Published on February 1, 2014
H.G.: Sweet Jesus, we are together a lot!
Myka: Not enough. Not nearly enough
Myka: Not enough. Not nearly enough
At the end of the first part of The Case for Bering and Wells, I concluded: "The way Warehouse 13 has shot and written H.G. and Myka's story cannot be coincidental. Just as other non-regular characters on the show have dealt primarily with only one regular character (e.g., Dr. Vanessa deals mainly with Artie; Joshua Donovan deals mainly with Claudia; Amanda deals mainly with Pete), H.G. Wells is unequivocally the domain of Myka Bering." The focus of that section centered on the show's physical framing of the characters, the way the characters interacted with one another on screen, and, of course, the storyline itself. I realized that what was noticeably absent were actual numbers backing up the claim that "H.G. Wells is unequivocally the domain of Myka Bering." This page seeks to rectify that omission.
In support of my argument, I felt an analysis needed to be done of H.G. Wells' time on the show. Why H.G.? Because she is a recurring character, not a regular character, meaning less room to develop an arc and presumably more concise storylines. With this limited screentime, it makes who or what the show chooses to devote H.G.'s narrative to even more important and revealing of the show's intentions about her character.
Below is a spreadsheet that does a scene-by-scene, episode-by-episode, season-by-season, and overall assessment of H.G. Wells' time on the show. I (hopefully) have measured the time of each and every scene H.G. Wells/Jaime Murray was in for Warehouse 13 and then determined* whether each scene took place in the Before-Bronzing era ("BB Era") or the After-Bronzing period ("AB Era"), whether Myka was somehow involved in the scene, and whether H.G. was at any point alone with any other character. After compiling these numbers, some pretty convincing trends and statistics stick out. See them after the spreadsheet below.
Overall Results
H.G. Wells' Numbers:
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes in Warehouse 13: 9,892 seconds (2 hours 44 minutes and 52 seconds)
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes that took place in the AB Era: 9,168 seconds (2 hours 32 minutes and 48 seconds)
Bering and Wells' Numbers:
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is in: 7,659 seconds (2 hours 7 minutes and 39 seconds)
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is not in (AB Era): 1,509 seconds (25 minutes and 9 seconds)
What does this mean: If H.G. Wells is on screen in the AB Era, there's an 83.5% chance that Myka is there too.
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes in Warehouse 13: 9,892 seconds (2 hours 44 minutes and 52 seconds)
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes that took place in the AB Era: 9,168 seconds (2 hours 32 minutes and 48 seconds)
Bering and Wells' Numbers:
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is in: 7,659 seconds (2 hours 7 minutes and 39 seconds)
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is not in (AB Era): 1,509 seconds (25 minutes and 9 seconds)
What does this mean: If H.G. Wells is on screen in the AB Era, there's an 83.5% chance that Myka is there too.
Myka vs. Everyone Else
Myka having a high-percentage presence in H.G.'s scenes is not by itself proof of anything. Instead, we need to compare her presence to other characters in H.G.'s life to see if there is a noticeable difference. Quick answer: there is. After Myka, the next two characters that are most present in H.G.'s scenes are Pete and Claudia. Pete ("Mr. Third Wheel") still has 28.92% less time than Myka, and Claudia has astoundingly 70.14% less time than Myka. These are not nominal distinctions. These are sizeable disparities between the characters.
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is in (AB Era): 7,659 seconds (2 hours 7 minutes and 39 seconds)
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes that Pete is in (AB Era): 5,444 seconds (1 hour 30 minutes and 44 seconds)
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes that Claudia is in (AB Era): 2,287 seconds (38 minutes and 7 seconds)
Alone Time with H.G.
Outside of just spending time around H.G., the stats concerning Myka's time spent alone with her are even more telling.
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes where Myka is alone with H.G.: 1,406 seconds (23 minutes 26 seconds)
What does this mean: Out of all of the time of H.G. Wells' scenes in Warehouse 13, 14.21% of that time involves Myka alone with H.G. (15.34% in the AB Era)
When we look at how much time H.G. spent alone with each and every character, Myka stands out in even starker contrast to the other characters.
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes where Myka is alone with H.G.: 1,406 seconds (23 minutes 26 seconds)
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes where Pete is alone with H.G.: 79 seconds (1 minute 19 seconds)
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes where Claudia is alone with H.G.: 147 seconds (2 minutes 27 seconds)
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes where Artie is alone with H.G.: 134 seconds (2 minutes 14 seconds)
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes where Mrs. F is alone with H.G.: 69 seconds (1 minute 9 seconds)
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes where a bad guy (consists of 3 different people) is alone with H.G.: 164 seconds (2 minutes 44 seconds)
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes where a peripheral character (consists of 6 different people) is alone with H.G.: 656 seconds (10 minutes 56 seconds)
What does this mean: If H.G. is alone with another character in a scene, there is a 52.96% chance that the other person is Myka.
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes where Myka is alone with H.G.: 1,406 seconds (23 minutes 26 seconds)
Total time of H.G. Wells scenes where a character other than Myka is alone with H.G.: 1,249 seconds (20 minutes 49 seconds)
What does this mean: The amount of time that scenes featured Myka alone with H.G. is more than the entire amount of time that scenes featured H.G. alone with any and all other characters (i.e., 13 different characters).
