Eureka/Headscratchers
< Eureka
- What happened to the dry cleaning woman? Callie?
- She and Carter didn't work out, so she became just another disappearing guest actor.
- A science experiment mixed with some loose hydrogen makes a mini sun go supernova. Zane and Carter are standing directly beneath it to launch a rocket into it while the sun bakes Eureka at 100+ degrees. So WHY in the HELL is Carter wearing a dark shirt, a big belt, and PANTS with leather shoes!? HOW is he not dying (literally) from the heat!? (Of course, this is before they slather on the heat-resistant goo).
- Ok, in the episode where Zoey loses her voice ("God is in the Details"), she is forced to use pen and paper/an electronic pad to speak to people because of her paralyzed larynx. But you would think in a town full of geniuses that they would know that she can just whisper to people, even without the use of her vocal chords (and would have therefore told her to do that)? That is how I am currently dealing with my lost voice.
- Yes, she can. But it's easier to simply write. That way, people can see what she writes from a normal speaking distance rather than leaning in to hear her every time.
- It's also not good for the health of one's throat to try to whisper around a paralysed larynx.
- I probably missed something but in the first episode of season 2 Jack and Henry talk as if what's happening is a brand new timeline for both of them. So shouldn't that mean the problem from the season one finale isn't fixed (the timeline being different to the Henry knows, let alone Jack, means that the universe should still come apart).
- The other timeline didn't happen. It essentially collapsed and disappeared when Jack stopped Henry from changing the past. It's a new timeline in that it's different from the old one... replacing, not branching.
- That's missing the original problem- which was that by time travelling and saving Kim Henry had diverted them from the "true" unaltered timeline, and as a result reality was unravelling. When Carter goes back, they are still changing time and thus not in a "true" unaltered timeline. But since Henry forgot he hated Carter I guess it doesn't matter after all...?
- He didn't forget, he got over it, which he'd simply never allowed himself to do in the previous timeline. As to why other small changes didn't cause a timeline collapse, it may be that deliberate alteration on a large scale such as saving a person who was going to die causes more dire effects than small naturally-occurring changes... or that the Artifact energy was causing it because IT killed Kim and didn't like its changes being undone... or any number of other things. Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey.
- The other timeline didn't happen. It essentially collapsed and disappeared when Jack stopped Henry from changing the past. It's a new timeline in that it's different from the old one... replacing, not branching.
- Eureka is supposed to be a secret town, so how come there was no problem for Jack's sister's babydaddy in getting there and being able to talk to Fargo about scientific stuff?
- Eureka clearly has a fairly lenient visitation policy, since most of the really top secret stuff is safely hidden away in Global. Dr. Herbalgoo was probably eligible to go there anyway because he was, apparently, a minor genius in his own field, so they probably just made him sign the equivalent of an NDA and didn't give him very high security clearance. What's he going to tell the rest of the world about, weird bowling balls and Fargo turning green?
- "Fairly lenient?" The first time we see Eureka, the town authorities fall head over heels hiding half a burnt-out trailer from Jack. Later throughout the series everyone and their grandma is coming through town and being surrounded by clones and robots and other unavailable technologies. On top of this Lexy and Jack's ex-wife and Dr Herbalgoo can saunter into town without anyone knowing?
- Town Character Development?
- It's pretty simple, actually. Jack was actively investigating something related to a top secret project. Lexy and other people arent.
- All the major stuff is at Global. They mention a few times there aren't many roads leading in and visitors would likely be required to sign a nondisclosure at security posts and be informed they are entering an R&D research site. Its also possible the DOD monitor former visitors and if they have smuggled out or try to talk, the G-Men in the Pilot get involved. Given the General's attitude, he is definitely the sort of person who wouldn't be adversed to using that kind of force.
- You could look at it another way. The're simply weren't any offical protocols for dealing with outsiders until after Jack and Zeoy moved in to town. Form what I can gather, the DOD had Jacks-ex, sister, and his sisters husband to be sign non disclosure agreements.
