Last July, the Sci-Fi channel followed suit with every single other major niche channel. These channels with specialized programming for special interests began playing significantly broader things. Among the many changes; TLC began doing several reality shows, the Weather Channel started showing movies, and the Sci-Fi channel decided to move away from Sci-Fi and rebrand itself as the Syfy channel. Fortunately, it seems that the Syfy channel has worked really well with this change.

To help bring in the rebranding, Syfy started up a new brand new show – Warehouse 13. The show follows secret service agents Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) and Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) as they are drug out of their jobs protecting the president and moved to the middle of nowhere South Dakota.

There they learn they now work for what could be called “America’s attic.” They are now under the command of the strange and mysterious Mrs. Frederic (CCH Pounder) who can seemingly appear and disappear at will and the venerable Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubinek).

The titular warehouse 13 is a character in its own right. A storage unit of epic proportions, all of the “artifacts” collected by Lattimer and Bering are “snagged, tagged, and bagged,” and placed permanently on shelves. The artifacts that they collect are different objects that seem to have special scientific properties. Essentially, it’s a fancy way of saying they have magical abilities. Some objects can make the user invisible, some will kill people with sound waves, and some create such negative energy in the person that they kill themselves.



This is all presented very scientifically, especially at the beginning of the show. As the episodes go on, the science takes a back seat to the story, which is absolutely fine. It actually works really well, because the show only asks you to suspend your disbelief a little bit at the beginning. By the last episode of the season, they don’t really bother explaining the increasingly unbelievable things for the sake of story. The process is gradual and not really noticed. The story kept coming first and that’s a great thing, because the story gets really deep and interesting.

The format of the show closely resembles Buffy the Vampire Slayer in function. There is your Rupert Giles – wise, researching, and leading – character, Artie. You’ve got your field agent characters who search for the “baddie of the week” – in this case objects rather than demons. This isn’t a bad thing for the show. Jane Espenson spent many years with Buffy and it shows. This show carries with it the same concentration on character and story that Buffy did.

McClintock plays Lattimer goofy, yet dependable and kind. He’s very lovable, even from the start. Kelly’s Bering is definitely the foil to Lattimer. She’s a no non-sense get things done type. This initially clashes with Lattimer but eventually gels into a great symbiotic relationship. I’m sure they will pursue some romantic side, if only played for sexual tension. Either way, the chemistry between the two is enjoyable to watch and engaging enough to have kept me coming back episode after episode.



My favorite character is Saul Rubinek’s Artie Nielsen. His personality is a mix of Lattimer and Bering. His character became surprisingly deep and definitely the most well developed throughout the series. He’s been with the warehouse for at least 40 years and carries with him lots of demons and sadness from the past. Of course he won’t divulge any of this unless absolutely necessary or forced. That’s one way the show has been able to continually pump out new and excited things each episode.

A couple other characters I haven’t mentioned yet are the mysterious Leena (Genelle Williams) who owns the bed and breakfast that Lattimer and Bering stay at. She has a knack for reading people’s auras and helping out the gang. Allison Scagliotti plays wiz-kid Claudia Donovan, who has some demons of her own. The scenes with Claudia and Artie are the best of the series. There’s a wonderful father-daughter dynamic between the two that is usually stressed with anger on both sides. It makes for some great comedic as well as tender moments.

The acting all around is fantastic. Rarely does a show on the Syfy channel employ actors of such caliber. I don’t recall a single instance where I cringed from a spot of bad acting or over the top drama. The tension is believable and palpable. The writing and dialogue are witty and snappy, and the focus of the show is pin-point.

Now, being the Syfy channel, one must think about the graphics and where they stand on the corny meter. On a scale from laughable to pretty good, Warehouse 13 ranks right up there with the best of them. Obviously not movie graphics, the effects are still of considerably higher caliber than nearly everything else on the channel. Sure there is sometimes the odd green screen effect or goofy light burst, but as a whole the show looks very good.

I’m very excited for season 2 of this show. The first season surprised me very much. For the first time, I’ll actually be setting my DVR to record the Syfy channel! If you get the chance, check it out!

http://www.hulu.com/warehouse-13