Accidental Innuendo: Pete invites Claudia, Myka, and Leena to watch movies with him in his room and mentions his big flat screen TV. He also happens to be in his pajamas.
Anticlimax Boss: Paracelsus was built up as being the most dangerous threat the Warehouse has ever faced, a rogue Caretaker with incredible powers, extensive knowledge of how to use Artifacts in combination to unlock new abilities, and zero ethical concerns. Unfortunately, due to the final season being cut short, his fate was wrapped up disappointingly quick in the first episode.
Ass Pull: A number of points in the final season, as well as Season 4's final few episodes leading up to it. Notably, Claudia having a sister who was effected by an artifact that Artie dealt with (which needlessly convolutes her backstory), Myka and Pete being 'in love', Artie's son, Claudia no longer wanting to be Caretaker (which seems to get resolved off-screen).
The use of "The Ritual" from "Amok Time" played during the climactic battle in "Don't Hate The Player".
"Running Up That Hill (Deal With God) by Track and Field, during the scene where we discover that Steve is really working for the Warehouse, and is subsequently killed by Sykes for no good reason at all.
"Lost & Found" through "Endless Terror": Paracelsus is an alchemist born in the 16th Century who desired immortality and tested his experimental Philosopher's Stone on his brother's own family to see the results despite knowing the danger. In an effort to achieve immortality, he was responsible for the destruction of a whole village, claiming "sacrifices must be made". Paracelsus was frozen in bronze for centuries until being awoken in 2013 when his brother's family was tired of their immortality and wanted him to remove it. Out of spite, Paracelsus decides to murder his brother's son in front of him, instead killing his brother's wife. Escaping, Paracelsus went around to hospitals to cure people, but later drained all of them of life to fuel his immortality. Using time travel, Paracelsus crafts a Bad Future with him in charge, allowing him to experiment on countless innocents in his unfettered quest for scientific knowledge.
"Endless Terror" & "Cangku Shisi": Alternate Benedict Valda is Paracelsus's Number Two in the Alternate Timeline and readily takes part in the experimentation of innocent people, at one point trying to have the same done to Artie. Valda, surviving the destruction of his timeline, concocts a plan to remake the Warehouse to his way of thinking; to this end, he makes a deal with the Chinese government to relocate the Warehouse there in exchange for giving them artifacts to use as weapons. Kidnapping Claudia's sister Claire to be his new caretaker, Valda uses an Artifact to control her, painfully torturing her when she doesn't obey. Valda later demonstrates the destructive power of the artifacts, by trying to kill a park full of people slowly and painfully. When the Warehouse agents try to stop him, Valda thanks them for destroying his reality, before ordering Claire to kill them, including her own sister, slowly.
Draco in Leather Pants: H. G. Wells is a frequent target of fangirls who forgive her more unsavory actions as far back as her debut, due to her natural charm, tragic backstory, and good looks. In her debut season, she kills one of her allies, manipulates Myka into trusting her, leaves a lawyer in a boiling pit of tar, gives Pete's girlfriend an object that forces her to almost kill him, and tries to start a second ice age by activating a supervolcano. While she does eventually join the good guys, some fans portrayed her as one even when she was advocating for the extinction of the human race.
Evil Is Cool: McPherson, H.G. Wells, and Paracelsus.
Fan-Preferred Couple: Season 2 introduces a still alive (and female version of) H. G. Wells and then precedes to have her form a close bond with Myka Bering. This almost instantly had fans shipping them to a great degree, with it becoming the fandom's most popular ship, mainly due to the chemistry between their actresses (who later admitted they intentionally played the two as attracted to each other). However, in the final season, HG is dating someone else and Myka is paired with Pete out of nowhere. Despite this, Bering and Wells remain the most popular pairing in the fandom to this day.
H.G. Wells becoming a Regent is a mainstay of fanfiction that takes place at least partially after the end of the show.
You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks Myka's favorite book is anything other than The Time Machine.
Fanon Discontinuity: Season 5 is so widely ignored that fanfiction authors don't feel the need to specify that they're going AU after season 4.
The Firefly Effect: Leena got hit by the character (as opposed to series) subtype of this.
Fridge Logic: In the finale episode of season 3, why didn't HG just put the force field around the bomb when it was clearly stated it can contain the blast?
One of the producers said on Twitter that H.G. couldn't have known if the force field would hold when it was directly over the bomb. When you think of it that way, a blast that big in that confined of an area probably wouldn't be a good idea.
Indeed, it stands to reason and simple physics that containing the blast would have been more taxing on the shield and rapidly used up the power, whist allowing the blast to dissipate outwards (destroying the Warehouse in the process) would have meant less of the explosion would have been directed towards those within the shield, keeping it running for long enough for them to survive.
