Warehouse 13 review: Quirky, but entertaining

Just got done watching SyFy’s new series Warehouse 13 which to me is a little like a lighter X Files mixed with Eureka and Men in Black.

Warehouse 13 premiered on Tuesday, but SyFy (formerly Sci Fi Channel) will be repeating the two-hour pilot episode throughout the week.

Remember that gigantic warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark? Where after all of the trouble Harrison Ford’s character went through to save the artifact, it was just put in the warehouse for storing, on top of boxes and more boxes.

Well, that’s pretty much the concept of Warehouse 13. Kinda. And that’s pretty cool. Because after watching Raiders of the Lost Ark who didn’t think “what if there was a place like that?”

Now throw in two very different Secret Service agents who just saved the life of the president. But a surprise to them is that finds them abruptly transferred to Warehouse 13 –which is a top-secret storage facility in South Dakota in the middle of nowhere. They learn the Warehouse houses every strange artifact, mysterious relic, fantastical object and supernatural souvenir the U.S. Government has ever collected.

Eddie McClintock (Bones, Desperate Housewives) plays Pete Lattimer, an athletic and attractive Secret Agent who often leaps before he looks. He can be impulsive and has an intuitive nature, but knows how to find the lighter side of every situation.

He is paired up with the other Secret Service agent, Myka Bering, played by Joanne Kelly (Vanished, Jeremiah). Myka is very by-the-book and likes everything to be planned and ordered. She reminds me of a young Kelly McGillis in some ways.

Myka has a backstory I haven’t quite figured out yet. Her boyfriend/lover was killed in the line of duty, and she holds herself responsible in some way. Sometimes she sees visions of him. Pete’s baggage may be related to his late father, who was a fireman. Pete knew something was going to happen the day his father died, but didn’t say anything. His father died in the fire saving children.

One of the best parts of Warehouse 13 is the casting of Saul Rubinek (Nero Wolf, Frasier) as Warehouse 13’s knowledgeable but quirky caretaker, Secret Service agent Artie Nielsen. Artie will be the one to charge Pete and Myka with chasing down reports of supernatural and paranormal activity in pursuit of new objects to store at the warehouse so they won’t destroy the world.

Then there’s CCH Pounder (The Shield) as Artie’s boss, Mrs. Frederic. She directs the team’s ongoing investigations and seems to know more than she will ever reveal.

Though I don’t think I caught her on the pilot, also on the cast is Allison Scagliotti (Drake & Josh’s Mindy) as Claudia Donovan, a young, hip techno wiz who breaches the Warehouse’s security. She will ultimately convince Artie to let her stay and help with the missions.

The first hour of the two-hour premiere basically sets up the show, bringing Pete and Myka unwilling to the Warehouse where we are introduced to Warehouse 13. Inside the warehouse, the artifacts are not quite acting as stored objects. One teapot magically appears in Pete’s hands, and Artie tells him to clear his mind and to "not make a wish.” Myka grabs it and DOES make a wish – to get reassigned. Obviously Artie has tried that in the past, as he tells her the result is always the same of “wrong wishes” – a real, live ferret. We also get to see the cozy bed and breakfast where the two will be staying. Genelle Williams plays Leena, who runs the place, and seems to know about “auras” and seems to know Artie well.

In the second hour, Pete and Myka are sent to another state to investigate a possible paranormal event and are caught up trying to get an artifact back to Warehouse 13 before all hell breaks loose, basically. They get their groove and begin to appreciate each other as partners, and I think develop an interest for this new line of work. In the end, they don’t care so much about going back to their old lives.

There’s also some really cool toys they get to try out too. A phaser-looking gun that Pete gets to use in the pilot episode and a strange video-to-video device. Artie’s office has all kinds of unusual things in it like old typewriter keys mixed with a computer. Everything is just a little “off” at the warehouse.

Overall, the show has potential. It’s not a replacement for The X Files, but it may be a quirky, lighter replacement. It will be interesting to see what they do with the artifacts inside the Warehouse 13 as well as seeing where they will go with their assignments into investigating the strange and unusual.

By the way, you might find a couple of SyFy stars appearing as guest stars on the new show, including: Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer, Michael Hogan and Mark Sheppard; Gossip Girl’s James Naughton; Roger Rees of Cheers; Eureka’s Joe Morton, Erica Cerra and Niall Matter; Stargate Atlantis’ Joe Flanigan and Ivan Sergei from Crossing Jordan.

Warehouse 13 airs on Tuesdays on SyFy at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

SyFy Photos: Philippe Bosse