Eureka - 7/29 - "Bad to the Drone" - Spoilers

[garys67]

So-so season premiere... didn't seem to have the zippiness of of many of the better episodes. The drone was very Wall-E-esque in their attempt at personifying it. The new "villain" (the female Jack Welch) was just okay - pretty one-dimensional so far.

Two questions, though...

1. Does anyone know if Taggart (Matt Frewer) will be coming back for season three?

2. Wife and I couldn't remember - whatever happened to Carter's love interest from Season 2, the dry cleaner? She wasn't even mentioned in the episode.

[mrmike]

2. Wife and I couldn't remember - whatever happened to Carter's love interest from Season 2, the dry cleaner? She wasn't even mentioned in the episode.

They were still working on trying to "go fishing" in the final episodes, so unless she's been retconned she should still be around.

[garys67]

They were still working on trying to "go fishing" in the final episodes, so unless she's been retconned she should still be around.

Yes - now I remember. Thanks. It was just kind of odd last night that she wasn't even mentioned amid all the Carter-Allison-Stark love triangle stuff going on.

I hope they get the dry cleaner back involved, though. Too many love triangles on TV; we need more love quadrilaterals.

[hummingbird_206]

I loved Zoe's comment about the Cylon Raider leading her out! Too funny.

I thought it was a very fun ep. I'm so glad this show is back! Happy to see Henry even if only for a short time. Wonder if he's going to be back in Eureka? I really hope so. And I like him much better with a shaved head.

Would be fun to see more of Martha, too! Maybe she and Sarah will be come friends:D

[Peter000]

I liked this episode a lot! I'm a sucker for AI-gone-amuck stories though.

[needo]

I really enjoyed it. I was hoping to bypass the love triangle story though.

[marrone]

It was a so-so episode. I've seen better, I've seen worse.
Not sure I like the new evil woman, though.
What was she holding at the end, there? Is she part of the conspiracy that they only talk about every now and then? And why would she have authority over Carter's law enforcement duties? I thought she was there just for Global Dynamics? Wouldn't his functions be covered by taxes?

-Mike

[sean67854]

i would guess that his salary is funneled through GD or some other cover. I think taxpayers might get upset if they look at the budget and find out they're paying for a sheriff for a town they don't know exists.

[Unbeliever]

They're not even being coy about the product placements. Heck, they even hung a lantern on it. *ugh*

--Carlos V.

[dianebrat]

1. Does anyone know if Taggart (Matt Frewer) will be coming back for season three?

Yes he'll be back.. later on however, not the initial few episodes.
Diane

[dianebrat]

http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/07/28/the-eureka-panel-comic-con-report/
Meant to add that previously.. might contain slight whole season spoilers for the spoiler-shy

[Amnesia]

They're not even being coy about the product placements. Heck, they even hung a lantern on it.What are you talking about?

[drew2k]

They're not even being coy about the product placements. Heck, they even hung a lantern on it. *ugh*

--Carlos V.

What are you talking about?I'm wondering as well. Was it a subtle lantern? :)

[dianebrat]

What are you talking about?

last scene in GD, with the crates of Degree for Men...
The discussion on the Eureka tumbler blog is pretty upfront that it was a pretty penny to place them in the content, so they just made it part of the plot.

Diane

[Agatha Mystery]

The new chick said that they were having to take in corporate sponsors to keep GD funded. The product placement really bothered me. It was too much, and ruined the ending for me.

I liked the story. Very Eureka. I kept expecting Henry to be involved, somehow.

The Sheriff has always been paid for by GD. The houses in town are owned by GD. It's a company town, much like the coal mining towns of the past.

[bicker]

I found Carter more human and likable than in past seasons. I was surprised because I thought he was always very good -- this episode he was just better.

[dswallow]

This show gets dumber and dumberer every episode.

[bicker]

I disagree. The show has been very consistent.

[Fl_Gulfer]

I had to record the later showing and what ever was on before it ran over by 5 min. and I missed the ending. So If anyone has to do this in the future record the show after it.

