Warehouse 13 is a fun, light sci-fi/fantasy show suited for the summer and has worked well for two seasons already. Sure the show could do a lot more with the concept itself or even the larger arcs, but the show works just fine from an episode to episode basis, as evidenced by the season three premiere, "The New Guy."
There's nothing too notable about the episode, but it's entertaining and fun as expected. Pete gets a new partner, Steve Jinx (Aaron Ashmore), who can tell when people are lying. Thus far he's a normal guy and is receptive to Pete's personality at the end of the episode and they get along fine throughout the episode despite some tension at first. His "special ability" is being able to tell when people are lying, which should come in handy. The other big development was the return of Myka who left at the end of the last season. Pete ropes her into the case and after a eerie hologram visit from H.G., who is locked up somewhere, she decides to return.
I'm curious to see what the writers will do next. If Myka was brought back so early in the season, why is Steve there, assuming Aaron Ashmore will get a fair amount to do given his pedigree? In any case, I don't see the immediate harm in adding him since he seemed to work well with the others.
The plot this week was fairly simple and open-ended. The artifact was Shakespeare's Lost Folio, a collection of pictures depicting deaths from Shakespeare's plays which causes those to touch the page to experience the death. While Pete, Myka, and Steve are able to save everyone's lives--including Steve's--the culprit gets away and is killed by the FBI chick Pete clashed with throughout the episode. *Cue music indicating this is important* The other plot was basically pointless, filling in time and giving Artie, Claudia, and Leena something to do. The statues of Zeus and Hera discharge electricity at each other, so Artie and Claudia move Zeus far away. Exciting...
Overall, "The New Guy" was a good return for Warehouse 13, getting us back into the groove of the show and moving forward a little. I like Aaron Ashmore, so hopefully the writers can find him a place on a team which worked fine for two seasons.
Score: 8.5/10
