We begin with a standard artefact collection with Myka
and Claudia dressing up as Geishas in
order to intercept a sale. Nice, simple snatch and grab, interrupted by a phone
call from Myka’s sister Tracy – she’s pregnant.
This brings Myka much glee that she shares with the team (Artie’s still grumpy) before going on another ping hunt – this time a hockey player has super healing and super strength in Canada. Questioning the players doesn’t get them anywhere. But checking the X-Ray of the player’s (Mike’s) arm Myka (she who overachieves and has a ridiculous number of qualifications to the point of parody) realises that this isn’t the arm of Mike, as she just shook hands with him. Tim to go steal the real records – and Pete, alas, doesn’t get chance to drive the Zamboni.
Examining Mike’s real records they find that his bones
are broken – not just his arm, but his knee and his ribs. But the Artefact has
caused his muscles to grow around the breaks to support them. Without them, the
injuries he’s sustained should probably prevent him walking, let alone playing
professional hockey. They break into the locker room but, again, none of his
items can be gooed, there’s no Artefact. They do hear him having an argument in
the shower, though, with a player who doesn’t understand what’s making Mike so
strong. Pete breaks it up, but sees that in the showers he isn’t strong and he’s
in pain – he consults with Myka on the idea that someone is using the Artefact
on him, he’s not using one.
They confront the owner who is less than amused by Myka’s
tactless accusations (is it just me, or is Myka becoming better academically
but becoming more socially inept?) and points out he has several players
injured – players who are better. So if he was doing anything he’d do it to
them. They’re surprised Mike isn’t one of the best players – turns out he’s
only great in home games.
So they cast their eyes on the rink and since he isn’t as good in practice, to the fans. Of course finding one fan among thousands is difficult so they arrange a trap – setting up a competition where a fan can win a dinner with him and arranging for him to fake a severe injury.
Mike and Myka continue to develop a very Rom Com
attraction (as Pete points out and mocks and decides he’s the “Sassy best friend”.
Do not get me started on the falsetto and the finger snaps) which means they
kiss before the game – and end up on the kiss cam.
Pete starts searching people surreptitiously during the match to try and find the Artefact. One fan is notably Not Happy by Mike kissing Myka. When Mike is hurt, Myka suddenly has painful stomach cramps and staggers to the bathroom and calls Pete. He arrives to find Myka very very very heavily pregnant.
They contact Artie and he decides it’s probably a wish fulfilment
Artefact (Myka angrily points out she didn’t wish for this and just because her
little sister is pregnant doesn’t mean she wants to be. Which is good – we also
play up the “hormonal pregnant lady” schtick, which is not) and someone has
wished it on Myka.
Pete thinks and realises it was his wish. When searching
people’s bags he saw a small boy and wondered if he’d ever have a kid because who
would share his life. Then he realised someone did share his life and… Myka
became pregnant. He thinks back to what he was touching – a key chain in a
woman’s bag.
They track her down and find she’s less of a devoted fan
and more of a scary scary stalker. They find her grandfather, during world war
2, once urged a fellow soldier on, wishing him to do the impossible – and Pete remembers
the dog tags on the key ring.
Judy, the woman, isn’t coming home though and she has
ambushed and kidnapped Mike using her wishing dogtags. Looking round the house
Pete and Myka see a picture of a cabin which is where they head to. And where
Judy and the deeply disturbed Mike are as well, drinking romantic hot cider. She
controls him by wishing his injuries back – and when Myka and Pete arrives she
manages to hold Myka at axe-edge. She tries to wish Pete to die and he
collapses to his knees – but when she checks him he’s fine, steals the dog tags
and Myka gets to Tesla him. Then it’s just goo-bag and everything’s back to
normal, all wishes undone. And, of course, Mike’s in incredible pain with all
his injuries.
They speculate on why it didn’t work to kill Pete, and
Pete guesses it only works on people you love. Judy’s grandfather used it on
his best friend, Judy used it on Mike and Pete… used it on Myka (we knew it was
coming, yes yes we did).
