"Eureka" Pilot (2006)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Peter O'Fallon

Writers:

Andrew Cosby (creator) &
Jaime Paglia (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Eureka" (2006)

Original Air Date:

18 July 2006 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Comedy | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

After a strange accident sidelines Eureka's sheriff, U.S. Marshal Jack Carter takes over the investigation into the mysterious phenomenon that led to the death of a resident. |

Plot Keywords:

Town Name In Title | Small Town | Place Name In Title | High Tech | Science Experiment

Cast

Colin Ferguson	...	Sheriff Jack Carter
Salli Richardson-Whitfield	...	Allison Blake
Greg Germann	...	Warren King
Jordan Hinson	...	Zoe Carter
Joe Morton	...	Henry Deacon
Erica Cerra	...	Deputy Jo Lupo
Neil Grayston	...	Douglas Fargo
Meshach Peters	...	Kevin Blake
Matt Frewer	...	Jim Taggart
Debrah Farentino	...	Beverly Barlowe
Maury Chaykin	...	Sheriff / Major William Cobb
Rob LaBelle	...	Walter Perkins
Gary Chalk	...	Colonel Briggs
Jennifer Clement	...	Susan Perkins
Shayn Solberg	...	Spencer Martin

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-14

Filming Locations:

Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

NBC Universal Television

Trivia:

Fun fact: The license plate number of Taggart's jeep has NACL as part of the license plate number. Na is the scientific symbol for the element sodium, and Cl is the scientific symbol for the element chloride, which together, NaCl, makes sodium chloride, also known as salt.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the 'bubble' hits the trailer with the boy and the dog inside, the expression on the dog changes dramatically between shots (between snarling and neutral).

Quotes:

Henry Deacon: [while giving Jack's car back] She's all yours. Try to keep her on the ground.
Marshall Jack Carter: Yeah. On the ground, huh?
Henry Deacon: [Dead serious] No, really.

Movie Connections:

References Deliverance (1972)

Eureka is a great discovery!

While watching pilots of new series, I tend to notice that writers try and cram everything into a single episode, which is why pilots are slated for an hour. Because there is a lot of exposition to discover every time a series is introduced, sometimes the story and the back story suffer in order to get everything out that you want to. Eureka has solved this, with a 2-hour pilot episode. While focusing in on the main characters and developing them for our benefit so we, as an audience can actually care about them, they also give us new snippets of information each week, or each time we see the supporting cast (Henry, Jo, Fargo), giving us something fun to watch. The writers also are keeping dark secrets about "Section 5", revealing more and more about the dark underbelly of the government research projects that the taxpayers are forking out for.

Also, the dialog is uniquely crisp. You have the tech-savvy world residents of this fictitious town and the real-world law enforcement officer forced to reside among them. What could have become your usual one-trick pony, has actually become a very well written show, with likable characters that you actually care about. It's too early to tell, but I would have to say Eureka is a hit in the making.