It’s hard to think of a TV series that matured as dramatically, or successfully, as Warehouse 13. When it debuted last July 7th, it had the mystical artifact thing going for it, as well as the governmental conspiracy thread. But then it took The X-Files and mixed in a whole lot of Moonlighting and Bones. The wacky-heavy-detectivy mix started to become volatile and, at times, saccharine. But then the writers started to figure it out. They found a way to make the laughs work with the mad dashes to save the world. They layered in supporting characters that could round out the drama, even while shouldering part of the burden in taking extremely complex stories and making them go down smooth.
The second season of Warehouse 13 takes flight Tuesday, and we couldn’t be more excited about its return – trusting that it continues its course into terrain that is more insightful, focused and rewarding. We wanted to know just what to expect, so we begged Syfy to put us on the phone with Eddie McClintock, Pete Lattimer himself. They agreed to give us his secret location, we passed down a couple inquiries, and we walked away pleasantly satisfied:
This show is such an unlikely mix of things – a mishmash that works beautifully, but surely something you couldn’t have expected. How did you become involved in something so out of the ordinary?
When I went into audition, I knew that Pete was a secret service agent, and I really wanted to play him in a different sort of way. And I just knew that every other person was going to show up in a black suit and tie, doing the secret service thing. But there’s a moment in the pilot where he’s relieved of his duties and wearing his civies, so that’s what I worked with. I showed up in a Social Distortion t-shirt, and tried to emphasize the humor and later on I learned that the casting director had some concerns, saying that he didn’t think that was going to be the direction of the show. But at the end of the day they were debating who to bring back, and while I will not go on record saying that thanks to my audition I saved the direction of the show, I know that behind the scenes they were looking at me and saying: “I guess that’s one way the show could go.”
You know, I’ve tried to describe to people what direction that was – what mix of things I find so appealing on Warehouse 13. And I often have a problem putting it into words. It’s this wonderful mix of magic and collegial relationships and wacky situations and strange punch lines. It’s camp with a punch, or maybe the other way around…
I think it’s an escape. You look around at the unemployment and people trying to bomb cities – it’s bleak out there, and I think at the start it all began with: Wouldn’t it be great to have a show where people can forget about their day? Don’t get me wrong, I think there’s a place for the hardcore cop show. But I think it’s time for something different that can resonate with both the 13 year-old kid and the dad. And this is what we hit on, these different missions anchored by these relationships that work in a very serial way. But it’s really a roll of the dice, and I think we had the luck of the draw that we were able to put all this energy in the same place at the same time.
You could see, episode by episode, the show finding itself so clearly in the first season – was there a moment when you started to realize, even being on the show, that it was all starting to gel and congeal into something special?
I guess it started when we would have these very serious, heavy scenes where things came to a head and then all of a sudden BAM, we’d land a joke and the room would crack up and then we’d be sprinting again, trying to save our lives. There’s not a moment’s rest here, there’s so much going on, and to feel that sense of momentum, that we’re going from heavy to funny to action all in the same scene, as an actor I really feel like I get to stretch out and do this great broad array of beats that doesn’t just keep me off balance but I think keeps the audience off balance. You never know if you’re going to be laughing here or scared, how many shows can have this range of unpredictability?
So season two: What’s in store for us?
I think there’s this added sense of confidence now. This season is bigger, better, faster, funnier – everything just feels larger and more energized. The pace of the show, too, has really just taken off, and the network has really allowed us to actually start writing more comedy into the script, I think the writers have kind of weeded out what they didn’t think worked from season one, and that’s allowed them to sort of push more of the extremes. We know we can do it. I think this season the episode that I felt captures it the most is called “Around the Bend,” which is an old English saying that he’s gone crazy. And there’s this artifact that’s causing Pete to lose his sanity and basically I had to go to these wild places, and make a decision that this is the way I’m going to play this part, and I’m unafraid to look foolish.
But I think it’s that commitment from everyone on the cast that has made all of these different stories work. No matter the artifact or the fine points of the plot, these are real characters you can’t turn away from. It’s a story about all of them trying to make it through.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yufjvkx8SBc]