"Beyond Our Control" is the third episode of Season Two of SyFy's Warehouse 13, that aired on July 20, 2010.
Short Synopsis[]
Pete, Myka, Artie and Claudia investigate a series of seemingly random appearances of men from different historical periods occurring in Univille. Meanwhile, Irene Frederic and the Regents help Leena overcome the mental and physical consequences of MacPherson's possession.
Plot[]
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A Warehouse agent, Buck Mendell, arrives at the testing site for Project Gemini, but just as testing begins. He insists he has the authority to shut down the, "Farnsworth Demonstration," but just as the guard starts to react an explosion erupts inside of the demonstration building.
Mrs. Frederic arrives at Leena's Bed and Breakfast and notices that the Farnsworth blueprints are out for some reason. Leena explains that Claudia had them out because she wanted to learn about her, "new toy" but Mrs. Frederic gives Leena a stern look and Leena quickly locks the blueprints back up. She then thanks her for coming and explains to her her recent symptoms. Benedict Valda, one of the Regents, pops out of nothingness like Mrs. Frederic does and explains that MacPherson may have left something behind when he was altering her consciousness. Valda has also brought Taka, to help find out just what if anything. Pete and Myka goes to the Univille Post Office to collect his belongings, but Brenda the post office employee comes out and informs them that the post office is closed due to government cutbacks. She directs them to the branch in Featherhead, 90 miles away. Brenda tells them that since she is now in forced retirement, she's going home to make popcorn and watch movies. She implies that she blames them and Pete wonders why the townspeople hate them so much. At the Warehouse, Claudia has her new Farnsworth in pieces as she tries to upgrade it as she does so many other artifacts. Artie quickly tells her to stop and the device gives out a screeching noise as she tries to reassemble it, causing him to give her a glare. Pete has no luck finding his stuff after a call to Featherhead yields only a voicemail. His Farnsworth gives out a screeching noise and they go past the local veterinarian, Dr. Kelly Hernandez. Once they're gone, Kelly notices a flash of light and three armed Marines walk by her. The area around them is suddenly transformed into a wavery jungle, and they march off into battle against the Japanese followed by another flash. At the Warehouse, Artie gets an alert from Univille and realizes that something is wrong. He has Pete and Myka meet him at the barbershop and arrives with Claudia. The barber pole is actually a scanner that reveals that there is an artifact in town and relayed that info to the Warehouse. Artie theorizes the artifact was placed there by MacPherson or Wells to distract them. He sends the others out to question the townspeople and explains their cover story is that they are IRS agents and Warehouse 13 is a storage facility for every tax return ever. Meanwhile, he goes back to the Warehouse to scan for missing artifacts. Valda has Taka use the Pearl of Wisdom to dig out MacPherson's implanted memories from Leena. She agrees to the procedure so that they can find out more about MacPherson's plan, and Valda overrides Mrs. Frederic's objections. Pete and Myka talk to Kelly, who explains that she saw Marines. However, she didn't recognize them. She does remember a wolf's head patch on their uniforms. When Kelly says that her grandfather was a Marine, Pete reveals that he was too, trying to flirt with her. However, Kelly reveals that her grandfather was a bastard and she hates Marines. She takes offense at them because they are IRS agents and the town is going downhill. Myka quickly gets Pete out when he snaps back about to reveal their true identity. Claudia goes to the hardware store to get some parts and runs into Todd, the clerk. She orders some parts and Todd has no idea what she's talking about. He explains that he just moved there and then stops her as she starts to wander upstairs. Todd freaks out and quickly explains that the owner doesn't like people up there in his apartment. Claudia's Farnsworth goes off again and she runs outside. A cowboy gallops down the street on a horse, and a Western landscape travels with him. Claudia leaps out of the way and the cowboy disappears. Pete and Claudia are on the street and suddenly find themselves in a gunfight between an Old West sheriff and three outlaws. Pete recognizes the sheriff from somewhere. The two sides open fire and the agents hit the dirt. All four individuals disappear as suddenly as they came. Back at the Warehouse, Claudia suggests that sunspots may be causing the phenomena. Artie isn't convinced and points out the problems started when she tampered with her Farnsworth. Artie's scan doesn't reveal any missing artifacts. Myka suggests that there's an artifact in town that is drawing