Warehouse 13 - Television Tropes & Idioms
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Transcript of Warehouse 13 - Television Tropes & Idioms
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Warehouse 13
Warehouse 13 - Television Tropes & Idioms http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Warehouse13
1 of 27 19/06/2011 16:35
universal
applied phlebotinum
characterization
characters
characters as device
dialogue
motifs
narrative devices
paratext
plots
settings
spectacle
GENRE
action adventure
comedy
commercials
crime and punishment
drama
horror
love
news
professional wrestling
speculative fiction
sports story
war
MEDIA
animation (western)
anime
comic book
fan fics
film
game
literature
music and sound
effects
new media
print media
radio
sequential art
tabletop games
"If a radio
landed in the
hands of
Thomas
Jefferson, do
you know what
Jefferson
would do? He
would just lock
it up, until he
figured out it
wasn't going to
kill him. That's
exactly what
we do here.
We take the
unexplained...
and we safely tuck it away."
Sci-Fi series about Secret Service agents Pete Lattimer and Myka
Bering who hunt down magical artifacts and store them in the
titular warehouse. Essentially, it expands on the warehouse where
they put the Ark of the Covenant in Indiana Jones.
After an ancient artifact turns a museum employee into a
Manchurian Agent that tries to kill the president, the two Secret
Service agents involved get transferred to South Dakota. Their new
job? Find dangerous items and stow them away in the Secret
Government Warehouse to end all Secret Government
Warehouses.
And outside of hunting down the new artifacts, there is always a
dilemma cooking up back at the warehouse where one of the
miscellaneous items is being experimented on, stupidly misused or
otherwise going haywire.
You could say it's SCP Foundation: The Series.
The show has officially been renewed for a third season.
Absurdly Sharp Blade: The Masamune sword is so sharp that
it can cleave rays of light, effectively making its holder
invisible.
A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Hugo One, at least at first. It turns out
that the "AI" is actually the creator himself, or rather the left
side of his brain downloaded into the computer. Without the
other half, the program takes everything too logically.
Affably Evil: H.G. Wells. So much so that, past her
introduction episode, you'd have a hard time believing she
ever was evil.
At least until the season 2 finale "Reset", where it turns out
This series provides examples of:
Warehouse 13 - Television Tropes & Idioms http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Warehouse13
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television
theater
videogame
webcomics
TOPICAL TROPES
betrayal
censorship
combat
death
family
fate and prophecy
food
holiday
memory
money
morality
politics
religion
school
OTHER CATEGORIES
british telly
the contributors
creator speak
creators
derivative works
did not do the
research
language
laws and formulas
show business
split personality
stock room
trope
truth and lies
truth in television
weirdness isolation
that it was all a ruse to get hands on a trident to bring
about the apocalypse.
Agent Mulder/Agent Scully: Right from their very first mission,
Pete and Myka are told outright that this is the reason for the
Warehouse poaching them to work as a field team. Most of
their predecessors seem to fit the pattern, too. The idea is for
Pete to go with his gut and accept any possibility, while Myka
works on every little detail and puts together evidence
logically.
And I Must Scream: People who are "bronzed" are still
self-aware.
Almighty Janitor: Seems to be the standard operating
procedure for the Regents. At least one of them works as a
cafe waitress.
Amulet Of Dependency: The future-telling coin that affects
your health with each use.
Animate Inanimate Object: A mixture of the three types, but
how some of things are in the Warehouse. Also, the
automatic vacuum cleaner...
Arbitrary Skepticism: Pointed out in 2x01 when Myka has the
nerve to proclaim that there's no such thing as cavorite *
while she and Pete are stuck to the ceiling due to a gadget
made by H.G. Wells.Pete: You're still asking questions?
Myka: I'm still waiting for an answer.
She does it again in "Beyond Our Control."
Artifact Collection Agency: The premise.
Artifacts Of Doom
Specifically, pretty much everything is a Happy Fun Ball.
Dodgeballs that bludgeon people to death, locust-
summoning whistles, hair combs that hypnotize people
into becoming murderers... Warehouse 13 is full of
dangerous crap that looks completely innocent.
Particularly things in the "Dark Vault," which include,
among other things, Sylvia Plath's typewriter (which
destroys your will to live) and the Aztec bloodstone (the
artifact that turned the aforementioned museum worker
in the first episode into a Manchurian Agent). They're so
dangerous that they have to be kept in individual
containment fields with their own backup generators.
Lampshaded in the holiday episode where Claudia makes
everyone personalized t-shirts depicting the artifact that
nearly killed them.
As Long as It Sounds Foreign: In "13.1," the Babel Stones
allow one to understand anyone else holding a Babel Stone
while your own speech sounds like gibberish to anyone
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without a Babel Stone. The gibberish sounds a bit like
playing speech backwards.
Attack Reflector: The Corsican vest, worn by the Corsican
twins who felt each others' pain, does this.
Auction Of Evil: In the season 1 finale; was part of a Batman
Gambit by the Big Bad to enter the warehouse.
Back-to-Back Badasses: Fargo and Claudia in "13.1". With
only one weapon, which they pass back and forth as needed.
Badass BoastPete: Here's what's clear, pal. You tell me I have something you want,
and then you threaten my friends. So you are going down. Game on.
*hangs up* Game on!
The Bad Guy Wins: Season 1. MacPherson escapes
containment, frames Claudia as The Mole, and blows Artie
up. He got better.
Batman Gambit: The Big Bad, in a effort to enter the
warehouse, begins to auction off artifacts to attract the
Agents. He got the artifacts by making Claudia into a Sleeper
Agent. He then leaves clues to bring the agents to him, and
then get captured. After being frozen in Bronze, Claudia
comes back to revive him. Only, in a twist, Claudia is not
brainwashed, but rather, Leena is, disguised as Claudia.
Claudia, thinking she is Brainwashed and Crazy, has now ran
away from the Warehouse, thus framing her. In a final
Magnificent Bastard stroke, MacPherson blows the explosive
bolts in the warehouse entry tunnel, nearly killing Artie.
Turns out the last one is not only wrong, but was a
Batman Gambit in itself. MacPherson gave Artie the
Phoenix artifact so Artie would be brought back to life, so
that while dead Artie would see what MacPherson saw
when he used it: soul-crushing darkness (presumably
what he viewed to be the afterlife). Artie counters that what
he saw was light and hope.
Be Yourself: Artie's advice for Claudia's coffee date. Goes
down about as well as you can expect taking dating advice
from Artie to. This is Claudia we're talking about.
Subverted, since it is Claudia being herself that the guy
likes. They're just both so nervous about it.
Also doesn't help them that Claudia works for a top secret
government operation and he boyfriend is in Witness
Protection.
And she likes onions.
