Warehouse 13 is a U.S. television science fiction series that premiered on July 7, 2009,
on the Syfy network. Executive-produced by Jack Kenny and David
Simkins, the dramatic comedy from Universal Media Studios is said to have borrowed much
from the American-Canadian horror television series Friday the 13th: The Series, and has
been described as "part The X-Files, part Raiders of the Lost Ark and part Moonlighting."
The series premiere was Syfy's third largest debut to date, garnering 3.5 million viewers.
The first six episodes were all among the top ten highest rated series episodes on Syfy.
Episode 6, "Burnout", drew 4.4 million viewers, setting the record for Syfy's highest rated
show. Season 2 began July 6, 2010. It was renewed October 5, 2010, for a third season
of 13 episodes, which began July 11, 2011. It was renewed for a fourth season August
11, 2011, which began July 23, 2012. On May 16, 2013, Syfy renewed the series for a six-episode
fifth and final season, which aired its series finale on May 19, 2014.
Characters from Eureka have crossed over to Warehouse 13 and vice-versa, and a character
from Warehouse 13 appeared on Alphas.
Premise The series follows U.S. Secret Service Agents
Myka Bering and Pete Lattimer when they are assigned to the secretive Warehouse 13 for
supernatural artifacts. It is located in a barren landscape in South Dakota, and they
initially regard the assignment as punishment. As they go about their assignments to retrieve
missing artifacts and investigate reports of new ones, they come to understand the importance
of what they are doing. In Season 1, Episode 4, they meet Claudia Donovan, who is searching
for her missing brother; in Season 2, she joins the team as their technology expert.
In Season 3, Episode 1, Steve Jinks, an Agent from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives comes aboard. Fictional history
The series posits that there have been a dozen incarnations of the Warehouse before the present-day
13th in South Dakota. Warehouse 1 was built between 336–323 BC under Alexander the Great
as a place to keep artifacts obtained by war. After Alexander died, the Warehouse was moved
to Egypt, establishing the practice of locating the Warehouse in the most powerful empire
of the day, under the reasoning that it will there be best defended. Egypt's Ptolemaic
rulers appointed a group of people, known as the Regents, to oversee the Warehouse and
act as its first "agents" and collectors of artifacts. Warehouse 2 lasted until the Roman
conquest of Egypt. Some of the other Warehouses include: Warehouse 7 in the Mongol Empire
under Genghis Khan, Warehouse 8 in Germany during the Holy Roman Empire, Warehouse 9
in the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, Warehouse 11 in the Russian Empire under the
Romanov Dynasty, and Warehouse 12 in the United Kingdom from 1830 until 1914. It was during
the time of Warehouse 11 that the Regents began to employ agents to gather and protect
artifacts. This practice continued under Warehouse 12, with British agents traveling further
and further searching for artifacts to add to the collection.
The next move brought the Warehouse to South Dakota in the United States. Unlike previous
warehouses, which were placed in the centers of their empires, Warehouse 13 was located
in a remote area of South Dakota to hide it. The first Warehouse 13 was built in 1898,
but the structure burned down because of an insufficient understanding of how to safely
store artifacts. The move to the rebuilt and current Warehouse 13 occurred in 1914 at the
onset of World War I. The Warehouse was designed by Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and M. C.
Escher, while the Warehouse Expansion Joints were created by Albert Einstein.
Artifacts and gadgets Originally, artifacts are items connected
to some historical or mythological figure or event. Each artifact has been imbued with
something from their creator, user, or a major event in history. Some are well known: Lewis
Carroll's looking glass, which contains an evil entity called "Alice" that can possess
other people's bodies, leaving their minds trapped in the mirror; and Edgar Allan Poe's
pen and a volume of his writing, which can make whatever the user writes a reality. Some
are not: Lizzie Borden had a mirrored compact that today compels users to kill their loved
ones with an axe; Marilyn Monroe owned a brush that now turns its user's hair platinum blonde,
which Myka once used on herself while under the influence of W. C. Fields' juggling balls
that induce drunkenness and blackouts. Others are just plain bizarre such as Ivan Pavlov's
Bell, which will call any dog to you but causes excessive drooling for 24 hours, or a magic
kettle that grants wishes but will produce a ferret if the wish is impossible. The artifacts
react with electricity and can be neutralized by immersion in a mysterious purple goo or
placed inside a neutralizing reflective bag both produced by Global Dynamics, a research
laboratory from Warehouse 13's sister show, Eureka. Artie has also mentioned that ingesting
neutralizer will make you "see things". A new concept is introduced in Episode 43. Mrs.
Frederic shows Claudia an artifact being created—a silver bracelet worn by an ordinary person
who exhibits extraordinary courage—opening up new possibilities for future stories.
