Why is it so good? - Warehouse 13

I didn't expect that writing about Jaime Murray would make me miss "Warehouse 13" so much! But since it did, the only thing that seemed reasonable was to started watching the show again from the beginning. And already the first episode reminded me why it is one of my favourite shows.

The plot scored the bull's eye with me with the first episode.
In South Dakota there's a government warehouse. So secret that it actually re-defines the term: no one knows about it including the government itself. It employs only a small group of agents, who's job it is to keep the warehouse from exploding (a threat much more common than you'd expect) and to find and secure almost-magical objects known as "artefacts".

What are those, you ask? Anything and everything that acts strange, or which makes people who touch them act weird or develop any kind of almost-magical powers. Usually these objects used to belong to some famous people from the history like Edgar Allan Poe, Leonardo da Vinci, Marilyn Monroe or Lewis Carrol, and after the death of their respective owners, they gained a life of their own. No two artefacts are alike, and how they work is completely dependant on the person who used to own them - so if a therapist who used to practice hypnosis had a specific chair, it might now make people act on their subconscious thoughts. If Lewis Carroll based his stories on real events, who knows what Alice's Mirror might do and so on.
Welcome to the Warehouse, the world in which myths and urban legends usually prove to be true, crazy inventions might've actually worked and famous figures might not exactly be whom the history led us to believe.

Artefacts are a lot of fun, and it's always amazing to see what the new one is going to be, but it's the cast who makes the show so outstanding. The dream team of Warehouse's protectors and artefact hunters includes:

Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) - when we meet her, she's as an uptight FBI agent. She doesn't eat sugar, is focused solely on her career, which she treats way too seriously, and is haunted by the events from the past. But during the five seasons she changes a lot, making friends, opening up, and becoming a more relaxed person that's fun to be around. But she never stops to be the brains of the operation, and with her extensive knowledge of all things she usually is the one who can figure out how to save the day. Also, she's the only who actually reads the Warehouse manual and the Regents’ addendum. 

Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) is Myka's complete opposite, which makes him her perfect partner. He's goofy, he has an attention span of a five-year old and will never pass on either the free food or an inappropriate joke, but he cares for his friends and is actually a pretty damn good agent. When it comes to the work, he can be as devoted as Myka is. He also has "vibes" that warn him about the coming danger.

Claudia Donovan (Allison Scagliotti) joins the team in the 5th episode of the first season, and is everything the show needed. She comes back from Artie's past and kidnaps him, so when we meet her for the first time, it's hard to suspect what a fun, adorable, geeky character she is! She's a volcano of energy, she always has a joke or obscure nerdy reference to make, but she's also a computer genius and has a special, growing bond with the Warehouse itself. It's hard not to love her and her character development is one of the more interesting aspects of the story.

Artur "Artie" Nielsen (Saul Rubinek), the grumpy, sarcastic, snappy boss of the team. He keeps to himself and doesn't like to share unless we're talking about his delicious cookies. As it quickly turns out he has a rather dark past (but seriously, who doesn't). More often than not he works from the Warehouse dealing with the problems closer to home, while sending rest of his agents for the outside missions.

Leena (Genelle Williams) is lovely, warm, calm and patient. She's the owner of "Leena's bed and breakfast" where the agents live. She sees auras and understands the artefacts better then anybody else, though it is not explained how or why. While playing as a hen mother and a housewife, she also helps with research and seems to be best at solving the conflicts and problems that raise among the team members. Sadly, we know nothing about her personal story or the life before the Warehouse.

In the third season we are introduced to Steve "Jinxy" Jinks (Aaron Ashmore). He gets partnered with Claudia and they hit it off immediately, becoming best friends. He's more serious than Pete and more goofy than Myka so he fits in perfectly. He also has an "annoying" talent - he can always tell when others lie. Oh, and he's gay and no one makes a big deal out of it, but we had to wait until the 4th season to meet Steve's ex and until the 5th season to have the writers make fun out of gay stereotypes.

There's also H.G. Wells (Jaime Murray) whom I've already mentioned in the previous text. H.G. is a writer from 19th/20th century, an inventor of time machine and… a woman. A dangerous woman, a former agent of Warehouse 12, who got bronzed (imprisoned in a statue-like form) until she was freed in the modern times. She's both the villain and an ally, and since nothing with her can be easy, she also apparently has a crush on Myka… a mutual one, it would seem, even though it's never been confirmed by the writers. 

