Welcome Back, Carter:
Written by: Bruce Miller
Directed by: Matthew Diamond
Original airdate: July 10, 2009 (10 months)
Synopsis:
Jack sits and chats with Jo about her impending promotion to Sheriff, having a tender moment about how she doesn’t want him to leave, but Allison shows up to tell them that a new sheriff has actually been appointed. They go to meet the new sheriff at the office, calling him when he doesn’t show up, only to have Fargo show up and open a box on the desk to find out that the new sheriff is indeed a robot, their new sheriff Andy. Jo promptly resigns. Allison criticizes the choice of Andy but Mansfield won’t budge.
Lexi has called upon Dr. Fielding, a scientist Jack has cited in the past for overloading the town’s power grid, to use his experiments with tensor fields to help with her home birth and to keep her babies weightless after they are born.
SARAH alerts Jack about a fallen tree that has caused an accident and that Allison is there, so he rushes off to help, with Mansfield reprimanding him for being there since he is no longer the sheriff. Soon enough, another tree falls. Andy shows up and shows that he has already taken all the steps Jack would have taken and due to his nature, can also scan all people nearby for any medical issues that could have happened in the accident.
Later, Jack tells Allison that he was offered a job at the department of homeland security. Zoe is distressed about having to move so suddenly after Jack had said he would make it as easy for them to move as he could. Andy shows up to pick up Jack’s sheriff uniform and Jack asks him if he thinks the tree came down by accident. Andy says yes, due to his investigation, but Jack tries to warn him that Eureka is different. Jack talks to SARAH who reveals that she analysed wood fragments that Sheriff Andy accidentally tracked into the bunker and that they indicate the trees had genetic abnormalities.
Allison surreptitiously gives Jack the name of the local tree expert Dr. Leonardo who creates super fast growing trees and while she wants to help Jack and Jo, since they aren’t actually the law anymore, she can’t. Jack asks Andy to check out Leonardo but Andy reminds him that it’s not his job anymore before the giant satellite dish falls and crushes Andy. Fargo manages to patch up Andy and he’s soon back on duty.
Jack investigates the dish with Henry and discovers that some type of force lifted it and slammed it to the ground. Jack finds Dr. Leonardo at the site of the fallen trees and he feels she wants to tell him what’s going on. Andy shows up and she gets frustrated enough with Andy to tell them that she was growing these types of trees to help repopulate forests and stop global warming.
Jack theorizes with Henry and they come up with the possible idea that the town is experiencing random acts of gravity. Andy says he’ll look into it but needs actual evidence to keep doing so when suddenly, Andy and the sheriff’s jeep are crushed flat.
Henry discovers that gravity wells have started popping up around the town and Jack feels that someone is targeting Andy. They go to Dr. Fielding and explain that his tensor field is responsible for the problems but he is pleased to have accidentally discovered a way to control gravity. They take him to go to GD to help them solve the problem and he’s hesitant but at the prospect of being able to use one of their specialized machines, he agrees.
While there, it’s discovered that Fielding doesn’t understand how his machine actually worked and has been getting help from someone on the outside. He admits to his deception and tells them of Dr. Marguerite von Dieter who he met in a chat room and they’ve since been working together. They trace her emails back to Zoe and while Jack interrogates her about it, SARAH interrupts and confesses to being Marguerite, apologizing for letting her artificial emotions get away from her, not wanting Jack and Zoe to leave. Unfortunately, Fielding’s attempts at a solution made the problem worse, leaving the only solution to be a graviton pulse explosion at Fielding’s tensor field birthing chamber and someone strong enough to fight against the gravity wells forming there. Andy refuses to go because there’s only a 7% chance of success, so Jack agrees to do it himself.
Jack makes it inside but before getting to the machine, the gravity wells open up stronger and the power supply he was carrying is ripped through the floor to the basement. Andy asks Allison why Jack is doing this since he is no longer sheriff and she tells him it is just who Jack is. With Jack pinned down and unable to move due to a gravity well, Andy shows up, having decided to help him and picks him up. Andy surmises that the hot wire is close to being enough power to overload the machine but that he can also use his own power source to help overload it, which he does and both of them are thrown to the ground but the field is disrupted and they are both safe.
While everyone gathers for Jack’s going away party, Henry reveals that the Mayor of Eureka has final say on who is fired regarding law enforcement and he has decided that Jack is still the sheriff. The information was given to him by Andy who had the whole town charter in his hard drive. Andy gives back the sheriff badge, deciding to retire, saying he wasn’t built for the job the way Jack is.
