Recap / Eureka Crossing Over

Café Diem gets a new conversation piece.

Fargo: One day of getting to look like I know what I'm doing. Is that too much to ask for?
Carter: Evidently.

Claudia Donovan comes to visit from Warehouse 13. Things from the forties appear all over Eureka, and Jo gets a bullet in the chest without getting shot.

Tropes

• Big Damn Kiss: Between Fargo and Claudia, right after he saves her from a mine. Then they realise there's another mine... right under Fargo's head.
• Cartridges in Flight: Subverted. Jo gets a .50 caliber bullet in her chest, but she wasn't shot, since there are no wounds. That's weird enough, but it gets even weirder when they the bullet still has its case. But what really takes the weirdness cake is Jo commenting that a collector would go nuts over the bullet. Jack says they're still being made, but Jo points out the tip is painted, and they stopped doing that in the 50s. This leads to the realization that two periods of time are colliding.
• Catching Up on History: Dr. Grant has been getting acquainted with the last 63 years of culture. He especially likes music from the 70's, and first appears in this episode singing along to "Car Wash".
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • The "goo" Claudia is set to take to Warehouse 13 that's designed to insulate Artefacts for transport is used in an IV to remove the exotic particles from Dr. Grant.
  • When that fails, the quit-smoking device Allison puts on Dr. Grant is reprogrammed to remove exotic particles rather than nicotine.
• Continuity Nod: Henry's asthma, first noted in Maneater, is mentioned in reference to Dr. Grant's smoking.
• Electric Torture: Downplayed. To help him quit smoking, Allison puts a disc on Dr. Grant's neck that infuses nanobots into his blood that remove nicotine from his system. He immediately decides that that means he can smoke all he wants, only to run afoul of the device's other function; negative reinforcement via electric shocks. He soon decides it's Worth It.
• Faux Horrific: After Jo collapses at Café Diem, Dr. Grant is sure it's because of "that slop she was drinking. I think it's called... a smoothie?"
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: As Claudia and Fargo dive away from the first mine, another one can briefly be seen under Fargo's head.
• Friendship Moment: Carter and Jo end the episode on his couch, watching TV over a beer and bemoaning their love lives. They disagree over whether this is "girl talk" or "guy talk."
• Informed Attribute: Henry's infrequently-mentioned asthma, which only crops up a handful of times. Here, it convinces Grant to stop smoking in Henry's garage.
• Land Mine Goes "Click!": An anomaly leaves a wire fence right next to Fargo and Claudia. Claudia steps on a mine, forcing Fargo to Macgyver a fuse delay from their equipment. The delay works, leaving the two in a pile on the ground... and on another mine.
• Leg Focus: Dr. Grant's appreciation for Allison's legs (shown in "Founder's Day") has lead Carter to nickname him "Dr. Nice Gams". The fact Allison is appreciative of the compliment only makes him more jealous.
  Allison: I do have nice gams.
  Carter: Oh, like I don't know that. [she begins to walk away and his eyes wander to her legs] You... You do.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Fargo, when he sees a sign on the fence indicating he and Claudia are in a minefield. And again, when Claudia steps on a mine.
  • Everyone, when a nuclear warhead appears in the Infirmary.
  • Carter arrives to help Fargo and Claudia with the minefield situation. Following Jo's instructions, he's either grabbed an infrasonic defuser or a plasmic disruptor. Only one way to find out...
  Jo: [Shouting after him] Don't get those confused!
• One-Steve Limit: Variation. When meeting Zane, Claudia notes that they share a last name.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Dr. Grant is loaded with exotic particles from the 40's that are drawing objects from that time to the same location in Eureka... no matter what's there now. The second such incident puts a bullet directly into Jo's chest.
• Red Herring: Dr. Grant thinks he feels awful because Allison is making him quit smoking. Actually, it's because exotic particles from the 40's are slowly tearing him apart on a molecular level.
• Ship Tease: Claudia and Fargo, which goes into them passionately making out, though Claudia still has her own show to get back to, so the relationship doesn't go anywhere. Also the start of Grant seriously starting to try and woo Allison.
• Shout-Out:
  • Claudia greets everyone with a Vulcan salute.
  • Later, Fargo references The Hurt Locker when dealing with a mine.
  • Writhing in agony as he's treated for the exotic particles, Dr. Grant says, "Looks like I picked the wrong day to quit smoking."
  • The episode ends on metal doors sliding shut on Claudia, in a Shout-Out to Warehouse 13.
• Technobabble: Lampshaded.
  Dr. Grant: I think it might be a quantum-chromo-dynamic-confinement-anomaly.
  Carter: Now you're just stringing words together.
• Tempting Fate:
  • In the teaser, Claudia expresses disappointment that her trip to Eureka is turning out so tame. Within seconds, a freaky light show dumps a bunch of live sequoias in the GD lobby. Unlike many examples, she's delighted.
  Claudia: This is Eureka! I was kind of hoping to see something insanely weird.
  Carter: Consider yourself lucky.
  • Later, she and Fargo investigate an anomaly and end up with a fence. She's disappointed again, but Fargo notices a sign on that fence indicating a minefield...
  Claudia: That's it? I came to Eureka and all I got was this stupid fence?
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: As he's purged of the exotic particles, Dr. Grant is writhing in agony with glowing stuff coming out of him. Jo watches from her hospital bed and a couple of nurses look up, but no one seems perturbed. But then, this is Eureka.
• Would Rather Suffer: Dr. Grant's reaction to Carter's first suggestion of how to treat his exotic-particles problem.
  Carter: We could always dip him in Fargo's goo...
  Dr. Grant: I would rather die.

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