By Brandon Nolta

Normally, when there’s a toxic waste spillage somewhere, there are a certain set of circumstances that follow: environmental damage, lawsuits, criminal charges and, if you find yourself in the four-color universe of DC or Marvel, the sudden emergence of superpowers. However, things don’t necessarily work that way in Eureka. No, in Eureka, you can count on a whole different set of circumstances.
   
The morning after the aforementioned spill, Sheriff Carter (Colin Ferguson) and Deputy Lupo (Erica Cerra) discover they have had the same dream, an unfortunate turn for Carter as the dream involved him tooling around Eureka in his birthday suit. As the day wears on, Carter finds that many people are sharing dreams, and the sudden window into other people’s minds isn’t raising the diplomacy quotient in town. Unfortunately, there are physical side effects too, and what starts as unwanted telepathy turns into a life-threatening situation. Is it just the waste spill, or could it have something to do with whatever Nathan Stark (Ed Quinn) has installed in Allison Carter’s (Salli Richardson) house?
   
This week’s installment of EUREKA is a pretty amusing one, although one wonders how much further the theme of dream-sharing could have been pushed had the writers felt like it. The cast, particularly Ferguson, Quinn and the always reliable Joe Morton as Henry, possess well-tuned comic timing, and it’s always a hoot to see the broader humor Ferguson brings to Carter play off the dryer wit of Quinn and Morton’s characterizations. Richardson has the thankless role of playing the straight foil, but she does it well, with the right mix of exasperation and good-natured patience with the ongoing shenanigans of her colleagues.


However, what makes this episode most interesting, at least in terms of the overall mythology, is a small moment near the end of the episode, where Carter and Henry are having a discussion of the massive dream experienced they shared along with a couple dozen other folks. In the process, Carter uncovers an image of Henry erasing Carter’s memory, and their subsequent discussion feels like the beginning of a long chess match between the two friends. Considering how deep Henry’s resentment toward Carter goes (it’s a long story for those who haven’t been faithfully watching this show), it’s a crapshoot as to where this arc will lead.
           
More than any other plot arc the EUREKA folks have come up with so far, the strain between Carter and Henry has the potential to be the most interesting, in a Shakespearean fashion. With two characters that are so likable, any conflict is bound to add some spice to the dramedy soufflé that is EUREKA. Not too much, one hopes; now that THE DRESDEN FILES has been given the axe, there ain’t a whole lot of funny on the Sci-Fi Channel anymore (at least not intentionally, although some people could argue for ECW). Still, it ought to make things interesting. Now, all we need is that bodacious bad girl Beverly (Debrah Farentino) to come back into town, and things ought to start shaking up real good.