"Merge With Caution" is the eighth episode of Season Two of SyFy's Warehouse 13, that aired on August 24, 2010.
Synopsis[]
Pete and Myka's weekend off becomes complicated when they are exposed to an artifact that causes them to switch bodies. Meanwhile, Artie and Claudia investigate a case involving large money transfers by insurance executives.
Plot[]
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Pete and Myka are chasing down an artifact thief. He eludes them in a warehouse until a wounded security guard tells them which way he went. Pete manages to tackle the guy and grab his backpack with the artifact but the thief eludes capture. The artifact is a small Griffin statue. (Half lion-half eagle). It has the power, apparently, of getting people what they want and ensuring a clean getaway. As Pete and Myka go to put it in a zapper bag they each grab hold of it and get zapped, unwittingly, with its mojo. Since the job is finished they're both going to try and have a "normal" weekend, Pete with Kelly back in Univille and Myka at her 10th high school reunion in Colorado Springs. When Leena gets a hold of it back at the Warehouse it oddly crackles as she takes it out of the bag. When she sets it down, it swivels in another direction. Meanwhile, Claudia has stumbled upon a group of insurance executives giving copious amounts to charity. Obviously this is supernatural so, since Pete and Myka are off chasing the Griffin, Artie and Claudia head to Hartford to see what's up. It turns out that what's up is a femme fatale out to get revenge since her brother was effectively killed by the insurance company's denial of a claim. She has come into possession of mystical stocking that when men touch them they fall under her spell. Unfortunately, during their surveillance Artie touches them so he falls under her spell. A quick thinking Claudia chains him to the hotel closet door and goes to investigate the woman. Meanwhile, Pete has just had a lovely romp with Kelly and is off to get a bowl of cereal. Myka is cooling her heels at the bar of her high school reunion waiting for the right moment, and right amount of alcohol, to go hit on the hot guy she used to have a crush on back in the day, Kurt. Suddenly both of their eyes go yellow and they are doubled over in pain. Each rushes to look at their reflection perplexed. Myka calls Pete and we learn that they have switched bodies. They are both totally freaked out. Pete, a recovering alcoholic can feel the effects of Myka's drinks and Myka feels strangely uncovered in Pete's body. Myka/Pete puts off an amorous Kelly and tells Pete/Myka to hold on that he's/she's on the way. Myka/Pete doesn't get there fast enough, however, to stop Pete from unwittingly cozying up to Kurt by talking sports and wings. Kurt thinks Myka is hitting on him so he kisses her. Pete/Myka is freaked out and Myka/Pete shows up just in time to see the kiss. The two repair to another location and take another look at the Griffin. They slide a plate out from the base of the statue and realize it's a bookend, meaning there is another one out there and that their jewel thief probably has it. They decide to set it down and follow the direction in which it swivels, assuming it points to its pair. It leads them to the security guard they met earlier in the episode and they are confused. Until the guard turns into the thief. And then as they go to fight him, Pete and Myka also merge into one body. As the fight continues the bodies morph back and forth between Pete and Myka and jewel thief and security guard. When Claudia goes to confront the femme fatale she is there with one of the men she has bewitched and he draws his gun on Claudia. He handcuffs both her and the femme fatale to different parts of her apartment. He's going to kidnap the femme so he can have her all to himself. The femme apologizes to Claudia saying she just wanted the insurance company to pay. Artie improvises an escape from his handcuffs. Pete/Myka - Pyka- drag the guard/thief to Myka's hotel room tub. Kurt shows up for a booty call and Myka puts him off. He throws a foot in the door and then Pete appears and tells him to give it up. In the tub the guard/thief wakes up and tries to explain, now that they have both Griffins, what Pyka needs to do to split them all back into their own bodies. Unfortunately before he can finish his explanation, their shared body explodes in the tub. Pyka does not like the look of this. The man in love with the femme returns with a bag packed for her and his gun still drawn on Claudia. Artie arrives and shines a crazy light in the gunman's eyes. He excitedly rescues Lauren and shuns Claudia, tossing the keys to the cuffs. Pyka calls Leena for help. Turns out the bookends belonged to Robert Louis Stevenson. On closer