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Eureka Season 4 Episode 11

Liftoff

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Aired Monday 9:00 PM Jul 11, 2011 on Syfy

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AIRED: 7/11/11

Zane pesters Jo for details she does not want to reveal. Carter problem-solves at Andy and S.A.R.A.H.'s wedding. Elsewhere, Zane's actions make him and Fargo unexpectedly airborne.

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Fan Episode Reviews (3)

Relationship Alert!!! - written all over the episode.

5.5

By bobbybobster, Nov 12, 2011

I cannot believe I just made an account on TV.com only to reply to Carycomic's post. And I must apologise that my review will be like a rant through to the end. I enjoyed many of the old school sci fi (yes, not SyFy) shows such as the Star Trek franchise. You know what was good about them? They were concentrating an intricate plot about some science fiction gadget or weird and out of this world anomaly. After all it is science fiction. No relationship cr*p in them, that is not science fiction. That is real world. It is unbelievable how many people have issues in their real lives and look for shows that concentrate on this with the hope to find an answer there for their problems. Alas it is just a show with many variables tweaked just so the plot can fit together and is totally not applicable to real life. And from then once the writers slip and make one episode with touchy feely stuff in it (completely forgetting the show is called Eureka! - as in 'TaDa I found something cool', and on top is on SyFy), all the viewers with personal life burdens raise the ratings and ruin it for the rest of us. I liked the show in the beginning. It was about GD, Jack and lots of cool physics discoveries, it really rocked my boat. It took 3 seasons for the writers to ruin it. Now it is about Jack+Alison, Zane+Lupo, Henry+his newly discovered wife, SARAH and Deputy, AAAAAAAAhh. Aaaaand maybe sometimes (if they feel like it) throw something sciency in there just for kicks. And it took only two seasons for the sister show Warehouse 13 to go downhill as well, which I am not going to discuss here because it is Eureka review. But you can see the model I am following and make some deductions yourselves. Now I know about character development and growth and I absolutely agree that if they make 5+ seasons like the first one it will get boring, and even I will lose interest, but for crying out loud don't develop every show into the relationships direction. There are so many other ways to go. Take Star Trek - excellent show, no accent on relationships (maybe last season of Voyager only). Take X-Files - also superb show, no relationships, one of the few that made it to S08 (Stargate excluded). Take Battlestar Galactica - absolutely amazing, the dog's dangles!, no relationships (at least not the clingy loving fake way). Take Death Note - not very popular within the English-speaking part of the world, but also amazing. And now every way I turn: Relationship Alert. So no it is not cool what is happening between Jack and Alison, the emphasis on this should not have been. Ever.moreless
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The sub-plot, in which Carter and Alison unintentionally question their faith in each other, is more interesting than the main story line.

9.5

By Carycomic, Oct 09, 2011

Carter: "You've always trusted my hunches, before." Alison: "I know. But, this time, you didn't give me time to trust you." Uhm; hello! Earth to Alison? The time wasn't his to give! It was literally either do or (Zane and Fargo) die. And, quite frankly? The pay-off on all his previous hunches, during earlier crises, should have _earned_ Carter your trust at that exact crucial moment. Or, failing that, your blind faith, at least. Pardon me, for the partial rant. But, if there's one thing that sets me off it's people (even fictional ones) using the words "faith" and "trust," too interchangeably. As if they were synonymous...which they are not! No more so than "courtesy" and "respect." Trust, like, respect has to be earned by everyone before being given to anyone. Whereas, faith--like courtesy--is offered automatically (if not unconditionally); hence, the adjective "blind." I realize that this new stage in Carter and Alison's relationship is fragile. But, if it's going to become stronger, they have to extend each other a little more faith. Because, doing that--and having that faith rewarded rather than betrayed--is the _best_ way to earn each other's trust. And, to be honest? I've never been able to summon that kind of faith. So, most people would probably opine that I'm all the poorer for it. Such being the case; Carter? Alison? Do as I say, not as I do. And, perhaps, by the end of Season 3, you'll delight me, and all the rest of your loyal viewers, by saying "I do" to each other!moreless
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Liftoff...

