Warehouse 13 - S4E14 - The Sky’s the Limit
Original Air Date: May 20, 2013
Guest Starring: CCH Pounder, Joel Grey, Kelly Hu, Polly Walker, Steve Valentine
Fresh from their trip inside an unfinished crime drama, Pete and Myka are tired of combing through the Warehouse inventory and decide to futz with some of the artifacts. Artie pops in and uncharacteristically suggests they go to Las Vegas for a little pick-me-up …and to investigate why a body fell from the sky.
Following clues collected from the first victim’s D-squad of ‘Hangover’ buddies, Myka and Pete try to figure out where the artifact is located before other bodies drop, and they do, unfortunately. They connect the victims to magician Val Preston (Valentine), who’s notorious for stealing tricks from other acts. A real prima donna, Val gives Pete and Mykes a hard time the start; despite the surliness, Pete unsuccessfully attempts to save Preston before he shoots up into the night sky. Can’t say I’ll miss that character… moving on!
Mrs. Frederic (Pounder) stops by the Warehouse with a new B&B caretaker, Abigal Chow (Kelly Hu). Admittedly hesitant about a new face walking around the place, Artie nonetheless give Abigal a tour of the Warehouse. It isn’t long before he sniffs out her true intent: to analyze Arthur’s mental health. Artie storms off in a huff, and Abigal gets mad herself for ever accepting the job. Frowny faces for all.
Back in Vegas, Myka and Pete meet Monty the Magnificent, a magician in his twilight years looking for that one final draw. He believes after all these years, he found real magic inside of him so the Agents keep a real close eye on him. To prove his magic isn’t dangerous, Monty decides to levitate himself during a show, but Pete gets hit by The Force instead. Nervous about sharing the same fate as the others, Pete, Myka and Artie learn the artifact is the medallion of St. Joseph of Cupertino. Monty’s assistant and granddaughter Rose has been using it to restore her grandfather’s career, unaware that every time she uses it, the previous ‘floater’ gets launched into the stratosphere. Mykes and Pete make to Monty’s outdoor performance but they can’t get to him in time. Myka decides to trick Pete to stay in the car by telling him cookies are in the glove box (REALLY???) but he somehow floats out of the car through its sunroof. WHY WAS IT OPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE?! *sigh* Anyway, Rose the assistant catches him in mid-air, Myka neutralizes the artifact and Monty is dejected that none of it was real magic.
OH YEAH. Claudia and Jinks fly to England to figure out why jockeys falling off of winning horses. The obvious answer would be “because they’re small! duh!” but in this relatively forgettable B-side, Claudia and Jinks deftly identify the culprit and retrieve the artifact. Their side-mission is saved at the end thanks to a brief re-appearance of a sinister character. The most memorable scene in their segment occurred in the final 10 seconds when a random lightning bolt struck Claudia on the butt. Was that God giving her congratulatory pat? Probably not. I’m sure that moment will come back around in later episodes.
The introduction of Abigal Chow was ultimately underwhelming and banal. What little backstory we’re given about the character so far is nothing we haven’t seen before. Every aspect of Abigal’s involvement in ‘The Sky’s The Limit’ felt forced: her abrupt placement in the Warehouse by Mrs. Frederic, the desire to use artifacts to cure Artie (rather than allow him to confront his feelings? nice.), the slight reveal of her ‘origin’. All of it came off rather unconvincingly. If she’s meant to replace Leena, it’s going to be a rough adjustment.
Now, good ol’ Pete staggered off the edge in this episode. Fans of the show know he’s option one when it comes to comic relief, yet he maintains a balance. He’s a jokester but he can pull his own weight as a dependable and capable Agent. Yet in this one, I don’t think he used his brain at ALL. If this was the first time anyone had watched Warehouse 13, they’d assume Pete is a forever hungry slackjawed former alcoholic horndog (who floats). It was a grave disservice to a character who’s developed nicely over the years.
On the plus side, it was nice to see Joel Grey as Monty the Magnificent. Giving the effort put in to flesh out his character and him actually given access to the Warehouse (wut?), Monty could be reprised within the last six episodes of season 4. Oh yeah, IMMORTAL MILF ALERT. The fashionable Charlotte Dupres (Polly Walker) made an ominous appearance to specifically seek out Claudia, briefly chatting with her before taking a pic and sending it off to someone. Why is she targeting Claudia? Shouldn’t she be going after Myka who knocked her out? When will Red catch a damn break, first she gets butt-shocked now Dupres is all up in her grill… Eventually this has to be sorted out because these semi-shadowy appearances aren’t giving us any sort of clue to how this season will wrap up.
“The Sky’s The Limit” had some brief flashes on what’s to come for the remainder of season four, sadly it lacked the punch that has been seldom seen through the year.