- "Fairly lenient?" The first time we see Eureka, the town authorities fall head over heels hiding half a burnt-out trailer from Jack. Later throughout the series everyone and their grandma is coming through town and being surrounded by clones and robots and other unavailable technologies. On top of this Lexy and Jack's ex-wife and Dr Herbalgoo can saunter into town without anyone knowing?
- Eureka clearly has a fairly lenient visitation policy, since most of the really top secret stuff is safely hidden away in Global. Dr. Herbalgoo was probably eligible to go there anyway because he was, apparently, a minor genius in his own field, so they probably just made him sign the equivalent of an NDA and didn't give him very high security clearance. What's he going to tell the rest of the world about, weird bowling balls and Fargo turning green?
- I know Eureka is Hollywood Science run amok, but in the most recent episode ("Shower the People") they violated the fucking law of conservation of mass! Basically they had this scientist who made "synth-water", which was described as just reeeaaaly pure water (no ions or bacteria or anything!), with some special "isotopes" (do they know what that word means?) that allowed them to compress "enough water for a civilization" into regular-sized bottle (that you could just pick up and drink out of!). Too bad that when synth-water's isotopes are exposed to "radiation", and then to human plasma, more water spontaneously erupts. This water is first enough to fill an SUV, and then so much that it would take months to drain. But, where's all that matter coming from‽ The science has never been great on Eureka, but recently it has taken a nose-dive. The character drama, which I see as the real point of the show (besides product placement), isn't far behind. I guess the episode "Once in a Lifetime" was pretty self-descriptive. </rant>
- I think the radiation was supposed to compress the water and it would eventually expand again into a lot of water if given room. This creates two new problems though: One, you'd expect the resulting water to be extremely heavy, enough that you couldn't fail to notice it, and two, the pressure in that bottle should be so high that you'd need Eureka's best scientists just to keep the thing from bursting and when you opened it it'd shoot out like it was a fire hose rather than being able to pour it.
- Plus, Mystery Science Theater 3000 mantra. It was fun, that's what matters. Is magically compressed mass (especially water, which has an entire field (hydraulics) based on its non compressiblity) any more implausible than miniature suns INSIDE the atmosphere? Or nanites already being in existence? TLDR; the science hasn't gone down, your expectations have gone up. Chill.
- The problem isn't the magic compression, it's the utter disregard for conservation of mass! If somebody got enough water into him to fill up an SUV, he'd gain a few HUNDRED pounds, which he'd certainly noticed before he drowned(floors would break even if his bones didn't). So yes, the "science" has gotten much, much more egregious.
- Antigravity bottle? Conservation of mass doesn't mean conservation of weight, since the bottle could have magic science that makes it generate an upward force that makes it weight less. Also, a few hundred pounds is extremely... conservative, if you pardon the pun. That much water would weigh a lot more. A cubic meter is 1 megagram of mass, or roughly a 3x3 cube weighing in at 1700 pounds, and the airspace in that car could easily be a 7x5x5 volume, minus chairs and stuff.
- Plus, Mystery Science Theater 3000 mantra. It was fun, that's what matters. Is magically compressed mass (especially water, which has an entire field (hydraulics) based on its non compressiblity) any more implausible than miniature suns INSIDE the atmosphere? Or nanites already being in existence? TLDR; the science hasn't gone down, your expectations have gone up. Chill.
- Also in this episode, Dr. Manlius (or however you spell his name) in the episode Shower the People, claims that he uses Sim Water (perfect water - no impurities of any kind such as bacteria, minerals) has "superior" to it's alternatives. But as you can see here, it's the IMPURITIES in water that make it a conductor. Pure water is actually an insulator!!
- I'm reasonably sure he was using it as a thermal conductor, not an electrical conductor. Much like one uses distilled water in a liquid cooled computer.
- If he was drinking it, it's an even more serious nosedive. Ask someone who has tried drinking COMPLETELY pure water, i.e. distilled/deionized water. It is NOT HEALTHY, and will give you very serious stomach trouble if you drink as much as a glass of it.