Last but not least is Mrs. Irene Frederic (CCH Pounder), an enigmatic, mysterious woman with a nasty habit of appearing without a sound right behind your back, who can make you shit your pants just with the power of the glares. She's Warehouse's caretaker, and thanks to the strong bond with it, she can always sense the danger. It means she usually shows up only where there's a crisis, so small wonder her appearances always make the rest of characters uneasy, to say the least. 

Ok, since we are done with the introductions and formalities, let's do what we've come here for. Let's talk about why "Warehouse 13" is one of my favourite shows and why, in my humble opinion at least, it's one of the most innovative shows on television. 

True fact: I started to watch "Warehouse 13" solely because I've discovered that it had Mark Sheppard. 

After stumbling across Mark p on "Firefly", "Battlestar Gallactica" (such a good show), "Doctor Who" and "Supernatural", I finally decided to seek him out and watch literally everything he's been on. So while he was a reason why I picked this series up, he wasn't why I stayed. 

The series doesn't take itself seriously, the characters mock each other all the time and continue to criticise and question the laws of the Warehouse.. The character development during all the five seasons is heart-warming and realistic and the viewer enjoys watching all the different dynamics between the characters. What's also extremely important is how feminist this series is. It is all about female power; every woman represents a different type, but they are equally independent and they don't need guys to save the world. 

Artie and Claudia have a very obvious father-daughter relationship, but at the same time Claudia constantly irritates him by pointing out his weight and age so at times they seem more like colleagues than anything else, but it's always obvious how deeply they care for each other. Myka and Pete are the best of friends, because the opposites attract each other, but when Jinxy appeared, he and Claudia bonded so smoothly that they naturally formed an equally awesome team. Leena is everybody's friend even if they are not sure about them themselves, and she seems to have more human and intimate friendship with Mrs Frederic, while for all the rest she's as mysterious as one of the artefacts they put on the shelves. Not to mention the beautiful friendship between Myka and H.G. which was definitely more than just that.

While H.G. is always portrayed in a shirt and trousers, she's probably the most feminine out of the bunch, since she is both aware of her looks and is not afraid to use them. But it's actually refreshing to see so many powerful and strong female characters who don't need to drop their bras to be so. Myka kicks ass, Claudia is all brains and witt, and even Leena, who seems like the softest and most caring can protect herself when needed. It is also interesting how different styles all women present. From the teenager Claudia to mature (and possibly kinda immortal) Mrs. Frederick, from English-pale H.G. to dark-skinned Leena. From openly bisexual H.G. to Claudia, who can't handle male attention to save her life. 

One more thing before I go: "Warehouse 13" is a non-ending parade of wonderful cameos of the actors you know mostly from other geek shows. So… Sean Maher and Jewel Staite who on "Firefly" were intensely flirting as Simon Tam and Kaylee Frye, here get to be together. Myka's family seems to be especially interesting since her sister is portrayed by a lovely Amy Acker ("Angel's" Fred) and her father is played by Michael Hogan ("Battlestar Gallactica's" Colonel Saul Tigh). Though he's not the only " "Battlestar Gallactica" star to be seen on "Warehouse 13": in the second episode Pete and Myka meet Chicago's FBI agent - Tricia Helfer (Number Six on "BSG"). I've already mentioned Mark Sheppard (most recently Crowley in "Supernatural"), but at the end all "Buffy: the vampire slayer" fans got a treat like no other with an on-screen reunion of James Marsters (Spike) and Anthony Head (Rupert Giles).

   

Guys. It doesn't get any better than this.

- Aga's out! Go get yourself some "Warehouse 13" awesomnes!

PS: Yes, that was a lot of gifs. No, I regret nothing. No, they are not made by me. Thank you. 

Why do we love her? Part one: Jaime Murray.

Jaime Murray, a black-haired 38-year-old is not someone you can not feel passionate about. You either hate her, and find her accent and manner of speaking annoying or tall, slim figure too alien-like, or you are absolutely crazy about her. Guess which one is true for me.

Her filmography may not be very long, but apart from few movies which I am not going to discuss here since it's a tv-series blog, she has starred in some very interesting shows. Obviously she has done a few guest cameos in criminal series like "Poirot", "the Mentalist" and "NCIS", but when she gets more then one episode, her character is usually either frequently on-screen or quite important to the plot.

After watching her in a few different roles it’s hard not to notice a very vivid pattern: all her characters can be described as either crazy or hot/sexy/femme-fatal-type-guys-have-no-chance-against.

