Implosion

Implosion
Season	1
Number	7
Air date	August 18, 2009
Written by	Bob Goodman
Directed by	Vincent Misiano
Previous	Burnout
Next	Duped

"Implosion" is the seventh episode of Season One of SyFy's Warehouse 13, airing on on August 18, 2009.

Synopsis

On the trail of a samurai sword presented to the President, the agents encounter a rival artifact-seeker, MacPherson.

Plot

Click to show

At the Warehouse, Pete finds and then plays with a samurai sword as Myka comes in. Artie enters the room and explains that he created it, a copy of one of the finest katana ever created. The real one was unearthed at Okinawa and is being presented as a gift to the U.S. President. The agents have to intercept it and return it to the Warehouse. At Kluger Electronics in Washington, a man meets with owner Erik Kluger, who complains that he's often been dismissed as a crackpot, particularly by his visitor's partner. The old man gives his visitor a suitcase full of canisters and the visitor shoots him with the Tesla at a high setting.Myka and Pete arrive at the Japanese embassy as Myka complains that Artie isn't giving them the full picture. As they pass a door, there's a flash of light and they try to run away, but they get pulled toward it and then knocked out. Pete partially recovers consciousness and catches a hazy glimpse of a man walking suspiciously by in the aftermath. As the agents recover, HAZMAT teams arrive at the embassy to investigate. Pete uses the Farnsworth to show Artie the embassy. They explain that the Japanese are holding them and that they do not know what is going on but the embassy seems to possibly think the sword might have been vaporized. When the agents describe the burst's effects, Artie realizes it was an implosion and recognizes the effect. He tells them to get in the room where the implosion occurred and find anything they can. Leena wonders why he looks worried and Artie mutters something about the past returning and then leaves. At the embassy, the security officer, Ogawa, asks Pete and Myka why the Secret Service sent two different units. Dickinson is there with his men and takes them back to his office to demand answers. Pete and Myka explain they're not allowed to have contact with him anymore. Dickinson blames their problems on Artie, and then wants to know what he's supposed to tell Ogawa. When they can't answer, he tells them to get out of D.C. and they tell him they will. That night, Pete and Myka try to figure a way to get into the embassy room. Myka admits that she thought it would feel like coming home but she isn't so sure now. They're interrupted when Artie gets in the back seat to their surprise. When they can't agree how to go in, Artie hands out goggles and then uses a rare Chinese firecracker. When the firecracker goes off, everyone in the embassy stares at it and becomes entranced. They get inside and Artie confirms that an implosion grenade was used, and that several embassy staff were killed as a result. They figure the thief used the grenade as a distraction. When Artie observes that he acquired all the implosion grenades years ago, they realize that they have a competitor for the collection of artifacts. Artie, Myka, and Pete check into a hotel and Artie searches through a phonebook for the impolsion grenade's manufacture's location. When the agents demand answers, Artie finally explains that the sword is so perfectly smelted that it is so sharp that it splits light, making its wielder invisible. When Myka goes over the photo of the sword from the embassy and the one from the Warehouse, they realize that the tsuba, the hilt piece, is missing. Artie finds Kluger's address in the phonebook and goes to talk to the man, noting that he told Kluger to not make implosion grenades ever again. Meanwhile, the agents try to find the tsuba in the hopes the it is needed for to make the sword work, and Artie rushes off. Uncertain of how to find this tsuba, Pete calls Claudia for help finding the sword, but she is not there and Leena answers. Pete then asks her for advice on what Artie would do. She suggests they look for collectors who deal in Japanese antiquities of the relevant period. Pete asks her to go into Artie's files and check the info. Artie arrives at Kluger Electronics and discovers that Kluger has been reduced to dust. Pete and Myka call to inform him that the tsuba is at Secret Service Headquarters, because the Japanese government presented it to the U.S. after World War I, in the hopes of bringing peace. It is currently going back to the museum in the morning. Artie figures it's no coincidence that both pieces are in Washington. He orders the agents to avoid warning Dickinson so they don't tip off the thief. Pete and Myka object, but they're interrupted when Artie find the remains of a roll of antacid on the ground. Recognizing it, Artie mutters the name “James” and runs off. Ogawa meets with Dickinson and claims Pete and Myka are compromised. He has a file on Artie that identifies him as a convicted espionage agent. Ogawa threatens to go to Dickinson's superiors if he can't handle it, and then leaves. An agent brings in the tsuba and informs Dickinson that it's going back to the museum. Artie calls someone and asks to meet. Pete and Myka watch as the tsuba is transferred. Myka complains that Artie isn't giving them the info they need, just like he is forcing them to not give the info Dickinson needs, but Pete disagrees. The Secret Service agents take the tsuba into the museum, but the thief attacks them with a Tesla at a high setting. Pete and Myka fire their Teslas and the two guns are negated as well as the highly set Tesla, knocking everyone back. Myka grabs the tsuba while Pete follows the thief out, but loses him in the grounds. Myka arrives with the tsuba but the Secret Service agents arrive to take them prisoner, figuring they're the thieves since the Tesla wiped their short-term memories. In the building, Pete tries to explain