TV-Reviewed

I remember the series premier quite well. Sci-Fi Channel advertised the show just about everywhere. Although I only watch one other Sci-Fi Channel show regularly, Ghost Hunters, I remember seeing hundreds of commercials promoting it. It looked very intriguing, but for whatever reason, I never watched it regularly. Fortunately, the DVDs are out and I can catch up.

The pilot episode introduces us to Jack Carter, a U.S. Marshall traveling across the country with a prisoner in his backseat. He had to drive because he’s apparently afraid of flying. As he and his prisoner, a teenage girl, are going down the road, the girl sees a car which looks exactly like the one she and the marshal are in. When she tells the marshal about it, he brushes her off. Who wouldn’t?!

As it turns out, a scientist has been working on some sort of device in his basement and something “happened” just before this second car could be seen. It seems the device the scientist, Walter Perkins, has been working on is a device which alters time. It allows one to travel faster than the speed of light, which isn’t technically possible at the moment, of course. This has caused some sort of rift in time.

Anyway, when the marshal and his prisoner nearly hit a dog in the road, their car goes off the road and they have to walk into town. Jack, the marshal, asks the local police to keep an eye on the prisoner, Zoe, while he has the local mechanic, who happens to be a space shuttle engineer, to repair his car. It turns out Zoe is actually Jack’s daughter. Jack and his wife split up some time ago because of the time Jack has needed to put into his line of work. This has naturally caused some friction between father and daughter.

While Jack is in town, he helps find a young boy belonging to the Perkins family. The device Walter Perkins worked on has also caused other problems in the community. Several areas of town are being destroyed and the sheriff is nearly killed. Jack works with the authorities to help locate the source of the problem, which turns out to be the machine Walter worked on.

I admit I’m skipping a lot here, but I recommend watching the pilot episode, as it’s two hours long and worth the viewing. The ending has a few surprises in store for you. The town of Eureka is a rather interesting one. Parts of it don’t seem as futuristic and scientific as I would have thought, but I look forward to seeing future episodes of the series.

Eureka - Pilot
Original Air Date: July 18, 2006

Rating: 8.3