[sushikitten]

I was really really looking forward to this, and it didn't quite hit the mark for me. It was a fun hour, but it wasn't quite the show I remembered. Glad to see others think the same thing.

Of course, I will still watch each episode religiously. :)

[Hunter Green]

Activate failsafes! She's not responding! Blah. That's so tired a cliche. I used to feel like the whacky mistakes of the scientists were sensible consequences of their zeal and impracticality, and that's why the Sheriff's salt-of-the-earth character made sense to think of simple practical things the geniuses missed -- that's why they needed him. This kind of tired "oops, we forgot to do the single most obvious thing" not only feels worn out, it also gives us no reason why the Sheriff has any chance to be useful besides dumb luck. And what could be dumber luck than that his daughter just happened to be the one to rescue the monster? This was like taking a terrible sci-fi story and transposing it into Eureka rather than telling a Eureka story.

(Okay, the wife's tampering was an interesting twist on that, and partly explained the execrable "she's not responding" thing. And the way it synergized with the other tampering provided a better explanation all told than "oops, you think I should have put in a failsafe?" But it still doesn't excuse the whole spontaneously-generating-AI-that-follows-human-development-models tripe, which is not explained by any of it.)

The new villain also completely failed to engage. Maybe it hits too close to home to everyone who works in an office where people say the word "leverage" as a verb with a straight face, but, just, boring. And the vial at the end screamed to me, "hey, we need an arc, let's put in something generic so when we think of something later it can turn out to fit".

Very disappointed. But holding out hope. Henry's still Henry (and hopefully they will find a way for his situation to be the germ of a story to get him back into things, instead of finding some cheesy way to get him out of the situation and back into the garage one-two-three). Everything else is still as it should be. We just got one stinker storyline, that's all.

[Rob Helmerichs]

I think they may have been working too hard (and clumsily) to establish the new status quo. I suspect once they settle in again and just get back to telling stories, it will be like it was.

[RoundBoy]

Refresh my memory .. what happened to the love interest in the Dry cleaning lady ?

[dianebrat]

I had to record the later showing and what ever was on before it ran over by 5 min. and I missed the ending. So If anyone has to do this in the future record the show after it.

It's the byproduct of SciFi wrestling after the 9PM showing.. always been the case for any show that's followed by wrestling.. (and no.. I still have no idea how wrestling fits in scifi.. other then the fact there's no reality in it)

Diane

[Craigbob]

Best line of the show: "Your teenager just stole your gun and car and has run away from home" I busted up at that.

[Bierboy]

This show gets dumber and dumberer every episode.
Hence the appeal to the masses (including me :D)....

But, I digress...I thoroughly enjoyed this ep and find the show greatly entertaining.

[kemajor]

Would be fun to see more of Martha, too! Maybe she and Sarah will be come friends:D

I was hoping there was going to be some kind of great battle between Sarah and Martha, with Sarah protecting/saving Zoe.

- Kelly

[Church AV Guy]

Activate failsafes! She's not responding! Blah. That's so tired a cliche. I used to feel like the whacky mistakes of the scientists were sensible consequences of their zeal and impracticality, and that's why the Sheriff's salt-of-the-earth character made sense to think of simple practical things the geniuses missed -- that's why they needed him. This kind of tired "oops, we forgot to do the single most obvious thing" not only feels worn out, it also gives us no reason why the Sheriff has any chance to be useful besides dumb luck...
The most crazy line was the claim that the energy burst supercharged her CPU, or something like that. In my experience, when you overclock a CPU it gets really hot and burns out. What does his statement even mean? Oh, and I told my wife that I really hoped that they wouldn't win by talking to the computer--and that's exactly what happened. Kirk beat computers in that manner several times, but Eureka? This was not a great episode. There were a few good parts, but the "A" story was weak. The new bad-guy director, who has a secret of some kind with that vial of liquid, is just there to add hurdles to the good-guys solving problems.

They're not even being coy about the product placements. Heck, they even hung a lantern on it. *ugh*
That is exactly what I thought. [When they show a product without mentioning it is' merely product placement, but when the characters in the show talk about it or interact with the product directly, it's referred to as "hanging a lantern on it" in that it is no longer even possible to miss the advertising intent.] *ugh* indeed. What a terrible precident! This is especially bad since Eureka is a government think-tank and should have little to no corporate influence, much less sponsors, much much less, a deodorant!

