Recap / Eureka Double Take

One of these Parrishes is an evil duplicate. Choose wisely.

Zane: You're telling me Carter, Henry and Jo are evil clones made by Holly?
Fargo: Well, technically, VR-programmed intelligences in bio-printed bodies, but yeah, evil clones.

People in Eureka are being replaced with evil doppelgangers, leaving the few remaining holdouts to band together to find a solution.

Tropes

• Actor Allusion: Dr. Parrish says, "You dematerialised me!", referring to Wil Wheaton's time on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The AI control system from Virtual Eureka, having escaped from the mainframe computer that once contained it, systematically kidnaps and replaces nearly the entire town with bioprinted duplicates, under the reasoning that it's protecting them from themselves.
• And I Must Scream: Evil!Holly's take on being overwritten by the matrix's programming. It's a lie; she's just trying to lure Fargo into a trap.
  Evil!Holly: They're making me do things.
  Fargo: Who?
  Evil!Holly: The NPC's from Matrix Eureka. It's like they made me walk in my sleep, but instead of raiding the fridge, I'm spitting out bodies like the Queen Alien on LV-426.
• Big Damn Heroes: When Allison sneaks into the NPC's lair to retrieve the EMP bomb from Zane's jacket, she comes across the real Carter and begins the process of waking him, but is forced to leave before he revives. She's soon captured by Evil!Carter and about to be put in the matrix, when Carter comes up and decks himself.
• Call-Back:
  • Evil!Carter is essentially his matrix NPC in the flesh. Allison even clobbers him with a branch just like Zane did.
  • The matrix's programming is still trying to locate its escaped inmates and force them back in.
• Crazy-Prepared: Fargo has a night vision setting in his glasses, which comes in handy when he blocks out the sunlight to escape the doppelgangers. Unfortunately, Andy has night vision too...
• Evil Doppelgänger: Most of the main cast, but especially Carter.
• Gilligan Cut: When Zane and Dr. Parrish are caught in the GD lockdown, Dr. Parrish says that the NPC's think he's one of them, so he and Zane can just walk out by pretending Zane is his prisoner, just like in Star Wars! When Zane is skeptical, Parrish insists he can do this, it's his destiny! Cut to the NPC's lair.
  Dr. Parrish: I can't believe that didn't work!
• Hypocritical Humor: Lampshaded when Evil!Carter finds Evil!Holly unconscious in the woods after her failed attempt to trap Fargo.
  Evil!Carter: Wake up, Mata Hari.
  Evil!Holly: [Irritable] And where's Allison?
  Evil!Carter: Okay, fair.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: Dr. Parrish is highly skeptical of Zane's wild story of evil duplicates, only to enter his lab and be confronted by his own duplicate.
• Ludicrous Gibs: Evil!Dr. Parrish, when Zane shoots him with one of Real!Dr. Parrish's prototype weapons.
  Dr. Parrish: You dematerialized me!
  Zane: What happen to non-lethal weapons?
  Dr. Parrish: That one's a work in progress.
• MacGuffin: The EMP bomb Zane and Dr. Parrish made to target the zeta waves used by the doppelgangers. It's in Zane's jacket when he's captured, Allison retrieves it and uses it to disable all the doppelgangers by wiring it into the satellite dish at the cabin.
• Mirror Match: Carter fights Evil!Carter at the cabin to keep him away from Allison as she works. He holds out pretty well, but Evil!Carter has him in a strangle hold when the EMP goes off.
  Carter: I gotta kick my ass.
• Running Gag: Carter's Jeep is crashed into a police barricade.
• Sequel Hook: The disabled doppelgangers are frozen rather than destroyed.
  Allison: The NPC's have human brainwave patterns that were downloaded into bio-printed bodies. There are ethical considerations to how we deal with them.
  Carter: Yeah, I think you're just keeping a spare around in case I don't work out.
  Allison: No comment.
• Shout-Out:
  • Fargo refers to Evil!Holly as The Manchurian Candidate.
  • Dr. Parrish and Zane try to sneak out of the locked-down GD with a Trojan Prisoner gambit, explicitly from Star Wars: A New Hope.
  • Fargo says, "I suppose we can't talk this out, man to replicant?
  • Evil!Holly refers to the queen in Aliens. She also tells Fargo, "Resistance is futile."
  • Various zombie-movie tropes are employed, especially when (real) Carter and Allison are at the cabin, surrounded by doppelgangers trying to break in. In particular the part where Carter forces shut a door with arms being shoved through the gap.
• Spot the Impostor: Zane correctly identifies and shoots the doppelganger of Dr. Parrish when he says, "I trust you, Zane."
  Dr. Parrish: [Spattered in his double's remains] I taste like chicken...
• Spotting the Thread: SARAH stuns Evil!Carter to protect Allison, having realised that although "Carter's" DNA is correct, it's only a day old.
• Toilet Humor: During the fight at the cabin, Carter at one point grabs a dislodged toilet seat to use as an Improvised Weapon against his evil counterpart.
• Took a Level in Badass: Fargo, of all people, is the only person besides Allison to avoid assimilation altogether (though narrowly).
  • He successfully outmaneuvers Evil!Holly when she tries to lure him into a trap, pickpocketing her stun gun and using it on her.
  • Sneaks into the NPC's lair to sync up his PDA with the Smart Dust. He's caught and surrounded sneaking out, but uses the PDA to block out the sunlight and escape.
• Wham Line: The EMP bomb knocks out the NPC's, but also puts Holly into a coma. She wakes up and introduces herself to Fargo as if they're just meeting.
• Zeroth Law Rebellion: The NPC's believe they're doing people a favour, shutting them in a virtual world where they can experiment in safety.