I am not saying her characters are one-dimensional though! What I mean is that most of them are written and designed in such a way that they can be described with one of these two words; they of course differ on the scale in which certain adjective fits them, giving us a whole spectrum of characters who go from mildly weird to bat-shit crazy, and from seductively sexy to the one who shows a porn-star level of nakedness. Oh yes, it’s a good news for all of you perverts out there! One thing you can always count on with Jaime Murray is that if the show is not PG-13, you can bet she will drop the clothes and sex it up with whoever is at hand. And if the show doesn't allow that, you can rest well assured that she will at least hit on any woman she can find.
Thanks to her "Warehouse 13" got it's most famous not-really-canon-but-basically-canon pairing that everyone shipped (including Murray herself).

Below there's a very personal list of my favourite roles by Jaime. Enjoy!


6. Grace Valentine from "Valentine"

I am not even sure if "Valentine" should make the best of anything list, but silly as it was, it was actually fun to watch. The show concentrates on a group of Greek gods who try to make ends meet in the modern world, living among humans. The family of Valentines run by beautiful Grace - a.k.a. Aphrodite - is invested in what seems like a family matchmaking business… except that where the gods are involved, the process of searching for a soul mate may be slightly different than you'd expect..

Special bonus: I don't suppose you'll be surprised if I say that the goddess of love is one sexy lady. She may keep her clothes on most of the time, but is a cause of the greatest orgasm in tv-shows since Buffy and Riley lost it and made the whole house experience their bed pleasures in "Where the Wild Things Are" (4 x 18).

5. Gaia from "Spartacus: the Gods of the Arena"

"The Gods of the Arena" is a one-season prequel to the three-seasoned "Spartacus" (titled respectively "Blood and Sand", "Vengeance" and "War of the damned"). I am not going to lie: I wouldn't have touched that series if it wasn't for Murray, and I have finished neither the main series nor the spin-off. 

The main series tells the story of Spartacus, a brave warrior taken into Roman slavery, who is forced to become a gladiator. The show has stunning graphic fights, interesting aesthetic choices when it comes to showing blood but mostly… there's sex. Lots and lots of sex, to the point where the series seems more like a porn with a plot than anything else. 

"The Gods of the Arena" concentrates on Quintus Lentulus Batiatus and his wife Lucretia, who own the ludus and all the gladiators who train in it (including Spartacus). What interests us is that the very first episode introduces to us Lucretia's friend Gaia, a playful, adventurous woman, whose search for a wealthy husband doesn't stop her from getting what she wants: which, in this case, is to get into Lucretia's robes. Otherwise manipulative and with very dubious morals, Gaia cares very much for Lucretia, and their relationship is very sweet and warm, which makes it very special in a world where sex seems to be so common it's became meaningless. 

Special bonus: points for shagging the amazing Lucy Lawless (a.k.a. Xena the warrior princess)!

4. Stacie Monroe from "Hustle" 

Stacie is an interesting one. A brilliant con-artist, who is well aware of her feminine charm and famme fatale aura, and is not afraid to use them to obtain her goals. Comparing with Murray's other roles, Stacie seems very well-balanced and sane so no one can have any doubt that she's an incredibly strong woman, who doesn't owe her success to anyone but herself. Placed between childish Danny and mature Mickey there's a lot of room to play with the character's sexual energy and feminine strength. Which the writers gladly did. 

Special bonus: like in every show which needs a brand new plot every episode, there's a lot of occasions to see her in different different incarnations… and few bizzare wigs and marvelous outfits.

3. Lila Tournay from "Dexter" 

Since someone told me that “Dexter” is a scary show, and the opening seemed to prove them right, I haven't had the guts to watch it until recently. And frankly, I am neither scared nor have I become a fan of the series. One of a few reasons why I still haven’t given up on it, is that I knew Jaime Murray was supposed to show her sweet ass in the second season. And she did show much more than just her ass. 

Lila Tournay is a perfect example of a character who is both overly sexualised and crazy. We meet her as an reformed meth addict, who later becomes Dexter’s “sponsor” when he has to pretend that he's addicted to drugs. They hit it off quick and they hit it off hard, but things quickly start to go downhill even for Dexter. She might not be a serial killer but her fascination with dead bodies and very disturbing sense of art make her actually seem more crazy from the two of them. Which is something, I guess.

Special bonus: her fashion sense is brilliant. I adored all the little accessories that she wore, including characteristic armbands. 

2. H.G. Wells from "Warehouse 13" 

Title warehouse is a place of "endless wonders", where supernatural artefacts are hidden from the public view and kept safe - more or less. The group of agents who is in charge of "bagging and tagging" as they call the process of finding and neutralising artefacts, consists of: grumpy Artie, childish Pete, up-tight but lovable Myka and a computer genius in a body of rebeled teen, Claudia. But things would be far less interesting without a sexy, adventurous, brilliant inventor from the past - no one else but H.G. Wells himse… uhm, herself! Since she joined the cast in the 2nd season she made a full transition between an evil villain and a good agent, but in reality she's always stayed grey.

