Syfy
Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
series ''
Warehouse 13
''Warehouse 13'' is an American science fiction television series that originally ran from July 7, 2009, to May 19, 2014, on the Syfy network, and was executive produced by Jack Kenny and David Simkins for Universal Cable Productions. Described ...
''. It first aired July 7, 2009, and was written by Brent Mote,
Jane Espenson
Jane Espenson (born July 14, 1964) is an American television writer and producer.
Espenson has worked on both situation comedies and serial dramas. She had a five-year stint as a writer and producer on '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and shared ...
, and David Simkins and directed by Jace Alexander.
Plot
At a
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
museum,
Secret Service
A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...
agents Myka Bering (
Joanne Kelly
Joanne M. Kelly is a Canadian actress, known for her appearances in films such as '' Going the Distance'', and in the TV series '' Warehouse 13'' as the character Myka Bering, a Secret Service agent.
Early life and education
Joanne Kelly wa ...
) and Pete Lattimer (
Eddie McClintock
Edward Theodore McClintock (born May 27, 1967) is an American actor, best known for his role of Secret Service agent Pete Lattimer on the Syfy series '' Warehouse 13''.
Early life
McClintock was born in Canton, Ohio, and raised by his father The ...
) clash over plans for a Presidential visit; Myka is exceptionally organized, rigid, and by-the-book, while Pete is more flexible and receptive to the "vibe" of a situation. A curator cuts his finger on the crystal teeth of a carved stone head called an "Aztec Bloodstone" and is soon possessed by it. Later noticing a steady trickle of blood coming from the Bloodstone, on instinct, Pete removes it from the display. Myka dramatically thwarts the zombie-like curator's knife attack of the President (actually an attack on the Mexican Ambassador's daughter, as the "Bloodstone" craves virgin sacrifices) as Pete is confronted by a man who knows his name and disappears with the Bloodstone in a flash of light. Pete is temporarily suspended pending an investigation into his strange story, but later visited by the mysterious Mrs. Frederick (
C. C. H. Pounder
Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder (born December 25, 1952) is a Guyanese-American actress. She has received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her roles in ''The X-Files'', '' ER'', ''The Shield'', and ''The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agenc ...
), who orders him to report to particular coordinates for an extended special assignment. Arriving at a remote government warehouse in
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
, Pete finds a flummoxed Myka close behind him. They are welcomed to Warehouse 13 by Artie Nielsen (
Saul Rubinek
Saul Hersh Rubinek (born July 2, 1948) is a German-born Canadian actor, director, producer, and playwright.
He is widely known for his television roles, notably Artie Nielsen on '' Warehouse 13,'' Donny Douglas on ''Frasier'', Lon Cohen on ''A N ...
), the man who had taken the Bloodstone. Artie explains that they will be joining him as "gatherers and protectors of secrets"—specifically, empowered and potentially dangerous objects stored in the warehouse and located out in the world and need of retrieval. Pete is somewhat intrigued by what Artie calls "America's attic," while Myka feels she is "too valuable to be wasted" at such a task.
While Myka and Pete's former boss Daniel Dickenson (Simon Reynolds) is trying to figure out how to get them back, Artie sends the agents to investigate a report of domestic abuse in Seever City,
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
which he believes may be connected to an item. The agents meet University of Southern Iowa law student Cody Thomas, being held for assaulting his girlfriend; during questioning, Cody begins speaking 15th century
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
and flies into a rage. The Renaissance professor who translates his words is driven to suicide, and Cody's godmother and lawyer, Lorna Solliday (
Sherry Miller
Sherry Miller is a Canadian actress best known for her role as Jane on the CTV drama ''E.N.G.'' (1990), as Jennifer Taylor on the Showtime drama '' Queer As Folk'' (2000–2005), and as Dorothy O'Sullivan on the Global teen drama ''The Best Ye ...
), reveals Cody's girlfriend, Emily, as the reason. Myka and Pete see a jeweled
comb
A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...
on Lorna, who suddenly tries to kill them. An unconscious Myka sees a vision of her deceased lover Sam Martino (
Gabriel Hogan
Gabriel Hogan (born 17 May 1973) is a Canadian-born American actor. He is best known for his continuing role on the hit cable television firefighter comedy series ''Tacoma FD'', CBC/Up TV/Netflix’s ''Heartland'' and the drama ''Condor''.
...
) before she awakens. Artie determines that the comb had once been owned by Italian schemer
Lucretia Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Govern ...
, and possesses "twisted desires" which will drive everyone around it to violence. Myka and Pete manage to stop Lorna and retrieve the comb. After meeting Mrs. Frederick, Dickenson gives Myka a choice: she can stay in South Dakota or return to Washington, but Pete must stay at Warehouse 13 either way. Myka stays.
Artifacts
* Aztec Bloodstone - used in human sacrifices. The museum worker affected by the Bloodstone took a ceremonial Aztec knife and attacked the Mexican Ambassador's daughter, who he was somehow able to identify as a virgin.
* Tesla - a polyphase electrical stun gun invented by
Philo Farnsworth
Philo Taylor Farnsworth (August 19, 1906 – March 11, 1971) was an American inventor and television pioneer. He made many crucial contributions to the early development of all-electronic television. He is best known for his 1927 invention of t ...
