Who dies on Warehouse 13? Nobody.

Now in its fourth season, Warehouse 13 has remained pretty consistent in its writing quality and fun sci-fi lore. It’s had some neat, season-long story arcs and even a few twists and turns that were enjoyable to watch. But where shows like Warehouse 13 are weak is in their attempts to shock us. That wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, except Warehouse 13 is truly attempting to shock the audience; and, for me, it’s not working.

Case in point: this season’s story arc. Artie has successfully turned back time and has saved the warehouse from destruction, and Pete (and Brent Spiner‘s Brother Adrian) from death. Now he’s trying to avoid Brother Adrian’s warnings of needing to “undo what was done” — presumably meaning back to the Warehouse being destroyed and all of that — and, at the same time, trying to avoid ominous dreams that Claudia’s going to stab him in the chest with a dagger. We’re apparently supposed to be worried that maybe Artie’s going to die this season, or that he’s going to have no choice but to reverse the stopwatch’s powers and cause Pete, Adrian and Mrs. Frederick to die again. And this is where the shock value fails: we all know neither will happen.

Where Warehouse 13 in particular has failed in this regard is that it seems nobody of significance stays dead. Not H.G. Wells; not Jinks; not even Claudia’s brother Joshua. Hell, I’m still not convinced Mark Sheppard‘s Benedict Valda is dead — I may just be in denial over that one. If it wasn’t for the apparent luck of these secondary characters of the series, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. But how are we really supposed to feel at all concerned for the safety of beloved characters or even minor characters if they’re always safe?

Obviously some of this is true for most shows. Of course Bones isn’t going to kill off Brennan or Booth, or Castle losing the title character or Beckett. But the main story arc doesn’t have to center around the life or death of a main character, especially for a sci-fi show like Warehouse 13. The fate of the warehouse itself: yes, that works. Fate of the world? Yeah, I’d even buy that. But having me buy the loss of a main character without pulling the trigger in some real way? Not buying it.

This actually has held true for Supernatural, come to think of it. Bobby bit the big one last season, and now he’s back, albeit as a ghost. Many are already speculating that Bobby will return more “permanently” as an angel that helps Sam and Dean. I have heard some, though, who have complained that Bobby isn’t truly gone, and some sort of toothy aquatic creature had a wheeled vehicle propelled over it. Where Supernatural differs, though, is that the season’s story arc did not center around Bobby and him possibly dying. Warehouse 13 is attempting to create some tension for the viewers where there is none, because we know no matter what happens, these characters are safe.

Hey, it’s always possible the Warehouse 13 writers will surprise the hell out of us and kill someone of significance; hell, Joss would do it, and has. But if they don’t, I wish they’d stick to end-of-the-world tension and worry instead.

Clacked by Keith McDuffee
on Aug 07, 2012 @ 22:49 EST5EDT