In "Secret Santa", Claudia offhandedly asks how many piano tuners there could be in the Philadelphia area. This is a reference to the archetypical example of a Fermi problem, a form of estimation based on multiplying estimates to obtain a close approximation of an otherwise incomputible answer. The classic Fermi problem is 'How many piano tuners are there in Chicago?'.
On many occasions, it is possible to deduce what the Artifact is before it is shown if you have enough knowledge about its history.
"The Greatest Gift", which drags Pete into an It's a Wonderful Plot, has the plot kicked off by him making contact with an upholstery brush owned by Philip Van Doren Stern; while the connection between the person who owned the artifact and the plot is explained, the item is a tad random unless you've actually read Van Doren Stern's "The Greatest Gift", in which the basis for Clarence the Angel tells George to say he's a brush salesman as a cover story.
He Really Can Act: Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly are both fairly competent as Pete and Myka respectively, but upon switching bodies in an episode where Voices Are Not Mental, they nail the mannerisms of their opposites.
Hilarious in Hindsight: We've seen Brent Spiner as the enemy of rare-artifact-keeper Saul Rubinek before, though who's the good guy and who's the bad guy is flipped.
Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Myka Berring and Helena "H.G." Wells have both been shipped with almost every other character from the show. The most popular is pairing them together, but they have each been shipped with Pete (which became canon for Myka), Claudia, Leena, Sam, Abigail and Emily Lake (H.G. with none of her memories), as well as OT3 pairings that have paired both of them with Claudia and Pete. There has also been crossover fanfiction that paired them with characters from other shows. Helena has been paired with Regina Mills from Once Upon a Time and Helen Magnus from Sanctuary, just to name a few. Myka has been paired with Adelle DeWitt from Dollhouse, Stahma Tarr from Defiance, Olivia Dunham from Fringe, and Wynonna Earp from Wynonna Earp.
Les Yay: Between Myka and HG Wells. Pete even comments that it's like having two Mykas around. Confirmed by the actresses that they were playing it a little bit like they 'were in love'.
Myka quitting at the end of season 2. Sorry, Warehouse 13, we've done this dance before with Eureka. You're not going to do it. In the first episode of season 3, she comes back at the end, after helping out with the investigation which just happens to feature a Myka Plot Tailored to the Party. Her apparant replacement, Steve Jinks, gets to stay though.
Ok, Syfy. You killed Artie in the first season finale, but you brought him back to life with the Phoenix. You sent Myka away in the second season finale, but you arranged for her to come back in the next episode. Now you are asking us to believe that you killed an agent, HG Wells, and Mrs. Frederic, and in addition destroyed the very thing that the show is named after? Sorry, but we don't buy it.
Helena G. Wells is the world renowned scientific mind H. G. Wells and a former agent of Warehouse 12, who invented her time machine to try to save her daughter, before voluntarily being bronzed. Awoken by James MacPherson in the present, the two team up to steal her items from the Escher Vault. Wells successfully tricks Pete and Myka into activating a trap, while she escapes with the Imperceptor Vest, before stealing back her items and killing MacPherson. Deciding that the modern world is worse than the one she left behind, Wells ends up joining Warehouse 13, while secretly siphoning funds from it to pay some teenagers to find the lost Warehouse 2, knowing that they would die. Stealing a part of the Minoan Trident, Wells plans to use the trident to start a second Ice Age, eventually being talked down by Myka and accepting her arrest. Forced to reunite with her body by Walter Sykes, Wells solves the Ancient Regent Sanctum's chess puzzle, before sacrificing her life to shield the others from Sykes' bomb. After reviving from death, she returns several times to help the heroes afterward. Wells eventually parts ways with Myka, promising to meet up for coffee afterwards.
Season 4A: "Brother Adrian", aka "Evil Artie", is, in reality, an evil alternate personality of Artie caused by using Ferdinand Magellan's Astrolabe, who seeks to use it again. To this end, he traps the real Brother Adrian in a painting, leads the heroes on a wild goose chase to keep them distracted, and sends dangerous artifacts to their loved ones before being revealed. Once the truth is discovered, Evil Artie decides to use the Chinese Orchid to force the heroes to hand over the Astrolabe. When detained in Budapest, Evil Artie escapes by stopping time. Staying one step ahead of the heroes, and coming close to succeeding, Evil Artie knew exactly how to get under the Warehouse 13 gang's skin like no other enemy they faced.