Also played straight in "For the Team," when Myka tells
Claudia that trying to imitate Myka's interrogation style is a
bad tactic. Claudia calls Myka on the pep talk, but does
much better when she goes about it her own way.
Beam-o-War: Between two opposingly-colored Tesla
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stun-guns.
Bechdel Test: Passes. Four regular female characters (Myka,
Claudia, Leena, Ms Fredrick) any combination of which
routinely interact with each other and only rarely is it to
discuss a man. In fact, the female main characters
outnumber the males two to one, three to one if you add
recurring characters.
Interesting subversion in the episode "For The Team,"
which features our two MALE characters talking about
WOMEN.
Beethoven Was An Alien Spy: No. But he was probably a
Warehouse Agent.
and H. G. Wells was/is a woman and a Warehouse Agent.
Berserk Button: Pete was clearly pissed off enough to want to
kill the photographer with the Man Ray camera after what he
did to Myka in the "Age Before Beauty" episode. It's probably
safe to say messing with any member of his team will get you
on Pete's bad side in short order, but hurting Myka in
particular, very bad idea.
It doesn't help that he mentions that the effects of this
particular artifact (turning beautiful women into dying old
ladies) disturbs him more than just about anything else
he's seen.
Bi the Way: H.G. Wells. Her nonchalant coming out doubles
as a Crowning Moment of Funny."I do know a thing or two about the opposite sex. Many of my
lovers were men."
For clarification, H.G. Wells is a woman.
Big Bad: MacPherson in the first season. H.G. Wells in the
second after a Xanatos Gambit to convince the Warehouse
team otherwise.
Big Brother Instinct: Pete towards Claudia.
Based on the DVD Extras, that's what they were going for,
and what they'll continue to do as the show moves on.
Artie outright tries to be a father figure for Claudia in "Age
Before Beauty", so he's cemented his place as Team Dad.
Bigger on the Inside: The titular Warehouse, which was
designed by Edison, Tesla, and Escher.
Big No: Pete has one while trying to resist an artifact.
Bizarrchitecture: The Escher room, appropriately enough.
Blooper: Claudia and Fargo keep switching positions at the
end of the first act of "13.1"; one is in the chair while the other
is leaning over the desk and then back and forth.
Bluff The Impostor: Used by Artie to confirm that Myka is
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actually Alice Liddell.
Bound And Gagged: Well, more chained than bound. And
gagged by a nuclear device with a mouth-localised blast
radius. Happens to Artie, when MacPherson catches him at
the Auction Of Evil in the S1 finale.
Also happens to Pete in the S2 finale (without the nuclear
gag), when Kelly is under the influence of Lizzie Borden's
compact.
Brick Joke: In the second series opener, we finally get to see
what the smell of fudge signifies: invisible mines.
When invited to the warehouse in the first episode, Pete is
told "Pack light. We'll ship what you need and store the
rest." In season two, he complains about his stuff still not
arriving.
Bring My Brown PantsMyka: Are you hit?
Pete: No, but I think my underpants are shot.
Broken Bird: Claudia Donovan from the fourth episode. She
gets better.
Busman's Holiday: "Merge With Caution."
Cassandra Truth: Often with Pete and Myka's Secret Service
cover. Pete also gets this in a bad way when he can't
convince the others that Valda has turned coat and
kidnapped Mrs. Frederick ( for good reason).
Cell Phone: Teslapunk videophones, no less. Invented by
Philo Farnsworth, they only broadcast in black and white, but
they have no dead zones, never seem to need charging (or at
least it's never an issue) and use signals that can't be
intercepted without knowledge of how they work. They also
keep regular cell phones since there's usually only one
Farnsworth between the field agents.
Can't Live Without You: The Warehouse needs to have a
caretaker to link to, which keeps it alive. This may also work
in reverse, but it's not clear. At the very least, the implication
is that Ms. Fredrick, the caretaker of Warehouse 13, has lived
as long as she has thanks to the bond.
Characterization Marches On: Artie loses his computer skills
when Claudia arrives. HG Wells escapes the Bronze Sector,
steals something from the Escher Vault, kills MacPherson,
and leaves us hanging with an ominous mumbling. Over the
season, her characterization switches from another Big Bad
to a Well-Intentioned Extremist trying to bring her daughter
back to life, and then switches back to Big Bad, albeit one
who is genuinely apologetic for having to betray Myka's trust
after earning it to gain access to what she wants.
Charles Atlas Superpower: Literally - his trunks grant the
ability to manipulate the wearer's density.
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As do Bruce Lee's punching bag, Jack Kirby's belt,
Samson's Jaw bone and Babe Ruth's baseball bat.
Chekhov's Gun: Many, many items. Under a dozen or so lines
into one episode, Pete makes a passing remark, "that's a
big-ass generator", before dealing with an artifact with a
weakness to... guess what.
Taken to Beyond The Impossible levels in season 2.
Remember the quick ad spot where Artie, Pete, and Myka
throw a football in the room which looks like M.C. Esher's
"Crazy Stairs" painting? That's an actual room in the
Warehouse, specifically another vault.
In the first episode of the first season, one of the many
questions which Pete and Myka believe to be stupid asks
whether or not the subject has recently smelled fudge. A
season later, it turns out that that's the only way to detect
chameleon bombs.
In "Elements," Myka clues Pete in that she has a possible
lead in mind with the words 'I smell fudge'.
Pete starts using Lewis Carroll's mirror to play ping-pong
several episodes before it becomes plot-relevant.
Chessmaster: Artie has a chessboard he keeps outside his
office and plays against himself for months between moves.
Given how Claudia ignores his objections and makes a move
half-way through the episode, and then at the end makes the
first move of a reset board, she's also on-board for having this
be her role.
Christmas Episode: Aired between seasons 2 and 3, involves
a Badass Santa and a Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming
between Artie and his estranged father.
The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Inverted in a game of
Battleship.
Collector Of The Strange: Artie likes to take care of the things
in the Warehouse, not just store them. He has a near
encyclopedic knowledge of every item.
Cool Shades: Most every member of the regular cast has
Cool Shades of some description.
MacPherson even has a special pair he puts on when he
wins.
Conspicuous CG: The CG effects can be really bad at times.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: In "For the Team". The CEO of
a sports drink company is set up to look like the culprit... only
for it to turn out to be the lead scientist in charge of the
formula. The scientist was using a ladle that, when dipped
into the drinks to test the quality, was imbuing it with muscle
enhancement properties at the cost of causing eventual
internal combustion. The scientist had a massive stake in the
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company merger, and so tried to keep the problems under
wraps until he could cash in.
CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable
Creepy Child: Alice Liddell. Dear God, Alice Liddell.
Creepy Doll: That doll in the Black Vault when Pete gets a
close look at it...
Crossover: With Eureka and vice-versa. Douglas Fargo makes
an appearance in the Warehouse 13 episode "13.1", while
Claudia appears in the aptly titled "Crossing Over" in Eureka.