- I think the radiation was supposed to compress the water and it would eventually expand again into a lot of water if given room. This creates two new problems though: One, you'd expect the resulting water to be extremely heavy, enough that you couldn't fail to notice it, and two, the pressure in that bottle should be so high that you'd need Eureka's best scientists just to keep the thing from bursting and when you opened it it'd shoot out like it was a fire hose rather than being able to pour it.
- Why on earth do the writers hate Henry?
- I dunno, man. The guy is pretty much perfect and the most awesomely smart guy around who does EVERYTHING. If you didn't give him a horrific love life there'd be nothing to bring him down to earth/woobify him.
- They have started being a little nicer to him lately though.
- Why does Fargo still have unrestricted access to Section 5? I mean fine, maybe he's got some special talent we know about which makes him too valuable to sack, but you'd think that after the umpteenth time he nearly killed someone or nearly destroyed the town, whether by bumbling or by childishly motivated sabotage which slipped out of hand (like in You Don't Know Jack), the guy wouldn't be allowed in the building without somebody assigned to watch him.
- Because Fargo based on my understanding of his role is GD's top handyman/coordinator for any and every project and is for all practical purposes Assistant GD in Chief guy and that the screw ups we see on screen are just the conservation of detail and thus in universe are the minority of his screwups with him being a considerable asset in any other circumstance, this explains his promotion in Founders Day.
- Fargo became the head of GD in the alternate timeline mostly because his grandfather was never turned into a Human Popsicle and became a big shot with enough pull to get his grandson to the top.
- Because Fargo based on my understanding of his role is GD's top handyman/coordinator for any and every project and is for all practical purposes Assistant GD in Chief guy and that the screw ups we see on screen are just the conservation of detail and thus in universe are the minority of his screwups with him being a considerable asset in any other circumstance, this explains his promotion in Founders Day.
- I live in Eureka, the actual town (which is in California, but still on the North Coast) and is now in Germany, and didn't know about the show until he got here. I say I come from Eureka, and people ask "like the show?" Why couldn't they have chosen a more considerate name?
- There are 14 Eurekas in the United States, and the Eureka portrayed in the show is obviously not any of them. Why do you assume that they must have had your particular Eureka in mind when they named it?
- Possibly because "Eureka!" is the California State Motto.
- But "Eureka" is associated with scientific discovery in general... besides it could be worse, you could have lived in one of America's 71 Springfields.
- Plus there's plenty of other towns in the US with meme/trope heavy names like... the 17 Spartas. So it's not just you. :)
- Possibly because "Eureka!" is the California State Motto.
- There are 14 Eurekas in the United States, and the Eureka portrayed in the show is obviously not any of them. Why do you assume that they must have had your particular Eureka in mind when they named it?
- Why is it that NO-ONE believes Jack every single damn time he says something weird and/or dangerous is going on? I mean, how many times has he been proven right, time and again?
- I don't recall the earlier seasons, but nowadays Jack basically says "this weird thing happened to me," someone responds with "that's impossible," Jack says "we're in Eureka," and they look into it.
- The episode What Goes Around Comes Around bugs me on several levels. Firstly, no matter how much iron supplement Fargo takes, it's not nearly enough to shift him, let alone glue him to the ceiling "like a human magnet". Secondly, you mean to tell me that, in a room full of people AT A DIVING MEET, only ONE of them happens to glance down at a suddenly furiously-bubbling pool?
- Explanation for Fargo: Rule of Funny. You've got me on the pool though.
- In the season 4 premiere, the characters come back from 1947 to a slightly changed timeline. Among the changes are that Kevin is no longer autistic, and Henry is randomly hooked up with Grace. Given that he used to be with Tamilyn Tomita's Kim Anderson, doesn't this raise Unfortunate Implications?
- Not really, it just means that this time he got over Kim and married someone afterwards, which is likely if he never travelled back in time.
