Eureka's second season came to an end last week, not exactly with a bang, but at least not a whimper. Though the tension was notched up a bit overall, it didn't have a very different feel than last season. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I sure wish it had been darker. However, light & fluffy doesn't mean unenjoyable, and Eureka isn't so bad as a mostly happy place.
As much as I like this show, I thought the pacing of the season left a lot to be desired. It seemed as though there was a many-episode-long vacuum wherein virtually nothing to do with the grittier aspects of the show were explored. Every episode or two we'd get a brief teaser scene, just to remind us that there were things going on beneath the surface, but not nearly enough real substance to the arc. I think that's part of why the mystery of the artifact failed to really hook me. Of course, my preference is for a story rather than a one-off type of episodic series, and I should probably just accept that Eureka is not the show to satisfy that desire.
Thankfully, it satisfied on other levels. Because I'm that kind of a sucker, I took a definite interest in the romantic entanglements of this little town's remarkable population. As much as I like Jack & Allison together, Stark managed to turn me around over the course of the season and I found myself happy with how that triangle played out. Of course, there's no saying how things might change; it is a chaotic universe, after all. Then there's the enticingly dangerous Deputy Jo. Since the end of the first season I was pulling for Jo & Taggart, and it was very disappointing to watch her develop a relationship with pretty boy genius Zane. Oh, Zane's not awful; in fact, he's even charming, if a bit cocky. But, "Tag" is really so much cooler. Finally, maybe my disappointment with Jo & Zane heightens my appreciation for Zoe & her geek boyfriend. Zoe is a great character and I like that she's settled in Eureka and seems to be handling the trials of being a teenager fairly well.
So, the season finale didn't actually give us any revelations regarding the artifact, and it definitely left us hanging as far as Beverly's locale. Maybe I missed something, but it's not clear to me why the mystery of where Beverly took off to wasn't pursued. If she didn't screw up her escape, we know she had to be within a kilometer of Global Dynamics, so why didn't Allison order a search for her? Perhaps, as Henry suggested, she's just superfluous now and it's easier for all concerned to let her disappear. Also, it's totally cool that GD actually developed transporter technology, dangerous & uncertain though it might be.
I definitely did not like watching Henry get taken away in handcuffs. Partly I just like him a lot and don't want to see the character in such a shitty situation, but also I think so much more could have been done with him during the season. To have him accept such an unhappy resolution, after spending the entire season struggling to learn the details of Kim's death, was sad and empty.
Well, there's a good chance we haven't been left hanging entirely, as far as remaining mysteries are concerned - the SciFi Channel announced Eureka's renewal for a third season, scheduled to begin sometime next summer. Yay!
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