on power from an outside source. They triangulate on the sightings and narrow it down to four blocks, and then go back to Univille to search. Taka uses an amber sphere to monitor the Pearl of Wisdom after it is replaced in Leena's ear. The amber sphere allows them to catch glimpses of MacPherson's memories inside of Leena's mind. The agents detect a power drain at the hardware store. Pete and Myka go around the back to sneak into the owner's apartment and their Farnsworths go off again. Inside, Todd is stacking supplies when a tiger appears in a flash of light. A gladiator appears at the other end of the store and Todd screams. He runs into Claudia, who instinctively knocks him out. She runs to the back and discovers that Todd's boss is a not hiding an artifact after all, he is just a video pirate who sells the intercepted signals to Univille citizens. Claudia takes them back and they find the tiger, dead. The gladiator is emoting over the body and Pete recognizes the speech, and the fact that the gladiator looks just like the cowboy. The gladiator attacks Pete and Myka prepares to shoot him, but he disappears in mid-strike. Taka continues her probing and Mrs. Frederic tells Valda to stop. He insists that Taka continue despite the risk, but Mrs. Frederic warns that Taka is out of her depth and reminds Valda that they need Leena alive. Mrs. Frederic takes over the scanning stating that this is well within her depth instead, and more of MacPherson's words emerge out of Leena's mouth. The injured Todd and Pete go to Kelly's. Todd queries if Claudia is really with the IRS, and she tells him the truth. He doesn't believe her. Meanwhile, Pete and Kelly continue sniping at each other. Once she steps out, the agents try to piece things together. Myka suggests that someone is transmitting an aggressive frequency, and the Farnsworths are picking up the signals. Now they need Claudia to modify the Farnsworths to track the signal. Claudia goes back to the Warehouse and Artie takes her to the Farnsworth aisle. He supervises her getting the parts, warning that some of the nuclear items are still active. When she insults him, Artie invites her to mess with the nuclear artifacts if she so wants and he leaves. She quickly follows him. In town, Pete talks about his time in the Marines and remembers that they never wore patches. Since Kelly saw the Marines with patches, they can't be real Marines. Claudia finishes her work and tells Artie there's a problem with Item 186-B in the Farnsworth aisle. Item 186 dates back to 1944 and is in two parts, but only one part is on the shelf. The manifest doesn't say where it is, and the inventory records show it never arrived. The agents talk to Kelly, who confirms that there was a wolf spitting fire on the patch. Pete tells her to stay inside and lock her doors. He then explains to Myka that the Marines in the movie Operation Dragon Wolf wore the same patches, and the star was Raymond St. James. He also played cowboys and gladiators. Artie checks the records for 1944 and discovers information on Project Gemini. Philo Farnsworth was performing an experiment with a transmutational delivery device and Buck Mendell tried to stop him. The experiment involved the use of a camera and projector. There's a photograph of the crates and 186-A is missing part of its shipping label. Artie finds 186-B on the shelf and discovers that it's the camera. Now they need to find the projector. Claudia gets back to town and gives the agents the modified Farnsworth scanning devices. They home in on a new signal but Pete realizes that the new outburst will occur at Kelly's office. They run there and she lets them in. There's a burst of energy and gunshots, and St. James runs outside, playing the role of a private investigator. The scene plays out like the movie that Pete remembers, and Pete then realizes it's following the same order as the release dates of St. James' movies. Pete explains that in St. James' next movie, he plays a scientist who blows up an entire town and that it was an awesome movie. Myka tells him that being in the town that he blows up won't be so awesome. Artie arrives to tell them that Item 186 transmits three-dimensional holographic images at an enemy. However, it malfunctioned and created real, solid items instead. A Sherman Tank's image became real and shelled the crowd. The projector never got to the Warehouse. They break into the post office and find 186-A's crate. However, the crate is empty. Pete and Myka remember that Brenda said she was going to eat popcorn and watch movies. At her home, Brenda is watching Dr. Doomsday with the projector, which she's using as a television, over her regular television. As she starts to microwave some popcorn, the Warehouse team arrives. At Leena's Bed and Breakfast, Leena/MacPherson talks about the emptiness that MacPherson found when he died but was revived with the Phoenix. Taka warns that if Mrs. Frederic doesn't eliminate the MacPherson