Entertainment
This 81% Rotten Tomatoes Sci-Fi Hit Is a Forgotten Gem and Your New Comfort Show
It’s getting to that time of the year, and we can all feel it. The nights are getting longer, and the temperatures are getting lower. All you want to do when you get in after a long day’s work is curl up in a blanket and chuck on an easy-to-watch show that fills you with a warmth that the outside world is lacking. If you don’t want to binge Gilmore Girls, Community, or Gavin & Stacey for the billionth time, there’s no need to waste time scrolling through multiple streaming services, only to give up and go back to your usual shows. Instead, check out this comforting sci-fi series that has over 70 episodes to keep you company throughout these winter months: Eureka.
The 2006 series slowly became a streaming hit for SyFy, averaging 3.2 million viewers during its second season and being nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series in 2007, and it’s easy to see why. With its fascinating premise and small-town vibe, Eureka is a show that never feels ordinary or boring. Its case-of-the-week narrative structure also makes it perfect for binge-watching. Like all great shows, Eureka offers more than wacky jokes and impressive set designs. It explores themes of family and the dangers of over-ambitious science, yet never drags down or overwhelms its viewers.
‘Eureka’ is Set in the Strangest Town You’ve Ever Seen
One of the best things about comfort shows is that they typically work on a case-of-the-week basis, and that means the viewer can enjoy each episode in a microcosm, feeling as if they are not committing to any complex narrative that requires attention to all details for later, while secretly becoming more and more connected with the characters until they are obsessed. Shows like Doctor Who have also had success with this in the sci-fi realm, yet Eureka takes a slightly different direction. Rather than taking the protagonist to different worlds each episode, it keeps them grounded in one town, bringing the chaos to them.
The central premise of Eureka is that, while driving his runaway daughter, Zoe (Jordan Hinson), back home, US Marshal Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson) winds up in a town named Eureka and learns this is a top-secret town where the country’s best scientists work on outlandish and society-defining experiments. After the sheriff of this town is injured, Jack is hired to replace him after helping with a case for the pilot episode, throwing him into a world of quantum physics and wacky scientists.
Because the show takes place in this small town, there is a relaxed tone surrounding the show, as all the characters know each other very well, and Jack gets to learn about this town along with the audience as an outsider, which means that as Jack becomes more comfortable, so does the viewer. While everyone is welcoming, with Jack even striking up a few love interests along the way, including Allison (Salli Richardson-Whitfield), an agent of the Department of Defense, there are still nefarious forces at work in the town that seek to expose their deepest secrets, acting as the overarching plot that unfurls throughout each season.
‘Eureka’ is Full of Colorful Characters
When it comes to any show that can run for over 70 episodes, the characters are just as important to the premise. Viewers don’t want to spend hours and hours with boring people, and Eureka makes sure to imbue every character with a unique and intriguing nature that reflects the town’s eccentricity. While the characters might seem like they have small-town jobs, everyone’s backstory feels like it could be a show in its own right. With the sheriff’s deputy, Jo (Erica Cerra), actually being a badass former U.S. Army Ranger with an affinity for guns, Henry (Joe Morton), being the town mechanic as well as a space shuttle engineer, and Jim (Matt Frewer) being a seemingly crazy hunter who is really one of the greatest biological containment specialists in the world, there is no limit to the creativity Eureka displays in crafting its characters. This creates a sense of acceptance within the town, as those who might be considered oddballs in the outside world, like Allison’s son Kevin (Trevor Jackson), who is mostly non-verbal and has autism, find their differences embraced and encouraged in Eureka.
While the supporting characters fill out this world and make it so special, it is Ferguson’s Jack Carter who truly feels like the comforting factor in Eureka. Playing the role of the straight-man archetype, Jack Carter is perhaps the most “normal” character in the show by society’s standards. He isn’t a genius, and many of his jokes don’t land with other characters. Yet, he has a kind nature, and his true skill is his ability to empathize. When a boy goes missing in the pilot episode, and everyone else scrambles to look for him, Jack figures out the boy isn’t missing but hiding after being scared by his father’s experiment-gone-wrong.
Ferguson plays the character with a sense of realism because he, too, finds the town a wonderful yet mind-boggling place, poking fun at the show’s premise in a way that allows the audience to engage with it, rather than dismiss it as too silly. In a similar way that fans feel safe when around The Doctor, whether it is David Tennant or Ncuti Gatwa‘s version, because of his moral compass and competency, viewers feel at ease in Jack’s presence.
‘Eureka’ Explores Poignant Themes With Emotional Nuance
That isn’t to say that everything is perfect about Jack, or in his life, and this is where Eureka shines as not just another show to throw on while you doom-scroll, but a comforting watch that invites the audience to think about important aspects of life. The show has a strong focus on family and the love it creates. Jack’s main problem at the start of the show is his relationship with his daughter, as she is rightfully angry at him for leaving her mother and not being more present in her life, even if his job is important. Eureka doesn’t want the viewer to condemn Jack, since it tries hard to make him so likeable, but it points out how, just because someone thinks they’re doing the right thing, it doesn’t mean they aren’t hurting someone. As Jack and Zoe’s father-daughter relationship develops, the audience sees Jack challenged in what he values more, his family or his job, and whether his job can also involve his family.
At the heart of Eureka is also the exploration of how science can go too far, with both pure-hearted and sinister intentions, since almost all the conflict in the show is generated from failed and even successful experiments. The audience can delve into the deeper themes and how they comment on our own lives, or they can furiously study the characters and their dynamics throughout the show. And because the show makes sure it isn’t overly complex or intellectual, it also invites the viewer to simply enjoy the quirky mysteries that Jack investigates.
- Release Date
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2006 – 2012-00-00
- Showrunner
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Andrew Cosby
- Directors
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Colin Ferguson
- Writers
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Andrew Cosby
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Salli Richardson-Whitfield
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