Eureka (2006)/Once in a Lifetime

Once in a Lifetime
Season 1, Episode 12
Airdate	October 3, 2006
Production Number	112
Written by	teleplay Jaime Paglia & Andrew Cosby story Andrew Cosby & Jaime Paglia & Johanna Stokes
Directed by	Michael Lange
Stream
← 1x11 H.O.U.S.E. Rules	2x01 → Phoenix Rising
Eureka (2006) — Season One

Once in a Lifetime is the twelfth episode of the first season of Eureka. Four years into the future on the day of Zoe's graduation, time begins to unravel and the only clue lies in a formerly uninhabited laboratory in Global Dynamics.

Starring: Colin Ferguson (Sheriff Jack Carter), Salli Richardson-Whitfield (Allison Blake), Joe Morton (Henry Deacon), Jordan Hinson (Zoe Carter), Ed Quinn (Nathan Stark)

Also Starring: Erica Cerra (Deputy Jo Lupo), Neil Grayston (Douglas Fargo, S.A.R.A.H.)

With: Matt Frewer (Jim Taggart)

And: Debrah Farentino (Beverly Barlowe)

Guest Starring: Tamlyn Tomita (Kim Anderson), Chris Gauthier (Vincent)

Co-Starring: Aaron Isaacs (Walter Perkins), Bryan Wilson (Baker Twin #1), Keith Wilson (Baker Twin #2), J.R. Messado (Kevin Blake)

Plot Overview

In Global Dynamics, Stark is dodging jury duty by claiming "scientific immunity." He and Kim Anderson are in the artifact's chambers, attempting to take a sample from it using a robotic probe. The drill causes an explosion and what sounds like an angry roar coming from the artifact. Shortly afterwards, time in Eureka seems to projected into the future. It's the day of Zoe's high school graduation in 2010 where Zoe is the valedictorian. Also, Jack and Allison are married and Allison is pregnant. After the celebration, there's an earthquake originating from Section 5.

Jack, Jo and a team of researchers investigate the empty, dark chambers, only to find a body fused in a wall. They take the news to Dr. Deacon, who has taken over as the head of Global Dynamics. They detach the door so Henry can examine the body and figure out just who it belongs to. Fargo comes to the conclusion that the only way the radiation could have affected the corpse is from the artifact in section 5. They attempt to use Kim's software to reconstruct his DNA, but Henry is uneasy about something. Leaving things in Henry's hands, Jack and Allison go back to Zoe's party where the earthquake happens again. It somehow deposits Jack's long destroyed jeep in the middle of the street.

Back at Global Dynamics, Fargo explains to Jack that it's a temporal anomaly, like what happened with Walter Perkins years ago. Jack decides that it's probably best that they ask Walter some questions just in case he knows something, although Henry insists that he doesn't. Walter is under house arrest and has been deaged to a teenager because of his original temporal machine. While they talk, Kim continues to recreate the body's DNA structure but Henry keeps slowing them down. Kim's recreation shows that she was the body. They come to the conclusion that Henry altered the outcome of the accident by changing history using Walter's machine. Henry struggles with Jack's request to fix things so that they're as they should be, while the time stream starts to agitate further and deposits a tornado across the street from the sheriff's department briefly.

Allison begrudgingly calls in Nathan to fix things, even though she wants to keep her life and baby as it is. Nathan tells them that they need to go back in time to stop Henry from going back in the first place. Jack is sent four years into the past where he is supposed to stop future Henry from averting the crisis.

In Nathan's office, Beverly flashes his memory with Jason's device and implants him with a chip before he goes into the section 5 test. He and Kim start drilling while Jack and future Henry tussle outside. Things ultimately end as they are supposed to, leaving the future unknown but Jack remains with the memories of the future.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Espionage: Future Beverly briefly mentions that she's not with "the consortium" anymore. She also reports to the group in the real reality, which appears to be someone talking from a Cisco video phone, like in Nathan's office. One could assume that Nathan himself is pulling her strings and making her believe that she's more important that she would like to believe.
• Section 5: Henry mentions that the artifact is trans-dimensional and exists outside of normal space and time, so none of the normal rules of physics or nature apply.

Trivia

The Show

• Closed Captioning Mix-Up: In the closed captioning for the episode, when the synthesizer version of "Pomp & Circumstance" is playing, it shows the lyrics for the second verse of "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads. It is likely that the script from which the closed captioning was created included a cue for the Talking Heads song, but the song was ditched for a less expensive song.