7.0

By AjMc91, Jul 13, 2011

Ten months after its last regularly scheduled episode and seven since its christmas special, Eureka finally returned to our screens on Monday following a gargantuan mid-season break. "Liftoff" ignored all acknowledgement of the passage of time in the real world, continuing to develop last year's story line as if it were 2010 again. The episode picked up - after a "previously on" reminded us all where we left off time travel wise - with a wedding about to take place. Cleverly making it seem like Jack and Alison were taking a big step (also indicating the passage of time that sadly hadn't past), the wedding was actually between deputy Andy and S.A.R.A.H - the first A.I wedding in Eureka's history. Although it seemed like it may be leading somewhere crucial to the episode at first, when the wedding was called off, I questioned the purpose of the entirety of the cold-open.

It didn't take long after for the disaster of the week to come about, when Fargo managed to accidently launch himself and Zane into space in relic of the Mercury era. With no use of the usual on board systems, the two had a very limited window to save themselves before they ran out of oxygen. It wouldn't be a Eureka disaster without some additional challenges though, so for good measure, the only device that could save the accidental astronauts was missing a key component and caused a massive pulse that knocked out almost all electronics for miles. Unsurprisingly, Jack and Henry get their heads together to think of a conveniently possible but barely plausible work around for their current set of circumstances, and set to work on gathering themselves a new power source for the device. After getting a message up to the barely function spacecraft on the plan, the day is naturally saved and everything goes back to normal. Well, almost. In the face of almost certain death, Fargo spilled to Zane about the time travel incident that altered the future of the universe. Now aware that he and Jo used to be together, Zane seems to be subtly eager to work his way back on her good side. The episode rounded out with Jack and Alison coming closer together after butting heads during the day and Fargo being brought before an oversight committee in charge of Eureka's budget.

For a return to the small screen after such a passage of time, I was expecting big things for Eureka. Given the phenomenal start to the fourth season, I was fully prepared to be immersed back into the complexities of time traveling, alas, that was not the case. "Liftoff" was perfectly acceptable TV, but was at its core just a completely standard episode of Eureka. Whilst Zane's new knowledge and the oversight committee will obviously have longer term consequences for the show, there was no significant new plot thread laid out that will take away the procedural feel to the back ten of the show's fourth season. I'm sure that there are bigger things to come in the remaining episodes, but after such a long wait for new material, haste would be appreciated.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Salli Richardson-Whitfield	Allison Blake
Joe Morton	Henry Deacon
Erica Cerra	Jo Lupo
Neil Grayston	Douglas Fargo
Niall Matter	Zane Donovan
Colin Ferguson	Jack Carter

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Debbie Timuss	Officer	Guest Star
Tembi Locke	Dr. Grace Monroe	Recurring Role
Chris Gauthier	Vincent	Recurring Role
Christopher Jacot	Larry Haberman	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)
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- The interceptor missile launch at 12:28 is U.S. Army footage of a Pershing 1A missile launch.
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QUOTES (3)
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- Fargo: I scraped the ISS. Now they're never gonna let me be an astronaut.
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- Carter: Great. We'll grab the IEG, plug it into the BCE, and everything will be A-okay.
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- Jo: Called it off? If two machines can't make it work, what hope do the rest of us have?
  Fargo: I'm just glad she finally came to her senses.
  Jo: Really? I thought everyone in this place was dying to study a happy little computer couple.
  Fargo: S.A.R.A.H.'S just a machine to these people. As the father of the bride... well, the programmer of the bride... Everything happened just too fast for me.
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NOTES (3)
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- International Episode Titles:
  Czech Republic "Start"
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- Original International Air Dates:
  United Kingdom August 9, 2011 on Syfy
  Sweden September 10, 2011 on TV6
  Canada October 7, 2011 on SPACE
  Czech Republic October 30, 2011 on Prima COOL
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- Special Thanks: NASA
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ALLUSIONS (2)
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- When Douglas Fargo and Zane Donovan are about to initiate the FTL (faster than light) drive, Zane says, "On your order, Captain," and Fargo says "Engage." This is the term Jean-Luc Picard used throughout the seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation to order the helm to initiate the Warp (FTL) drive of the starship Enterprise.
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- Grace Monroe: How will you get down there?
  Jo: I'm making this up as I go along.
  The scene on horseback is a clear reference to the 1981 Steven Spielberg film Raiders of the Lost Ark in which Indy (Harrison Ford) says the same thing to Sallah (John Rhys-Davies).
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