At Comic-Con 2010, the casts of both shows held out hope
for a whole cast crossover perhaps in the form of a special
movie.
The casts pitched the idea at Dragon Con's
Eureka/Warehouse 13 panel as well.
Crossover Ship: Clargo (Fargo x Claudia) are a rare
in-universe example.
The Cuckoolander Was Right: Even though Hugo was
missing half of his mind, some of the things he said make
sense.
Curse Cut Short: Graffiti by a grandma. Artie pauses the
security video before the C is finished.
Da Chief: Mrs. Frederic, to some extent anyway.
Dawson Casting: Averted with Alison Scagliotti as Claudia.
Scagliotti is about the same age as Claudia is supposed to
be, at most a year or two older (she was 18 for Season 1).
Deadpan Snarker: Everyone has their moments, but Claudia
and Artie feature their witty charms most frequently.
Death Traps: Back in the old days before alarm systems,
Warehouse security used these instead. It follows a simple
mental, physical, and spiritual pattern. The Durable
Deathtrap is implicitly justified through the use of artifacts.
The floor magically regenerates in one trap once the puzzle is
solved.
Descending Ceiling: The mind portion of the test. The
participants have to complete a triangular peg solitaire
game before the ceiling crushes them. It doesn't help that
the pegs are almost needlessly heavy.
Death Course: The physical challenge. It's a long hallway
with blades coming out of the floor and pits that spew fire.
The wall writings indicate that some ancient form of martial
arts holds the timing to get past. The team instead uses
H.G. Wells' grappling hook to slide over all the death.
Then again, the Regent with them fulfilling the Someone
Has To Die prophecy might have had something to do with
it, too.
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Lotus-Eater Machine: The spiritual portion involves a
Medusa head which, rather than the predictable Taken for
Granite effect, traps those nearby in a happy illusion while
the floor crumbles beneath them. An obvious red light in
the dream hints that it's not real.
Finally, it's implied that these were put in right before the
abandoning of Warehouse 2, so it wasn't by any means
something the agents of Warehouse 2 had to do on a daily
basis. This was just in case it was ever possible to come
back to the Warehouse to try to recover some of the lost
artifacts.
Deliberate Injury Gambit: Artie goads MacPherson, who is
holding a samurai sword, into stabbing him in the chest, and
then holds on to it so that MacPherson will have to run and
abandon the sword, a valuable Artifact. He survives, but is
injured for several episodes.
Does Not Like Men: H.G. Wells thinks all men are pigs, but
it's a little more justified in her case since she lived before
women's rights existed.
Drives Like Crazy: Artie. Claudia marvels at how he got his
license. Also serves as an inversion as it's usually the spunky
younger character that drives like crazy and the conservative
cautious older character that freaks out.
Dropped a Bridge on Him: Daniel Dickinson, Pete and Myka's
former boss, dies rather abruptly about halfway through the
second season after having been absent since about halfway
through the first season.
Dye Hard: Claudia frequently changes her Skunk Stripe to
various unnatural colors.
Embarrassing Middle Name: Double subverted. Myka refuses
to say what it is at first, and finally reveals it to be the rather
nice sounding Ophelia. Pete even says it's nice. And then
asks "Can Ophelia boobies?"
Enemy Mine: Myka and H.G. Wells in "For the Team". Taken
Up to Eleven in "Vendetta"; she's actually a Warehouse agent
now.
Engaging Conversation: Claudia, to Fargo, after they
combine a Eureka-tech laser cutting torch with an Amplifier
Artifact to make a lightsaber and use it to destroy some
Mecha-Mooks.
Everything Trying to Kill You: Everything that's stashed in the
Warehouse seems to be this way. Indeed, things such as old
swords, combs, and creepy paintings might do some weird
things, but then you realize that old typewriters, dodgeballs,
silly string, lusty disco balls, and creepy things in mirrors are
somewhat out for your blood, you know things don't look too
good...
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Evil All Along: H.G. Wells.
Evil Brit: James MacPherson
H.G. Wells.
Evil Counterpart: James MacPherson to Artie. All of Artie's
knowledge, if not more, with none of his morality, and with a
dose of magnificence. H.G. Wells can be considered this to
Myka, even if her scientific leanings are closer to Claudia.
Explosive Overclocking: The artifact in "For the Team" does
this, causing people to rapidly develop muscle mass until
they literally combust from the heat.
Failure Knight: Myka and Artie.
Fake-Out Make-Out: Alice disguised as Myka and Pete. Done
to a lesser extent in "Vendetta", when Pete insists on a cheek
kiss to complete his incredibly awkward ruse to trick someone
following them.
Fan Service:
Done blatantly in "Age Before Beauty" with Myka and
many of the models in the changing room.
Joanne Kelly and Allison Scagliotti are particularly alluring.
Plus, Sarah Allen, who appears in the first-ever episode of
the show.
Pete taking his shirt off in "Mild Mannered."
The locker room scene and Gary in "For the Team."
Wells dressed as Lara Croft.
Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Lampshaded when Claudia states that
Bloody Mary is just an urban legend, and realizes that "of
course it isn't" after getting a look from Artie. Pete sums it up
in the season two premiere: "There's no such thing as no
such thing."
But apparently there are no ghosts, just entities mistaken
for them. Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table also
didn't exist; only Arthur did, but his sword and the grail are
quite real.
Fetish Fuel:
Claudia in Volta's goggles.
Myka at the climax of "Mild Mannered", and again in "Age
Before Beauty."
Myka with Pete's mannerisms in "Merge With Caution."
Helena G. Wells wearing the proper attire for a British
Adventurer Archaeologist.
Femme Fatale: In "Merge With Caution", Mata Hari's
stockings turn a woman into this. She uses them to get
revenge on the insurance company that wouldn't pay for her
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brother's treatment. Unfortunately, it turns men into stalkers
with a crush.
Flight: Daedalus' wings attract wind, giving them lift
disproportionate to their size. Pete acknowledges the
awesomeness of this.
(Just don't fly too close to the sun...)
Foil: Claudia to Artie.
Foreshadowing: Pete's vibes can set this up. As in the S1
finale, when he has a very bad feeling about Artie. Who is
then caught in the explosion at the end of the episode.
Foe Yay: Artie and MacPherson. It really seems like this in
"Mild Mannered" when MacPherson's ghost is haunting Artie
and they reconcile with one another.
Myka and H.G. Wells, until the Foe no longer applies.
Fountain Of Youth: Man Ray's camera has the ability to steal
the youth of one person and give it to another.
Freaky Friday Flip: The artifact in "Merge With Caution"
causes this as a side effect.
Fridge Brilliance: The Minoan Trident is also known as
Poseidon’s Trident. At first it looks like they chose that for the
Atlantis connection, until one remembers the little fact that
Poseidon was also the god of earthquakes.
