Warehouse 13 - Season 1

Artie, Myka, Pete and Claudia. Although technically members of the US
Secret Service, Warehouse Agents are pretty much on a universal first name
basis.

Another one I've been catching on Netflix, Warehouse 13 is a series that has my name written all over it.

Secret Service Agents Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) and Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) are recruited by the mysterious Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubinek) to work at Warehouse 13, a storehouse of bizarre and dangerous Artifacts (their term, so I'll use the i) that have acquired powers largely as a result of narrative significance in the great story of humanity. Other Warehouse employees include their almost-preternatural 'caretaker' Mrs Frederic (CCH Pounder), pastoral care superviser Leena (Genelle Williams) and stroppy tech diva Claudia Donovan (Allison Scagliotti).

The Warehouse is located in America as a consequence of the United States' dominant position in the world stage, and the agents who work there are American because it is the 'host' nation. I always like it when a series bothers to explain why mystical stuff is centred on America. Warehouse 13 is the 13th iteration of the facility, which was originated by Alexander the Great (I also loves me some in-universe historical weight) and is filled not only with an assortment of random crap that happens to possess world-threatening powers, but a variety of cobbled together maintenance and defence systems ranging from the ultra-modern to the dieselpunk. The organisation is headed by a board of Regents apparently drawn from very ordinary walks of life.

The series has a good balance of characters. Of the two field agents, Myka is the sensible, disciplined one, possessing an eidetic memory and high intelligence, while Pete is the intuitive one and possesses a degree of extrasensory perception. Although Pete is established as an ex-Marine, Myka is nonetheless noted to be the better shot. Artie is the vague but endlessly knowledgeable mentor, especially to Claudia, the rebellious teenage daughter he never had. Leena is... in all honesty a bit bland, but the season actually uses that to its advantage.

The Artifacts are the show's USP, and are a splendid mix of weird devices and simple curios, from Native American cloaks to Hashishin exoskeletons and Edgar Allen Poe's pen and notebook.

The show is a lot of fun, with a sparky cast - although I prefer the support to the leads, finding McClintock a little too glib and Kelly's eyes often alarmingly huge - and a great sense of joy in its X-Files/Indiana Jones/Moonlighting mash-up premise. When it gets into legendary items it's a bit close to The Librarians, and I prefer Warehouse 13 when it's focused on more contemporary Artifacts, but there's a lot to like.