Syfy's two summer series, Eureka and Warehouse 13, are back tonight, for their holiday episodes. What's Syfy Claus got in his sack for you? Silliness, a touch of schmaltz, and some very weird Santas. Very minor spoilers ahead.


Despite being holiday-themed episodes, tonight's installments of Eureka and Warehouse 13 stick pretty close to their respective shows' formulas, with pretty decent results. Eureka gives us the tale of an experiment gone wrong, which risks destroying the town one more time. Warehouse 13 gives us an "artifact of the week" storyline, which turns out to have a seasonal message attached to it.

But more importantly, the two shows seem to be competing to see how ridiculous their holiday trappings can be — and in the process, they go pretty hilariously over the top. Eureka curses Sheriff Carter with a holographic dose of the Christmas spirit following him around, while Warehouse 13, among other things, reveals the original sprig of Mistletoe. Plus nutcrackers who actually... well, you'll see.


And there are Santas — boy, how there are Santas. In Eureka's episode, someone flies a sleigh with reindeer over the town, forcing Jack Carter to track down Santa Claus before he does any real damage. (Good luck!) And meanwhile, a mysterious "Secret Santa" is giving the residents of the town the absolute perfect presents, and Zoe vows to track this person down. Meanwhile, Warehouse 13's Santa is actually kind of sinister and weird... the overall effect of watching both episodes back to back is to be, as Carter says at one point, a bit creeped out. Which balances the usual messages about good will and being good to your family, adopted or otherwise, quite nicely.

Of the two episodes, Warehouse 13's "Secret Santa" is the more memorable — it actually has more of a theme than I was able to discern in Eureka's "O Little Town" — the Warehouse episode is all about absent fathers, and the "A" plot and "B" plot weave together pretty nicely. (In the "B" plot, we get to meet Artie's estranged father, played by Judd Hirsch.) Plus, Claudia is even more of a deranged maniac than usual, which has to count for something.

But both shows serve up a goodly amount of laughs and weirdness — and they'll definitely help you come to turns with the seasonal omnipresence of the big scary man in the red suit, by giving you some new Santa-related memes to giggle about.


Eureka is on tonight at 9 PM, followed by Warehouse 13 at 10 PM.