they're with a special "archival" department. The agents are skeptical of the existence of a department that they haven't heard of. Dickinson arrives and takes charge, freeing them. He warns them that if they shut him out, he can't help them. When he starts to take the tsuba, they tell him that it's dangerous but can't explain why. Dickinson shows them the file on Artie and tells them to read it. He returns, with the tsuba, to his office and orders increased security. Artie meets a woman, Carol, and tells her that it must be James. She's not thrilled with the fact that Artie talks in riddles, just like he did in the past. Carol states she hasn't seen James in 15 years, but Artie insists he's not the one who drove James away. Artie mentions that she messed up choosing James because he left, and Carol is not too happy with that statement; she says James was the one who believed in life. When she starts to walk away, Artie warns her that she's in danger if she's harboring James. She scoffs at him and leaves. Artie turns to discover Mrs. Frederic waiting for him. She wants to know why he's bothering Carol and torturing himself, and says that it's self-pity. Artie insists it is James MacPherson and shows her antacid he found at Kluger Electronics. Mrs. Frederic doesn't believe it and advises him that his team is falling apart around him. She takes them all off the case and tells him to go home. Back at their hotel, Pete and Myka are reading the files on Artie when he calls, and tells them to wait there for him while he handles everything. Once he signs off, Pete insists that the files are false, but Myka says that they're true. Artie used to work for the NSA as a cryptographer in his twenties. He started selling secrets to the Russians and was caught, but then, seemingly, disappeared. Artie breaks into Secret Service headquarters and goes to Dickinson's safe, opening it with an artifact. He gets the tsuba but Dickinson arrives and takes him prisoner, telling him he's under arrest for treason. The next day, Pete and Myka meet with the captive Artie, who says that the charges are true. He tells them to concentrate on the mission, declaring that Mrs. Frederic fixed it before and she can do it again. He hesitates realizing that Mrs. Frederic fixed this before, so these treason charges shouldn't be a problem, and Myka insists that if he had kept them in the loop, they could have helped. Artie is trying to focus on Frederic, but explains he changed his name to protect himself from the Soviets. He figures that someone has unfixed it from Frederic's fix, and tells them to find out who gave Dickinson the file, as whoever did so has the sword. As the agents leave, Dickinson tells them to save their own careers and get transferred. When they refuse, Dickinson tells them that he's sending them back to South Dakota with two of his agents. They notice that Ogawa is there to collect the tsuba and ask who gave him Artie's files. Dickinson suspiciously glances at Ogawa, then refuses to tell them. As the agents escort Pete and Myka to the airport, Pete's hazy memory of the thief at the embassy clears and he realizes it was Ogawa, after Myka comments on the suspicious glance Dickinson gave Ogawa when they asked who gave the file. Now Ogawa is heading for the airport where he'll leave through the diplomatic gate. Mrs. Frederic's bodyguard arrives with Artie's release papers, Artie's guards question who Mrs. Frederic is, but he informs them that if he tells them, the bodyguard will have to kill them. As the escort agents stop at a red light, Myka tries to convince Pete to shoot the agents with the Tesla. He refuses and lets Myka take the Tesla from him and she and stuns them so they can escape. Mrs. Frederic is waiting outside for Artie. He apologizes for acting rashly, but she stops him and notes that someone dug his file up. Mrs. Frederic finally admits that James MacPherson is responsible and Artie has to stop him. At Dulles Airport, Ogawa goes to a private hangar and presents MacPherson with the tsuba. MacPherson attaches it to the sword and then draws it across himself, rendering him invisible to Ogawa's surprise. Outside, Artie takes out a Tesla and a pistol, he then puts the Tesla back. He enters and finds Ogawa, seemingly alone and then asks him when MacPherson will arrive as Ogawa's head falls off. MacPherson then addresses Artie, greeting him. Artie notes that they had their differences but can't understand how he turned traitor. MacPherson appears behind him and disarms him, and then fades away again. He says that he gained clarity once he got out from under Mrs. Frederic, answering Artie's question. MacPherson appears briefly and says that Artie's new agents have potential. He fades away again and Artie vows he won't get them. Artie grabs an emergency foam sprayer, and tries to render MacPherson visible. MacPherson stabs him in the side, but hesitates as Pete and Myka arrive. Artie hangs onto the sword in him and MacPherson is forced to flee without it. The agents arrive and Artie tells them to remove the sword, assuming that since it is the sharpest sword in existence it should slide out like butter, it doesn't. MacPherson then rolls an implosion grenade into the hangar, and they get outside just as it goes off, almost pulling them back in. Later, Leena admits to Pete and Myka that she wasn't there when things went bad between MacPherson and Artie, but it was bad. They store the sword away, and Myka confesses that she doesn't know how she can work with Artie anymore. Leena explains that Artie has lost a lot of agents and tries to shut new ones out, so he isn't hurt again, but Myka insists he's going to have to work it out because she's not expendable. From his office, Artie and Mrs. Frederic watch Myka on the security cameras. Mrs. Frederic admits that Artie was right, but he warns her that MacPherson has something big planned. Mrs. Frederic responds by telling him to be careful.

