As some of Eureka's time travelers start seeing very personal people they haven't seen in a long while, a new weapon is being tested at Global while some dangerous power-surge anomalies begin occurring. The Ex-Files is a smartly written and delightfully performed episode of Eureka, a well crafted blend of the half-season's story arc, potential espionage, the core characters dealing with their new reality on a very personal basis, and some long-overdue character development. Crisis resolution is both on a civic and fan-friendly character level: every episode of Eureka for the entire series so far plays a role in what Carter, Jo, Allison, Fargo, Henry, and even relative new-be Grant, think, feel, and need to resolve. There are many "it's about time" moments that are remarkably viewer-satisfying while still leaving more to explore in future visits to Eureka. Big episode, bigger punch - not to be missed.
2 Reviews
Mixed feelings
xbatgirl-3002920 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
There's a lot about this episode I like, but some big negatives so it's hard to rate. This is one of my favorite episodes so far this season and I'm glad many of the issues after the timeline change are resolving very quickly at this point.
When I first watched Eureka, the time jump nearly made me give up on the show completely. It's so ridiculously contrived purely to keep certain couples apart. Aside from the statue of Archimedes, absolutely nothing in town (or the world) has changed except exactly the main characters' most angsty relationships? Please.
I also watch enough sci-fi where this sort of plot comes up surprisingly often, so it certainly seems like the alternate version of Jack, Henry, etc should still exist even though this gang has just showed up. All the talk between Henry and Grace about the relationship the alternate Henry had with her made me think "where did that other Henry go?" That seems like a pretty huge plot hole. Kevin no longer being autistic makes me think the writers just got bored of that after they dropped the story about the extraterrestrial item on Level 5 (seems like its existence would still be a big deal if it were real). Changing Kevin back to neurotypical seems a little weird.
What's *very* weird is hinting that 30 (?) year old Zane would get involved with a teenager! That plot is just way too gross. Yes, I get how a precocious teen might have a crush. Him acting it might be ok to go party with the girl and her friends is a major red flag. Sure, she started college over a year early but she should otherwise still be in high school or else just graduated. I get that he is trying to make Jo jealous, but at this point maybe Jo should run in the other direction. Jack also letting Zane drop by to hang out with Zoey like it's no big deal is very wrong. There is not a single other character the writers could invent who could have a crush on Zane?
But as I said, the show seems to be trying to get out of the hole it dug pretty quickly by resolving so many relationships. I love Henry and Grace together so this change is very welcome. I also like that he didn't keep the secret too long and they are working things out. The hallucination plot with Tess and Nathan was totally hilarious. That really is what made this episode worthwhile - especially Nathan busting on Jack. Grant's sudden issues with scientific advancements and weapons seems to have come out of nowhere, but the intrigue with Beverly is interesting.
Overall, I'm very glad I stuck with the show past the alternate timeline nonsense.
When I first watched Eureka, the time jump nearly made me give up on the show completely. It's so ridiculously contrived purely to keep certain couples apart. Aside from the statue of Archimedes, absolutely nothing in town (or the world) has changed except exactly the main characters' most angsty relationships? Please.
I also watch enough sci-fi where this sort of plot comes up surprisingly often, so it certainly seems like the alternate version of Jack, Henry, etc should still exist even though this gang has just showed up. All the talk between Henry and Grace about the relationship the alternate Henry had with her made me think "where did that other Henry go?" That seems like a pretty huge plot hole. Kevin no longer being autistic makes me think the writers just got bored of that after they dropped the story about the extraterrestrial item on Level 5 (seems like its existence would still be a big deal if it were real). Changing Kevin back to neurotypical seems a little weird.
What's *very* weird is hinting that 30 (?) year old Zane would get involved with a teenager! That plot is just way too gross. Yes, I get how a precocious teen might have a crush. Him acting it might be ok to go party with the girl and her friends is a major red flag. Sure, she started college over a year early but she should otherwise still be in high school or else just graduated. I get that he is trying to make Jo jealous, but at this point maybe Jo should run in the other direction. Jack also letting Zane drop by to hang out with Zoey like it's no big deal is very wrong. There is not a single other character the writers could invent who could have a crush on Zane?
But as I said, the show seems to be trying to get out of the hole it dug pretty quickly by resolving so many relationships. I love Henry and Grace together so this change is very welcome. I also like that he didn't keep the secret too long and they are working things out. The hallucination plot with Tess and Nathan was totally hilarious. That really is what made this episode worthwhile - especially Nathan busting on Jack. Grant's sudden issues with scientific advancements and weapons seems to have come out of nowhere, but the intrigue with Beverly is interesting.
Overall, I'm very glad I stuck with the show past the alternate timeline nonsense.
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