Warehouse 13 Promises Endless Wonder (And Ferrets)

The Sci Fi Network rebrands itself as SyFy beginning July 7, and part of the initiative includes rolling out new original series to join their stable of returning shows. Among the newbies is Warehouse 13, a dramedy adventure series starring Eddie McClintock, Joanne Kelly and Saul Rubinek, with special guest appearances by CCH Pounder. The titular warehouse is a massive, top-secret facility in the Badlands of South Dakota which houses every strange artifact, mysterious relic, fantastical object and supernatural souvenir ever collected by the U.S. government. McClintock and Kelly are the Secret Service agents tasked to collect and protect the artifacts; Rubinek is the eccentric curator of the warehouse; and Pounder is the mysterious Mrs. Frederic who overseas the entire operation.

Eddie McClintock, Joanne Kelly and Saul Rubinek star in SyFy's Warehouse 13

Up to speed on the premise? Here’s what Nice Girls really want to know: McClintock as Pete Lattimer and Kelly as Myka (pronounced “Mike-ah”) Bering have terrific comic chemistry and play off each other beautifully. Lattimer’s irreverent, off the cuff, “I’ve got a vibe” style contrasts sharply with Bering’s buttoned up, by the book, “I don’t eat sugar” demeanor. Sure, it’s practically a cliche by now to have our two leads be such opposites, but McClintock and Kelly are so good together that you don’t really care if you get a sense of deja vu now and then. In a conference call discussing the show, the two of them were constantly referring and deferring to each other, cracking jokes and generally being giddy about working together. Although they acknowledged the potential for romance to bloom between Lattimer and Bering in the future, for now the vibe is purely platonic, like a good buddy series.

Rubinek brings his own brand of quirky to the trio as Artie Nielsen, long-time Secret Service agent and curator of the warehouse. Artie is the one who sends Lattimer and Bering out on missions to retrieve objects that “threaten to ruin the world’s day” and bring them back to the warehouse for storage, after being neutralized in purple goo. The last of his original team, Artie has gone just a little bit crazy after years stationed out in the Badlands, surrounded by supernatural and paranormal artifacts. He takes great joy in his work, happily showing off various gadgets and explaining the purpose of curious items in the warehouse. He also gets to spout great throwaway lines like, “I had to fix the fish.” The line has no context and no follow-up, which I found delightful.

The new team explores Warehouse 13.

Indeed, this series of paranormal exploration is decidedly less serious than it’s closest predecessor, The X-Files. Although if you add Indiana Jones to the melting pot, you’d be a lot closer. Where Mulder and Scully skulked around on the government’s periphery in bad lighting and perpetual gloom, Lattimer and Bering are, well, they still work in a basement of sorts, but instead of having offices in the Hoover Building, they’re located just outside Unnamed Unincorporated Settlement, South Dakota. Really. There’s a sign and everything. The snark is free-flowing, the sunlit shots are abundant, and we see Lattimer half-naked and Bering in a sexy evening gown within the first 10 minutes of meeting them. (Lattimer’s state of undress has nothing to do with Bering, in case you were wondering.) Still, there is some weight to balance the levity. Pounder’s Mrs. Frederic is formidable and mysterious, just the way we like the supervisors of our murky government endeavors. When she appears in Lattimer’s apartment to give him his orders, and later shows up in Bering’s boss’s office, it’s clear that she is not to be toyed with. We also learn that Bering comes with baggage of her own in the form of an assignment in Denver that, though earning her a commendation, haunts her.

The two-hour pilot for Warehouse 13 is enjoyable enough, although the first hour does drag a bit with exposition. In the end, after we’ve met all of our principle players (including the mysterious owner of the local B&B) and gone on a mission to recover an artifact, the premise is set and the real fun can begin. Which artifacts will we see in the remaining episodes this season? What other citizens of Unnamed Unincorporated Settlement, South Dakota will we encounter? And will “Lattimer eats a cookie” become the basis of a new drinking game? This Nice Girl is looking forward to finding out as Warehouse 13 launches its summer run on SyFy on July 7 at 9/8c.

P.S. The ferret joke is too good to spoil. Just…there are ferrets.