- I seem to be missing something here. Sometime between "What Goes Around Comes Around" and "Founder's Day" Tess broke up with Jack via hologram. It's shown in the "Previously On..." and obliquely referred to in the episode proper. I would like to know when this happened, since they act as though it was part of a previous episode, which it wasn't. Can someone help me out here?
- I had that problem to when it had that on the "Previously On..." section when I'm guessing thy just needed to pretend that happened before the events of the episode to make it part of the big "suprise changes" of their current timeline. So like Alison with Kevin being more of a normal kid, Jack has a reason to keep the timeline as it is.
- I recall seeing it in the finale of the previous season.
- I recall that they discussed Jack can visit her in Australia and the episode ending with him looking at a plane ticket just as he gets a phone call from alison.
- Webisode.
- No it's explained on the Season 4.0 DVD. In the commentary, the writers say that they almost had enough material to make it a Supersized episode. In fact, the extended episode is available on the DVD. They had to cut some things out, including the breakup scene. However, that scene was so crucial to the surprise at the end, that they snuck a clip of it into the Previously On section. The writers admit that it's a "trick."
- Where are the versions of Carter & co. from the new reality? The "original" gang arrived in the clothes they got in 1947, so it wasn't Mental Time Travel. There's not any real reason why the other versions of themselves would just cease to exist.
- The group implicitly traveled back in time in both realities, but the triggering event came from the first reality. The group from the new reality no longer exists because they weren't the ones that came back.
- Imagine if they'd switched places, perhaps if the gang from timeline 2 inadvertently prevented Grant (a largely forgotten Eureka founder who'd mysteriously disappeared) from traveling to the future. Carter returns to find Tess has left him for a job in Australia. Henry's loving wife is little more than a stranger. Jerk Fargo is the town butt monkey, though perhaps with improved relationship prospects. Allison finds her gregarious son is now autistic, making her newfound position as head of GD all the more stressful. Not only has Jo been busted back down to deputy, she's also in an awkward relationship with the local hooligan. Being erased from time might not seem so bad to them.
- Finally answered in "I'll Be Seeing You". They replaced their present-day selves.
- The way they handled Jack/Tess at the start of season 4 Just Bugs Me. As well as the 'previously on' break-up that never happened, Jack starts going on about how he spent the last year realising their relationship didn't work... Which didn't happen at all, it was fine - he was even considering going to visit her in Australia at the end of season 3. The writers just invented all these problems just for the sake of these few episodes.
- Not exactly about the show but more the network. With how Warehouse 13 isn't shown in the UK on Syfy and there is no news of when season 2 will start over here, us UK viewers will get the "second part" of the cross-over between the two shows before the first. Admittedly they are mostly seperate episodes, but Claudia knowing Fargo will leave viewers confused and seemingly come out of nowhere. It could be a couple of months or longer before the relevant episode of Warehouse 13 is shown over here.
- It gets explained very quickly how and why they know each other. Seeing the Warehouse 13 episode is not necessary to enjoying the Eureka one at all. The writer's clearly did not assume that everyone watching would have seen the other one.
- All minor quibbles (such as Zane's lack of presence) aside, the season 1 finale episode "Once in a Lifetime" had a pretty jarring problem that bothers me. Note that this is more a case of Fridge Logic, but it really does just bug me. Okay, so we see Kim and Stark cutting into the artifact, cut to four years in the future. That's fine. This future is an alternate reality future that shouldn't have happened—they explain that Henry went back in time to save Kim. That's fine, too. However, there are two possibilities for this occurring—the first is that, before the timeline split, Henry knew that Kim would have died, and thus went to save her. This possibility is discredited in the story as Henry having actively consciousness-travelled back (as well as the fact that it wouldn't have made the alt timeline in the first place). The second possibility is that the timeline went forward and Kim died, then at some point in that timeline, Henry went back and saved Kim, which is what they said happened. But that was in the original timeline, not the new one. It's specifically stated that the reason in this timeline that Henry lobbied for the head of Global Dynamics is so that he could gain access to both the artifact fragment and Walter's tachyon accelerator to go back and save Kim. So basically what happened was that he experienced the original timeline, couldn't live without Kim, got Nathan's job to save Kim, then actually saved Kim, then experienced the alternate timeline, during which he got Nathan's job to... go back and save Kim again? What?
