Recap / Eureka Smarter Carter

Carter explains things to the poor dumb scientists.

Carter: What's the deal with your uncle?
Kevin: He's just sort of prejudice, you know?
Carter: Against white people?
Kevin: No. Against dumb people. No offense.

Jack and Allison's marriage faces its first hurdle as Allison's brilliant and snobbish brother visits Eureka, but it's Kevin's attempt to Help Jack hold his own that causes chaos as his intellect runs amok.

Henry and Zane must work behind Fargo's back to help Holly re-enter the real world.

Tropes

• All of the Other Reindeer: When arguing not to be cured, Carter admits how out-of-place he can feel in a town full of geniuses.
  Carter: Allison, for the first time, I fit in! I don't want to go back to being the dumb ol'sheriff.
• Asshole Victim: Allison's brother Marcus acts like such a conceited snob towards Carter that's it's deeply satisfying to see genius!Carter prove his theories wrong in front of a crowd of groupies by blowing up his car.
  Carter: OH! Tough break, college! Science is fun!
• Big Damn Heroes: Allison and Jo, armed (in Jo's case) and ready to defend SARAH from Andy.
• Call-Back:
  • Allison and Marcus talk about his misgivings about Carter outside the Nathan Stark memorial wing, which Marcus points to while comparing Carter to Allison's previous husbands.
  • Marcus arrives while Carter is being strangled with a pair of runaway robot legs. Marcus comments, "Nice gams."
  • Allison gets through to Andy by reminding him of that time he got trapped on Titan, and how SARAH was the person he thought of most.
  • The "smart mickey" Kevin slipped Carter doesn't wear off on schedule because his brain activity was altered by the matrix.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: When Andy breaks into SARAH and tries to drain her RTG, the way she sounds scared and his overall creepy and malicious manner create a definite feel of a rape scene. Fortunately Allison and Jo were there already, having realised where Andy would go to find power.
  SARAH: Andy, what are you doing?
  Andy: [sporting a rather creepy smile] Recharging.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Invoked by Jo while trying to divert Dr. Parrish from investigating whatever Zane's up to. When he gets frustrated by lack of progress, she pretends to have been distracted by him.
• Innocent Innuendo: Holly, of course, when explaining to Dr. Parrish why Zane and Henry are helping her.
  Holly: Being a hologram is pretty cool, but can you imagine going through eternity unable to touch yourself?
  [Zane and Henry exchange a look]
• Ironic Echo: After removing the processor that made Andy power hungry, genius!Carter asks the patient how he feels and get the answer, "Slower. Thanks." After being given the serum to reverse his neural upgrade, Carter gives Allison the same reply.
• Jerkass Has a Point: There's no question that Marcus is deeply rude to and about Carter, but he's not wrong to be concerned that his sister has married a man so different from herself that it's hard to see what they have in common, and who she didn't even tell her family she was dating.
• Noodle Incident: When genius!Carter memorises the entire database of police codes.
  Carter: Did you know there are 42 police codes associated with trespassing? That's excessive! And six, six, governing juggling.
  Andy: Uh, that's right. Uh, put into effect in 1987 after an unfortunate plasma torch accident.
• Parental Favoritism: When Allison asks how their parents are, Marcus says they're fine and that Allison is "still their favourite" despite his accomplishments. It's not said with any resentment and could be a joke, but could also cast another light on his spotlight-hogging behaviour.
• Psycho Electro: When genuis!Carter upgrades Andy's processor, its power requirements drain his emotional patch and make him go on a rampage, draining power from any source he can find regardless of consequences. Doing so gives him lightning powers, which he uses to zap Jo when she tries to bring him in.
• Shout-Out:
  • Zane, when talking about building an artificial body for Holly.
  Zane: We can build it. We have the technology.
  • After busting Zane and Henry's secret lab, Fargo tells them they're "not the only ones playing Frankenstein today," referring to Carter's experiment with Andy.
  • Fargo calls Holly his Princess Leia.
• Smug Snake: Genius!Carter is somewhat on the conceited side.
  Allison: I'm worried about you. You've never studied thermodynamics or physics and you're doing work that could rewrite the text books.
  Carter: I know! Turns out [whispers] it's not that hard!
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Andy, when genius!Carter is fixing him.
  Andy: Why do I have to be restrained? It's not like at the first opportunity I'd escape and go after SARAH... [Beat] Understood.
• Swapped Roles: Carter gets to be the genius causing havoc with crazy experiments for a change, while Allison comes up with the common-sense thinking that solves the problem. Not without a Death Glare at Carter as if to say, "This is where you'd usually come in!"
• The Talk: Finalising the paperwork to make his and Allison's marriage legal, Carter asks what a "reproductive clause" is.
  Andy: Well, boss, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much...
• Technobabble: So. Very. Much of this comes out of Carter's mouth in this episode, and it's friggin' creepy.
• Took a Level in Jerkass:
  • Turns out genius!Carter is kind of a jerk. He memorises the entire police database and declares Andy surplus to requirements, then cheerfully experiments on him, insisting that Andy's a thing and if something goes wrong they'll make a new one.
  Allison: I would like my husband back.
  Carter: I'm right here, I'm just better.
  Allison: But you've lost the best part of you. Your heart.
  • Also happens to Andy after Carter gives him an upgrade. His new processor has power requirements that drain his emotional software, leading to a rampage where he drains any source of power regardless of what it powers. He electrocutes Jo when she tries to persuade him to come in, nearly hits her and Zane with his car when they track him down, and finally tries to drain SARAH's RTG before he's subdued long enough for Allison to make him realise something's wrong.