Eureka “God Is in the Details” - Review

Cue the idea of a dad being happy his teenage daughter is quiet for once. Directed by Mike Rohl, he’s still only done odd Hallmark nonsense and lots of TV shows that are just a bit poo, like Supernatural. Now I have annoyed the 26-35-year-old women who enjoyed super-gay fanfic on Tumblr. The writing of “God is in the Details” comes from first-time Eureka writer Eric Wallace. Wallace is probably best known for his five other episodes of Eureka, as well as his work on The Flash, Z Nation, and Teen Wolf (the MTV one) as writer, producer, and even director.

Right, now that I’ve got the right episode after accidentally clicking on this one last week, let’s talk about all things holy. With only a few banging The Bible like they are about to be caught at a Coldplay concert, I’m surprised the town isn’t overrun by locusts and a deadly plague of Susan Boyle fans already. No, but really, the first hit by God’s latest attempt for attention is Zoe and her friends as they are turned mute, Allison is practically pregnant, and your man, who was annoying Fargo with Wagner, is now a marine biologist to bloody fish. No, I actually mean blood-covered fish.

I’ll take that as the exodus of the vegans from this review, if I haven’t already sent away the religious. “God is in the Details” is one of those episodes where I’m going to have issues, not because of religion. Believe what you want and leave others to believe what they want, just don’t ask for their opinion, then get annoyed when it isn’t yours reflected back at you. No, my “issue” is more the writing and the ideas, how the episode goes about its ideas being a bit “meh,” as I so often put it so loquaciously. So let’s talk about Jesus!

He was a fine little fella. A bit too brown for some people to accept, but as you so often have to accept with the religious, they’ll only tolerate certain things. According to our writer this week though, Eric Wallace, the scientific community is one of a secular order devoted to only science and nothing else. In a small town called Eureka, it seems the Church service is more poorly attended than a wannabe dictator’s military parade, with the good sheriff unable to attend in the first place because his deputy is already there every Sunday.

The truth is, as a concept, it sounds fine until you know that scientists and people who sought careers in science are generally religious or at least spiritual in some way. Am I saying everyone in science is a Christian, in the purist American ideal of a White Jesus? No, what I’m saying is you have a large group of people whose lives and jobs are to poke and prod at the unknown until there is clear evidence, and the greatest mystery of the universe truly is: what is all of this? Is it a higher power that created all of this? Was it something else, but there is a higher power watching over it?

Religion comes in many forms, and not just in the Abrahamic religion flavors either. The idea of a town in America that’s maybe 3,000-6,000 people being 95% agnostic or atheist only appears in the wet dreams of zealots, like Bill Maher, even in the fantasy of a town full of super geniuses. Not only do you have options, but the group that was there already was a fine size for a town that small. So the idea of all these things happening in town, the lives put at risk, just to boost numbers at the curtain where the almighty Oz works is not only far-fetched, but crap.

When sci-fi shows do the religious episodes, I already dislike them because they often focus on Christian beliefs, or it is written with that belief informing the made-up religions. Ok, that last little bit sounds like a misnomer to some, but follow me here (I’m a guy with brown eyes, long brown hair, and a beard after all). The episodes of sci-fi shows that blatantly shout about religion are often the least interesting: In a broad sense, Lost in its entirety, “Kaddish” from The X-Files, and if I’m honest, I didn’t love “Mad Idolatry” from The Orville.

With Eureka and “God is in the Detail,” it is no different. It adds nothing to the conversation of religion in science and says nothing on it too; it is an adventure of the week that uses something that is a touch more nuanced than “let’s have fun.” Maybe that’s just my dislike of typically Western religion in film and TV, but I do have a point about the scientists and their love of religion in the first place. The idea of such a town acting like some atheists do feels far-fetched, even for a town called Eureka.

This is also (semi-spoiler) one of those episodes that makes Kevin one of those super, magic, special autistics that only appear in film and TV, like Rain Man. That’s another kettle of fish I’d rather leave boiling and walk away from. I get it, and I get what show I’m watching, but from the start to here, it feels like such a jump that it feels more like a device than a character trait. Initially, he was a kid who was smart in a town full of smart people (kids and adults), and now he’s magic in an episode that is already playing with religion.

Honestly, it is difficult to talk about “God is in the Details” from a beat-for-beat perspective because though it does an ok job in terms of dialog and basic writing, its premise feels off. Someone straying a little too close to the sun creates biblical plagues in a town full of scientists who are seemingly the least religious until this strange phenomenon takes place. Suggesting that scientists will only turn to religion when threatened with silent teenagers, a glowing woman, and bloody fish. They aren’t 12BC peasants committing debauchery, though if you ask certain politicians, that’s all that science does.

The concept itself is trite and lacks any commentary or idea of something to say. Sure, in the final moments, it is playing on this god awful season arc we’re baby-stepping towards with technically only 2 episodes (3 if you split the two-parter) left. That is truly the only master that “God is in the Details” seems to serve – it is a second episode of the season if I’ve ever seen one, playing pretend as the driving force leading into the season’s third act. With the actual portion of the episode that is the driving force towards that big blow off is two scenes in the third act of the episode.

In isolation, I’d complain about the bible bashing and lack of knowledge that scientists statistically are known to be fairly religious. Though not hardcore Christian-nationalists, America’s only religion. However, I can’t segregate the episode from the season entirely, as that seems to be the only purpose of the episode in the end. “What about Kim?” What about her? We saw her for two episodes before she was dead, and we’re now expected to feel bad that Henry is sad and will kill everyone else to get her back. I’m sure this season works great for the people who think Joel from The Last of Us is the hero, but some of us have brain cells.

Ultimately, “God is in the Details” lacks detail to latch on to and tell us an interesting or convincing plot. Serving only to show once again in this back-half of the season that Jack knows there is something up with Henry and that Henry might feel guilty but won’t stop. Wow, the same saucepan of plot we’ve been banging since “Try, Try Again,” if only Eric Wallace were allowed to try again. With five more episodes by the same writer, I’m sure I won’t be saying that he doesn’t know jack— Oh, right. This is the guy who wrote “You Don’t Know Jack,” put succinctly, the worst of Sci-Fi Channel at this time.