- I lost you about halfway through that. What happened is this. First timeline, Henry learns Kim dies, and gets himself appointed to head of GD to obtain the means to correct it. He does so. New timeline, he averts the experiment and everything is all good up until time breaks down. Jack is sent back in time. Jack arrives in the past in a moment after first-timeline Henry has sent himself back and stopped him. The point of divergence is Kim's death. First-timeline Henry went back to stop it, and second-timeline Jack stopped first-timeline Henry.
- You're asking why, even though he became head of GD, went back, and saved Kim, he then became the head again, even though Kim was alive? Well, maybe he just wanted to make Nathan suffer.
- And while I'm on the subject, in the season 2 premier, "Phoenix Rising", Jack says that he could use his knowledge of the future to predict the events in this reality. Then somebody in the background bursts into flames, cuing the comment "That's new." During the episode, they deduce that the reason that this didn't happen in the alternate future is because of something that Henry changed, which is fine—but Henry, who at the very least went back in time to prevent this very timeline from happening, should have remembered that people suddenly burst into flames, yet he doesn't seem to remember any of this happening.
- First-timeline Henry probably should have known, but it's possible that the burst didn't happen in the same manner. You could always Fan Wank it that first-timeline Henry travelled back far enough that he threw events all out of whack, causing the artifact to react ever so slightly differently, or changing things so the exploding people weren't in the line of fire.
- I find it odd no-one has mentioned the Unfortunate Implications of the New Kevin in Season 4's timeline. Its a bit jarring to see the previously likeable character of Allison act rather callously. She gushes over him and considered destroying the machine to stop them changing things back. This autistic troper finds it horrific that Set Right What Once Went Wrong is what they're trying to go for, but a supposedly loving mother doesn't care her old son has been erased now she has a shinier new model. Broken Aesop much, anyone?
- Only if you think most parents wouldn't wish for a child who's an at-BEST moderate-functioning austistic could be made mentally healthy and think of that as a good thing if it miraculously happened (never mind how parents of a child who's severely autistic and unable to communicate would feel.) Hate to tell you but they don't call it a 'disorder' because it's a good thing to have.
- I did feel some kind of weird vibe from New Kevin but thought about how well they could have written/the actor acted autistic. People faking disorders on TV shows has been a hit and miss venture.
- Only if you think most parents wouldn't wish for a child who's an at-BEST moderate-functioning austistic could be made mentally healthy and think of that as a good thing if it miraculously happened (never mind how parents of a child who's severely autistic and unable to communicate would feel.) Hate to tell you but they don't call it a 'disorder' because it's a good thing to have.
- I still can't quite get what Grant was so upset about over the EMP weapon. It's essentially a non-leathal superweapon (unless you're unlucky enough to be on electronically-run life support with no means of backup when it shuts everything down). A LOT fewer people would die from its use than would from even a basic A-bomb. While it's pretty clear Beverly and the cabal she works for have some sort of ulterior game going on, why on earth does Grant, an alleged genius, get a massive Idiot Ball superglued to his hand?
- While only those people would die instantly, you've killed an entire nation, any chilled/frozen food is without cooling and spoils and all motor vehicles of modern vintage are dead and can't move food around meaning tons of people die of starvation (not that he knows any of this). Now why nobody explains to him "With all these "bigger and bigger bombs" around, everyone is too afraid to start shooting pieces of lead into each other and we live in peace.".
- Yeah, and a plane falling fron the sky won't hurt no one either.
- All of which would happen in the EMP range of a nuclear bomb. Which would also melt people and poison the land, etc. So why is this such a horrible alternative?