examination it's revealed that the heads are switchable, making the lion a lion and the eagle an eagle and if they can switch them they will undo the mojo. As their bodies switch back and forth they successfully reattach the heads and detach from each other. AT the femme's house the other man wakes up and confronts Artie, who swears he will kill for the femme. Claudia begs the femme to go grab the stockings, together they put a run in them and a purple light wave washes over the room, undoing the spell of the stockings. Apparently the stockings came from her great grandfather, who had a run in in WWI with Mata Hari. Artie thanks Claudia for focusing on the job and trying to protect Artie. He keeps her handcuffed, challenging her to improvise an escape. Myka and Pete explain the security guard and the thief were in cahoots, robbing places by switching bodies. On their way out Myka goes to talk to Kurt. He's dejected at the bar that she has a boyfriend. She says she doesn't and that her life is complicated but she'd like to keep in touch. He thinks this is a good plan and they have a nice kiss goodbye. When he gets back Pete presents Kelly with rose petals, candles, balloons, and candy and they pick up where they left off. Myka apparently said something very sweet to her on the phone when she was "Pete." He tries to get her to tell him what he said. She kisses him and throws him on the bed. |
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
- Laura Harris as Lauren Andrews
- Cody Rhodes as Kurt Smoller
Co-Starring[]
- Tig Fong as Victor
- Desmond Campbell as Albert - Security Guard
- Jeff Pustil as Howard
- Noa May Dorn as Teri - Receptionist
- Paul Essiembre as John Donley
- Ashleigh Rains as Megan
- Evan Sabba as Colorado Bartender
- Caden Douglas as Gabers
- Jamaal Grant as Royboy
- Gary Douglas as Phil
Artifacts and Gadgets Featured[]
- Robert Louis Stevenson's Bookends: Allows two people to switch bodies. The effect is activated when the heads are switched. Prolonged use of the bookends eventually cause the two people to physically merge, and then explode as two objects cannot occupy the same space. It is one of the main artifacts of the episode.
- Mata Hari's Stockings: Contact with the stockings causes men to become infatuated with the wearer, to the point of psychotic obsession and violence. One of the other main artifacts of the episode.
- Shard of Lens from the Lighthouse of Alexandria: Amplifies light shone through the shard, causing painful and temporary blindness to whoever the light is projected at.
- Ernest Shackleton's Can of Sardines:Causes insanity and violence. According to Artie, the sardines have gone "very bad".
- Phoenix: Protects the holder from direct fire at the costing of killing those nearby in exchange. Mentioned by Artie.
- Can of Red Herrings: Effects unknown. The text on the display and the artifact says "Prima Surströmming", which is Swedish and means "Prime Soured Herring", and the Swedish text on the bottom of both are mostly illegible.[1] Surströmming is fermented Baltic herring and is a staple of traditional northern Swedish cuisine. It is considered a delicacy and is (in)famous for its extremely pungent smell.
- Original Can of Worms: Tag mostly illegible; "Induces (illegible) complicated problem (or "problems"). DO NOT OPEN UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES." Its can bears Japanese script, a sakura (cherry blossom) flower with script inside, and an illustrated cow wearing a bib and holding a fork and knife engraved across the can.[2] The cow appears to be a modified version of a free-to-use clipart image.
- Steve McQueen's Motorcycle: Effects unknown; mentioned but not seen.
- Artie's Glasses and Receiver: Modified by Claudia so Artie is able to locate his glasses case. Holding the arms of the glasses together completes the circuit which activates the receiver connected to the case, causing it to beep loudly.
- Helen of Troy's Cuff Bracelet: Has some sort of seductive properties; mentioned but not seen.
- John F. Kennedy's Tie Clip: Has some sort of seductive properties; mentioned but not seen.
- Rudolph Valentino's Cigarette: Has some sort of seductive properties; mentioned but not seen.
Quotes[]
Trivia[]
- Joanne Kelly previously played Mata Hari in an episode of the TV series Mentors.
- The title is taken from the traffic instruction for joining a fast-moving flow.
- According to the episode podcast, there was a deleted scene from the end of the episode where Artie and Claudia were shelving Mata Hari's Stockings.
- In the scene, Artie told Claudia of how Mata Hari blew a kiss to the firing squad before she was executed. Claudia responded, "If that's not a metaphor for love, I don't know what is."
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) | |