Cast and characters
Eddie McClintock as Pete Lattimer is a "rule-bender" Secret Service Agent, now assigned to Warehouse
13. He has been able to pick up "vibes", both good and bad, since he was a child. The series
frequently makes references to his being a recovering alcoholic who already had been
sober for more than eight years when the series started. He is also more than a little fond
of cookies. Joanne Kelly as Myka Bering, once a rising
star in the Secret Service, is a by-the-book agent. She has a scrupulous eye for detail
and possesses an eidetic memory. She also has extensive knowledge of books, having grown
up in a book store. Reference to a former partner that ended in tragedy is frequently
made, such as in the season one episode "Regrets". Saul Rubinek as Artie Nielsen is the Special
Agent in Charge at Warehouse 13. A former cryptographer and codebreaker for the NSA,
he has spent over 30 years at the Warehouse and is very knowledgeable about artifacts,
both in the Warehouse and out in the world. He becomes a surrogate father to Claudia.
Genelle Williams as Leena, the proprietor of the bed and breakfast in nearby Univille,
where the team lives. She can read a person's aura.
Allison Scagliotti as Claudia Donovan is described as a "young, hip, brilliant techno-wiz" who
earns a job at Warehouse 13 after discovering too many of its secrets. She can hack into
almost any computer network and occasionally modifies artifacts to suit her needs.
Simon Reynolds as Daniel Dickinson, Pete and Myka's former boss in Washington, D.C.
Aaron Ashmore as Steve Jinks was an ATF agent before being recruited to Warehouse 13 for
his ability to know if people are lying. In "Emily Lake" he is killed by Marcus Diamond
on orders of Walter Sykes; in Season 4, he is resurrected by Claudia using the metronome.
Warehouse agents are provided by the host country of the warehouse, in this case from
various government agencies. Agents of Warehouse 13 in particular were chosen either for their
above-average intelligence or because they possess a kind of extranormal ability.
Production The network, then named SciFi, originally
ordered a two-hour pilot episode written by Farscape creator Rockne S. O'Bannon, Battlestar
Galactica co-Executive Producer Jane Espenson, and D. Brent Mote. Jace Alexander eventually
directed a revised version written by Espenson, Mote, and Blade: The Series executive producer
David Simkins. SciFi ordered an additional nine episodes on September 19, 2008. The series
premiered in the U.S. on July 7, 2009 concurrent with the name-change to Syfy. The series is
filmed in and around Toronto, Ontario. Crossovers
Warehouse 13 is part of Syfy's developing shared fictional universe, with several characters
crossing over between series: Global Dynamics researcher Douglas Fargo from
Eureka traveled to South Dakota to update Warehouse 13's computer system in the Warehouse
13 episode "13.1". Warehouse 13 computer wizard Claudia Donovan subsequently traveled to the
town of Eureka, Oregon to check out the technological marvels at Global Dynamics in the Eureka episode
"Crossing Over". Fargo again appeared in the Warehouse 13 episode "Don't Hate the Player"
when Claudia, Lattimer, and Bering traveled to Palo Alto, California to find Douglas beta
testing a virtual reality simulator with the aid of a dangerous artifact.
Dr. Vanessa Calder, who appeared in the Warehouse 13 episodes "For the Team", "Buried", "Love
Sick" and "Endless Terror" as a physician and love interest of Artie, traveled to Fenton,
Pennsylvania, to investigate a series of deaths in which the victims suffered massive organ
failures in the Alphas episode "Never Let Me Go".
Additionally, Hugo Miller spent some time in the town of Eureka, departing with Douglas
Fargo at the end of episode "13.1"; he returns in "Love Sick", commenting that, "every week
[there] something seems to go 'boom'!" His presence there is off screen.
Reception Warehouse 13's series premiere was the most-watched
cable show on American television that night. With 3.5 million viewers, it was also Syfy's
third best premiere ever, behind Stargate Atlantis and Eureka. Joanne Ostrow of The
Denver Post described it as "X-Files light, with the bickering Scully and Mulder stand-ins
going off on Indiana Jones-style adventures." IGN reviewer Ramsey Isler gave the pilot a
positive review, but felt that it was not enough to give Syfy "a chance to once again
boast the best sci-fi show on TV." Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly gave it a negative
review in July 2009, describing it as an "unholy cross between The X-Files, Bones, and Raiders
of the Lost Ark." In July 2010, Tucker amended his opinion, stating that "Warehouse improved
as it went along" and "grew more riveting"; he subsequently gave the show a rating of
"B". In 2010, the series' composer, Edward Rogers, was nominated for an Emmy Award for
Best Original Main Title Theme Music. Warehouse 13 has received seven 2012 Portal Award nominations,
including best television series, best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best
supporting actress, best special guest, and best episode. It was Eddie McClintock's third
straight nomination and the second nomination for Saul Rubinek and Allison Scagliotti.
Episodes
Media DVD release
Novels Cox, Greg. Warehouse 13: A Touch of Fever.
New York: Simon and Schuster. Comics
The first part of a five-part comic series was released in August 2011 by Dynamite Entertainment
with part five released in December 2011. A trade paperback was released in May 2012
containing all five parts. References
External links Official website
Warehouse 13 at the Internet Movie Database Warehouse 13 at TV.com