*ugh*

I've gotta fix a drone-sized hole in my jail cell now.

[Rob Helmerichs]

[When they show a product without mentioning it is' merely product placement, but when the characters in the show talk about it or interact with the product directly, it's referred to as "hanging a lantern on it" in that it is no longer even possible to miss the advertising intent.]
It's hanging a lantern when they talk on the show about it being product placement.

[dswallow]

And how exactly are they supposed to reconcile the concept of a super-secret town/research facility and product placement? Like I said before; this show just gets dumber and dumberer.

[Rob Helmerichs]

And how exactly are they supposed to reconcile the concept of a super-secret town/research facility and product placement? Like I said before; this show just gets dumber and dumberer.
Well, they haven't said yet what they're expected to DO with the anti-perspirant. Maybe come up with technologically advanced ways to get people to buy it.

[rgr]

The most crazy line was the claim that the energy burst supercharged her CPU, or something like that. In my experience, when you overclock a CPU it gets really hot and burns out. What does his statement even mean?I took that to mean that since he had been dumbing down his drones (so they would be able to lose) that the energy burst fried some of the cicuits that acted as limiters. Of course it still doesn't make a great deal of sense, but that's the best I can come up with.

Well, they haven't said yet what they're expected to DO with the anti-perspirant. Maybe come up with technologically advanced ways to get people to buy it.Well, a whole lot of dangerous stuff goes on in Eureka, creating a huge amount of sweating, so there's huge potential market for an anti-perspirant in the local population.

The problem I had with the show was the economics of it. If you were concerned that Global Dynamics wasn't paying for itself, how about actually producing a product. Something along the lines of a cylon type robot for companionship, and that could take me to the store or to work?

[cheesesteak]

None of the previously discussed "problems" bothered me in the least. I like the characters on this show. The wacky plot of the week is likek background noise for ongoing the character interplay and development.

[dswallow]

for ongoing the character [...] development.

Please.

It's far more like character undevelopment as they destroy everything they developed in the first season or so. Apparently somewhere along the way the people in charge of the show decided the audience wanted gadgets and comedic situations, not cohesive storylines and character development.

[Bierboy]

None of the previously discussed "problems" bothered me in the least. I like the characters on this show. The wacky plot of the week is likek background noise for ongoing the character interplay and development.

Bingo

Please.

It's far more like character undevelopment as they destroy everything they developed in the first season or so. Apparently somewhere along the way the people in charge of the show decided the audience wanted gadgets and comedic situations, not cohesive storylines and character development.

You are free to stop watching it...please do so.

[cheesesteak]

Please.
Do you like any show? Do you like anything?

[dswallow]

Bingo



You are free to stop watching it...please do so.

You're free to stop reading and replying to my posts, too. Good luck with that. :p

[dswallow]

Do you like any show? Do you like anything?

It amazes me that so many people believe it is necessary to be a fanboy about a show to watch it and enjoy it, and that it isn't possible to criticize a show and still watch it, discuss it, and enjoy it.

I guess I just really, truly don't fit into the cattle mentality of television.

[hummingbird_206]

None of the previously discussed "problems" bothered me in the least. I like the characters on this show. The wacky plot of the week is likek background noise for ongoing the character interplay and development.

Same here. I don't even notice the product placement stuff except that I like that Jo drives a Jeep Liberty since I do, too:D

[obixman]

And how exactly are they supposed to reconcile the concept of a super-secret town/research facility and product placement? Like I said before; this show just gets dumber and dumberer.

Maybe the show's had an effect and you've been getting smarter and smarter????

[needo]

It amazes me that so many people believe it is necessary to be a fanboy about a show to watch it and enjoy it, and that it isn't possible to criticize a show and still watch it, discuss it, and enjoy it.
I guess I just really, truly don't fit into the cattle mentality of television.

