The Sci-Fi channel has had a wide variety of original programming.  They've put on some great shows, including Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, and Mystery Science Theater 3000.  They've also had some dogs like Black Scorpion, and The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne.  Falling in between these two extremes is Eureka, an interesting show with a lot of promise that never quite delivers.

When Federal Marshal Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson) wrecks his car transporting a prisoner back to LA, he finds himself just outside of the small town of Eureka, a rather unique community.  Created after WWII, the idea behind Eureka was to replicate the pool of talent that worked on the Manhattan Project and make it permanent.  Everyone in the town is a scientist, and most of them are geniuses.  The town's main employer is Global Dynamics, a government funded research center where the frontiers of science are constantly being explored.

After Marshal Carter helps the locals find a missing child and solve another problem involving a scientist who has caused time to go wonky, they start to trust and accept him.  When he finally gets back to LA and his office, he discovers that he's been promoted.  And transferred.  He's now the new sheriff of Eureka.  Though being the law in a small town sounds easy, in Eureka nothing is as easy as it sounds.  When he isn't fighting with the head of Global Dynamics, Nathan Stark (Ed Quinn), he's arguing with his deputy Jo (Erica Cerra) or trying to control his delinquent daughter, Zoe (Jordan Hinson), who showed up to live with him.  Oh yeah, and he has to confront some super-scientific problems like death rays, out of control nano-bots, and people who are having their minds controlled from outer space.

The pilot episode was really good, and showed a lot of potential.  There was just the right mix of humor, mystery, and science.  One scene early on gave viewers a good idea of just who lives in Eureka.  When Carter is having the local mechanic Henry (Joe Morton) pull his car out of a ditch, Henry admits that he used to be an engineer.  "Oh, trains?" asks Jack.  "No," Henry replies "space shuttles."

Unfortunately the show starts going down hill at a steady pace after the pilot.  It seems that the creators just didn't know what they wanted to do with the series, and things just seem to meander aimlessly.  The mysteries get more and more idiotic, and the humor starts to fall flat.  Worst of all, the science that they use for the plots seem to be recycled Star Trek plots.  While that was fine 40 years ago, today's SF fans are looking for something a little more sophisticated.

Over the course of this first season Jack Carter faces a sentient computer that takes action on its own¹, a potion that lets people run faster than the eye can see, and a plant that makes everyone in town change their personalities.  It's just hard to suspend your disbelief when the 'science' is so utterly silly.

There is a plot that ties the various episodes together, sort of.  In the pilot it is established that there is a huge secret being held in "Section 5", and that there are people willing to kill to find out what it is.  There is an evil group that is trying to manipulate the scientists in Eureka, giving them technology and information even more advanced than they have access to, as part of a Machiavellian plan to steal whatever's being hidden in Section 5.  After the pilot however, that plot is hardly referred to until the final episode, and even then it's only a brief mention.  This hidden organization was one of the most interesting things about the show, and to just ignore it for most of the season was a huge mistake.

The way the city of Eureka is shown leaves a lot to be desired too.  They wanted to create a city that is technologically advanced but they didn't know how to do it.  Most of the advances that they show are things that people were predicting for the 21st century back in the 50's.  Computers that can talk to you, hover-boards (which are never seen, but there are signs around town banning their use) and "sonic showers" whatever they may be.  A lot of the general science is just plane wrong too, like the magnetic fence that attracts Sheriff Carter's gun and badge, but not those of his deputy standing right next to him.  Come on guys.  If you're going to write science fiction you should have a grasp of at least elementary school science.

Okay, so the setting and plots aren't that great.  This is a character driven show, and they do help it a bit.  It seems that everyone except Sheriff Carter has an interesting personality.  Carter himself just isn't able to lead the show and comes across as rather bland.  He's also a horrible father.  Every time he punishes his out of control delinquent daughter, he buckles and apologizes later on.  Maybe I'm old fashioned, but when a 15-year-old kid steals a credit card and uses it, shoplifts, and stays out all night, they should be punished.  Maybe the reason Zoe is such a rotten kid is because she has no guidance at home.

The rest of the cast is fun though.   Henry starts playing a bigger part as the show progresses, which is too bad.  I enjoyed him when he was a mechanic working on experiments in his spare time, but he soon evolves into the town know-it-all, the person who knows how everything works and how to fix it.  That's just a bit too much.  Matt Frewer is great as the local wild life officer in charge of catching any Global Dynamics experiments that may escape, but Erica Cerra steals the show as Jo, the sexy but tough as nails deputy.  She's such a talented actress.  When she glares you'll believe that she could kill a man with her bare hands, but she can transform into sweet woman almost instantly.  Whenever she's on the screen the show's enjoyable.  Jordan Hinson is also good as Zoe.  She plays the character with just the right mix of teenage angst, rebellion against authority, and insecurity.

The show does have its good moments.  As was mentioned, the pilot was very good, and some of the other episodes weren't too bad.  Before I Forget had an interesting premise and Alienated looked like it would advance the overall plot.  Even though it ultimately didn't, it was a fun episode.

This 12-episode season comes on three DVDs which are housed in a unique potato-based foam flip out case (marked "Made in Eureka.")  The foam, which holds the DVDs, is biodegradable and that's great but it makes for a crappy DVD case.  The clips that hold the discs in place, which are also made of foam, don't do their job.  After taking the discs out once the clips become deformed and no longer work.

Audio:

This series comes with a DD 5.1 soundtrack that sounds good.  Being mainly a dialog-based show the rears aren't used as much as they could be but during the action sequences the sound is fairly enveloping.  Being a recent program, the dialog is clear and clean with no distortion or background noise.  Overall this is a nice sounding show.

Video:

The 1.78:1 anamorphically enhanced image looks pretty good too.  The level of detail is fine, the colors are strong, and the blacks are solid.  In the few dark scenes the details are still clear.  There is some digital noise here and there, but nothing major.  This is a show that looks fine.

Extras:

Eureka is a show that had a lot of content on its web site, and that content is reproduced on this set.  There's a set of eight webisodes, telling a short story about the town, podcasts/commentaries for each episode, and a pair of mock informercials.  There are also deleted scenes for a couple of episodes and an outtake from the pilot.  A very complete set of bonus items.

Final Thoughts:

With silly science and old plots, it would be easy to totally write this show off.  It's not all bad though.  It just isn't as good as it could be.  Many of the characters are interesting and some of the subplots are compelling.  If you're looking for a fairly mindless SF program that has it's moments, this one would make a good rental.

1)  The show does get points for admitting that it is lifting plots from earlier works.  When most of the main characters are trapped in a sentient house Jack calls out "Open the door, Sarah."  To which the house replies "I'm afraid I can't do that Jack" aping Hal's famous line from 2001.