Is that the Lost Ark I see? (Warehouse 13)

Member Name: grahamt

Product:	Warehouse 13
Date:	14/09/09 (32 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hugely enjoyable new sci-fi tv show

Disadvantages: Only on cable or satellite

The final scene of the first Indiana Jones movie, where someone is pushing a crate on a trolley into the furthest recesses of a vast warehouse is one of those eternally memorable scenes. As the camera pulls back you wonder not just whether the Ark will ever be found again but just what else is hidden down here amongst the thousands of similar crates.

Maybe this scene is what inspired the newest "weird" TV show to come out of the US. Following in a long line that includes the likes of X-Files, Millenium, more recently Fringe and also the The Librarian films, Warehouse 13 once again poses the question, What is out there?

Created by Jane Espenson, whose previous credits include Battlestar Galactica, Tru Calling and Buffy, Warehouse 13 looks, from the the evidence of the pilot, just shown on the Sci-Fi channel, to be yet another hit in the making.

The two hour pilot introduces us to the two main characters. Pete Lattimer, played by Eddie McClintock who steps up from playing walk-on roles in various other shows, and Myka Bering, played by Joanne Kelly, whose only previous long-running role was in Vanished. They play secret agents and at the introduction are providing the security at a museum exhibition that is to be attended by the President.

Trouble breaks out after one of the exhibits takes over the mind and body of one of the museum's assistants and turns him into an assassin. Of course, our heroes save the day but in doing so lose the exhibit in question to a mysterious character down in the bowels of the museum, who arrives and departs seemingly impossibly. Enter our third main character, Artie Nielsen, played by the instantly recognisable Saul Rubinek, stalwart of a whole host of shows but probably most memorable for his part as Donny Douglas in Frasier, as the "curator" of the warehouse.

Add to these three the mysterious Mrs Fredric, played by CCH Pounder of The Shield and you have a formula and cast that suggests only good things. Our heroes are seconded to what looks like a derelict facility far off the beaten track in the Badlands of South Dakota, neither really knowing why. Lattimer takes the whole thing very much in his stride by Bering has her nose seriously out-of-joint by what she initially considers to be a waste of her talents.

As the truth of what goes on here is revealed the reactions of each are very different and perhaps a bit predictable. The grin on Lattimer's face gets wider and wider and he realises that he is stepping into the ultimate boys-toys paradise whilst Bering takes much longer to adjust her opinions for they are here to track down and recover other "artefacts" that are far too dangerous to leave out on the open where they may and usually do cause havoc.

I have only seen the pilot so far and I can say that I enjoyed it immensely. Best of all, it doesn't take itself too seriously whilst at the same time not descending into farce. I will definitely be watching more.

The actors play there parts to perfection, especially Rubinek, who is the undoubted star of the show. It will be interesting to see how the characters of Lattimer and Bering develop. So far they seem to have got there roles off pat. They put me in mind of the partnership between Booth and Brennan in another monster hit show, Bones, close enough but not too similar that is.

Being on the SciFi channel means, of course, that it isn't available on Freeview but if you are a Sky or Virgin Media subscriber then this could become essential Tuesday night viewing. If you didn't catch the pilot then it is on again tonight (14th Sept) at 8.00pm. Don't miss it.

Summary: A promising new US TV show featuring the weird and the unexplained.