It amazes me that you feel that the readers of this forum can read your mind. From what I recall you have not said any thing positive about this show in this thread. So when all you post is negative it is a logical conclusion that you do not enjoy the show. Granted I have not gone back and re-read your posts cause you really don't matter that much to me.

[newsposter]

i'm marketing challenged...will anyone that reads this thread be switching to degree? I just dont understand advertising. If you need a new deodorant you look up and down the aisle and try it. Not let the tv tell you its there

Why did they dye the daughters hair blonde? Looks just as bad as when they died that roswell girls hair blonde and stuck her in that silly soap that is on now.

Did anyone follow if the jeeps windows got replaced 5 seconds after they were all shattered? :)

This new character doesnt have the oomph for her position. She doesnt even play the evil villain well. Sector 7 sure seems to have a lot of issues :)

I like the restaurant with no menu. Just order what you want! I want to go there

[dianebrat]

Why did they dye the daughters hair blonde? Looks just as bad as when they died that roswell girls hair blonde and stuck her in that silly soap that is on now.


She's always been a blonde in Eureka...

Diane

[hummingbird_206]

She's always been a blonde in Eureka...

Diane

Wasn't she pink once :D

[RoundBoy]

Wasn't she pink once :D

Hence with Martha scanning Zoe, her hair color comes up as 'unknown'

[Hunter Green]

For my part, I don't mind the comedic situations and gadgets, and parts of season two got too far into the character development and extended storylines thing. I love that stuff in some shows, but this isn't the show I go to for that. I like the whacky hijinks and especially the contrasts between the wild-thinking overzealous science-types and the inside-the-box thinking that they so sorely lack.

The reason this episode stunk wasn't that they went back to gadgets and goofiness: it's that they did that poorly. If they had gone back to that and done it well, some people who wanted a more serious show would be sad, and some people would be happy. But they went back only to the idea of season one but not its quality, and now almost no one is happy.

Next week let's hope they either bring back the characters and plot, or bring back the inventively goofy situations, or both, so someone or everyone will be happy.

[hummingbird_206]

now almost no one is happy.
Hey, I'm not almost no one:mad:

Ok, so maybe in this case, I am :D

[dianebrat]

Wasn't she pink once :D

wow.. that was it.. season 1.. did it last more then a few episodes?
I am getting old..

[dswallow]

It amazes me that you feel that the readers of this forum can read your mind. From what I recall you have not said any thing positive about this show in this thread. So when all you post is negative it is a logical conclusion that you do not enjoy the show. Granted I have not gone back and re-read your posts cause you really don't matter that much to me.

It amazes me that people are so quick to chastise others for their opinion of a show based on reading their thoughts in one episode thread, as if no other episodes exist, no other episode threads exist, and no other discussions on the subject ever took place.

[hummingbird_206]

It amazes me that people are so quick to chastise others for their opinion ....
On this forum, really?

[Bierboy]

...cause you really don't matter that much to me.

Bingo #2

[dswallow]

Bingo #2

Obviously it must matter or you wouldn't have posted, then posted again on the subject.

But nice try.

[dswallow]

On this forum, really?

Well, you do have a point. :D

[Rob Helmerichs]

Maybe arguments over whether Doug should be allowed to not like TV shows could be added to the forum list of banned topics..?

Or is there really anything more to be said on the matter, after all this time?

[Sherminator]

Why were the drones moulded to have what appears to be cockpits?

[bicker]

It's far more like character undevelopment as they destroy everything they developed in the first season or so.On the contrary, as time has gone on, we've come to care for the characters more and more. Carter, Zoe, Henry... even Allison and Stark.

[Church AV Guy]

Getting back to the show, and leaving the Doug discussion to its own thread (hopefully) I was wondering if anyone else noticed that when the drone scanned the new woman corporate exec "Bad Guy (R)" the readout said "Age: Classified". I wonder what that means, or if it means anything. Only a nut like me would freeze frame on those readouts to see what they were saying. It also seems that aout the time it scanned her, the condition went from orange to red.

