Pete, Myka, and Artie find themselves acting very unlike themselves on the “Merge with Caution” episode of WAREHOUSE 13. After chasing a jewel thief through a warehouse, Pete and Myka find a security guard who tells them where the thief went, but they lose him anyway. They do snag a griffin artifact, though, so they leave for their weekend off–Myka at a high school reunion, Pete in his bed with Kelly, unaware the griffin had worked some juju on them. They soon switch bodies only to eventually share a single body. Leena comes out of cold storage to save the day with some quick research. Back at the lab, Claudia learns that executives at an insurance agency have suddenly started giving a lot of money to free health clinics, so she and Artie head to Connecticut, where they find a woman named Lauren meeting with the executives in a bar and using Mata Hari’s stockings to seduce them into giving up their cash.
What a fun episode! The Pete-Myka switcheroo is hilarious. Of course Pete would touch Myka’s breasts and I love his “Dude, I wasn’t this much fun until tonight” and Three Stooges impression. Joanne Kelly is spot on in her stumbling Pete impression, and Eddie McClintock is no slouch, either. “Don’t forget to sit down and don’t touch anything!” Interesting artifact, too. I love that the griffin is actually one half of a lion and eagle bookends set and it`s a nice effect when they have the Myka-Pete body switching as they try to swap the heads. Very creative, especially since they’re from Robert Louis Stevenson. The exploding tub guy is gross, and I can’t help but wonder how you explain that to housekeeping,
We have a Leena sighting. It’s about time because I had almost forgotten what she looks like. The original can of worms and red herrings references are so bad they’re great, and she saves the day by finding the picture of Robert Louis Stevenson, but she seems so subdued. Where is her spark? Is she still suffering from a MacPherson shadow? The writers need to find more for her to do.
Artie and Claudia’s case is another fun one with lovesick Artie writing awful poetry for Lauren and knowing 23 ways to escape from his handcuffs. Even charmed, he’s still Artie, after all. The protective measures Artie took seemed so thorough, too, but who can escape the charms of Mata Hari’s stockings when they’re worn by Daisy Adair? (moment of silence for Dead Like Me) Claudia, while still awkward, is full of awesome as she stays focused on the job and protecting Artie. I wonder how many of the nine escape methods she found after Artie left her handcuffed. Love Lauren’s “I need to go see John Donnelly at the hospital. I hope he doesn’t have his company’s insurance.”
This is a zany, screw-ball comedy type episode that works mostly because the cast is so fearless and likeable. They just seem to have so much fun that it’s infectious. Warehouse 13 is just humming along this season and I love how much the show is experimenting and playing with its formula. Oh, and H. G. Wells is back next week.
What did you think of Warehouse 13′s take on the classic body switching plot? Is Claudia better in the warehouse or the field? Let me know in the comments.
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