What I’m Watching: Warehouse 13

Warehouse 13: Season 1, Episode 5 “Elements” (C)

In this episode, our trusty agents visit New York City and come across an object that gives people the ability to walk through walls. Two very cool things, yet the episode doesn’t deliver on either count. First of all, the visit to the city isn’t interesting at all, and Artie isn’t even able to pinpoint an exact street intersection for where they’re supposed to go – all he says is “the Lower East Side” and “near the river.” Regarding the ability to walk through walls, it’s a very “X-Files”-type power, which is no surprise given that this show seems to derive much, if not almost all, of its influence from that classic series, but it doesn’t play out very well. With the exception of the evil, power-hungry villain trapping the guy behind the wall, it’s just not terribly intriguing, and while the effects are quite fancy, there’s no actual, effective suspense. I did enjoy Mika looking out her side mirror and spotting Pete tangling with the jumper, but the rest of the human interactions on this show aren’t working terribly well. When Pete puts on a voice when Mika shows up, she doesn’t even react, and the moment is lost. Artie’s trouble dealing with his new employee is to be expected, and as I noted last week in my review, it’s far too early in the show’s development stage to bring her in. She’ll likely be the victim of some accident which caused her death and Artie’s plunge into guilt and a new page in his life. This show is slated to run into the fall TV season, and once other shows start premiering on Tuesday night (like both “NCIS” and its spinoff series), I think I may well give up on this show. I may grow tired of it before that, but it’s the potential that the premise has which is encouraging me to stick around. Are you still watching?