- Not to mention the fact that the things that have been disabled now, can still be repaired with new parts shipped in from elsewhere. Far from killing an entire nation.
- Why did Zoe and Carter see their doubles pass them in the pilot? That was never explained.
- It wasn't explained because it wasn't that important. Think about it, what better way to establish in the very first episode, that Eureka is a wondrous place where anything can happen than to have something like that happen (which would have been the central focus of an entire episode in the X-Files), then simply abandon it as though it got resolved in between episodes because that sort of thing happens all the time, here.
- Or maybe, just maybe, for the series finale the Carters are going to drive out of Eureka for some reason (moving to Area 51 because of a promotion? Roadtrip?) and Zoey says "Hey, I just saw us pass by". If they did that, I couldn't imagine a better example of Book Ends in any other show, except maybe Frasier.
- It wasn't explained because it wasn't that important. Think about it, what better way to establish in the very first episode, that Eureka is a wondrous place where anything can happen than to have something like that happen (which would have been the central focus of an entire episode in the X-Files), then simply abandon it as though it got resolved in between episodes because that sort of thing happens all the time, here.
- When the town was shrinking in the Christmas episode, why was the edge of town still right next to the sign just outside? Given how much they shrunk, shouldn't it have receded back farther?
- Who exactly does Carter work for? If he was an actual Sheriff, he'd most likely be an elected official. Nearly every one I've ever seen IRL is. But at first, it appeared that he was appointed directly by the DOD (his predecessor and Jo seem to have been), suggesting that the job was a front and he was put there to watch over GD. But in Season 3, the new head of GD shows up and starts threatening him with statistics about the disasters in Eureka as if she could fire him. FWIW, I've sort of jumped around the series a bit and I can't recall ever seeing someone who was the "head of GD security" before Jo got the job in Founder's Day, so I assumed that was Carter's actual job. But GD stonewalls him half the time and orders him around the other half. I'm very confused.
- I believe it was confirmed he's appointed by the DoD. The second head of GD could show evidence to have him fired, which they have shown requires the OK of the mayor of Eureka to be official. As to Jo becoming head of GD security, it's an assumed position. We've seen GD security before and must assume someone runs that department.
- But why wouldn't we have seen this character at any point in the first 3 seasons? What the heck do they do all day? Carter is out doing their job half the time!
- Carter's out doing Allison's job half the time too. It may be that the previous Head of Security for GD just preferred to work from behind the scenes and was more of an administrator than Jo. People can have different management styles and still be effective enough to keep their jobs. Think of Jo as being Kirk and whoever had it previously as being Picard; one goes on missions, the other stays back and directs things.
- I believe it was confirmed he's appointed by the DoD. The second head of GD could show evidence to have him fired, which they have shown requires the OK of the mayor of Eureka to be official. As to Jo becoming head of GD security, it's an assumed position. We've seen GD security before and must assume someone runs that department.
- Taggert's accent. I'm not even Australian and I'm offended by how bad it is. Is it so hard for Syfy to find an actual Australian actor? Or do they prefer their Australian actors to play American characters with equally bad accents?
- One would think they'd have no trouble at all finding Australian actors. Paul Goddard would've been an even better "insane Australian genius guy" character than Matt Frewer, though Scape fans would probably need a minute to realize which Stark was being referenced when the name was spoken. Whether those actors want anything to do with "Syfy" after the network dropped so much of its actual science-fiction content (to say nothing of its cancellation of their show), though, is another story.
- I honestly don't know what you people are talking about, I like his accent.
- One would think they'd have no trouble at all finding Australian actors. Paul Goddard would've been an even better "insane Australian genius guy" character than Matt Frewer, though Scape fans would probably need a minute to realize which Stark was being referenced when the name was spoken. Whether those actors want anything to do with "Syfy" after the network dropped so much of its actual science-fiction content (to say nothing of its cancellation of their show), though, is another story.