Artie is won over by the fuzzy bear. And Claudia has an invitation
from Mrs. Frederick to meet for lunch (can I say again how much I love how
Claudia and Artie interact?) Claudia wonders if it’s about the weird sensations
she’s had lately – which worries Artie since he’s still get visions of Claudia
stabbing him. Or it could be linked to Jinks’ immortality metronome connection
thingy. Yes, there’s a lot going on with Claudia.
Claudia meets Mrs. Frederick, in reasonable fear of being
whacked (it is, after all, Mrs. Frederick) but it turns out Mrs. Frederick is
more concerned with Claudia’s destiny concerning the Warehouse – including becoming
the next guardian. Something she’s worried about after getting a grey streak in
her hair after it blew up and came back.
They walk through the town and Mrs. Frederick asks
Claudia to check in some extra senses, to feel anything strange. The strange
feeling leads Claudia to a woman in a shop. They watch as the shop is robbed at
gun point and the woman Claudia sensed saves a baby’s life by taking a bullet
that would have hit the baby. While talking to the injured woman, Claudia sees
a chain bracelet she wears that glows.
What they saw was the creation of an Artefact. The bracelet was imbued with the woman’s bravery, becoming an Artefact. There’s no need to snag it unless it starts causing problems in Mrs. Frederick’s eyes (and it is Mrs. Frederick, never Mrs. F).
Mrs. Frederick goes on to show Claudia something else –
an elderly man Claudia takes to be Mr. Frederick. He is – her grandson.
Jinks, meanwhile, uses his special lie detector ability
to realise that Artie is lying about something. He follows Artie to the
inventory where Artie has discovered that the Evil Brotherhood has stolen Primo
Levi’s Scarf (how do they keep getting in?) He tells Jinks that Artefacts keep
going missing and it’s getting round all the detection mechanisms – and that
they are artefacts that have personal meaning to Artie.
They follow around and find that every Artefact that
Artie has snagged has been taken, his life work being destroyed. But Jinks asks
if there’s any Artefact that’s easy to find – Artie checks and finds the McCoy
rifle has been taken. But he didn’t find the Hatfield rifle, so it shouldn’t be
taken, which means he can use it to find the McCoy rifle. When you look through
the sites of the rifle, you see where the other rifle is.
They track it down – and have some minor difficulty with
the rifles automatically shooting at each other – and Jinks tells Artie about
his connection with Claudia – which at least reassures him that she’s not going
to stab him. they find a lot of the Artefacts, but it looks like several more
of them have already been shipped
I think this show has far too few regular POC to dress the white characters up like they
did Claudia and Myka without it being problematic.
The minute they said Myka’s sister was pregnant I
prepared for the worst – lots of Myka and “biological clocks” and “I’m an
academically brilliant secret service agent who saves the world on a regular
basis but MY LIFE IS MEANINGLESS IF I DON’T HAVE BABBIES!!!!” which I have seen
and seen and seen again. Especially when Myka became pregnant and we started
playing the whole “I’m hormonal, have back ache and can’t pick things up” which
are also standard fodder. But it didn’t go there! In an almost unique twist, it
was Pete who started pining for a child and worried about being alone. These
are emotions men on TV hardly ever express – I was astonished and really
pleased.
I also loved the development of Mrs. Franklin and the
nature of Artefacts, but it begs the question about “all Artefacts having a
downside” since Mrs. Franklin seemed unconcerned about the bracelet.
I also liked the investigation, following clue after clue, making logical steps, elminating possibilities - I like that a lot. No gut, no hunches, no magical guess work.
Remember last episode when I was curious as to whether
the show threw gay jokes Jinks because it wanted to subtle analyse the
pervasive effect of micro-aggressions on a gay man’s life or they were just
after cheap, offensive laughs? I would like to thank this episode for
clarifying the point and, really, I was very very very silly to hope for the
former, wasn’t I?