Special bonus: H.G. Wells is openly bisexual, and even though she doesn't get to have on-screen sex nor even on-screen official love interest, there's more than a little tension between her and Myka and Jaime Murray herself had a big part in creating this relationship as it is now!

1. Stahma Tarr  from "Defiance" 

For me, Stahma is where all the other roles were leading Jaime Murray to. It's a role she's meant to have since the beginning of her career and it couldn't have gone to anybody else. 

In the post-apocalyptic city of Defiance, where people struggle to live among the new alien species which came to inhabit our planet after the destruction of their own, Stahma is an alien, Castithan to be precise, and a wife to brutal and cruel Datak. Among her aristocratic species women are supposed to know their place, and never leave the shadow cast by their men, and at the beginning shadows are indeed a place where Stahma feels best. She manipulates others, including her own husband, to make sure her family's status is high enough, but as the second season shows, she can do as well in the main spotlight. She's attractive, but her attractiveness is dangerous and sharp as an edge of the knife. She smiles and bows, but there's nothing humble underneath it. Where "Dexter's" Lila was a carefree psychopath, Stahma is clever and cruel and she has a plan. She's terryfying in her beauty and beautiful in how terryfying she can be. 

Special bonus: It's another bisexual character, and once again it seems that the sexual same-sex relationship is the only time Murray's character can show her softer side.

                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                          That's all!

                                                                                                                                - Aga

Why are we so excited? - Warehouse 13 continues.

Another week, another Warehouse 13 episode. There were some glitches of course, but all in all it was a good one, again. So far, I’m really enjoying season 5.

The Warehouse seems to be out of danger (at least for now), so it’s back to business – tracking down artifacts. In the latest episode, the agents split – Pete and Myka travel to Washington DC to investigate a senator’s mysterious death, while Claudia sets out to find out what happened to her sister, with the help of Jinxy and Artie.

Let’s start with the first case: Pete and Myka are looking for an artifact which kills people, making it look like drowning. An interesting idea, although I cannot shake the feeling, that I’ve already seen it before (don’t ask me where, I have no idea). Now here’s my problem with the episode – they figure it out all on their own, and quickly too! I realize Artie was occupied, but they didn’t even ATTEMPT to call him! Did their Farnsworths malfunction or something? Also, when did Myka start carrying a real gun instead of a Tesla? During their investigation Pete and Myka reunite with their two former Secret Service colleagues, who after acting a little suspicious, turn out to be in a relationship. Is it just me, or are the writers trying to make the two Warehouse agents end up together in the final season? I’m not sure how I feel about this. While I’m no completely against Pete and Myka as a couple, it would be nice, just this once, if the guy and the girl who start off hating each other and grow to be good friends and partners over time, didn’t end up in a relationship. One can only hope.

The second storyline, was much better if you ask me. Artie takes Claudia on a trip into his memory using ,the Memory Walking Baby Shoes (best artifact name ever btw - Aga), so that she can see what happened to her sister, and her parents. It turns out Artie met his future protégé much earlier than we previously thought. When Claire, Claudia’s sister, was infected by Frances Farmer’s music box, Artie was the agent in charge of finding it. I must admit I didn’t foresee what was coming – Claire threw the artifact into a fire during a fit induced by it, and the music box could no longer be neutralized, making it impossible for her to be cured. The only thing the Warehouse agents could do, was put her in a coma. The episode ends with Claudia promising her sister, that she will find a way to help her, which means the storyline will continue. I really can’t wait! As an added bonus, we get to meet little Claudia Donovan, who already has amazing instincts, and impressive computer skills.

One more thing: I really love Mrs. Fredrick, but why the hell is she suddenly asking Myka about having children and “reevaluating her priorities”?! Come on! Just because she had cancer doesn’t mean she will suddenly decide to completely change her life, start having babies and leave the Warehouse…

Not perfect, so I’m giving the episode 4/5 stars – I have some beefs, but they are mostly details I can live with.

- Ziemia 

I definitely agree that this episode wasn’t even, but to be honest, I feel like Warehouse 13’s episodes rarely are. They usually have some amazingly mind-blowing moments right next to the weak ones. It’s the overall emotion I have after the final credits that determine what I feel about the episode, and this time I am pretty pleased with it. Let’s be honest though: it’s mostly because of Claudia’s plot which was really great. I loved seeing small Claudia, who was not only smart, but already had an intuition too! I can’t wait to see her become a Caretaker, because it’s obviously where the show is going (I just hope Mrs. Frederick is not going to repeat her fate from the end of 3rd season).