- Why are Eureka and Warehouse 13 in the same universe? There's very little scientific evidence behind all the stuff in Warehouse 13 (like ghosts and sentient dodgeballs), while Eureka is all about "science gone amok". Seems like they just wanted a crossover episode between two unrelated shows.
- I for one enjoyed the crossover, although I did feel apprehensive about how different they were. Frankly, with the way Eureka works, the technobabble handwaves they gave the Artifacts in Warehouse13 and the Artifact of Eureka kind of supports my Suspension of Disbelief.
- Warehouse 13 crossed over with Alphas, so there's that too...
- I'd say it's all the Artifact's fault! In the original timeline, it's energies ended up in people. Now in the new timeline they've ended up in objects! Maybe even going back in time! Heck why not, it's Eureka possible!
- The tension between Alison and Carter during "Liftoff." Are the writers setting up a conflict to come later in the season? And what are they trying to say? That two strong-willed people can't be in a romantic relationship and still work together? That Carter can't respect the authority of someone he's sleeping with? That Alison will revert to bossing Carter around like an employee once she gets in a position of power? That there is perhaps no place for True Love in Eureka?
- Or just that it's a potential problem that they had to work through. It's not as if it causes them to break up - they agree that it's a potential issue that they have to be aware of.
- Or that True Love in Eureka is always DOOMED! DOOOOOMED!!!!!
- Made worse - apparently such relationship must be approved but the same man can revise the case after appeal as his own supervisor (well - handwaved as he was specially trained)...
- They have working FTL! Why has this not been announced at large?!
- Because they need to make sure it's viable for long distance travel, namely Titan, and it would be rather hard to let the cat out of the bag without revealing the rest of Eureka. They've apparently kept multiple missions to Mars secret, so this is pretty much the same situation.
- How about "They put a probe on Titan!"? How many people would that pull out of their post-shuttle-program/no-more-Mars depression. You're telling me that people who can hide a whole town can't come up with a good enough story to go public? Even if it did blow up.
- They'll probably reveal it later and just fudge the dates, like they said they did with the moon landing. Everyone in their universe will see the Titan landing and whatnot, but not know they're actually watching reruns.
- Also, issues with safety. After all, it just took a bit of bat guano to send Andy to Titan. And a perfectly working attempt to send something to him only has a 'chance' to work.
- Because they need to make sure it's viable for long distance travel, namely Titan, and it would be rather hard to let the cat out of the bag without revealing the rest of Eureka. They've apparently kept multiple missions to Mars secret, so this is pretty much the same situation.
- Why would Parrish even be considered for the mission to Titan? His utter self-centeredness and spectacular arrogance would be a danger to any mission.
- That's probably why he was ultimately denied. He's qualified to get into the running, but shot down in the finals.
- Also - why send Squishy Wizard scientists on Titan instead of people who have been trained to handle stressful environments (like military airplane pilots as in current space missions).
- They tested physical ability before they tested mental capability. It's just that more squishy wizards (of the main characters) applied and got through both the physical, mental, and preliminary stress tests than people with less intelligence and more physical strength and stamina. Remember, it's Eureka: Home of the Year-Round Squishy Wizard Convention, and people who don't work for or have high-security-class contracts with Global Dynamics (a Eureka-based company, to simplify) don't get to go on the Astraeus mission.
- Also - why send Squishy Wizard scientists on Titan instead of people who have been trained to handle stressful environments (like military airplane pilots as in current space missions).
- While it would be a danger, it may not always show up in interviews and what have you. Some people can seem perfectly likeable and good natured (or things dismissed and excused)... until you actually have to interact with them in a work environment at which point hidden aspects may emerge or those dismissable traits suddenly because highly disruptive.
- Also remember that current astronauts, while military pilots or what not, are also scientists. So they're both smart and physically fit (and we did see them do physical fitness in various episodes).
- That's probably why he was ultimately denied. He's qualified to get into the running, but shot down in the finals.
