'Eureka' ends run with a twist

Tearfully, I said goodbye to Jack and Allison, Henry and Grace, Zane and Jo, Doug and Holly, and the residents of Eureka the other night (07.16.12).  With my box of crying tissues (is it okay for a 69-year-old man to weep? Or is that just in baseball?) at hand, the show's scriptwriters had me with the opening scene. By the time the addictive theme music introduced the starring cast (about three-four minutes in), I was a total mess.

Ever since "Eureka" premiered on SyFy (or was it Sci-Fi?) on 07.18.08 (yep, four years ago today), I have been a huge fan. The storylines were oftentimes elaborate, intricate, inane -- even outlandish -- but always light-hearted.

As a writer myself (okay, perhaps I'm stretching it), I wondered how "Eureka" would end its television run. Since the show dealt with the constant manipulation of the space and time continuum at Global dynamics, I thought it would be a neat touch for the cast to end up in a parallel universe -- perhaps, using the wormhole that actually was a part of the finale's plot -- and life in Eureka would be preserved throughout eternity. I was close. Well, sort of.

After tieing up loose ends (and a stack of used crying tissues on my part), the writers ended the five-season run with a twist that was so eurekean. Needless to say, this Reke was a bittersweet camper, who actually waited for the previews of the next episode.

(Note to self: You have just coined the words eurekean and Reke, the latter a male fan of "Eureka" -- the TV show; and, perhaps, Reka, a female fan, too.)

Without becoming real mauldin, I just want to thank the writers, producers, directors, cast and guest stars for five entertaining seasons. On behalf of all "Eureka" fans worldwide, I want to say that "Eureka" emerged as the best, and true, science-fiction program ever! (Where's my crying tissue?)

Allison, Zane, Henry, Jo, Fargo and Sheriff Carter

And, for posterity, I want to enter the actors and their roles into the Cyberspace blog annals: Colin Ferguson as Sheriff Jack Carter; Salli Richardson-Whitfield as Allison Blake; Joe Morton as Henry Deacon; Tembi Locke as Grace Monroe; Niall Matter as Zane Donovan; Erica Cerra as Jo Lupo; Neil Grayston as Douglas Fargo; Felicia Day as Holly Marten; Kavan Smith as Deputy Andy 2.0; and Chris Gauthier as Vincent, the Cafe Diem proprietor extraordinaire. Plus, Matt Frewer as Jim Tagget; Wil Wheaton as Isaac Parrish; and Jordan Hinson as Zoe Carter.

I was especially pleased that the Zoe character, Sheriff Carter's daughter, returned for the finale episode -- and was a part of the end's "twist."

With "In Plain Sight" (USA) and "Eureka" (SyFy) in the history book, I now have about four weeks to prepare to say goodbye to one of the most endearing characters on TV -- Brenda Lee Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) on "The Closer" (TNT). The timeframe ought to give me ample time to replenish my crying tissues.