. It's relatively flat, with several knobs to select communication frequencies and a round, black and white screen. In a later episode, Artie mentions that they have their frequency, which cannot be hacked. Standard issue for Warehouse Agents, seen in multiple episodes.
* American
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
- when thrown, it circles the earth and returns to the place it was thrown, seen in multiple episodes. Its artifact nature is explained in the season 4 premiere, "A New Hope".
* Wand - unknown effect. Artie uses it to "fix the fish."
*
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...
's Bio-Electric Vehicle - created as a prototype for
Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...
, but he chose to forego the electric car in favor of the
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...
. If two people hold onto the bar on the front of the vehicle, their bodies' electricity powers the car.
*
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...
's Wallet - Possesses the power of "charonic transfer," allowing the bearer to see and hear visions of dead people. Causes Myka to see her deceased partner, Sam Martino. According to the tag on the shelf, the wallet was obtained three days after Houdini's death.
* Tea kettle - The kettle can move around unnoticed; it sneaks into Pete's hand while Artie explains the Warehouse's function. The kettle grants wishes, but if someone makes a wish that cannot be granted, the kettle produces a ferret instead; nobody knows why it does this.
*
Mayan Calendar
The Maya calendar is a system of calendars used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and in many modern communities in the Guatemalan highlands, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico.
The essentials of the Maya calendar are based upon a system which had ...
- Artie states that two Warehouse Agents had their "clocks stopped" with this artifact, implying that they're still alive but wish they won't be in a hundred years. Not shown but mentioned.
*
Lucrezia Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Govern ...
's comb - transmits the famous Italian murderess's mindset through the crystals in the comb. It also gives the bearer the ability to control others' actions, using an Italian phrase as a phonetic trigger.
*
Pandora's Box
Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's c. 700 B.C. poem ''Works and Days''. Hesiod reported that curiosity led her to open a container left in the care of her husband, thus releasing phys ...
- Artie briefly mentions that Pandora's box is kept (empty) in Aisle 989-B of Warehouse 13.
Production
"Pilot" marked the first series debut after SyFy changed its name from The Sci Fi Channel. "Pilot" was produced by Universal Cable Productions. Development of the series began in 2005, and a number of people worked on the pilot, with multiple versions of the script, before a version credited to Mote, Espenson and Simkins was ordered in October 2007. The pilot for ''Warehouse 13'' was Eddie McClintock's 10th pilot. The previous nine were unsuccessful. ''Warehouse 13'' is the first series where McClintock has received top billing, although he was the lead in two unsuccessful pilots.
Showrunner
A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
Jack Kenny feels that roles are partially defined by their actor, and that writer Simkins "in crafting the pilot, I think really made it a nice fit for Jo and Eddie to slip into these parts and Saul as well."
The opening museum scenes were shot at the
Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
.
Reception
"Pilot" was the most-watched cable show on its night, with 3.5 million viewers. This earned Syfy its third best premiere, after ''
Stargate Atlantis
''Stargate Atlantis'' (usually stylized in all caps and often abbreviated ''SGA'') is an adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's ''Stargate'' franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper ...
'' and ''
Eureka
Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...
''. Joanne Ostrow of ''
The Denver Post
''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...
'' described it as "''X-Files'' light, with the bickering Scully and Mulder stand-ins going off on ''Indiana Jones''-style adventures."
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
reviewer Ramsey Isler gave "Pilot" a positive review, but felt that it wasn't enough to give "SyFy a chance to once again boast the best sci-fi show on TV."
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
gave it a negative review, describing it as an "unholy cross between ''
The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...
'', ''
Bones
A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...
'', and ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark
''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...
''." Carlos Delgado of iFMagazine.com gave the episode a "B". He liked the premise, but felt that two hours was too long, saying "smart editing could have trimmed to show to at least an hour and a half, maybe even an hour." Randee Dawn of
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
felt that the "by-the-numbers hate/bonding ritual" between the lead characters in "Pilot" was weak, saying they are "no
Mulder Mulder is a surname of two possible origins: Dutch and German.
It may be Dutch language occupational surname. It is an archaic Dutch word for "miller" (modern Dutch: '' molenaar''). With 38,207 people in the Netherlands named Mulder, it was the 12 ...
Wired
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...
'' listed ten things that parents should consider when watching "Pilot" with their children: Language, which included "screwing off” and “what the hell." Violence, including fisticuffs, guns, and "a pretty tame immolation and crispy corpse." "One genuine moment of heart-race goosebumps." A brief scene involving a semi-nude woman in bed. That the show was unrealistic and parallelled to other television shows and movies, and other observations that he and his daughter made. Amy Amatangelo of Zap2it singled out the character Pete's line "I’m trained to take a bullet if necessary, but I’m not sure how to stop a dead Italian cougar" as one of her quotes of the week.
Jason Hughes of
TV Squad
Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could be ...
enjoyed two mysteries that "Pilot" sets up, but does not explain: why "CCH Pounder's Mrs. Frederic may be much older than she appears", and that the character Leena may be Mrs. Frederic's daughter. John Dugan of ''
Time Out New York
''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide.
In 2012, the London edition becam ...
'' felt the episode was "ultimately slightly less than satisfying."
Warehouse 13
''Warehouse 13'' is an American science fiction television series that originally ran from July 7, 2009, to May 19, 2014, on the Syfy network, and was executive produced by Jack Kenny and David Simkins for Universal Cable Productions. Described ...