Credits

Main Cast

• Eddie McClintock as Pete Lattimer
• Joanne Kelly as Myka Bering
• Saul Rubinek as Artie Nielsen
• Genelle Williams as Leena
• Simon Reynolds as Daniel Dickinson

Guest Starring

• Roger Rees as James MacPherson
• C.C.H. Pounder as Mrs. Irene Frederic

Cast

• Denis Akiyama as Officer Ogawa
• Arnold Pinnock as Cooper
• Graham Abbey as Mattson
• Lynne Cormack as Carol
• Jung-Yul Kim as Mrs. Frederic's bodyguard
• Peter Messalin as Kluger
• Brendan Murray as Secret Service Agent

Artifacts and Gadgets Featured

• Honjo Masamune: A ritually forged Japanese katana whose blade is so balanced and aligned that is capable of splitting anything, even light which renders its user invisible. The sword is unable to work until all pieces are in place, which is why the tsuba was removed during storage. It is the main artifact of the episode.
• Erik Kluger's Implosion Grenades: Removes matter in a certain radius, and surrounding objects are forcefully pulled in to fill in the resulting vacuum.
• Ice Flower: A 14th century Chinese firework that when it explodes, it releases a sustaining pattern of light that mesmerizes those who see it and triggers a feedback loop in the optic nerve which results in people not remembering anything during the approximate 10 minutes in which it lasts.
• Tesla: The effects of turning the setting beyond two is revealed in this episode; the physical blast turns green is able to disintegrate organic matter. The Tesla is also capable of emitting different colors.
• Rocking Chair: Briefly seen when Myka angrily storms past it. Swings on its own and appears to be activated by emotions.

Trivia

• The original backstory behind the Honjo Masumune rather than being perfectly forged, as revealed in the episode's BTS podcast, was that it was found in the dig site in Okinawa and had absorbed the radiation from the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and gained its powers that way.
• The song that plays at the beginning of the episode is "Queen B." from American rock supergroup Puscifer's album "V" is for Vagina, which Eddie McClintock designed the cover for.
• This is the only episode of the series after her debut where Claudia does not appear, instead only being mentioned.
• Myka and Pete's insistence that they are not "red shirts" refers to the fact that, in the original Star Trek series, characters wearing a red shirt would die.

References

Warehouse 13  :  Season 1 Season 2 >>
#01 "Pilot"	#07 "Implosion"
#02 "Resonance"	#08 "Duped"
#03 "Magnetism"	#09 "Regrets"
#04 "Claudia"	#10 "Breakdown"
#05 "Elements"	#11 "Nevermore"
#06 "Burnout"	#12 "MacPherson"