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'Warehouse 13': The 8 best episodes from SYFY’s artifact sleuthing series
Who’s up for some super-secret detective work?
Ready to get back in time? SYFY Rewind has your time-traveling cravings covered this month, with a marathon airing of Warehouse 13 that’s set to run all through the month of July. A big fan favorite that first debuted as a SYFY original in 2009, the lore-rich supernatural series ran for five mind-warping seasons as it followed the special-agent adventures of relic protectors Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) and Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly).
If you’re already familiar with Warehouse 13, then you instinctively get what the show was going for: serious sci-fi sleuthing with a generous side of comedy (and even the occasional romance). That description, though, doesn’t scratch the surface of the series’ ridiculously deep, history-based lore, which took inspiration from both real artifacts and events as well as the science fiction culture they collectively inspired.
Think of it as a mix of Indiana Jones’ intrepid treasure diving and The X-Files’ super-secret detective work…and kinda, just maybe, you’ll (sorta) be in the ballpark. But that still leaves out all the show’s lovingly curated artifacts, each imbued with a backstory that would make even Harry Potter reach for a spellbound history book.
With a whopping 64 episodes on tap at SYFY this month (plus streaming on demand at Peacock), the binge is definitely on, so we’re kicking things off with some handy highlights that size up Warehouse 13’s very best episodes. Take a gander though our list and see how it compares with your own. But remember…we might just be a little bit biased.
8: 'Buried' — Season 2, Episode 11
This one had all sorts of intrigue, bringing to light the aptly-named Helena "H.G." Wells’ (Jaime Murray) sinister long-game plot to make the entire world go kaput by tapping the power of a forbidden artifact. Getting to explore the ancient mythos (and appropriately spooky traps) behind Egypt’s Warehouse 2, which mysteriously activates after centuries of quiet, is also an eye-opener. As is the depths of H.G.’s duplicity: an early thorn in the gang’s side, she fakes an apology after getting caught…only to end the episode by zapping Pete and Myka out of their wits with a Tesla gun.
7: 'Lost & Found' — Season 4, Episode 18
Fans who spotted Harry Potter undertones throughout Warehouse 13’s huge grab bag of elaborately-named relics (and their equally elaborate backstories) can point to “Lost & Found” as a textbook talisman showpiece. In addition to the surprise revival of a supposed-to-be-dead character (Marcus, played by Sasha Roiz), the episode tossed out a magic mix of audacious artifacts — including Aleister Crowley's ruby studded universal hexagram necklace (the episode’s main MacGuffin), as well as Auguste Rodin's Hammer & Chisel, Robert the Bruce's Tartan, and — perhaps on loan from the sorcerers at Hogwarts — the Philosopher’s Stone.
6: 'Claudia' — Season 1, Episode 4
All great characters need a proper introduction, and as the name suggests, this early episode outed Claudia Donovan (played by Allison Scagliotti) as the mysterious hacker who’d been pestering the gang from the shadows. As hackers go, though, Claudia had the purest of motives: trying to track down her long-lost brother, who’d disappeared thanks to a botched artifact experiment years earlier. Even though things get off to a rough start after Claudia kidnaps Artie (Saul Rubinek), she proves her worth — by Season 2, Claudia had joined the team as a sorely-needed tech expert.
5: 'The Ones You Love' — Season 4, Episode 9
Season 4 was filled to the brim with plot-rich episodes, and “The Ones You Love” swept everyone up in its high-stakes story of saving their nearest and dearest relatives from the deadly machinations of Brother Adrian (Brent Spiner). Speaking of high stakes, this is the episode that literally ghosted Leena (Genelle Williams), the enigmatic bed-and-breakfast proprietor who’d been with the series from the start. An astrolabe-possessed Artie ends up killing her, leaving only Leena’s ghost to revisit the gang (and, thankfully, to forgive Artie) in the Season 4 finale…which just so happens to be next up on this list.
4: 'The Truth Hurts' — Season 4, Episode 20
Paracelsus (Anthony Head) had become a multi-episode nemesis in the supernaturally-laced buildup to Warehouse 13’s Season 4 finale — and despite being as prepared as humanly possible, Pete and Myka still couldn’t stop him…at least not from becoming immortal. Emotions run high against season-ending cliffhangers, with Myka appearing to succumb to cancer in a hospital while Claudia discovers a truly shocking secret about her (seemingly) long-dead sister. Paracelsus holds all the cards over Myka’s fate, offering to cure her if Pete will agree to drop the agents’ steadfast policy of never using artifacts for their own gain. Viewers had to wait until Season 5 arrived to unravel most of the episode’s story threads, but “The Truth Hurts” delivered the satisfying, if temporary, payoff of leaving fans suspecting that the bad guy, for once, might actually have won.
3: 'We All Fall Down' — Season 4, Episode 10
Rocked by Leena’s death in the previous episode, the team has to put a spark in their step in order to wrest Artie — still in the same insane state that drove him to kill — from the mind-bending grip of the astrolabe. Fresh off of shooting Leena, “evil” Artie now has the whole world in his artifact-addled sights, pledging to sweep a deadly plague across the globe that the agents, racing against the clock to find the astrolabe, seem powerless to stop. For all his quirks, Artie always provided the emotional glue that binds the core team together, which makes the moment when Claudia stabs him — even in his possessed form — a next-level shocker. In true Warehouse 13 form, though, he doesn’t stay down for long…though the show saved his resurrection for another day.
2: 'Endless' — Season 5, Episode 6
“Endless” served as the series finale in Warehouse 13’s truncated fifth and final season, and what better way to bring things to a close than with a weepy walk down memory lane? In a fitting story setup that triggers a flood of nostalgia, the team finds out that the warehouse they've grown to call home is moving for good. It’s a clever premise that gives Pete and Myka the opportunity to show just how far they’ve come since their reluctant beginnings as relic retrievers — and it even brings back Leena, who sheds some prophetic hindsight on how she views her own death.
1: 'Emily Lake' / 'Stand' — Season 3, Episodes 11 & 12
There’s no way to approach the final two episodes that crowned Season 3 except as an all-around package deal. “Emily Lake” takes its episode name from the high school teacher whose body Helena’s consciousness has been inhabiting — an evasive measure that Walter Sykes (Anthony Michael Hall) rudely yanks her out of. In the two-part season finale, Sykes drives the team toward an epic cliffhanger in his quest to exact vengeance against the warehouse-protecting regents. He gets his revenge and then some: Saving the rest of the squad costs Helena her life, after she absorbs the blast that would’ve otherwise killed her friends.
Thanks to some time-bending trickery, Helena was revived at the start of Season 4 — but at this point in the series, fans weren’t yet accustomed to all the deaths and resurrections that would later emerge as one of the show’s regular story devices. For tons of viewers, H.G. was one of Warehouse 13’s most compelling characters, and her untimely demise in the Season 3 finale drove that point home…with an emphatic bang.
For a full rundown of all the Warehouse 13 goodness leaping to SYFY Rewind, check out the full schedule here.
