A Spoiler-Free Review of Warehouse 13's Final Episodes

We've seen the final two episodes of Warehouse 13's first season, and offer a spoiler-free review of tonight's Poe-themed artifact hunt and next week's twisting season finale, which features dark revelations about the Warehouse and one of the major characters.

Tonight's episode is "Nevermore" is a bit of a return to the weekly artifact hunts of yore, where Pete and Myka witness an artifact's destructive power, identify it, and bring it back to the Warehouse. Plus, we get to meet Battlestar Galactica alum Michael Hogan as Myka's emotionally distant father who gets tangled up with an artifact related to Edgar Allan Poe.

It's by no means show's strongest episode, but one that reflects and respects the show's changing character dynamics. The artifact hunt is fairly straightforward, without the mystery of some of the more recent episodes, but the point is more that we see the team functioning more as a cohesive team. Artie is no longer hiding the ball from his field agents, instead giving clear, concise information where they need it. Claudia takes a spin in the field, and there's still that playful sibling relationship between Pete and Myka, even if it no longer takes center stage. The major ding on character development is that Myka largely sits this episode out, though we at least get a dose of crotchety Michael Hogan (albeit only briefly crotchety) as compensation.

But the season finale, "MacPherson," almost feels like it comes from an entirely different show, one dominated not by artifact hunts and special effects, but one filled with intrigue and danger. James MacPherson, whom we met a few episodes back, provides the series with a much-needed and thoroughly satisfying villain, one ruthless and far more clever than anyone at the Warehouse has anticipated. All of the show's main characters — Artie, Myka, Pete, Claudia, Mrs. Frederic, even the little-used Leena — will have their roles to play, and there will be enough twists to keep you guessing who at the Warehouse you can really trust (and at least one character's loyalties will fall squarely on the wrong side of the fence). We'll even get a revelation about the Warehouse itself that's far more frightening than what's inside the Dark Vault.

Warehouse 13 has been a fun, light summer romp through humanity's secret mystical and technological heritage. But the final episode suggests that the second season could offer more than possessed typewriters and mystical disco balls. It could bring us more into the dark and dangerous underworld that craves these artifacts, and the sometimes disturbing lengths the Warehouse may have to go to in order to protect them.