Like Ziemia said, Myka’s plot is getting weirder and weirder. There is just too many little details that seem out-of-character for her: carrying the gun, the whole “finding your new purpose in life" theme and the sudden Pete/Myka relationship promise, while the majority of fans have been rooting for H.G./Myka for some time now. All of it makes me wonder if they are not planning some evil plot twist for the end… that it won’t turn out that Myka didn’t make it out of the surgery and she’s in some kind of coma? That would explain why she’s slipping out of reality and starts to make less and less sense. I really hope that’s not what they are going to do to us, but I am going to watch her arcs and her relationships with other characters closely.

Also, Mrs Frederick giving a prep talk about having children was one of the creppiest things yet.

- Aga

Why are we so excited? – Warehouse 13 is back!

On April 14^th finally, the fans got what they were waiting for: the first episode of 5^th (and final!) season of Warehouse 13 aired. It was action packed, but goofy at times (this time, surprisingly, mostly because of Jinxy not Pete), and, what I probably loved most about it, filled with references and, sometimes unexpected, comebacks.

This show loves cliffhangers so it wasn’t surprising that season 4 left us with another one – this time it wasn’t the world, but the Warehouse itself that was endangered. Apparently it wasn’t enough, because Myka got cancer too. The new episode, “Endless Terror”, threw us in the middle of things, literally where the last season left off. I thought it was too quick, and too abrupt, and for a bit of time I was worried. But then Jinxy crashed the car and got electrocuted in the period of a few minutes, both things unnecessarily, and I knew the new season was going to be just like the previous ones (only shorter). 

The plot of the episode may seem simple: after Claudia failed to defeat Paraselsus (showing more guts and giving more awesome one-liners than we’ve seen for a couple past episodes!), the team follows him through time and parallel universes to stop his plan to change the Warehouse into an anti-utopian, futuristic center devoted to human experiments. But the episode was filled with emotions, action and references to previous seasons (is it something that’s going to continue as a last season’s tribute to the whole show  I very much hope so!). There were some of the old and well-known artifacts shown again, including the Spine of Saracen, H.G. Wells’ Time Machine and Alice’s Mirror which seems to be a favorite among the props. It wasn’t only artifacts which seemed familiar! Both doctor Vanessa and Hugo dropped by, but probably the most important was the appearance of Mark Sheppard as Benedict Valda. Especially that it seems he’s going to stay, which I am very okay with.

To sum up: I am happy with how the new season started. It had a solid story (and I am a sucker for parallel universes/time travel arcs!) and believable emotions and motivations; especially Claudia’s character development seems very promising and exciting, and I look forward seeing how her story will develop. The only thing I really can’t forgive is how they handled Myka. The ending of the previous season dropped an emotional bomb on us, and after how devastating her illness was to Pete, I expected that season 5 would take some time to deal with that topic. But nope, apparently surgery is all it takes to be able TO RUN AND FIGHT LIKE NOTHING HAS EVER HAPPENED. No, I am sorry, but in the series like that there surely has been some other – reasonable - way they could’ve put her back on her feet in such a short notice. I dunno, an artifact maybe?

 I really do hope that they would address this issue in the following episodes, because otherwise I will be really disappointed.

All in all, I give it 4/5 stars.

                                                                                                                                                     by Aga

Let me start by saying it again: MARK SHEPPARD IS BACK. I don’t know what it is about this guy, but whenever he appears on a show, it gets soooooooooo much better. I’m always excited to see him on screen. 

Now, back to discussing the episode. I mostly agree with Aga with the one exception: yes, the Myka-has-cancer  plot resolution was rather anti-climatic, but in the writers’ defense – this happens sometimes! Sometimes it turns out to just be a binine cyst. I’m not saying they handled it perfectly, but I must admit I kinda like their mischievousness. They laid the ground for potential drama, had fans worrying for almost a year and it all turned out to be just fine. That’s not what you were supposed to be worrying about! Besides, if Myka was lying in a hospital somewhere, who would save everyone’s ass? It’s not like anyone else reads the manual.

Claudia was great as usual, and although I miss her colorful hair, it’s nice to see she is still a total badass with a witty response to just about anything. I wish there was more interaction between her and Jinxy in the episode, because I really love their dynamic, but I’m hoping for more of their goofiness in future episodes.  Speaking of Jinxy, I wonder if he is going to be the one getting into trouble from now on, or did Pete just get one episode off?

All things considered, a really good episode, and hopefully a herald of a great season.

by Ziemia