Eureka’s second to last season has come to a twisty close.
We’ve got another Eureka cliffhanger, but at least we don’t have to worry about the alternate timeline subplot anymore.
The Astraeus mission has been a much more fun subplot, and allowed for more incremental and interesting character development, which really tested and strengthened the relationships among the characters.
The first half of the season was devoted to the characters feeling out of their element, after having been displaced by a time-travel accident, which created a lot of plot holes and awkward situations. Plus, every episode felt very emo, as the characters refused to try to fit in.
After the mid-season break, this continued for a time, but soon the show moved on, rather abruptly to the preparation for the mission to Titan.
It was so abrupt it was almost jarring. In one episode the characters were fretting over their situation and the potential discovery of their secrets, and then in the next, Felicia Day was there, and everyone totally forgot about that problem. The only reason that abruptness did not disrupt the verisimilitude of the story is because that old subplot was getting so stale that it was good to see it go.
Felicia Day is there to play the same character she almost always plays, the awkward and pretty, nerdy girl, but this does not diminish her performance, nor her appeal. The ‘science’ of the show hasn’t gotten any more realistic in the last few episodes, but that’s part of the charm of the show – like the two-hour DNA tests and ‘digital enhancement’ of photos on CSI, Eureka just wouldn’t be the same without the made-up science stuff (although I did roll my eyes extra hard every time they talked about their FTL drive).
As for the season ending cliffhanger, this is one of the best that this show has had. I knew of course that there would be a cliffhanger to carry us into the next season, but the nature of this one actually took me off guard, and was played so spectacularly by all involved. The drama is properly built, and the next season is heavily anticipated.
The next season of Eureka begins next spring, and will be the final season of the show, followed only by a special episode which will come later to tie up all the loose ends, since the writers originally thought they were getting another whole season.
