Insatiable (Warehouse 13)
| "Insatiable" | |
|---|---|
| Warehouse 13 episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 10 |
| Directed by | Constantine Makris |
| Written by | Benjamin Raab & Deric A. Hughes |
| Original air date | September 19, 2011 |
| Guest actors | |
|
Aaron Ashmore (Steve Jinks) |
|
"Insatiable" is the 10th episode of the third season of the SyFy television series Warehouse 13. Its original airdate was September 19, 2011.
Plot
In a forest in Ithaca, a young couple is attacked by an unseen creature, putting them in a hospital. Pete and Myka discover from the bite marks that the attacker was human. They then go to the forest and find the attacker, Kevin Monroe, feasting on a deer. He has pale blue skin and is shivering heavily, described as looking like a 'zombie'. They take him to hopefully recover at the hospital. When investigating his house they also discover he has a son, who they take to his father at the hospital. Artie then sends Pete and Myka away after the police get a call about someone eating a squirrel, whilst Artie looks after the boy. Pete and Myka then manage to apprehend the squirrel eater, a man also suffering from the 'zombie' effects, but not before Pete is bitten by him. However, it is Myka who is the next victim as she later begins to shiver uncontrollably. All the other victims are also displaying a cannibalistic trait, furthering Pete's theory that they are Zombies. Artie then discovers from Kevin Monroe's son that the artifact causing this problem is from a taco truck that everyone had been to. As Pete and Myka reach the truck they are attacked by more 'zombies'. Myka then turns on Pete so he runs to the cover of the taco truck. Inside he realises that the artifact is a tip jar, which he then smashes to destroy the effects of it. It turns out it is from the Donner Party's ill-fated journey and gives those who tip into it the same experiences as they had.
Meanwhile Claudia has been taking some time off to deal with Steve's firing. She is offered a place in a band by a local guitarist, Dwayne Maddox, and tentatively accepts. When she tries to talk to Steve about it he tells her to leave him alone. Claudia is then told by an artifact, Sallah the Soothsaying Sultan Fortune-Telling Booth, that "Death comes for you this night", and promptly a statue nearly falls on her head. Accidents then come her way throughout the night, with a falling chandelier nearly crushing her and Dwayne. Claudia tries to deal with it by neutralising the artifact. However, another artifact, the Eau de Vie Faucet, nearly drowns her. Leena rescues her, explaining that the Fortune-Telling Booth artifact overwhelms the user with dread and that Claudia will be fine if she just ignores it. Claudia then goes to Dwayne, confirming that she wants to join, kissing him as she does so.
Episode ends with Steve Jinks in a bar, unable to pay his tab after Mrs Fredric has his credit cut off. Marcus Diamond then approaches and offers to pay his bill, and to join with his team against the Warehouse. He accepts.
Cultural references
- Claudia plays Cherry Bomb by The Runaways
- Artie: "You go check out Animal House." Referencing the 1978 comedy movie National Lampoon's Animal House, which chronicles the adventures of a bunch of goof-off frat boys who spend most of their time partying and playing pranks on authority figures
- Pete: "I'm gonna crank this baby up to 11..." Referencing the 1984 movie This Is Spinal Tap, a mockumentary about a heavy metal band, Spinal Tap. One of the band members shows off his guitar amplifiers and explains that they're marked to go up to 11, despite the fact that the interviewer points out that he could just make the 10 setting louder.
- As the Artifact of the Week, the glass jar from the Donner Party, causes the affected to behave in a cannibalistic manner, Pete makes many references to popular culture zombie movies, most notably Dawn of the Dead.
Artifacts
- Glass Jar from the Donner Party - placing money in the jar activates this artifact; this is because the Donner Party would bury money in similar glass jars during their long winter. The artifact first causes a severe drop in body temperature, then causes photosensitivity and an extreme carnivorous craving. Pete shattered the jar to negate its effect on people, but the shards of glass were stored in the Warehouse.
- Sallah the Soothsaying Sultan Fortune-Telling Booth - Not actually a fortune teller but a hypnotist who causes feelings of extreme dread in people. Accidentally activated by Claudia when she asked why Steve was "being such a tool" while standing in front of it. In order to negate the effects, you have to actively ignore Sallah's prediction.
- Gargoyle Statue - unknown effect; was on a shelf near Sallah the Soothsaying Sultan, fell from a high shelf just as Claudia passed under it. It could be that this is its effect - to try and crush somebody walking under it. The statue was shattered when it hit the floor.
- Albert Butz's Eyeglasses - wearing these eyeglasses raises body temperature. Albert Butz was the inventor of the thermostat.
- Eau de Vie Faucet - the water that pours from this faucet will attack the nearest living person, encasing them within a bubble of water and drowning them. Once freed, the trapped individual dries within seconds.
Mentioned but not seen
- Cinderella's Glass Knife - stabbing someone with this knife changes them to glass. The effects can be reversed, and the wound healed, if the knife is pulled out before the body is completely changed. Seen in the episode "Where and When."
- Bodhidharma's Sippers - a "living death" artifact; effects not described.
- Marie Laveau's Crucifix - a "living death" artifact; effects not described.
- Torch of Thanatos - a "living death" artifact; effects not described.
Other
- An injoke: The name of the frat house is Psi Phi Zeta, a joking reference to the SyFy Channel: Psi Phi is phonetically the same as SyFy.
- Computers in the Warehouse running slowly and various other technical problems occurring, due to the nanotechnology bugs planted by Sally Stukowski in the previous episode.
Critical references
The episode received mixed reviews, though was mainly rated average. IGN gave it the highest rating of 9/10 and raved about the "pitch-perfect plots". They also praised Saul Rubinek for his performance and Allison Scagliotti for hers.[1]Io9 described it as "a fun 'artifact of the week' episode".[2].tvfanatic.com gave the episode a negative review saying the zombie plot was "pretty bland" and that "some character actions simply didn't make sense". However, they did find the Claudia plot the highlight of the episode and described her "inability to let go of her BFFE" as wonderful.[3]thevoiceoftv complained that they were simply jumping on the bandwagon of this year's zombie movies, and was unamused by the "lame zombie joke". They also disliked the plot and found the twists predictable. The only positive they found was in Artie's interaction with the young boy.[4]craveonline found it a disappointing episode saying that "the show needs to be better than this". They were critical of the plots, finding them flawed and that the resolution to them were, for Claudia's "a pretty big cop out", and for Pete's "a bit of a stretch". Though they did enjoy Artie's use of artifact glasses.[5]
References
- ^ "A new take on an old trope: Zombies!". IGN. 2011-09-20. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
- ^ "Self-fulfilling prophecies still require you to do a surprising amount of work, on Warehouse 13". Io9. 2011-09-20. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
- ^ "Zombies! Sort Of!". TVFANATIC. 2011-09-20. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
- ^ "In the artifact-infested world of Warehouse 13 it’s the ones who leave the tips who pay the ultimate price". thevoiceoftv. 2011-09-20. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
- ^ "WAREHOUSE 13 3.10 'Insatiable'". craveonline. 2011-09-21. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
