Warehouse 13: Why I Just Can't Care

My husband really enjoys Warehouse 13, and is dying to see it renewed for another year.  I watch it with him, and have fun doing so, but somehow, I just don't care that much, about the characters or the future of the show.  And why is that, when the plots hums along, the magic involves tongue-in-cheek references to historical figures and events, Artie is lovable, Claudia is cool, and Mykha is amusingly neurotic? 

I think I found the answer today, while reading River Secrets, the third in Shannon Hale's Bayern YA Fantasy series.  On the page I was reading, the main character (Razo) remembered a character he used to love (Bettin) during the time of the first book.  Now, Razo was not a main character of the first book; he was decidedly secondary.  And yet, there was a girl he loved, who had no role in the book, but was named as part of the author's effort to round out Razo, and as a natural consequence of Hale's creation of a whole, three-dimensional, fully realized fantasy world. 

In contrast, the characters of Warehouse 13 seem to spring into existence the moment the cameras start rolling, and go back into stasis as soon as they stop.  There is little evidence that they have lives outside of their recorded adventures.  Sure, Claudia has a history (and is also probably the most engaging character of the four).  But Mykha has parents who appeared once, and Pete dated Kelly, and that's it for them.  It's inconceivable that we would learn about Kelly's family, as we hear of Razo's love in The Goose Girl.  The world of Warehouse 13 simply does not have that kind of depth.  The lack of tertiary characters isn't a problem -- it's a symptom, a sign.  The real problem is that the main characters, and the world they inhabit, seem two-dimensional.

Apply this litmus-test to Jack, the main character of Eureka, and see what you get: he has a daughter, Zoe, another main character; a sister, whose baby's father we also meet (a tertiary character!); an ex-wife, who has appeared on the show; an ex-girlfriend, Tess; and an A.I. house.  All of these characters have provided drama outside, and alongside, the mystery of the week.  All of them remind viewers, over and over, that Eureka exists inside a complete and complicated world. 

Some of Warehouse 13's difficulties stem from the fact that the "magical space" is simply too small.  Too few people are involved in the Warehouse, so, much of the agents' time is spent learning details of lives and places that will never be mentioned again.  On Eureka, every investigation takes place within the "magical space" of the town, so that every detail learned by the way adds to the complexity of the show's created world.  I honestly don't know how Warehouse 13 could be fixed; the sad truth is that some premises are inherently limited. 

So, Warehouse 13, if we don't see you next year:  It was fun.  It was good.  It just wasn't great.