"Warehouse 13": Has Anyone Seen The New Guy?

Previously, on Warehouse 13...

The hit Syfy show began a story arc that saw Warehouse Agent Pete discover that his mother Jane (guest star Kate Mulgrew) was a Warehouse Regent. What's the difference between an Agent and a Regent? Well, If I'm an AE Agent, then Michael Jensen and Dennis Ayers are AE Regents.

So anyway, the Regents have pissed off so many people countless times, that someone is trying to dispatch them in hideous, albeit creative ways.

The Warehouse Regents, that is.

Meanwhile, new (and adorable) Agent Steve Jinks (Aaron Ashmore) doesn't agree with the "enhanced interrogation" techniques that Regent Mrs. Frederic is using against Regent killer Sally, and requests that she stop ... by drawing his gun on her.

Sally escapes (only to be killed later by the shadowy Sasha Roiz), and Mrs. Frederic fires Steve, who says a tearful farewell to BFF Agent Claudia.

And tonight's episode ... "Groping For Clues"

"A-Ha! This could prove useful!"

Storyline "A"

Pete is furious that his mother kept her Regent identity secret from him all these years, and while the two of them act out their "You betrayed me/I did it all for you" drama, Mrs. Frederic doesn't have the patience for this, dammit! They need to get to the bottom of who's been killing the regents, and the answer may be locked in Jane's subconscious. But how to get to it?

Tuvok! Unfortunately, Vulcan mind melds are a bit pricey in this economy, so they have to settle for an artifact. Mrs. Frederic has learned that the killings are traced back to a company titled "A to Z Technologies," which rings a faint bell for Jane, and the solution is to travel back into Jane's memories and observe them, and hope they provide a clue.

Of course there's always a danger in using an artifact, and in this case, there's a chance Jane could get lost in her own memories, and become trapped there forever. Thankfully, Pete volunteers to travel back with her, in order to pull her out if necessary.

This week's main artifact is ... bronze baby shoes?

So Jane and Pete travel back into her memories, to when "A to Z Technologies" first took root in her mind. Unfortunately, it happened to be the same day of Pete's dad's funeral.

As Jane and Pete bounce around in time, we get lots of scenes of Pete waxing nostalgic and observing poignant conversations with his dad. Jane is also able to figure out that "A to Z Technologies" comes from a disabled neighborhood kid named Walter Sykes, who always wore an "Aztecs" cap. Aztecs = "A to Z Technologies." He somehow got a hold of Adventure of Pinocchio writer Carlo Collodi's bracelet, which was made of marionette strings. It enabled Walter to walk, but it filled his soul with ... PURE EVIL!

The young Jane retrieved the artifact from Walter, which caused him to lose his ability to walk, and set in motion this lifelong revenge plot.

So what worked, and what didn't work in storyline "A?"

I loved the Pete/Jane dynamic, and it's always a blast seeing Kate Mulgrew in anything. The trip back in time was handled well, with an adequate amount of sentiment, and the revelation about the Pinocchio bracelet was ... well, it's Warehouse 13.

What I don't think worked was the actress who played the young Jane, who looked (and sounded) nothing at all like Kate Mulgrew, to the point of distraction. They could have at least made her smoke a pack of Marlboros before she spoke, or imperiously put her hands on her hips a few times.

I love the concept, though, and I'd give anything to have an episode where the actors go back in time to observe their younger selves. It might look something like this ...

All in all, I enjoyed this week's main story.

Next page - I wish I could say the same for Storyline "B"