residue, it will drive Leena insane. Mrs. Frederic concentrates and manages to wipe out the residue. When Leena wakes up, Mrs. Frederic assures her that she's cured. Brenda insists she took the projector because she's living on a government pension without a job and that justifies her actions. The projector is drawing on an outside power source and they realize that it's feeding on microwave energy from Brenda's microwave oven. They get the projector outside but it activates and projects the movie. When Dr. Doomsday activates the bomb, it will detonate for real, blowing up Univille. Artie and Claudia realize that they can use the camera to replace the movie with a benign image. As they run to the car to get the camera, the projected movie cuts to a commercial break, giving them relief for the extra time. As Claudia gets to the car and drives back to the agents, Todd sees her and tries to give her the parts she ordered. She doesn't hear him so he chases after her. Myka suggests they shoot Dr. Doomsday. However, Pete forgets that the giant robot standing guard has magnets, which it uses to disarm them. Artie and Claudia arrive and try to activate the camera. However, it was damaged in the explosion in 1944. Artie starts cannibalizing the Farnsworth but they don't have enough parts. Todd arrives with the parts, giving them what they need causing Claudia to kiss him. However, the signature is different. Claudia needs the Farnsworth blueprints, but they're locked up. However, Myka read them and has photographic memory. She is able to help Claudia, but they need a fusible link. Pete and Artie get the link from the car battery while Dr. Doomsday begins his countdown. Claudia activates the camera just in time, replacing Dr. Doomsday with Artie's image ruining the movie's ending for everyone watching at home. Later at the bed and breakfast, Claudia is preparing to fiddle with the Tesla until Leena tells her to hold off. Myka comments that Todd is cute, and Claudia insists on ignoring her. Pete arrives with popcorn and invites them to a movie viewing of a Raymond St. James film. They'd rather not, and Pete goes to his room as Artie arrives and informs them that he has both parts of Item 186 stored away in its entirety now. The others decide that they better go to watch the movie so they can get some popcorn. Meanwhile, Mrs. Frederic notices a u-shaped sketch that Leena is working on, and wonders if they removed all traces of MacPherson after all...[1] |
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Eddie McClintock as Pete Lattimer
- Joanne Kelly as Myka Bering
- Saul Rubinek as Artie Nielsen
- Genelle Williams as Leena
- Allison Scagliotti as Claudia Donovan
Guest Starring[]
- Paula Garces as Kelly Hernandez
- Nolan Gerard Funk as Todd
- Mark A. Sheppard as Benedict Valda
- Philip Winchester as Raymond St. James
- CCH Pounder as Mrs. Irene Frederic
Co-Starring[]
- Kyra Harper as Brenda
- Dwight Ireland as Buck Mendell
- Bruce Horak as Philo Farnsworth
- Jean Yoon as Taka
Artifacts and Gadgets Featured[]
- Item 186-a (Project Gemini Transmutational Projector): Transmits three-dimensional and corporeal holographic images. Projects images of whatever its connected to, such as the Project Gemini Camera or a television. It is the main artifact of the episode.
- Item 186-b (Project Gemini Transmutational Camera): When connected to the Project Gemini Projector, it captures images and sends them to the Projector to be transmitted.
- Barber's Pole: Used to notify and alert Warehouse agents as to whether or not an artifact is in Univille.
- Amber Sphere: Allows a person to travel inside a person's mind and use the Pearl of Wisdom as a conduit to heal and modify the mind of the person holding the sphere. It also projects images of memories and thoughts.
- Modified Farnsworth: The Farnsworth was modified by Claudia to track the transmissions made by the Project Gemini Projector.
Quotable Quotes[]
Trivia[]
- Claudia calls Todd a "wonder twin". The actress who portrays Claudia - Allison Scagliotti - played Jayna, one of the Wonder Twins in Smallville S09E08 "Idol".
- The case report for Project Gemini, specifically the page about Philo Farnsworth, appears to be copied from the "History of television" Wikipedia page (specifically "Electronic television"[2]).[3]
- Univille is revealed to be located in the fictional Stokes County, South Dakota.[4]
- One of the televisions in the electronics shop's back room displays an episode of the internet horror/art series Salad Fingers by David Firth.
- According to the calendars in the back of the hardware store, this episode takes place in April.[5]
References[]
| Warehouse 13 : Season 2 | |
| #01 "Time Will Tell" | #07 "For The Team" |
| #02 "Mild Mannered" | #08 "Merge With Caution" |
| #03 "Beyond Our Control" | #09 "Vendetta" |
| #04 "Age Before Beauty" | #10 "Where and When" |
| #05 "13.1" | #11 "Buried" |
| #06 "Around The Bend" | #12 "Reset" |
| "Secret Santa" (Christmas Special) | |