Full Body Disguise: Harriet Tubman's Thimble.
Gadgeteer Genius: Claudia and H.G. Wells.
Genius Loci: The Warehouse is hinted to be one in the earlier
episodes, and confirmed as such in the second season.
Genki Girl: Claudia.
Genre Savvy: It's a good thing Claudia and Pete had read the
Cask Of Amontillado...
Pete's knowledge of old movies really comes in handy
when an Artifact brings television to life.
Goggles Do Something Unusual: In this case, the goggles
protect your eyes against the purple sparks produced by
dipping something into 'neutralizer'. Volta's goggles complete
his lab coat artifact to produce an ever-expanding magnetic
field. Goggles are also used in the Escher vault to navigate
the otherwise impossible-to-predict paths.
Government Conspiracy: Made more plausible by the scale
and setting: a massive building in the blindspot of the middle
of nowhere (no one suspects South Dakota!) and virtually no
bureaucracy.
Grail In The Garbage: The show's whole premise, more or
less. What's better, the grail actually exists in this universe.
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Grappling-Hook Pistol: H.G. Wells has one, self-built.
Grimmification: The show seems to be fond of this. Cinderella
actually murdered her sisters by turning them into glass,
Alice Liddell was a psychopath trapped in the Looking Glass,
and King Arthur never had a round table or knights and used
a cheap trick to get the sword out of the stone (the Grail does
exist, though). It seems that most fairy tales have some basis
in reality, but the truth is often related to an Artifact of Doom
and hence much darker.
He Is Not My Boyfriend: Claudia's initial reaction to Todd. Or
at least Myka's teasing about him...
Hannibal Lecture: According to Macpherson, he and Pete are
not so different. Turns into Shut Up, Hannibal! when Pete
points out that trying to recruit someone after putting a
nuclear bomb into a friends mouth isn't the best idea.
Happy Fun Ball: As mentioned above, a good 95% of the
artifacts look completely innocent. Even down to their listed
labels. In one episode, someone reads a few off, and they
have powers like "makes doves line up and dance," which
makes the character wonder what they're doing in the
warehouse. Another character quickly informs him that if
they're in the Warehouse, there's a reason for it, usually
having to do with the artifact having an evil streak.
Some of the seemingly innocuously artifacts include a can
of red herrings and the original can of worms (which Leena
warns Pete not to open).
Hey, It's That Guy!: Saul Rubinek as Artie, Eddie McClintock
as Pete, Amanda Waller/Claudette Wyms as Mrs. Fredrick.
Number Six appears in the second episode.
Lt. Col. Sheppard retired from the Air Force and is now a
building developer in NYC.
The Sherriff of Rottingham/Lord John Marbury is
MacPherson.
Jo, Zane, and Henry, the first two appearing in the eighth
episode and the last in the ninth. SyFy seems to be big on
actor sharing.
Which is a little weird, given that the town of Eureka
exists in this 'verse.
Saul Tigh is Myka's dad.
Stacie (or alternatively Lila) is H.G. Wells.
Claudia is Mindy.
Simon Tam and Kaylee have settled down and now own a
coffee shop in Detroit.
Mark Sheppard is one of the Warehouse Regents.
Paula Garcés is the town vet.
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Apparently, she's back from space.
Odo helped design the Warehouse's computer system.
And Quark (or Principal Snyder if you prefer) is the very
curmudgeony Da Chief from the 60's.
Bianca from the live-action series which was produced by
and aired on Syfy is Myka.
And Harry Dresden himself appears in the Christmas
Episode.
Myka's love interest in "Merge with Caution" is also
"Dashing" Cody Rhodes, WWE wrestler.
Adam Monroe / Mr. Sark was suspected of turning women
into glass statues in the '60s, only he's actually innocent
this time.
The Ten Rings guy / Captain Robau is the Warehouse's
hiring manager.
The Bionic Woman is the Warehouse's in-house doctor.
Hoist by His Own Petard: The guy who used Man Ray's
youth-stealing camera becomes the victim of it.
And the person turning women into glass statues in the
60's left behind a beautiful glass corpse.
Hollywood Homely/Hollywood Pudgy: Myka apparently, in an
rather egregious example. Pete even gives her a Beautiful All
Along speech.
Note that this is in the context of the even-more-insane-
than-Hollywood world of high fashion, and the people who
call Myka "ugly" and "fat" are all incredibly bitchy and
impossibly thin models and fashion designers.
Human Popsicle: An interesting variety. People too dangerous
to be left roaming the Earth are cryogenically frozen then
encased in bronze. MacPherson is "bronzed" in the S1 finale.
Of course, that doesn't last too long and it's subverted by The
Mole setting him free. H.G. Wells was also bronzed; again,
freed by The Mole.
Humans Are Bastards: H.G. Wells developed this opinion of
humanity, and sought out the Minoan trident to deal with it.
She had herself bronzed with the hope that things would
have gotten better, but the future is far more disappointing
than she imagined.
I Can See My House From Here: Said by Claudia while
climbing about in the Warehouse. Later made humorously
literal by the revelation that there is an exact copy of the bed
& breakfast they all live at stored in the Warehouse.
NOT an exact copy, don't forget WHY it's in the
Warehouse. It's for a simultaneously awesome and
terrifying reason.
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Idiosyncratic Wipes: Scenes inside the Warehouse often end
with a wipe of a crate slamming shut; scenes out in the field,
with a wipe of a Farnsworth shutting off.
I'd Tell You But Then He'd Have To Kill You: Artie's reply to
someone asking who Mrs. Frederic is, referencing Mrs
Fredrick's bodyguard.
"I Know You're In There Somewhere" Fight: Inverted when
Pete is fighting the Spine of Sarecen. He's actually winning
the fight... but that's exactly why he's doing what he's doing.
Intimidating Revenue Service: Everyone in the town near the
Warehouse hates Pete and Myka because they believe the
Warehouse is an IRS storage facility.
Which is brilliant since the Secret Service used to be
another branch of the Treasury Department.
Syfy's website sums it up wonderfully:For the first time, the Regents chose to find a stealth cover for the
Warehouse and for what is kept there. Searching for the most
innocuous and repulsive occupation that would cause people to shun
the very structure - and finding one unique to American political
ingenuity - word was covertly spread that Warehouse 13 was the
place where all Income Tax Return Forms were stored from every
citizen in the United States. This insured that no one would ever
want to cross its threshold, and its safety has been guaranteed ever
since.
I See Dead People: Artie sees visions of MacPherson after he
is killed by H.G. Wells, which he suspects is a result of the
Phoenix.
Is This A Joke?
Kill Him Already: Oh damn, yes. Pete has MacPherson
cornered in an alley, has his Tesla (strictly a stun
gun/deneuralyzer and not at lethal) trained on him, and...tells
him to surrender, instead of shooting him and cuffing him.