Season 4B: Bennet Sutton was once a 16th century noble, who along with his family, was made immortal by his vile brother, the alchemist Paraceslus. Disgusted at his brother's crimes, Bennet secretly sold him out to the Warehouse 9 agents and stopped his crimes. Becoming a charming Con Man and thief, Bennet would play various cons and even impress Marie Antoinette as the Count of St. Germain. Playing the Honey Trap con, Bennet would seduce and become engaged to a rich noblewoman before stealing all of her jewels during their engagement party. In the present, Bennet masquerades as a professor with knowledge of the Count and aids the Warehouse 13 agents well, secretly playing them into getting the priceless jewel of Marie Antoinette, even faking his death to throw them off. Bennet also aids the agents in stopping his monstrous brother and ultimately shows his softer side by going in peace with his son to build a better life.
Some fans think this about H. G. after she tried to destroy the entire human race by starting another ice age.
Just in case Sykes' casual disposal of his henchmen wasn't this, his murder of Steve Jinks sure was.
Paracelsus making himself and his family immortal by sacrificing 600 people to make his Philosopher's Stone, all in the name of some bastardized idea of scientific progress.
Alternate Valda mind-controlling Claudia's sister for his Evil Plan then using her to send a dozen innocent people into a coma.
Narm: "I'm the Epic Fail!" said by Claudia while wangsting about her guilt over her lost brother.
The CGI of the show's earlier seasons, particularly whenever they show them near fire. It's...distractingly bad.
Claudia and Claire bond over..."When I Grow Up" by Garbage. It works, somehow, though.
"Savage Seduction" has the crew pulled into a Telenovela, which is just as melodramatic as you would expect. It's glorious.
Nightmare Fuel: Dark Vault artifacts are friggin' messed up. Fun examples include the creepy shifting clown painting, the phone screaming "PICK UP! PICK UP!" and the baby doll that grows fangs when you get too close to it.
Paranoia Fuel: Is that classic book you're reading fiction, or is it inspired by a very real and very evil person that lived at the time?
And this could even lead to possible Fridge Horror moments when one considers how some of these artifacts were used. Obviously, P.T. Barnum really was a total Jerkass and in it for the money when he used an artifact (that could enlarge body parts and internal organs) to make freaks out of normal people...
Though considering we see how (some) artifacts are created, it may be that in some cases, even the horrific ones, the use of them was unintentional and un (or sub) conscious. So jerkasses they might have been but they might not have been so callous as to mistreat others.
Portmanteau Couple Name: The popular Myka Bering and Helena "H.G." Wells pairing are commonly referred to as "Bering & Wells" by their shippers. This is referenced In-Universe in a season 3 episode by the characters. There is also "Pyka" for Pete/Myka and "Cleena" for Claudia/Leena.
Larry 'Noodle' Newley from the Christmas special is also played by a pre-ArrowPaul Blackthorne (Quentin Lance).
Simu Liu has a bit part as a bartender in "Secret Service", long before he was Jung Kim or Shang-Chi.
Romantic Plot Tumor: The forced "Pete and Myka are suddenly in love" story in an already brief final season was met quite negatively.
Seasonal Rot: Season 5 isn't held in very high regard with the fandom, thanks to being only six episodes long, not having a very engaging storyline (which had the effect of making Claudia's backstory needlessly convoluted), rendering Myka's cancer storyline from the previous season totally meaningless and forcing Pete and Myka together at the last minute. Even the showrunners weren't happy with how things turned out, as Executive Meddling forced their hand on many of the issues mentioned.
Shocking Moments: Pretty much all of the game-changing season finales or mid-season cliffhangers count as this, but the end of season three has to take the cake for the ultimate Gut Punch, since in quick succession Steve is killed, the Warehouse is destroyed by Sykes's bomb which also kills H.G. Wells and Mrs. Frederic, the destruction of Pandora's Box and hope causes the world to descend into chaos, and then the race to find Magellan's astrolabe results in Claudia being trapped in a cave-in, Myka's arrest by French police, and Pete's death. The middle of the fourth season has less immediate personal stakes for the viewer, but still includes Leena's death, Artie going evil thanks to the astrolabe, and the release of the orchid plague to kill half the world's population. The end of the season with the reveal of Myka's cancer and Paracelsus taking over the Warehouse is also rather stunning.
Spiritual Adaptation: This just may be the best SCP Foundation TV series we're ever going to get. Complete with a more lighthearted tone and absolutely no world-ending unstoppable monsters or Lovecraftian deities for those who think the Foundation's stories can get way too grim for their liking.
Squick: In "Vendetta," a set of chains used in the people-stretching racks employed by the Spanish Inquisition has the power to replicate those effects when stretched taut. The viewer gets treated to a surprisingly graphic scene where Dickinson is killed with it, complete with bone-cracking noises as his fingers and legs contort to unnatural angles.
Also how they wrote H.G. off the show — despite her and Myka being a Fan-Preferred Couple for a large number of fans, she gets shipped off to a marriage in suburbia, hitched to a guy we've never heard of before. They do mention in the finale that her and the boyfriend broke up and that she's now dating an unidentified woman though.