An interesting ad for Eureka has surfaced on the sci-fi channel. It was one of many I assume: a commercial for something called Made in Eureka. The product was a magnetic glove called SNATCH IT that when you pointed it at anything, it magnetically retrieved it for you. For non magnetic materials, there was a sticky thing you attached to the item of interest and then the glove can get it for you. There was even a catch-phrase like "set it and forget it" but in this case it is "target, tap it, and snatch it". I am surprised that no one else has mentiond it here yet. Clearly it was a advertisement for the show in disguise, but I am not getting it. Was it clever or banal, cute or pathetic? :confused: I'm not very impressed.

[newsposter]

i thought they didnt show the old womans age because 'it wasnt polite'

[Sherminator]

Getting back to the show, and leaving the Doug discussion to its own thread (hopefully) I was wondering if anyone else noticed that when the drone scanned the new woman corporate exec "Bad Guy (R)" the readout said "Age: Classified". I wonder what that means, or if it means anything. Only a nut like me would freeze frame on those readouts to see what they were saying. It also seems that aout the time it scanned her, the condition went from orange to red.

An interesting ad for Eureka has surfaced on the sci-fi channel. It was one of many I assume: a commercial for something called Made in Eureka. The product was a magnetic glove called SNATCH IT that when you pointed it at anything, it magnetically retrieved it for you. For non magnetic materials, there was a sticky thing you attached to the item of interest and then the glove can get it for you. There was even a catch-phrase like "set it and forget it" but in this case it is "target, tap it, and snatch it". I am surprised that no one else has mentiond it here yet. Clearly it was a advertisement for the show in disguise, but I am not getting it. Was it clever or banal, cute or pathetic? :confused: I'm not very impressed.SciFi has been running those "Made in Eureka" fake ads on & offline as long as the show has been running.

But because of your TiVo, you have never noticed. :D

[Bierboy]

Obviously it must matter or you wouldn't have posted, then posted again on the subject.

But nice try.

My but don't we have an inflated view of ourself....:rolleyes:

[Jonathan_S]

Why were the drones moulded to have what appears to be cockpits?It looked like they had a camera behind that windscreen. I guess molding in a 'cockpit' allows the camera to pan back and forth up to maybe 45 degrees off to each side. Without the windscreen that would change the aerodynamics every time it tried to look to the side.

But probably the more correct answer is because the props and/or FX guys thought it look neat. :D

[dswallow]

My but don't we have an inflated view of ourself....:rolleyes:

Three times, even.

[justen_m]

i thought they didnt show the old womans age because 'it wasnt polite'
The drone did show Allison's age, 38. Is she "young" enough that it isn't impolite?

[newsposter]

The drone did show Allison's age, 38. Is she "young" enough that it isn't impolite?

yes

[WinBear]

I watched a couple of the "Made in Eureka" commercials for the "Absolute Degree for Men" so I wasn't surprised at the in-show placement, however, I thought they went the wrong way with that. One of the commercials suggested that the product contained an ingredient developed at GD, which would have made a licensing agreement rather than sponsorship.

[dianebrat]

It looked like they had a camera behind that windscreen. I guess molding in a 'cockpit' allows the camera to pan back and forth up to maybe 45 degrees off to each side. Without the windscreen that would change the aerodynamics every time it tried to look to the side.

But probably the more correct answer is because the props and/or FX guys thought it look neat. :D

I can live with that.. it looked neat....
:D

On the other hand, this *is* Eureka.. not Nova..
I had this pointed out as I was watching Mansquito and commenting "hey.. the guy turned into a giant mosquito shouldn't be sucking the blood, the females do that!" To wit my watching companion pointed out "It's a movie about a man turned into a giant mosquito.. I'm thinking the science isn't that strong.."

had to give her credit, she had a point..

[BitbyBlit]

Hey, I'm not almost no one:mad:

Ok, so maybe in this case, I am :D

You're not alone. I liked the episode too. It wasn't the best of the Eureka shows, but I don't think it was the worst either. It was an average, enjoyable episode for me.

[mitchb2]

I was really really looking forward to this, and it didn't quite hit the mark for me. It was a fun hour, but it wasn't quite the show I remembered.


Well, previously we had an arc (the artifact) that added some mystery and darkness.