Later, Henry tells Allison there is trouble with their Nav-Sat antenna array, saying the problem is a radio signal, not man made, that is heading straight for Eureka.
Advanced Research:
Matthew Diamond has a TV directing career going back to the mid 80’s. His IMDb lists mostly sitcoms and a few TV movies. More recently he has directed several stage performances for screen distribution.
Ty Olsson played Sheriff Andy. He was one of the lead voices in the Angry Birds: Summer Madness cartoon, playing the round black bird who was named The Bomb, Voltron Force (playing Hunk), Class of the Titans (descendants of the original Greek Gods), Packages From Planet X (12 year olds receive technology from another planet that was supposed to be for an alien and try to prevent an alien invasion), and Nerds and Monsters (a group of nerdy kids on a fantastic uncharted island). He had a few appearances in the series Wynonna Earp, The Man In The High Castle, Slasher, The 100, Dirk Gently (2 episodes) and Supernatural. In 2023 he was in the horror movie Thanksgiving (after a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts, the birthplace of the infamous holiday). Most recently, in 2024, he was in The Last Stand Of Ellen Cole (a nefarious land developer who gets more than he bargained for when he tries to intimidate an 80-year-old widow into abandoning her Montana ranch).
Salli Richardson-Whitfield was actually pregnant by the time the show started filming again.
According to Jaime Paglia in the commentary track, Allison speaks seven languages. They also discuss the recent release of the original iPhone and iPad, believing they must be watching their show and stealing their ideas.
Your Face or Mine?:
Written by: Jaime Paglia
Directed by: Colin Ferguson
Original airdate: July 17, 2009
Synopsis:
Just as I am sure Sheriff Cobb did every one to two years when HE was Sheriff of Eureka, Jack needs to re-certify for his job, as does Jo, so once she is finished with her extreme tests, being “perfect” according to the lab tech, she gets some pills to help her recover from any possible side effects and goes home while Jack enters the GD arena and begins his. He’s frustrated at first as all he has to do is push a button but he quickly sees that there are multiple obstacles in the way of getting to that button. After many tries over the course of the next two days, he finally gets almost close enough to the button and realizes he can throw something at the button to pass the test, that something being a panic button he was given by the doctor in charge of the test in case he wanted to stop the test entirely. He does so and passes.
Meanwhile, Fargo watches Jo and Zane be romantic at Cafe Diem, before Zane disagrees about whether anybody is really perfect and whether they should focus on people’s good sides. Fargo interjects for a moment, and Jo appreciates it.
Later, Allison is working with a Dr. Stefano who has a special machine that will scan and store all of Eureka’s townspeople’s DNA for security purposes, a move that Henry disagrees with. Given that the choice to do so comes down to a vote between her, the mayor, and the head of law enforcement, Henry is easily defeated as Jo quickly votes yes, citing security as her top concern. Jo volunteers to be the first one to have her DNA scanned but something goes wrong and she’s electrocuted briefly before recovering. They discover part of the machine was tampered with and a module stolen from it. Allison wants to pull Jack from the tests but Jo says she can handle it.
Henry discovers that someone also stole his intramuscular electrode array and Jo asks him to figure out a connection between the two thefts, and heads off to babysit Zoe, who tries to get her to go out and have some with her, but she just wants to sleep due to her headache.
Later, at Cafe Diem’s karaoke night, “Jo” shows up and chats with Fargo, getting along with him better than they’ve ever done before . Alison shows up and asks why Jo hasn’t been working on the cases but “Jo” says she’s figured it out, blaming Larry and arresting him. Henry and Allison question her, thinking that she might be suffering from side effects from the shock form earlier but Jo is adamant all is well.
As karaoke begins, “Jo” changes into a sultry red dress and sings a suggestive song while Fargo sits and plays piano for her. Zane watches as “Jo” ends the song and kisses Fargo as everyone watches, stunned. Zane questions what just happened but “Jo” walks off angrily.
Zoe wakes Jo up in the morning who has no recollection of what happened at karaoke with Fargo, and is shocked Zoe went after she said not to go. Fargo shows up with flowers but she rebuffs him, much to their surprise given her behavior last night. At the sheriff office, Jo wonders why Larry is there and doesn’t understand why Zane is upset either. Allison calls her in to GD and reveals they have a DNA scan of the person who did the two previous thefts and another one from last night, and shows her that it was “Jo”. She defends herself to Allison and Henry saying she was home, but they tell her they saw her at Cafe Diem.
