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Warehouse 13 Episode 1x01 - Grading & Discussion

Like an electric car that needs all the passengers to hold on to the handle bar!
Since he later hooked it up to a battery, one might suppose that Artie was using it to make a point with his new staff members (and provide a bit of exposition to the audience). ;)

This was a pretty good beginning. I liked the retro/Jules Verne/Steampunk elements; and the pullback of the warehouse, complete with ships and dirigibles was cool. The show also seems to have a good heart; the characters were sympathetic and even the antagonists were more flawed than evil. I liked Artie's "I know, love hurts" remark to the Lucretia Borgia painting. I just hope they go with a theme of freewheeling adventure, rather than falling into the adolescent "dark and edgy" trap. If people start blowing smoke in each other's faces or puking all over themselves, I'm gone. :rommie:

I don't know, I think that Torchwood: Children of Earth pulled off Dark and Edgy quite maturely. Adventure is great, but adventure without consequence soon becomes adventure without danger. Adventure shows work best when death and danger are treated with sufficient gravity.

This show can be great, but it needs an arc. There is so much potential for awesomeness in that warehouse that it can't just be an artifact of the week show. There needs to be some overarching big bad that they have an excuse to pull out the big guns against. I'm talking about dirigible wars against Arctic Nazis and stuff of similar scale most of the equipment they have is either too dangerous or too specialized to be particularly useful, but they need to both establish powerful forbidden artifacts, and then build to a situation where they have no choice but to employ those artifacts at great risk. More importantly, they need to fly those zeppelins in combat at some point. You can't just show that many forbidden zeppelins and not have zeppelin combat.
 
I don't know, I think that Torchwood: Children of Earth pulled off Dark and Edgy quite maturely.
Possibly. I've heard good things, but haven't seen it yet. I love strong, adult stuff-- Dangerous Visions, for example-- but we don't have that these days. We just get juvenile garbage like nuBSG and Dark Trek where stuff splodes in kewl waiyz.

Adventure is great, but adventure without consequence soon becomes adventure without danger. Adventure shows work best when death and danger are treated with sufficient gravity.
I have to disagree with this. First of all, lighthearted adventure is fine, too. Secondly, danger is all in context. Fiction involves suspension of disbelief; if we can believe in video communicators from the 1920s for the duration, we can believe the characters are in danger.

This show can be great, but it needs an arc.
Again, no, no, no. Every freakin' show doesn't need an arc. Episodic character stories have been fine for thousands of years and they're fine now. Arcs are good, episodic is good; every show doesn't have to conform to the same fashion.

There is so much potential for awesomeness in that warehouse that it can't just be an artifact of the week show. There needs to be some overarching big bad that they have an excuse to pull out the big guns against. I'm talking about dirigible wars against Arctic Nazis and stuff of similar scale
On the other hand, I like that. :D Make for a nice two-parter, anyway. :D

More importantly, they need to fly those zeppelins in combat at some point. You can't just show that many forbidden zeppelins and not have zeppelin combat.
As a big fan of the Pulps, I really want to see stories about that Zeppelin. :cool:
 
I'm talking about dirigible wars against Arctic Nazis
I would love to see this! It actually sounds like the only Indiana Jones book I ever bothered to read, The Hollow Earth.
 
You watched it a second time? :cardie:
:lol:

Yes I did. :D

Since I plan to follow the show for a while, I wanted to give the Pilot a second watch. A second viewing of anything usually gives me a new perspective or allows me to pick up on little details that I missed the first time around.

I get the feeling the writers haven't decided on what direction to take the series in regards to seriousness.

I need to find the interview by one of the 10 writers of the pilot even admitted that they were picking and choosing what to put in the show because they have no clue how serious or not to be.
Interesting. If you come across it, then please get back with us. :)
 
I thought it was pretty decent for a pilot. I like the show's sense of humor ("Come on, I made cookies." "Ooo!") and Lattimer seems like a fun character. Bering is a little too "typical no-nonsense female to be paired up with the typical carefree male" but the actress is cute and I'm sure she'll lighten up a bit eventually. Saul Rubinek's Artie is pretty amusing.

The pilot did seem a little slow, though. I agree with others that maybe it should have just been ninety minutes instead of two hours. Still, I'll be checking out next week's ep.
 
Honestly, I hope the show does NOT have an arc. EVERY freakin show is arced these days. A good old-fashioned episodic show would be a breath of fresh air.
 
Watching it on Sci-Fi right now (be damned if I ever call it by it's new name).


I'm still trying to form an opinion on it as a whole, but one thing is clear: it's not a classic. It's not even great. It's potential seems little, but just enough to carry it for a maybe three seasons.

Jane Espenson's writing is clearly BTVS influenced (she wrote for a few seasons of BTVS by hte way), in fact -- the male co-star of the series looks like a ten-years-from-now David Boreanaz. Even his bodily articulations and lines are like they were written for Angel. And he looked sort of like Angel ar the beginning. I think one Espenson has a crush.


The sereis has a certain cheese factor to it, like "Eureka", but unlike "Eureka" this series tries to introduce more heart to it's leads. In that way it's about a notch higher than the dramatic character moments in "7 Days".


The character's are forced too quickly into this Warehouse 13 environment, and they're questioning of it and they're new job just disappears way too quickly to be fully belivable. Their adjustment to this new found X-Files like setting also goes by too quickly; they jsut simply seem to accept it like they were born to be Mulder & Scully.
Both leads are also boring. If it wasn't for the clear-as-day Angel influence, I'd say the male lead would have nothing going for him at all.

The plot of the pilot is simple enough, nothing complicated or too involving (maybe a bad sign for later episodes). Unless you really, really enjoyed the hell of out shows like "Eureka", this isn't such a great watch, in fact if you miss an episode, you wn't find yourself mopping about it.

The show's scoring is done by someone named Edward Rogers (never heard of him before). It's like a cross between -- again -- "Eureka"'s scoring, and lighter "The X-Files". In fact, if it wasn't for Mark Snow, several scenes in this pilot would have lost their Sci-Fi impact, I think; there's jsut a certain trademarked "sound" you expect to hear underlining scenes in half-assed series like these. Thankfully he pulls it off. It's servicable, but nothing spectacular or warrenting of a CD.


One a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give this a 7 (that high for the deeper personality they tried to instill, otherwise it would have been a 6).


I just don't see tuning it to this again myself.
 
I've only watched the pilot so far (DVR'ed the first two episodes), but I have to say that it barely held my attention.

I almost dozed off a few times. (but perhaps that is because I watched late) ;)

As someone else said, 2hrs was just TOO long for this... There just wasn't enough story for both hours. With some trimming this could have been a 1 hr premiere.

The lead actors are likable (and she is cute!). I'll watch one or two more episodes for sure, but it has to get better if I am going to stay around.
 
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