Warehouse 13: Review: Season 3 Ep 3

Syfy (US) July 25; (UK) August 18

Warehouse 13 Old School, as two old friends return to help Artie and Claudia, while Pete & Myka try to solve a rather embarrassing mystery.

René Auberjonois and Lindsay Wagner return as Hugo Miller and Dr.Vanessa Calder, respectively. People are coming into hospitals being turned into clay, and Vanessa calls Artie in to assist – thus prompting Artie to trim his eyebrows and wear a clean shirt. Claudia insists on coming along, ostensibly to help Artie with his squeamishness regarding hospitals, but mostly so she can make fun of Artie’s crush on Vanessa.

Indeed, Artie’s attempts to start something with Vanessa continue to stumble forward – then hit a stumbling block when Hugo Miller shows up. This is our first look at Hugo since he was cured in “13.1,” and Auberjonois plays him as a free-spirited goofball who hasn’t changed since the 1970s. To make matters worse for Artie, Hugo and Vanessa were something of an item back in the day. (At this stage, the TV geeks in the audience realize that they were dating when Wagner was The Bionic Woman and Auberjonois starred on Benson.)

Meanwhile, Myka and Pete wake up naked in the same bed. Myka is blonde, and they have no recollection of how they got there, nor where Jinks is. The two of them try to solve that particular mystery – which, of course, is artifact-related – through painstaking reconstruction.

It’s good to see Artie in the field. Saul Rubinek is one of the primary reasons for the show’s charm and success, and this is really his episode, showing off his brilliance, his snarkiness, and his insecurities all at the same time. (Plus pairing him up with Alison Scagliotti is always comedy gold.) Add in Wagner and Auberjonois, both magnificent actors under any circumstances, an affectionate dig at Eureka, and a bit of Jewish mysticism, and you’ve got a winner of an A-plot

Sadly, the B-plot is pretty nowhere, and seems specifically designed to head off “shippers” at the pass by explicitly stating that Pete and Myka have no interest in each other sexually.

Verdict: Strong A-plot weakened by “they’re the stars so we have to do something with them” B-plot.

Episode 3 “Love Sick”: 6/10

Keith R.A. DeCandido

Check out our other Warehouse 13 reviews