User Reviews

With the Pilot behind us, Many Happy Returns both picks up where the pilot left off and does the post-pilot restructuring of supporting characters necessary for the full season to begin. There are plenty of character introductions (including cementing the already established lot) so that those viewers who missed the pilot are on track and we get the backstories for the new ones. The story continuation from the pilot sets the tone for the episodes to come (with a brand new look for General Dynamic). The central plot itself is more than a bit disturbing, but it is a story that ultimately has heart even though the weirdness of Eureka's townfolk and purpose.

Following on from the events seen in the pilot episode this instalment opens with the funeral of Walter and Susan Perkins. Soon after strange things start to happen; there are a series of electrical problems and sightings of a 'ghost'... this being Eureka nobody actually believes in ghosts of course. Something stranger then happens... Susan Perkins walks into the police station alive and well! She appears to be a different Susan Perkins though; she chose not to move to Eureka when Walter moved there. As well as trying to get to the bottom of these mysteries new sheriff Jack Carter moves into a futuristic new home provided by Fargo.

This was a solid second episode which effectively built on the events of the pilot. The story was intriguing with hints of the supernatural before an explanation that hammers home the fact that this is science fiction not fantasy... even though the genres are closer than some SF fans like to admit. There are some nicely creepy moments; especially the way the 'ghost' is depicted. The secondary plot line featuring Jack's new home was provided some light relief... the fact that the house's computer system has the voice of Fargo trying to sound female was hilarious... especially when he was called out on it. We are only two episodes into the series but I already feel like I'll be watching this to the end.

This episode feels like the writers were trying too hard, and they needed to edit themselves a bit to have the episode really pay off.

There are two scientific mysteries in this episode. The genres don't really mix, except that the stories eventually come together in the conclusion. It would have been better if only one of these stories were used, or if the two were spread out over separate episodes.

Additionally, we get introduced to the character of Nathan Stark, the head of Global Dynamics. His character is one of the least fun characters I've seen in television. He instantly hates Sheriff Carter. We only ever see this because of exposition. We never really see why he hates Carter. They don't have fun banter like most TV characters that hate each other. He mostly just exists to drag out the screen time of episodes by making Carter jump through hoops.

This episode could have been better if it were edited or split into two. The character of Stark could have been made more fun.