RogerRees

(S01E13) It took a while, but Warehouse 13 finally broke away from the stale case-of-the-week episodes (and the stale dialogue) to become the summer's most amusing slice of sci-fi TV. The shift happened a few weeks ago when Roger Rees' smug and sadistic baddie, Macpherson, showed up to make trouble for the team.

Macpherson turned out to be the big bad Warehouse 13 was missing all along. He was an ex-Warehouse agent with a vendetta against Artie and the regents. His evil plots forced Artie and the agents to bond and trust each other, and they also gave the show a real sense of danger and purpose. Oh, and Macpherson also gave us Claudia and Leena, apparently.

Macpherson returned to twist the knife one more time in a season finale packed with surprises, red herrings, and a few insane artifacts (Timothy Leary's psychedelic glasses? That was a good one.)

(S01E12) Look at that, Myka's dad is Saul Tigh (Michael Hogan). And like most of the high caliber sci-fi guest stars so far this season, he's relegated to a bit role. Not to say that he isn't front-and-center to the action, because he is. But as much as he's at the center of the activity, he spends most of the episode inactive.

As you may have guessed by the title, this episode dealt with artifacts relating to Edgar Allan Poe, and there was some clever trickery utilizing Poe's most iconic visions. But the title might allude to something greater: the impending and climactic battle with MacPherson set to take place in next week's finale (is it here already?).

Interestingly enough, even though this was the big episode leading into the finale, it turned out to be little more than a generic bag-it-and-tag-it kind of mission, albeit with a very personal touch. I enjoyed seeing Myka's family and her father's bookstore. We learned a lot about her character and personality just from this short time with her family.