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Warehouse 13 (2009–2014)
8/10
Warehouse 13 - oddities conjure humour, wonderment and the profound.
14 October 2009
What a surprising little gem Warehouse 13 has turned out to be. I feel the creative team in control have only just begun tapping into the almost limitless supply of stories available to them with this cracking premise they have conjured. Not surprising really as one of the show's creators is Jane Espenson who wrote some of the best and funniest of Joss Whedon's episodes for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly.

In Warehouse 13, two agents find themselves in charge of a top secret warehouse that holds some of the worlds most troublesome and in many cases dangerous objects collected over time. Teamed with the curator of Warehouse 13 and an enigmatic local bed and breakfast owner, the two agents scour the world looking to retrieve, find, and trap the worlds most unique objects, in the hope of safeguarding the planet. Will this be in vane or will they indeed maintain a long time, century's old equilibrium? We can only wait and see.

The fun part of this show is most assuredly with the two leads Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) and Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) who have a wonderfully playful relationship with each other without the complications of a 'Will they won't they?' subtext. Surrounded with enough warehouse curiosities that allow for humour, wonderment and profound seriousness the show holds it's own with many in the same genre and while the show is still in it's infancy I feel it has established a solid enough first season to warrant a follow up.

That said with the amount of high concept TV out there, Warehouse 13 will probably have to tread more serious ground for the next season, and perhaps inject a more maturing seasonal arc if it is to sustain itself for a longer run on network television.

While I enjoyed the first season I will say there was little tension and certainly the sense of danger to the characters was never quite realised enough for me to worry about anyone or the predicaments they found themselves in. However the number of clever and quirky objects conceived by the writers to further the narrative was fascinating and always a delight.

All told this sits very nicely with shows like Eureka, Reaper and the earlier seasons of Supernatural.

Looking forward to Season Two.
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Brimstone (1998–1999)
9/10
Brimstone: clever, thoughtful, visual and articulate. A masterpiece.
13 February 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Brimstone was a great show. It had a wonderful premise which would have conjured all manner of clever story lines and a wonderfully spicy sense of humour, had the show been allowed to continue. Unfortunately this only received the one showing here in the UK and so I can't recall in too greater detail the nuances of the show - but I do remember the look of it being absolutely revolutionary for TV. The photography was exceptional and I believe they would knock out the 'red' with the use of filters to better convey the premise. On the whole I think this was just far too dark and challenging for the ordinary viewer. As the show went on it did appear to 'soften' on some of it's harder ideas which was a shame as many of the notions kicked up could really have you philosophising over it's central characters predicaments.

Peter Horton who played the part of Ezekiel Stone was tremendously worn and rough looking as the reanimated ex-cop who reluctantly undertook his task of retrieving 113 escaped souls from Hell - his punishment for having killed the man who raped his wife, and thus banishing himself to hell. A task set him by the ever brilliant and ever improving John Glover, who played the role of the Devil with such delicious glee, you wish it could result in a spin-off show for this character alone. What a thought!

The two actors together at the shows start was always a treat - as the banter between them was wonderfully written and ever so dry. Often laced with biblical referencing and oneupmanship. Thereafter all the regular supporting cast was strong and seemingly very engaged within the premise. From Teri Polo to Lori Petty. It is just such a shame that shows like this that actually have you thinking as you watch and for a long time after, are so rarely taken beyond the initial season.

I'd recommend this show above and beyond many on TV today. It was clever, thoughtful, visual and articulate.
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