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Many Happy Returns
Many Happy Returns
Air date July 25, 2006
Written by Jaime Paglia & Andrew Cosby
Directed by Jefery Levy
Episode guide
Preceded by
"Pilot"
Followed by
"Before I Forget"
Cast | Transcript
Wiki wide
Season 1
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12
Season 2

"Many Happy Returns" is the second episode of the first season of Eureka.

Synopsis[]

Carter and the rest of the town are surprised by the arrival of Susan Perkins, a dead woman whose funeral they've all just attended.

Plot[]

After the funeral of Susan Perkins, the town has a surprising visitor—a very alive Susan Perkins. There are other ghostly sightings throughout town.

Carter and the other citizens of Eureka attend the funeral of Walter and Susan Perkins. Afterwards, at the sheriff's station and much to the town's surprise, Mrs. Perkins makes a return to Eureka as a woman who is very much alive. Mrs. Perkins and the law enforcement officials exchange information about the recent deaths and Susan's continuing life, including her past relationship and separation from Walter. Meanwhile, there have been numerous instances of power fluctuations, and sightings of what appears to be a ghost.

Sheriff Carter meets Allison Blake's estranged (but not quite ex) husband, Dr. Nathan Stark, who is Eureka's new head of research. They later establish that they are and will continue to be rivals for Allison's affections.

When Deputy Jo Lupo takes Susan through town, Susan stops her at her "dream home." The (Eureka) Perkins's son expresses his sadness at the loss of his parents while staying at Dr. Blake's house. During that night, her son Kevin sees and begins to repeatedly draw an ominous glowing or outlined figure.

Dr. Fargo, seeing that the new sheriff has nowhere to stay except the jail cell, sets him up in another eccentric experiment: a "smart" house. Jack gets to know his new home, SARAH (Self Actuated Residential Automated Habitat), who provides him with all the comforts of a regular home, Eureka style.

At Global Dynamics, the main characters find that the "dead Susan" is actually a clone of the "real Susan." Carter and Henry conclude, from the scan and Dr. Perkins's file, that since Dr. Perkins wanted to settle down with a family (and the "real Susan" was reluctant), he made a highly sophisticated and properly aged clone, and had a son with her. The electronic disturbances continue, knocking Dr. Stark unconscious at Global. Carter discovers that SARAH's cameras captured an image, during a power surge the night before, similar to one Dr. Stark reported in his office.

The "real Susan" wants to have nothing to do with their son, but Allison brings her to his school to see him before she leaves. Susan still rejects "her" son. There is a new electronic disturbance at the school, during which Allison and Susan see the ghost-figure approaching the Perkins child. Susan defends the boy but discovers the secret of Walter Perkins' dissolution — he is between time-streams, "stuck between seconds". Walter is placed in a chamber to stabilize his dimensional status and Susan embraces Brian Perkins.

At the end of his day, Carter sees his estranged daughter, Zoë, who has run away from her mother so she can stay with him.

Memorable Quotes[]

  • Carter: You two have a history.
  • Allison: You could say that.
  • Carter: Old boyfriend?
  • Allison: Not exactly.
  • Carter: Then, what exactly?
  • Allison: He's my husband.

  • Allison: I still don't get it.
  • Carter: What's that?
  • Allison: Susan committing suicide. I mean, I know it sounds callous, but I don't care how bad things are, once you have a kid, you don't get to just... check out.
  • Carter: Well, my daughter Zoe said pretty much the same thing to me when I told her I was being transferred to Eureka.
  • Allison: Taking your life and taking a job are hardly the same thing.
  • Carter: In this town? Not so sure.

  • Carter: It's not like we have a standard form to "undead" you.
  • Jo: Ahem.
  • Carter: Tell me you're kidding.
  • Jo: 924/B. In triplicate.

  • Nathan Stark: There was an electrical problem with the computers, and then I saw something. A figure.
  • Carter: Are you saying someone was in your office?
  • Stark: Not someone. Something. It wasn't entirely corporeal.
  • Carter: Corporeal?
  • Stark: Physical. There and not there at the same time.
  • Carter: Are you saying you saw a ghost?
  • Stark: Sheriff. Director of Research of the most advanced scientific facility in the world doesn't see ghosts.

  • Carter:: Tell me Henry, you're a scientist, do you believe in ghosts?
  • Henry:: Well, I believe in energy. When somebody dies, that energy has to go somewhere. So, theoretically I suppose it's possible.

Trivia[]

Henry's "We're gonna need a bigger battery" line as the ghost hunt gets seriously underway is an homage to Roy Scheider's ad-lib in Jaws, "You're gonna need a bigger boat.".

In the scene where Nathan Stark is introduced, an extra missed his cue to walk down the righthand staircase.

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