This allows MacPherson to slowly reach for and use an
artifact (that com chatter makes clear they know the dangers
of and that they know he has) to immobilize Pete and KILL
two unlucky cops. Very slightly justified as he may have been
hesitating because of the cops presence, but since they DIED
for their secrecy, I think they'd rather he had fired.
Not to mention the bronzing. They have all those people
there, bronzed, in a room that's too big a risk to even put in
the manual for Warehouse agents. MacPherson already
has a chemical in his blood which will literally vaporize him
should he ever enter the Warehouse. Yet they give him a
necklace to counteract this effect so they can bring him in
and bronze him, when they know that there's been a mole
in the warehouse for how long and they have no idea if
they found everything she did. Sure enough, he's escaped
inside an hour.
Kill It With Ice: In "Vendetta," a remnant of the Titanic can
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cause you to die of hypothermia regardless of the
temperature outside.
Also used as a security lock-down by Hugo 1 in "13.1" to
kill off the agents.
Laser Blade: In the Eureka crossover episode, Claudia and
Fargo make a working lightsaber out of a laser cutter and
Ben Franklin's ring.
Laser-Guided Karma: Claudia makes a remark to this effect
when she winds up cuffed to a rail, after having done the
same thing to an Artifact-whammied Artie:Claudia: Fastest-working karma, ever!
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In "Beyond Our Control", the
Artifact of the Week projects Hard Light holograms, and it's
gotten its wires crossed with a movie marathon channel. At
the end of the episode, the Mad Scientist gets ready to push
the Big Red Button for the Town Shattering Kaboom when
he's interrupted by a commercial break.Myka: Oh, good, we've got another three minutes.
Pete: Unless someone fast-forwards through the commercials.
Myka: Don't even joke about that!
*goes to commercial break*
Les Yay: HG Wells and Myka, oh so very much. Pete even
comments that it's like having two Mykas around. For bonus
points, HG Wells gets a Batman-style moment and rescues
Myka in order to impress her with her inventiveness. Though
just moving out of the way of the car like normal people
would have been more practical, it wouldn't have been as
impressive or allowed/required Myka to cling to HG and vice
versa.
Lightning Can Do Anything: Electrical surges can jack the
power of most artifacts Up to Eleven, though at least one
could be disabled by a sufficiently powerful shock.
Like Brother and Sister: Most of Pete and Myka's interaction is
like this, and stated outright in the season 2 finale.
Lock Down: Of the Warehouse. Initiated by MacPherson at
the end of the S1 finale. Doesn't last very long, and isn't even
treated all that serious. Happens again in "13.1", initiated by
Hugo One, and is taken much more seriously because it
includes a Kill It With Ice protocol.
Locked Out of the Loop: Artie locks Myka, Pete and Claudia
out of the loop for their own safely (and because it's
Warehouse protocol). Mrs. Frederick unlocks it because she
trusts them.
Ludicrous Gibs: The Artifact in "Merge With Caution" causes
this. If the two people sharing the same space don't unmerge
after a certain period, they blow up in a very gory way.
MacGuffin Delivery Service: MacPherson with Edger Allen
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Poe's pen and notebook.
MacGyvering: Artie improvises an electromagnet out of an
iron while handcuffed inside a closet.Artie: ...and I was doing this stuff while MacGyver was still escaping
from his crib!
Mama Bear: H.G. Wells. When her daughter was murdered,
she invented Mental Time Travel to try and change the past.
She failed, but put up a hell of a fight by her account.
Claudia tells her that losing a daughter must be the worst
pain imaginable. Wells tells her otherwise; what she did to
the people who killed her daughter is the worst pain
imaginable.
Man, I Feel Like a Woman : In "Merge With Caution", Pete
and Myka are hit by a Freaky Friday Flip, so he takes the
opportunity. Genre Savvy Myka immediately calls him on it.Myka: Pete! Get your hands off my breasts!
Pete: (wide-eyed) Myka, how'd you know that?
Myka: Because you're still you and I'm still me, even though we're in
different bodies.
Magnetic Plot Device: The whole point of the show is the
weird stuff that happens around the Warehouse.
The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: You are allowed
ONE person outside of the Warehouse that you may tell the
secret to.
Mauve Shirt: Valda
Meanwhile In The Future: Justified by...
Mental Time Travel: H.G. Wells' actual time machine does
this; physically traveling through time is impossible, but her
machine can allow one to inhabit the body of someone else in
the past. However, it only works for 22 hours and 19 minutes,
and can't actually change the past (or rather, has already
done so by virtue of its use). Also while Time Traveling your
body is basically comatose for those 22 hours and 19 minutes
justifying above trope.
Minovsky Physics: The purple goo and any derivatives thereof
neutralizes or protects against artifacts. That's it. That's all it
does.
"It doesn't always. Work, that is."
The Mole: In the season finale it's believed that Claudia has
been controlled by MacPherson the whole time. Subverted in
that it's actually Leena, who has disguised herself as Claudia
using Harriet Tubman's thimble, which makes the wearer look
like whoever they want to. Subverted again when it was
revealed that she was being controlled by MacPherson using
an artifact.
Mundane Utility: Pete playing ping-pong against a
doppelganger of himself inside Lewis Carrol's mirror.
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Subverted after they learn the true purpose of the mirror and
deal with it properly.
Artie gets in on the action, at least in a minor way. There's
a self-guiding vacuum (no, not a modern one) in his office.
Claudia loves this. She tries to change a light bulb by
using a magnetic artifact to scale the Warehouse's steel
girders. Subverted when it is revealed that each time the
artifact comes into contact with something metal, the
power doubles, threatening to collapse the entire
Warehouse. Played straight with a snowglobe that
releases quick-freezing snow (she uses it to cool drinks)
and Benjamin Franklin's electricity-amplifying ring (which
she uses to turn her hand into a flashlight).
Musical Assassin: Pretty much any musical instrument,
recording, or studio equipment (like the Studio 54 Disco ball)
in the Warehouse is most likely the tool of such a person.
This was also how the plot worked in Season 1 episode 2.
My God, What Have I Done?: Part of H.G. Wells' backstory.
During her time at the Warehouse, her daughter was
murdered. Seeking some way to bring her back, she began
combing the shelves for an Artifact that would do the trick.
She ended up getting another agent killed, and so asked to
be bronzed. Subverted in the finale, when it's revealed that
was all part of the plan.
Happens to Myka in the finale. When H.G. Wells
embraces her Big Bad role, Myka realizes that Pete has
been having vibes to that effect the entire time, but didn't
say anything because he trusted Myka's judgment.
My Name Is Not Durwood: Bismarck.
Nakama: Artie, Myka, Pete, Claudia, and Leena
Narm: "I'm the Epic Fail!" said by someone while wangsting
about her brother.
