By Brandon Nolta
Sex and toilet humor, two of the mainstays of network TV. This week, EUREKA manages to squeeze both in within the pre-credit sequence. Such dedication is to be admired, especially in a show that falls outside the mainstream. And, as an extra bonus, it’s even done in a mostly non-gratuitous way. What’s not to like?
Every week is a fun week in Eureka, but this week finds Sheriff Carter (Colin Ferguson) and Deputy Jo (Erica Cerra) starting things off with a little official business: taking part in a sexual harassment awareness seminar for the good folks at Global Dynamics. It seems that GD, although never having had a sexual harassment complaint, is overdue for some official training, provided by a somewhat grouchy but efficient consultant (Lexa Doig). After Carter is finished helping out with the seminar, Allison (Salli Richardson) asks him to help find Dr. Stone, the guy who has developed the air conditioning system…and the waste management system, and the plumbing, and everything else that has to do with facilities: it’s an integrated system, based on the human digestive system.
What does one have to do with the other? Well, nothing at first, but then Carter starts exhibiting superhuman attractive powers, making women all around him insanely hot for his bod. Now, that can’t be coincidence, right? How lucky for Carter it doesn’t affect the men that way; being chased around by half the town is bad enough, but having the whole town lusting for you could be detrimental to your health. Anyway…oh hell, just imagine what goes on from there. If you’ve read this far, you’ve already got an idea of the hijinks that regularly go on in Eureka.
This episode is played pretty much for laughs all the way through, but the funny comes from characters interacting in absurd situations and not just slapstick. As a result, the tone stays light and amusing without turning into a high-tech Three Stooges pastiche. Not that there’s anything wrong with the Stooges, mind you, but there’s a time and place for the adventures of Curly and the gang. Even when the level of attraction to Carter turns violent, and the town is threatened just like every other freakin’ week, Ferguson and crew keep it light, helped by the able assistance of Matt Frewer as Eureka’s crackpot veterinarian Taggart. Good to see him again, although we see a little too much of him (but in the name of science!) as the episode progresses. Of course, any time Fargo (Neil Grayston) appears, there’s much laughter and derision to be had. Despite the flickerings of spine he showed a couple of episodes ago, he’s still the whipping boy of Eureka. And hey, who doesn’t get a chuckle out of seeing women act like men are supposed to, like hormone-drenched morons? Figure out which sex is insulted more in that idea and win a prize.
Anyway, the long and short of it: funny episode, fun to watch, a pretty good way to spend Tuesday nights if you’re going to be watching TV anyway. If I could Mapquest my way there, I’d already be packed.