he denies he was “ogling women” to his wife Elise. That small, insignificant little lie nearly kills Ted. Thankfully, Myka has an artifact to counteract the effects of the drowning. Thanks, Artie (Saul Rubinek), for sending that.

The drowning artifact isn’t even water related – it is a piece of a broken sword’s hilt. The owner of the sword was imprisoned on an island and the only escape was to swim nine miles to shore. That’s where the sea water comes into play. The Warehouse 13 writers can be quite crafty with the back story of these artifacts wouldn’t you say?

Family Ties

Both Jinks and Claudia are shocked when Artie says he’ll show her the truth about Claire.

Meanwhile, back at the warehouse, Claudia (Allison Scagliotti), with the aid of her best friend and fellow warehouse agent Jinks (Aaron Ashmore) plot to hack the restricted files to find out more about Claudia’s long lost, not-so-dead sister Claire (Chryssie Whitehead). Artie decides to help Claudia uncover some secrets about her own past, and and in the process, reveals why he hid the fact Claire is still alive. Artie uses an artifact known as ‘Walking Memory Baby Shoes’ and takes Claudia back into his memory about how her parents were really killed and who the killer is – Claire. Granted, Claire was under the influence of a rare artifact, a music box that negatively affects a person when they are angry or upset. But Claudia isn’t satisfied with the answers she gets from Artie’s limited memories. Who threw the music box into the fireplace – was it a young Claudia or an enraged teenaged Claire?

What we learn from Artie’s memories is that Claudia already had the gift of knowing if an object is good or bad – she knew the music box was bad. Mrs. Frederic tells Artie they must keep an eye on Claudia; it’s rare to have someone so young knowledgeable about artifacts. It seems Claudia is destined to become caretaker of the warehouse. She even had a knack for fixing computers at a young age.

Can Claire be saved?

With Claire being kept alive and in an induced coma via some artifacts Artie rigged together, Claudia feels compelled to help her sister whose mind is still unstable from the music box artifact. When Claire destroyed the music box in a fireplace, the effects of the music box stayed with her. After accidentally killing her parents, Claire collapsed and that’s when Mrs. Fredric and Artie decided to keep her contained until they could figure out what to do with her.

Overall

“Secret Services” touches on matters of the heart, whether it’s Artie desperately trying to protect Claudia, who is like a daughter to him, or Pete and Myka reevaluating their respective feelings for one another. It’s a very good episode, especially for fans of Warehouse 13 who get to see their favorite characters like they are used to seeing them. Pete is being Pete and he has a few lines that crack me up. Myka is uncomfortable in her own skin, yet she is still able to threaten Pete – “I will cut you” – when making a sly comment on “natural gas.” It’s nice seeing Claudia and Jinks being best friends – sneaking around and plotting as only best friends do. Mrs. Frederic is still mysterious, thank the stars, and Artie is still his neurotic and overly cautious self.

One thing I’m curious about is whether we will we see exactly what Benedict Valda (guest star Mark Sheppard) was doing in the warehouse at the end of “Endless Wonder” before the series finale.

What did you think of “Secret Services?” Did you like the ‘Pete-isms?’ Should Pete and Myka have a baby together? Will Claudia be able to save her sister? Leave a comment below or tweet me @judybopp. I’d love to hear from you!

Send our beloved warehouse team a Goodbye Gram.

Tune in to Warehouse 13, Mondays at 9/8c only on Syfy.

For more on the show, go to http://www.syfy.com/warehouse13/.

Follow Warehouse 13 on Twitter: https://twitter.com/warehouse13.

Follow these cast members on Twitter too: Eddie McClintock, Allison Scagliotti, and Saul Rubinek.

Like Warehouse 13 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/warehouse13.

Biography of the Author(Read Below)..
Latest Posts (view them )..

Judy Manning

Dream chaser extraordinaire! Judy tends to be a tad sarcastic and kind of goofy! She is an avid admirer of all things supernatural, paranormal, celestial and mystical. She loves to read, write, and watches way too much TV. She enjoys many genres of film and music (and let's be honest, most music from the 80s). She also has a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes beware.