Nice Hat: Artie's straw hat in the first episode. Claudia
apparently stole it sometime between seasons two and three.
Nietzsche Wannabe: H.G.Wells; due to losing her daughter,
she thinks the whole world deserves to die, and rants about
how it's gotten worse since she was bronzed.
Of course, the real person she's named after predicted
among other things: tanks, a world war between Germany
and England, and atomic bombs.
Noodle Implements: Most of the questions in the official form
for people who might have come into contact with an artifact.
Noodle Incident: "Next time, if there's an artifact in a zoo, WE
LEAVE IT THERE!"
No Ontological Inertia: Par for the course for Artifacts — once
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they're neutralized, everyone who was affected by them
instantly goes back to normal.
No Transhumanism Allowed: Hugo One wanted the rest of
his/Hugo's original "soul" incorporated into his programming,
and the Warehouse crew thought it would be an extremely
bad idea. Justified, as the real Hugo wasn't rational enough
to understand the situation, and the transfer to Hugo One
would be powered by an artifact. Not to mention the fact that
they couldn't very well have an AI running the Warehouse.
Oubliette: The Bronze Sector, a section of Warehouse where
the worst people in the world, people whose removal from
society had to be absolutely certain, are held. People like
Hitler, Mussolini, and Michael Vick, or rather people who
would have become like them except the Warehouse got to
them first. The best part? It seems as if this is on the low end
of potential punishments. They actually have things that are
worse and that Warehouse agents are better off not knowing
about. Same episode also reveals that the Warehouse
management compile lengthy records on how to kill various
agents.
Odd Couple: Invoked by Artie, who points out that Myka's eye
for detail complements Pete's intuitiveness perfectly.
Also invoked in a previous Warehouse agent pairing,
suggesting that such pairings are more intentional than
happenstance.
Oddly Small Organization: The Warehouse, which contains
arguably the most dangerous items known to mankind, is
directly managed by five people, and that's using a rather
loose definition. Add on the bureaucracy, and the grand total
moves up to about 18. Justified in that the people who run
the place deliberately want as little involvement as possible; if
it were made into a larger organization, it would be taken
apart piece by piece by the government to exploit it.
In the past, it's seen that there's a slightly larger crew,
maybe 10 or so people, but it's unclear how many of them
are just filers and whatnot that were replaced by
computers.
Offscreen Teleportation: Mrs. Frederick is the absolute
freaking master of this trope. She never visibly breaks any
laws of physics; she's just very good at suddenly being in the
same place you are, at the moment you least expect it. Her
exits are usually mundane, but at one point she leaves
through an open doorway and somehow vanishes in the five
seconds it takes Artie to walk over and look through it.Artie: How does she do that?
It seems, as of season 2, that all of the regents can do
this. Mark Sheppard certainly can. Called attention to in
that Taka, a non-regent agent, is shown walking into the
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very same room that Mark Sheppard just teleported into.
Off The Wagon: Several episodes keep drawing attention to
the fact that Pete is a recovering alcoholic by stating it in the
recap opening, but they subvert it by making the characters
simply think he has when the truth is far weirder. Played
somewhat straight in "Merge With Caution," where Pete falls
off the wagon through no fault of his own when he
body-swaps with Myka, who had been drinking at the time.
Oh Crap: This look crosses Claudia's face when H.G. Wells
talks about what she did to the people who killed her
daughter.
Older Than They Look: Mrs. Frederick.
The female H. G. Wells via Human Popsicle effect.
Omnicidal Maniac: H.G. Wells. Sort of. But not really.
The Omniscient Council Of Vagueness: The Regents.
Lampshaded when they ask Artie whether he expected them
to be "Hooded cloaked figures standing in half-light around a
perpetually burning flame?"
"You watch too many movies."
108: How many years the Warehouse's light bulbs last. Truth
in Television, as there are a number of existing light bulbs
from that time period that still work. See the Centennial Light
, which has been running for 109 years thanks to its low
wattage, near-continuous use, and dedicated power supply.
Parental Substitute: Artie is this for Claudia.
Percussive Maintenance: How the team resolves the issue
with the time machine.
Claudia names the trope in "Burnout," when her hologram
projector doesn't cooperate at first.
Pocket Protector: Averted.
Plausible Deniability: Operates under the auspices of the
Secret Service, but frequently clashes with any authorities
they assist.
Plot-Induced Stupidity: The season 2 finale has a nice
subversion. H.G. Wells betrays the team, the kind of thing
Pete's vibes should have picked up on as they have before.
Myka later confronts him about it, and realizes that he did
have such vibes, but didn't voice them because Myka trusted
H.G. Wells.
Product Placement: Myka is made into a 'Twizzlers Girl' in the
second season. Twizzlers is a sponsor of the show by
promotional material in the DVD.
Prongs of Poseidon: The Minoan Trident.
Rapid Aging: "Age Before Beauty."
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Rasputinian Death: Though no one in the series actually
suffers such a death, Artie does debunk the Trope Namer's
death as nonsense. In this universe, Rasputin really did die
on the first attempt, but his followers used an artifact to
project an image of him to others for the additional deaths,
which is why people think it took so much to kill him.
Reality Retcon: Among everything that happened behind the
scenes during history, one glaring example is that H.G. Wells
was/is a woman and warehouse agent.
Reassigned To Antarctica: What Pete and Myka think has
happened in the first episode. Subverted, in that their job now
is awesome.
Revealing Hug: Claudia is rather put-off by the notion that the
people running the Warehouse have some sort of plan for her
future, but Artie assures her that she will always have the
ability to choose her destiny. However, when she hugs him in
gratitude, it's clear Artie knows more about this situation than
he's letting on.
Red Herring: There's a can of them (the original one!) in the
Warehouse. Pete jokes the case must have been hard to
solve.
Red Shirt: Myka becomes concerned in an episode that this is
how Artie may view her and Pete, even naming the trope.
However, she does like wearing red blouses a fair bit,
ironically enough...
Reed Richards Is Useless: Justified, given that the bulk of the
Warehouse's contents aren't understood well enough to use
safely or duplicate. The few that are safe are generally kept
secret in the interest of giving the team an advantage.
Refugee From TV Land: Philo Farnsworth invented a 3D
hologram projector that (unintentionally) creates physical
matter, literally bringing TV to life. Combine this with a
disgruntled postal working stealing it from the unsorted mail
bin after she's forced into retirement and using it to play
through an action movie marathon...
Reinventing The Telephone: Teslapunk video phones, tasers,
golf carts, computers, hologram projectors (oh wait)...
Retired Badass: Rebecca St. Clair, a former Warehouse
agent.
Room Full Of Crazy: Claudia has one when we first
encounter her.
Running GagH.G. Wells is a bad guy!
I/We know!
After two complete seasons, Pete has STILL not read the
Warehouse manual.