- Why does Eureka allow the local scientists to work on wide-range, area effect projects? In the worst case scenario, the overlapping projects can interact with each other, screwing up the results and causing horrible, horrible side effects. In the best case scenario that doesn't involve the projects simply not interacting, a positive or null effect occurs that results in good or nonexistent results and incomplete data. Projects inside the main Global Dynamics building tend to interact with each other, but those are localized projects that aren't supposed to be encroaching on each others' space anyway. Why does Global apparently not regulate the sprawled-out projects to reduce the risk of interference, or have a standing punishment for scientists who run independent projects that affect wide ranges of the town's civil region?
- Progress entails risk, and there are any number of seemingly harmless experiments which could interact badly. They can't account for them all.
- For clarification: they don't even seem to be regulated, in most cases. Many of the area effect projects could be done elsewhere, either in the region if they want to keep things local or in an area chosen specifically for testing the project if they want to focus on the secrecy of the town itself, if only Global Dynamics and the town of Eureka had some sort of requirement that local scientists submit the details of their experiments to the research company that sponsors the town before the experiments progress beyond a theoretical level.
- Progress entails risk, and there are any number of seemingly harmless experiments which could interact badly. They can't account for them all.
- Why are they even bothering to build a spaceship if they can just teleport people directly to Titan? They did that with the robot (even though it exploded afterwards).
- It seems to be doubling as a habitat, or at least laboratory space. The ship is certainly larger from the outside than the few interior shots we've seen would indicate.
- In that case, why attach conventional engines, if they're not going to be used? They could just teleport a building.
- So that they don't have to stay stationary once they get there. The landing site could suffer some catastrophe such as a quake or storm or whatever sort of crap happens on Titan, or they might simply want to move to a different area to conduct other tests, and it's much easier to have a big flying spaceship lift off and fly over than try to recalibrate the FTL drive to move a building somewhere else on the planet. Plus it serves as a test run for the ship itself; sending it to further-away places to investigate things like nebulas and whatnot would still require it to move conventionally over relatively short distances.
- Also, in case of emergency, the ship can be used for... well, shipping them back home via the long slow route. It's their backup transportation. It also allows for the situation where they want to bring back samples and such - the ship allows them to do that since they can't necessarily FTL jump things back.
- It seems to be doubling as a habitat, or at least laboratory space. The ship is certainly larger from the outside than the few interior shots we've seen would indicate.
- You know one thing has always bugged me about Eve Thorn, or what ever her name is. She kept living in the past and feeling awful about the deaths of men she could not save. And yet nobody calls her on the deaths she inadvertently caused as soon as she came to town! including Stark! Even she didn't seem to care! What the hell woman!
- I'm rewatching the episode where Fargo's grandpa gets unfrozen and something smacked me in the mind. How can Douglas Fargo ("our" Fargo, for lack of a better term) be Pierre Fargo's grandson? Pierre was about to propose to his girlfriend, but he got frozen. 8 Months later, this girlfriend has a son and gives him the last name Fargo. One could argue that the kid was his, and the timeline works well for that. But, when Carter confronts Pierre about running from impending fatherhood, Pierre gets all My Girl Is Not a Slut, suggesting that Pierre and his girlfriend never had sex. If that's so, why are Douglas and his father Fargos? Shouldn't they be whatever her last name was?
- It's likely that he just didn't know she was pregnant at the time, though it's been a while and I'd need to rewatch it for details. Values Dissonance also plays a factor here. Carter's forward attitude might not fit with Pierre's sensibilities.
- So is Sen. Wen dead or was it just a stylized fade to black?
- I'm thinking Fate Worse Than Death for as long as Beverly decides to keep the IV filled, but either way I don't expect she'll be back.
- She's stuck in the Beverly created jail matrix as long as the power and machine is working. As we've seen with Holly, even her physical death might not help her avoid that Fate Worse Than Death. She could be trapped in there for a very long time if that machine is capable of long-term independent activity. It was built for 20 people before any issues cropped up, with just one, and occupying just the Sheriff's office, it could be hundreds of years.
- Resolved, Beverly turned her in to the authorities to solve an issue.