| The Real Thing | |
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| Air date | April 30, 2012 |
| Written by | Bruce Miller |
| Directed by | Michael Robison |
| Episode guide | |
| Preceded by "Lost" |
Followed by "Force Quit" |
| Cast | Transcript | |
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| Season 5 | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | |
| Season 4 | ||||||
"The Real Thing" is the second episode of the fifth season of Eureka.
Synopsis
A month has passed and the town continues hunting for the missing Astraeus crew after the DOD calls off the search. Carter and Andy go on a mission to retrieve the last part Kevin needs for a scanner to locate the Astraeus. After being apprehended, they are rescued by Jo when she returns from her walkabout, and Carter realizes that the crew hasn't been lost in space, but on Earth. Kevin and Henry locate the Astraeus and Carter and Jo lead a rescue team. When they arrive, they find the ship and the simulator. However, Beverly's team and the crew are gone. Jack realizes that the person responsible for the disappearance is Senator Wen, who is revealed to be Beverly's superior. Meanwhile, in the simulated Eureka, the crew go to unload biological experiments from Astraeus and discover a dragon nesting. Holly, Allison and Grace start to notice that things aren't what they seem due to a malfunction in the Computer Matrix's Central Processor. Holly puts the pieces together and realizes the truth, but is killed by the Virtual Carter on Senator Wen's instructions before she can tell anyone else.
Plot
As in the previous episode, we have found out that the Astraseus Crew is actually in a Virtual Reality Simulator (VRS) being controlled by The Consortium. Back in the real Eureka people continue searching for The Astraeus as it has been a month since it and its crew have disappeared. Kevin is developing a way to find where The Astraeus has vanished to. But, as Kevin and Jack Carter discuss the possibilities, Deputy Andy brings news that Senator Wen is halting the search for The Astraeus. After this, Jack Carter goes to Senator We to talk to her about reconsidering calling off the search while Kevin takes matters into his own hands and steals some equipment from a scientist for his detector
Meanwhile, Beverly Barlowe and The Consortium are able to use the Virtual Eureka to make the Astraeus crew "work for them" and decide to get them to work on gentics for their next assignment. Global Dynamics gives an order to obtain the biological samples from The Astraeus. Allison Blake and Jo Lupo go to the Astraeus, but not before Allison witnesses a "rendering error" in Cafe Deim, where NPC Vincent walks through the counter. At the Astraeus, Jo and Allison talk about Jenna and mentions dragons. At this point, the VRS, was only meant for 20 subjects and with Allison being the 21st, the system is overloaded. The algorithm that sorts reality from fantasy within the VRS fails and renders a dragon in the Astraeus' hold. After narrowly escaping, Allison, Fargo, Holly NPCs Jack and Jo figure out a new invention to try to capture it. Beverly and the Consortium begin to worry about The Astraeus crew continuing to believe in the VRS but find hope in a new invention although the system is flawed
Back in Eureka, Jack confronts Kevin about the stolen equipment. Kevin and Jack take the Equipment back to his house and meet there with Henry Deacon. After Henry examines the work Kevin has done, he is asounded and says that it might work. Jack then asks what Kevin needs and eventually gets the entire town involved. They gather most of the materials needed when they find out they need a part from a large satellite dish. Jack and Andy sneak pass the military guards and Jack gets the part after a close call when Deputy Andy gets caught. After giving the part to Henry, both Jack and Andy get thrown in their own jail by Senator Wen. While in lock up, Jack and Andy discuss the possibilities of giving up the search and with an epiphany realizes that the Astraeus never left earth.
In the Virtual Eureka, Allison and NPC Jack search the woods for the dragon. As they reminisce, they run into Holly Martin who is also searching for the dragon. Shortly after they locate the dragon resting and for a moment another "rendering error" occurs. The dragon flashes to a wireframe character for a second and this coaxs Holly to believe that it is not real. As Holly approaches, the dragon awakens, slashes at her, cutting her arm and then flying away. She concludes that it has to be real. After a brief check up,
In the Real Eureka, Jo gets back into town just in time to release Jack and Andy. After rushing to the site of the detector and finding they found nothing. Jack reveals that the Astraeus might still be on earth. They proceed with a new scan downwards. Senator Wen arrives threatening to throw everyone in jail. But Jack reveals that they can find the Astraeus. They find the trail and track it. After Senator Wen gives them their full support and makes a call. A Global Dymanic team lead by Jack breaks into the warehouse where the Astreus is but find everyone gone. As they are relieved to figure out that the Astraeus has not left earth, Jack figures out there is a mole. Jack and Henry go through the simulation of the day the launch took place. Jack pauses it as Senator Wen is at the main console. He concludes that she is the mole due to the fact that The Consortium knew that they had been exposed and fled after he had told her.
In Virtual Eureka, Zane, and NPCs Jo and Jake come out to the woods with the new invention to capture the dragon. After a successful demonstration, Beverly and the Consortium in reality are pleased with the results. Holly begins to catch on to the VRS after pulling off her bandage and her wounds were gone for a split second before "rendering." She confides in NPC Jack who says"I wish you didn't say that." While in Reality, Senator Wen confirms she is part of the Consortium and pulls out her Neuro-connections effectively killing her. She simply fades away after NPC Jack walks away.
Memorable Quotes
Notes
When hunting the dragon, armed with Zane's weapon, the dragon is seen clinging to the side of a tree. For a moment, you catch a profile view, the dragon's face having a striking resemblance to that of Toothless from "How To Train Your Dragon".
In episode 4.18, This one Time at Space Camp, Jack mentions that he keeps a key to the jail cell behind a false brick in case he ever gets locked in. But in this episode he has to wait for Jo to release him from the cell.