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Samus Is a Girl: HG Wells is female. Though given the
obvious tip offs, Genre Savvy viewers had heavy hints.
Sealed Evil In A Can: Alice Liddell, trapped in Lewis Carrol's
mirror.
The entire Bronze Sector, which houses people so evil that
they could have "become the next Hitler." The female H.
G. Wells escaped from here, though she claims not be so
much evil as very depressed at the time.
Also the Sealed Evil In a Can Of Sardines from "Merge
With Caution."
Second Episode Introduction: Claudia doesn't appear in
person until the fourth episode, but the idea is the same.
Secret Government Warehouse
Self Destruct Mechanism: Averted the first time, when the
entire Warehouse was about to blow up. The second time, at
the end of the S1 finale, MacPherson escapes from the
Warehouse and activates the explosive bolts installed in the
Warehouse entrance. Artie is trapped in there and caught up
in the blast. He got better.
Sixth Ranger: Claudia.
Sharing A Body: The artifact in "Merge With Caution" causes
an extreme version of this. The two sharing a body actually
share the same space with both bodies: the dominant
personality manifests their body when speaking.
Shoot the Dog: Myka can't bring herself to electrocute Pete to
destroy a particularly dangerous artifact, so Rebecca does it
for her.
Ship Sinking: Two were potentially sunk in the episode
"Reset":
Pete/Myka via Like Brother and Sister reference in her
'going away' letter.
Pete/Kelly via her getting weirded out at you know, almost
killing Pete.
One could argue a third: Myka/HG Wells via HG being
carted off to an apparent fate worse than bronzing, and
Myka not likely to take being betrayed by HG very kindly in
any case.
Shout-Out: Too many to count in "Mild Mannered" but this
one sticks out because its one of the few not comic book
related ones:Claudia: Allons y!
In "Mild Mannered", one scene at the end has the camera
pans to Charlie Atlas' pants. Careful observation of the
panning sequence will reveal that the Warehouse also
possesses what appears to be Wonder Woman's lasso,
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the Penguin's umbrella, Green Arrow's bow and... Thor's
Hammer.
A component of H.G. Wells' time machine in "Where and
When" appears to be a flux capacitor.
Pete also tells himself to "Get your ass to Mars!" like in
Total Recall and he and Claudia shout out the Wyld
Stallyns with an Air Guitar duet.
During an expedition to Egypt, H.G. Wells dresses up like
Lara Croft. Complete with Lampshade Hanging!Helena: What? This is what the modern British archaeologist
wears, isn't it?
Myka: No, it's what American film producers think the modern
British archaeologist wears.
In "Reset", Captain Robau actually says the words "Prime
Directive".
Soft Glass: Pete attempts to escape a artifact house via
defenestration, and ends up coming back in via the same
method (the house is a recursive space and every exit leads
back in).
Someone Has To Die: Mark Sheppard sacrifices himself to
fulfill this trope in the penultimate episode of season 2.
Special Edition Title: A Christmas/winter themed one for
"Secret Santa".
Spooky Painting: Causes Myka, Pete, and Claudia to be
Locked in a Room.
Stable Time Loop: See You Already Changed The Past.
Rebecca St. Clair and her partner Jack fell in love when they
found themselves kissing in an orchard, with no memory of
the previous day. Fifty years later, Rebecca uses HG Wells'
Time Machine to transfer her consciousness into her past self
so she can share one last kiss (the First Kiss) with Jack. HG
Wells also built the time machine in the first place after
realizing that she did so in the future and used it.
Standard Female Grab Area: Claudia does this to Kelly when
she's taken over by Lizzie Borden's artifact.
The Starscream: H.G. Wells in the season 2 premiere. She
needs to work with MacPherson in order to retrieve some
personal effects, but kills him the first chance she gets. A
rare case where The Starscream succeeds.
In her defense, he was about to reveal the plan to the
Warehouse team.
Start of Darkness: MacPherson's came when he used the
Phoenix to save his lover. By "dying" temporarily, he saw the
afterlife, which from his point of view was nothing but
darkness. He assumed there was nothing after life, and so all
that matters is now. He attempts to expose Artie to this in
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order to make him act the same, but it backfires since Artie
sees light and hope.
The death of H.G. Wells' daughter was this for her. From
then on she saw people for their worst traits, and it quickly
went downhill.
Stealth Hi Bye: Claudia is one of the few people who do this
walking through a perfectly ordinary door. Artie pulls it on
Pete and Myka later. Mrs Fredric and to a lesser extent her
bodyguard manage it on a regular basis.
Steampunk: A lot of the technology the agents use seem to
be this.
Even modern-day technology gets this treatment: Artie's
personal computer (for instance) is very clearly an ordinary
computer decked out steampunk-style, kinda like this ◊.
Not to be picky, but most of the tech is post-Industrial
Revolution and therefore Dieselpunk or perhaps retro-
futuristic. Artifacts may date back farther, but the
Warehouse and its workings are much newer than
Steampunk.
Not necessarily; Artie mentions that the Warehouse is in its
13th iteration and that it 'moves' to whatever world power is
most suited for it. He implies that it's been around far
longer than a few hundred years. Indeed, the show itself
implies that the Warehouse itself may be a sentient artifact
that has simply been upgraded by various inhabitants.
HG Wells mentions that she worked for Warehouse 12
yet shows remarkable aptitude with the current version.
So while the current incarnation is definitely new and
improved, there is definitely some sort of crossover
period that may be less mysterious than it seems to be.
The second Warehouse? The Library Of Alexandria.
Straw Feminist: H.G. Wells, slightly justified due to times she
lived in.
Super Powered Robot Meter Maids: Fargo's MARA repair
drones inexplicably come equipped with net launchers,
flamethrowers, and saw blades.
Sweet Polly Oliver: H.G. Wells, of all people. In this case, the
man known as H.G. Wells is actually her brother, used as a
proxy since she wouldn't be accepted as a scientist in her
time.
Taken for Granite: "Where and When" has a variation using
Cinderella's knife, which turns people into glass. Apparently
those slippers weren't hers, and weren't the only glass things
to be found that day.
Take Up My Sword: When it seems as if Ms. Fredrick is going
to die, and therefore Warehouse 13 would die with her,
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Claudia is nearly made to take her place to keep Warehouse
13 safe. She doesn't have to go through with it, though it's
suggested that sooner or later she will.
Talkative Loon: Hugo Miller from "13.1". At least, the part of
him that's still attached to his body.
Television Geography: The Warehouse is in the middle of
nowhere, but many plot important places are somehow within
close driving distance and getting across the globe in a day
apparently isn't a major issue.
Time is of the essence to unite two artifacts in the episode
"Nevermore", with one agent in Colorado and the other in
Oregon (about 900 miles apart)... however Pete comes
rushing in to Colorado with the artifact seemingly a very
short time after getting it in Oregon.