Strawman Has a Point: When Paracelsus changed history, Steve acknowledged in a rather neutral way that his devotion to science had led to some improvements (not endorsing it, merely observing that objectively technology was more advanced). Myka and Pete then argued with what amounted to "what about the time he killed all those people". Steve conceded they were right so we had all three characters in agreement. This was in spite of the fact that their argument had nothing to do with whether his statement was correct or not and that, whether the cost was justified or not, there were improvements just as he'd said.
Tear Jerker: Claudia's reaction to Steve Jinks' death.
H.G. Wells death, especially "I smell apples".
Leena's death. Although really it's everything leading up to and surrounding it—the moment when she almost walks away, the look on her face when she turns back to Artie anyway, her face and voice when she stares into his eyes and whispers, "Who are you?", Pete's vibe reaction, Myka's reaction when she finds her—and all the fallout which happens over the next several episodes as everyone deals with it, especially Artie. She may not have gotten all the character development and usage she deserved, but damn if the show creators didn't make you feel just how important she was to the main characters.
Steve's reconciliation with his mother, and his breakdown over the fact he still can't come to terms with his sister's death, or get past his anger at her killer. Damn, Aaron Ashmore can make you cry.
Rebecca and Jack's First Kiss(also last in context, on her part). The wistful piano tune (which also replaces the usual ending credits music for that episode) really hammers it home.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Leena. Sadly, she has had the least character development of any of the characters and her backstory hasn't been explored at all. She was supposed to have a bigger role but as noted above the character variant of The Firefly Effect struck.
All three series have their own Story Arcs that have far-reaching consequences, which could've had interesting effects on each other's arcs. They're rarely, if ever, mentioned.
The first two seasons of EUReKA centered around an enigmatic, powerful object known only as "The Artifact" and a Nebulous Evil Organization that wanted to control it. What does the crossover with EUReKA center around? Fargo traveling to South Dakota to upgrade the Warehouse's computers, and afterwards Claudia visiting Eureka to study Global Dynamics' technology. This raises several questions...
At least Fargo's visit to the Warehouse was a thematic crossover, involving a fusion of futuristic technology with artifact magic. Claudia's visit to Eureka was basically pointless. The crisis does not involve an artifact going out of control, she doesn't use any artifacts to save the day, and there's really no point to her being there at all, other than some amusing sexual chemistry between her and Fargo...which is left dangling anyway since she never appears again. They could have replaced her character with some random old girlfriend of Fargo's that we've never seen before and nothing would change. Fargo dismisses Claudia's suggestion that an artifact could be responsible for the trouble stating that "everything in Eureka can be explained with science". This makes absolutely no sense as he has personally witnessed artifacts working and there is absolutely no reason one couldn't end up in Eureka.
The finale presents us with several scenarios where each one of the agents proved themselves (Claudia stopping an invasion of tap dancers, Myka going undercover in a Desperate Housewives-like suburbia and fighting ninjas, Steve, HG, and Claudia saving Artie from a tiny clock in his heart, etc)...but we only see flashbacks to their resolutions. While it at least avoided being just a clipshow or anything, it was somewhat grating considering how each one could have made for an interesting episode. In particular, when one realizes that in Steve's case, it's the only time him and HG actually come close to interacting.
The revelation that Pete's mom is a Regent shows that the Lattimer family is more deeply entwined in the Warehouse's mysteries than we knew. We never see how this has impacted Pete's older sister, who never even gets an on-screen appearance in the present.
Unnecessary Makeover: In "Age Before Beauty", Myka gets a makeover to act as an Undercover Model, though this was hardly necessary, as Joanne Kelly is plenty attractive without the need for the cookie cutter styles◊ that the fashion industry is infamous for.
The Woobie: Pete in "Trials" after his memory gets erased. When Myka is about to confront Eric's mother, you just want to hug him and make him feel better.
All of the main characters, when you look at the backstories we're given about them. They all have dead lovers/siblings/parents, broken old romances, and a general issue with making friends thanks to all of them having some social issues, and that's without the alcoholism, mental institution, troubled family life, or Blessed with Suck superpowers. It makes them bonding together so tightly all the more heartwarming.
Artie in Season 4, he's convinced he has to alienate himself from his friends to protect them from Brother Adrian. Then we find out it was all in his head due to the Astrolabe which caused him to have a psychotic breakdown — the Brother Adrian Artie saw was all in his head. Then while under its influence Artie kills Leena. Artie trying to cope with the guilt is his main arc in the second half.
The Un-Twist: Yeah, Jinks is a traitor. Okay. Sure. We believe you.
that plays when Jack and Rebecca share their First Kiss and last kiss.