[IndyJones1023]

A so-so start to the season. I was really perturbed by the product placement. I'm fine with product placements that are subtle, or blatant ones that are called out humorously. Which they started to do, but dropped the ball.

"GD needs a corproate sponsor, so here's some anti-perspirant." Huh? What does anti-perspirant have to do with a town full of geniuses? All they had to do was add a line from Carter saying "good, I think half the time these brainiacs forget to shower, this oughta help." They make the product placement a joke and that smoothes it over. They made no such attempt, so it's uncomfortable shilling.

Oh, and "hang a lantern on it" doesn't specifically mean product placement. It basically means the characters recognize something glaring that the audience does too. Like if the Enterprise shields are at 10% and they get walloped by a barage of photon torpedoes, but somehow the shields hold. The audience is thinking "hey, shouldn't the shields have gone down?" So, you "hang a lantern on it" by having the navigator say "hey, shouldn't the shields have gone down?"

[newsposter]

did you see next week's preview advertising for ginko? ;)

[IndyJones1023]

I don't remember.

[Rob Helmerichs]

"GD needs a corproate sponsor, so here's some anti-perspirant." Huh? What does anti-perspirant have to do with a town full of geniuses? All they had to do was add a line from Carter saying "good, I think half the time these brainiacs forget to shower, this oughta help." They make the product placement a joke and that smoothes it over. They made no such attempt, so it's uncomfortable shilling.
Apparently, it's nowhere near over.

http://io9.com/5032214/scifi-channel-sells-out-eureka

I'm willing to give them a chance. It's a pretty dicey proposition, but as that blogger says, if there's a show that can pull it off Eureka might be it.

[TiVo Bum]

Apparently, it's nowhere near over.

http://io9.com/5032214/scifi-channel-sells-out-eureka

I'm willing to give them a chance. It's a pretty dicey proposition, but as that blogger says, if there's a show that can pull it off Eureka might be it.
Man, I wished I hadn't read that.

On a happier note - Rob your sigs are always the best. :)

[bicker]

I figure as soon as the few of us here put up the cash to produce the episodes, we can start suggesting how the show should and shouldn't raise revenue. Until then, we can choose just whether we ourselves want to watch or not. I don't have a few hundred thousand dollars laying around -- how about you? :)

[JimSpence]

Just finished watching this episode. I liked it once I got passed the fact that a company full of geniuses stood about 20 feet away during the test of the Viper. I guess it just shows that even smart people can be stupid. :)

[Sherminator]

Trouble with geniuses is that of all the smarts that they have, Street isn't usually one of them.

[DevdogAZ]

Getting back to the show, and leaving the Doug discussion to its own thread (hopefully) I was wondering if anyone else noticed that when the drone scanned the new woman corporate exec "Bad Guy (R)" the readout said "Age: Classified". I wonder what that means, or if it means anything. Only a nut like me would freeze frame on those readouts to see what they were saying. It also seems that aout the time it scanned her, the condition went from orange to red.

An interesting ad for Eureka has surfaced on the sci-fi channel. It was one of many I assume: a commercial for something called Made in Eureka. The product was a magnetic glove called SNATCH IT that when you pointed it at anything, it magnetically retrieved it for you. For non magnetic materials, there was a sticky thing you attached to the item of interest and then the glove can get it for you. There was even a catch-phrase like "set it and forget it" but in this case it is "target, tap it, and snatch it". I am surprised that no one else has mentiond it here yet. Clearly it was a advertisement for the show in disguise, but I am not getting it. Was it clever or banal, cute or pathetic? :confused: I'm not very impressed.
That was the original ad campaign for the show before it ever premiered two years ago.
Just finished watching this episode. I liked it once I got passed the fact that a company full of geniuses stood about 20 feet away during the test of the Viper. I guess it just shows that even smart people can be stupid. :)
I thought that was hilarious too. Testing a weapons system and your "cover" is an EZ-UP that's 10 feet away from the target.

I also thought it was pretty ridiculous that the Viper machine was next to a building that would have blocked its ability to see/shoot down a drone coming from that angle.