Tempting Fate: Claudia comments that the backup
containment fields for the Artifacts in the Dark Vault should
hold up long enough to do what they need to do. Notably, the
containment fields fail before she even finishes her sentence.
She does finish the sentence, just not the way she had
originally intended.Claudia: ...to realize my Karma sucks.
Happens again buried when the team needs to infiltrate
Warehouse 2. After passing the first entrance test, they
come across a long hallway. The Regent, Valda,
accompanying them declares that they just might make it
after all. Cue saw blades springing from the floor. Pete
then has the nerve to say "It could be worse." Cue fire.Valda: (deadpan snarking) Thanks for that.
Thirteen Is Unlucky: The Warehouse is currently in its 13th
incarnation, and regularly suffers calamities. This, however, is
probably because of its function, and what led to the
destruction of Warehouses 1-12.
Destruction? Who said that was why they moved? The
warehouse is located in the most powerful country at a
given moment in time. Although when Warehouse 13
opened up in 1898, America wasn't a true superpower at
the time. America earned that status around World War 1
and wasn't the primary superpower until after World War 2.
Well, Warehouse 2 was the Library of Alexandria
And Warehouse 13 opened in 1914 and seeing as the
Regents have great foresight it makes sense.
Warehouse 13 has burned down at least once, though.
In one episode Mrs. Fredrick uses the phrase "I swear on
the ashes of the first 12 Warehouses" for added emphasis.
Though this turns out to not be literal.
Subverted; in this case, Warehouse 13 is the luckiest one
so far. Syfy's website has short histories on all 13
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Warehouses. The others did not have the lovely IRS cover
that this one does.
Warehouse 2 is in Egypt and is discovered in one episode.
In fact, it still contains plenty of artifacts. It was sealed and
abandoned after Rome invaded Egypt.
Through The Eyes Of Madness: Pete in "Around the Bend."
Throw It In: According to Eddie McClintock's Twitter, the
"watching a Browns game" Shout-Out in "Reset" was tossed
in by him.
Trademark Favorite Food: Myka is a Twizzlers girl.
Pete freaking loves pancakes. So much so that he forced a
pancake house to discontinue that peg-in-a-hole game
contest they had every week because he mastered it for
free pancakes.
He's also rather fond of cookies, to the point that in the
pilot when Artie mentions he made some, Pete
immediately opts to go in the Warehouse when he was
just moments before very wary of it.
Try Not To Die: Ms. Frederic to Artie upon giving him
permission to go after MacPherson.
Undercover Model: Myka in "Age Before Beauty."
Under The Mistletoe: The Warehouse has the "original
mistletoe", which causes anyone who wanders beneath it to
kiss the nearest person. Myka is kept from making this
mistake while Pete's under it. Artie, however, is not so lucky
while Claudia's brother is trying to take it down...
UST: Aggressively averted with Pete and Myka, but winked at
with an earlier Warehouse pairing. They were a lot like our
two agents, and actually did fall in love.
To elaborate, Myka was under the effects of an artifact that
forced her to act on her suppressed desires. In most
shows, this would lead to her kissing Pete. She punched
him instead.
The Shipping Goggles say that's just Slap Slap Kiss...
Averted again in the second season when, after much
pestering, Myka tells Pete her middle name. She expects
him to start mocking her for it, but he tells her it's a
beautiful name... then starts mocking it.Pete: Can I Ophelia boobies?
And while Myka is acting in a fashion show. Pete admits
that she's a beautiful woman to boost her confidence.
Then when she tries bring it back to he immediately asks
never to mention it again and plugs his ears.
Also, while it only got a hat-tipping when he first appeared,
there was a hint of it with Todd and Claudia. Continued
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when he shows up in the next episode.
Claudia and Fargo had some pretty obvious chemistry
during their cross-over, which gets somewhat resolved in
the 2nd part in Eureka.
Video Phone: Includes a very Steam Punk version.
Weapon Of Mass Destruction: The Minoan Trident (also
known as Poseidon's Trident), which when stabbed into the
ground three times opens the fault lines below. Among other
things, it's capable of triggering volcanoes, even
supervolcanoes. Doesn't help that it's, y'know, a trident.
In fact, referred to as "The first Weapon Of Mass
Destruction"
We Named The Monkey Jack: Myka names her ferret after
Pete because "they're both cute and annoying".
What Do You Mean, It Wasn't Made on Drugs?: Played with
using Timothy Leary's reading glasses, which cause vivid,
LSD-like hallucinations when worn. They were used to find
MacPherson's hidden auction of Warehouse artifacts in the
first season finale. In "For the Team", Pete uses them to
amuse himself when forced into a temporary desk job at the
Warehouse.
When Things Spin, Science Happens: The Time Machine.
Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him?: Double Subverted. When
H.G. Wells tries to start another ice age Artie pulls out a gun
and shoots her...but she's got an artifact that transfers the
wound to Artie.
Witness Protection: Claudia's occasional boyfriend Todd.
Xanatos Gambit: Though it's more obviously a Batman
Gambit, MacPherson's plan to get at the Warehouse's
Artifacts has Xanatos elements as well. The way he
engineered his own capture was pure Batman, but how he
dealt with individual artifacts, (i.e., he benefited whether or
not he managed to acquire them) was more Xanatos.
And not only that, but he manages to disguise his real
plan with successful Gambits, in increasingly awesome
acts.
H.G. Wells does this much better, as she had a plan that
took nearly a century to execute and still pulled it off.
Yandere: Lizzie Borden's compact causes its victim (Kelly) to
become this.
You Already Changed The Past: The stipulation to H.G.
Wells' time machine; time can't be changed because by
virtue of using the machine you've already changed it. People
who died in the past can't be saved because you already
failed to do it.
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You Got Murder: Bobby's preferred method of revenge,
thanks to Edger Allen Poe's pen. "Words have power..."
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: MacPherson loves this
trope. Then becomes the victim of it in the second season
after H.G. Wells is through with him. Though a good portion
of it is also that he threatens to reveal the plan.
You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Myka does this to H.G. Wells,
knowing that in the end she wasn't so disillusioned with
humanity that she could kill an innocent in cold blood.
Zeerust: The Farnsworth has many of the abilities of... an
iPhone 4 with better coverage.
It also has its own dedicated frequencies that can't be
bugged, traced, etc. by normal means and thus is more
secure to use than a cellphone, retro tech or not.
Zero Chops: Done with guns/teslas. Claudia and Todd
suspect each other of being a warehouse infiltrator and a
mob agent respectively. When they confront each other about
these suspicions, they spend a good five seconds fumbling
with their pockets in order to draw a weapon on the other.
War Of The Worlds Science Fiction Series Weird Science
Veronica Mars Turn Of The Millennium The West Wing
War Of The Worlds American Series Weeds
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