By Season
The Fading of H.G. Wells/Jaime Murray
Looking at the raw amount of time of scenes featuring H.G. Wells, Bering and Wells, and alone time between Myka and H.G., one trend among the seasons is clear: the presence of H.G. Wells/Jaime Murray on the show decreases consistently and substantially, which for Bering and Wells, and just the show in general, is bad news bears. This trend, though, is unsurprising and just a natural result of Jaime Murray having only a recurring role on Warehouse 13 and a full-time role on the show, Defiance. While expected, it does not mean that the following stats and graphs are not depressing:
Between Season 2 and Season 4, there was a 79.81% decrease in the amount of screen time for H.G. Wells, an 80.91% decrease in the amount of screen time for Bering and Wells, and a 52.19% decrease in the amount of screen time where H.G. and Myka were alone together. Blech.
Those being just the gross numbers, though, of course, they do not tell the entire story. When focusing on percentages, we see a somewhat different story.
Percentage of time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is in (Season 2): 85.73%
Percentage of time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is in (Season 3): 72.07%
Percentage of time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is in (Season 4): 59.73%
Percentage of time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is alone with H.G. (Season 2): 14.19%
Percentage of time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is alone with H.G. (Season 3): 9.75%
Percentage of time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is alone with H.G. (Season 4): 24.77%
This shows a moderate decrease in the saturation of Bering and Wells in H.G.'s scenes, but nothing as dramatic as the gross numbers may lead one to conclude. This also makes sense in regards to H.G.'s storyline, in that in season 2, H.G. had more control over who and where she would spend her time, and she chose to spend it with Myka and the Warehouse (Yes, of course, this also may be due to the fact that getting close to the Warehouse agents was part of her nasty, nasty season 2 plan.). In season 3, H.G. spends the majority of the season under the Regents' custody and control in her prison orb and another chunk of her time kidnapped and held hostage by Walter Sykes and Co. In season 4, at least as to the first half of the season, H.G. is ordered away from the Warehouse on two secret missions (for Artie and Mrs. F), forbidden to speak to anyone at the Warehouse, including Myka, sensibly resulting in less Myka time. So, as H.G. lacked control over her ability to contact or communicate with the Warehouse/Myka in seasons 3 and 4, it is not altogether surprising that the percentages do suffer a decrease from season 2 to season 4.
On the other hand, looking at Myka's alone time with H.G., the percentages actually increase from season 2 to season 4, with their alone time constituting around one-fourth of all of H.G.'s scene time during season 4. So, while there is less screen time and availability in general, the two of them find a way to dedicate more of that limited time to being alone with one another.
I think it may also be fair to consider another perspective on the data. If we exclude the numbers from episodes 4.07: Endless Wonder and 4.08: Second Chance from the season 4 statistics, obviously, we get a different picture. Yet, what would justify the exclusion? As stated above, during those two episodes, H.G. was strictly forbidden from being in contact with Myka and Myka was unaware of the whereabouts of H.G. at the time. Why Warehouse 13 went out of its way to have no Bering and Wells interaction or awareness of one another in those two episodes is unknown - maybe scheduling issues with Jaime Murray or just God being moody. Regardless, without those two episodes in season 4 (a difference of just 372 seconds/6 minutes and 12 seconds), we get a pretty striking shift in the outcome:
Percentage of time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is in (Season 2): 85.73%
Percentage of time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is in (Season 3): 72.07%
Percentage of time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is in (Season 4): 81.08%
Percentage of time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is alone with H.G. (Season 2): 14.19%
Percentage of time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is alone with H.G. (Season 3): 9.75%
Percentage of time of H.G. Wells scenes that Myka is alone with H.G. (Season 4): 33.62%
Conclusion
Sometimes, I want to grab Bering and Wells and scream the infamous Brokeback Mountain lines at them, "You have no idea how bad it gets! I wish I knew how to quit you." But the fact is, I couldn't if I tried. No matter how much they may end up stomping on my heart, I'll always come back to them. Why? Because they are as real as the beer in my hand, as evidenced by their storylines, their nonverbal dynamic, and, in this section, as evidenced by the numbers themselves.
Feel free to check my math, measurements, and anything else. The spreadsheet at the top has way more numbers and data than what was touched on in this page, in case you want to look at the figures from any other perspective. If you would like any other analysis done on the numbers that I have not done or would like to see a specific chart/graphic, just let me know, and I'd be more than happy to provide them or the entire spreadsheet itself. Bering and Wells, ride or die.
Feel free to check my math, measurements, and anything else. The spreadsheet at the top has way more numbers and data than what was touched on in this page, in case you want to look at the figures from any other perspective. If you would like any other analysis done on the numbers that I have not done or would like to see a specific chart/graphic, just let me know, and I'd be more than happy to provide them or the entire spreadsheet itself. Bering and Wells, ride or die.
*Obviously, my determinations are not purely objective. How I determine when a scene begins and ends, whether Myka is involved in the scene, and whether H.G. is "alone" with someone will inherently be affected by my own personal definitions and considerations. For example, I did specifically count the end of 3.12: Stand as "alone" time, where H.G. and Myka share H.G.'s final moments. Yes, Pete and Artie were present, but the show actually drowned them out and removed them from the frame to focus on Bering and Wells. The hope is that, even with the inescapable presence of my subjectivity, my determinations and measurements are consistent and accurate enough to be able to provide a reasonably reliable set of numbers that fairly represent the data being studied. If I fail...well, I'm not submitting this for peer review, looking at p-values, or claiming this is incontestable. Just the opposite, if someone disagrees with my categorization or calculation, feel free to let me know. At the end of the day, we're talking about queer fictional ladies, so I'm not going to lose sleep over my calculations. (Yes, H.G. would probably be horrified by this admission.) Tl; dr: it's all good in the hood.