Jo questions Dr. Stefano, and with Allison, confirms that SARAH has placed Jo at home in the bunker at the same time her DNA was supposedly at GD stealing things. He breaks down and admits that he thought that it was just a glitch in his machine, wanting to just keep going ahead with his test of the system.
Fargo talks with “Jo” and as she is in a rush, hurriedly makes a date with him for later. Zane, trying to catch “Jo”, talks to Fargo and points out that she’s been acting differently.
Jo chats with Henry who comes up with the theory that the devices stolen all can be used to manipulate DNA, which leads her to confront Julia, the lab assistant who tested her the day before and claimed Jo was “perfect.” When Jo shows up to her lab, she discovers that Julia has transformed into a full copy of Jo, who defends herself saying she just wanted to stand out and see what life was like for her because she feels ordinary in her own life, especially when it comes to getting Fargo to notice her. She says something has gone wrong with the process but Jo says she will figure it out from her jail cell if she has to but Julia puts Jo to sleep, having given her sedatives after her test that can now be activated remotely.
Julia/Jo goes to Allison and Henry, framing Jo, who Julia/Jo has transformed into a lookalike Julia, and they lock her up, no questions asked, no testing, no matter what, they don’t believe her until Zane shows up and asks, Jo, looking like Julia, questions that only the real Jo would know. He believes her and Zane kisses Jo. Or rather, Julia. Or Jo who looks like Julia.
Meanwhile, Julia/Jo is on a date with Fargo but even he senses something is off and when she goes to kiss him, he rebuffs her. Julia/Jo starts experiencing parts of her body twitching as her DNA swapping is having unforeseen consequences.
After using Stefano’s machine, Stefano and Henry confirm the DNA swapping. They discover that the DNA strands are unraveling and Jo asks them to do another scan using her original DNA scan, effectively rebooting her system. They manage to find Julia/Jo hanging out with Fargo, who reveals the truth to him, and Fargo shows that he is interested in Julia because he connected with her, not Jo. Back at GD, Julia helps them get Jo rescanned back to normal and then later, herself.
Allison later tells Henry she put the DNA security monitor into redevelopment and lets
Julia know that she has talked with the ethics board and they have a hearing, but given how she helped save Julia’s life, she will likely be ok and allowed to stay, much to Fargo’s joy and much to the chagrin, annoyance, and shock to every normal sensible law-abiding person everywhere.
Advanced Research:
Colin Ferguson directs an episode a season (3 episodes total). He also directed the TV movie Triassic Attack in 2010 (a Native American owner of a kitschy roadside museum accidentally brings to life three dinosaur fossils. Now really annoyed, the giant dinos wreak havoc on the small town and the local university), and a season 5 episode of the series Haven in 2015 (many in the coastal town of Haven, Maine have a dormant curse or "trouble" that could trigger at any time for any reason. FBI agent Audrey Parker, the sheriff and the town's black sheep must deal with the troubles' deadly effects). This episode was also shot first in the schedule to accommodate Colin directing it.
Leela Savasta played Julia. Previously, she was in a few episodes of Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, and Intelligence (Organized crime and the Organized Crime Unit (OCU) work together to achieve the opposing goals of each respective world), but was a lead in the series Cra$h & Burn (savvy insurance adjuster Jimmy Burn navigates a world of deceit, torn between ruthless corporations, crafty con artists, and the menacing mob while juggling dodgy clients and duplicitous colleagues while striving for the American dream). She was also a lead in the movie Cleaverville (a con woman, Ever Carradine, runs to her mother for help, 15 years after she ran away from the family and left behind her daughter who was just born then).
Julia Arkos played Dr. Bella Pagani. She was a main character in the movie The Exorcism of Molly Hartley (a sequel to The Haunting of Molly Hartley). She was a bit higher on the cast list in an episode of Masters of Horror called “Jenifer” (Frank Spivey (Steven Weber) is a detective who rescues a strange young girl with a horribly disfigured face and lusciously ripe body from a deranged killer).
The songs in the karaoke scenes are Don’t You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds and Makin’ Whoopee by Eddie Cantor.
The control panel makes another appearance in this episode, now apparently linked to Dr Stephano’s DNA Monitor.
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