Eureka Review: I Am Jack's Evil Twin

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I imagine that the pitch meeting for "Double Take" started with: We've done zombies, now we are going to do body snatchers! 

Because, seriously, this week’s Eureka episode had all the things you would look for in a suspenseful body snatching story. A few examples:

People Not Themselves: The first thing you always get is people who are acting strange and folks around them can’t figure out why. This usually builds until the fake person finally tips his/her hand to a sole remaining individual.

Of course, this being Eureka, that was promptly met with SARAH turning the tables on him and zapping him senseless. On the flip side, for Kavan Smith this meant he again got to play an evil version of Andy, which he does nearly to well. 

Trouble In Eureka

Seeing Double: In any really good body swapping or body snatching flick it is practically a law that at some point someone has to come face to face with themselves. In our case it was Parrish and Zane walking in on Evil Parrish in the lab. 

Was anyone actually surprised when Zane shot the Parrish that said “I trust you Zane?” I saw it coming. Of course the Evil Parrish turning to gel and splattering all over real Parrish was a bit of a shock. Well done, Mr. Wheaton, well done.

Distracted By A Child Copy: While not a staple with many horror movies, it seems like all the body snatching stories I have seen in recent years includes a scene where someone is sidelined by an evil-child-copy. 

The basic idea had merit with Jenna being used against Allison. And the setting was spot on, down to the flickering and buzzing lights. The problem I had with it? The Clones were using real world DNA which means Jenna isn't a pre-teen, she is still a toddler.... yet her bioprinted copy was the same age and looked like the version from the Matrix. 

Infiltrating The Hive: Probably my favorite part of any good body snatching suspense film is the part where the hero (or heroes) decide they want to try and pass as evil clones to get inside and destroy the nest, hive, colony, etc. from the inside. 

Sure enough, Fargo and Alison attempted to do that very thing. I have to give props to Douglas Fargo rockin’ the glasses with an infra-red mode. When I start wearing glasses I’m so going to have to find that. That didn’t save him from being found, but it was pretty damn cool.

This is where we deviate from horror movie formula a bit, as most of them don’t have the heroes actually win. But, in the town of Eureka, we expect a better (yet comical) outcome. Thankfully, we were not disappointed as Alison was able to set off the Z-bomb and knock all the clones out while Jack kicked his own ass. (Or did he get his ass kicked by himself since he was losing?) 

After all the dust settled, it was really nice to see that Holly survived, even if she doesn’t remember any of her time in Eureka. As a confessed fan of Felicia Day's Holly, I'm still rooting for a happy ending. I do wonder, how do you break it to her that she is a copy of herself because she died? Awkward much?

Overall, it was an excellent and being the next to last episode I savored every moment. It also had a ton of memorable lines that you can find in our Eureka quotes section.

Join me back here next week after San Diego Comic Con for the final review of the series, as we send our favorite small town out in style.

Double Take Review

Editor Rating: 4.6 / 5.0
  • 4.6 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.5 / 5.0 (20 Votes)

Jim G. is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter.

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Eureka Season 5 Episode 12 Quotes

Zane: I knew Jo was off, but not THAT off!
Fargo: Tell me about it, my resurrected girlfriend is the Manchurian Candidate.

Zane: You're telling me that Carter, Henry, and Jo are all evil clones made by Holly?
Fargo: Technically they are programed intelligences in bioprinted bodies, but yeah - evil clones.