Stars: Colin Ferguson, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Joe Morton, Erica Cerra, Neil Grayston, Niall Matter, Tembi Locke, Kavan Smith
Writer: Bruce Miller, story by Jaime Paglia & Bruce Miller
Director: Mike Rohl
Network: Syfy, Mondays @ 8 PM
Airdate: July 11, 2011

Welcome back, EUREKA. Despite the long time the show has been gone (barring the Christmas special), “Liftoff” is actually the beginning of the second half of Season Four, rather than the premiere of Season Five. As such, it begins on a cheery note, with just about all of the main characters in a state of reasonable contentment.

The first note of discord is sounded by S.A.R.A.H., the artificial-intelligence-enhanced house inhabited by Sheriff Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson). S.A.R.A.H. calls off her wedding to robotic Deputy Andy (Kavan Smith) because she’s not sure she’s in love. Then Fargo (Neil Grayston) and Zane (Niall Matter) accidentally get locked in an experimental antique rocket and blast off into space with Fargo’s newly-developed FTL (faster than light) drive, limited air supplies and no steering or communication devices. “Eureka, we have a problem,” Carter understates at one point.

EUREKA occasionally gets dark, but in the case of “Liftoff,” the mood is so sunny that we don’t wonder whether our heroes will succeed in saving the day, but only how they will surmount the ever-rising mountain of complications in their quirky, brainy way. There’s a sense that the main concept for the episode was giving Grayston’s uptight, geeky Fargo and Matter’s rebellious Zane some serious screen time together and inverting what our expectations might be for their reaction to impending death – it’s Zane who has major panic attacks, while Fargo (mostly) enjoys getting to be in outer space and is confident of their chances of figuring a way out of their predicament.

In service to the ongoing plot arc set in motion by the Season Four opening reboot, wherein characters accidentally traveled to the past and changed it just enough for some things to be different in the present, Zane finally learns about the shift and that he used to be very close with Jo (Erica Cerra), and Jo learns that Fargo has told the truth to Zane. Since this revelation can get all parties concerned locked up forever (or worse) if the government finds out, it’s a potentially bad thing whenever this information spreads.

On the guest-star front, Ming-Na turns up in a surprising capacity. On the groaner front, there’s a S.A.R.A.H. pun that probably couldn’t be resisted. On the special mention front, Smith remains wonderful in his interpretation of the ever-congenial Deputy Andy.

In the spirit of the episode’s bad pun, it is fair to say that “Liftoff” makes a happy EUREKA re-entry.

AGREE? DISAGREE? LET US KNOW HOW YOU FEEL – COMMENT BELOW!

Click on Link: AX’s review of EUREKA – Season 4 episode – “O Little Town”

Click on Link: AX’s review of WAREHOUSE 13 – Season 4 premiere – “The New Guy”

Click on Link: AX’s review of Alphas – Season 1 premiere

Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Review: EUREKA – Season 4 premiere – “Liftoff”

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