Published on August 6, 2013
Myka: I feel like I'm being touched for the very first time
The Only Exception - Bering and Wells Changing the Rules for Each Other
From the start, H.G. causes a noticeable shift in Myka, and vice versa. Myka is the rule-abiding, overachieving big sister to the Warehouse team who prefers caution and conservatism over risk-taking and spontaneity. She places her career first and foremost, and as we found out in episode 2.11: Buried, Myka's happiest place is in the Warehouse, being praised by her superior for her work. H.G., on the other hand, is a self-assured genius who trusts and relies on no one. She respects very few, if any, of those around her, and has walls up around everyone, refusing to let anyone in. All of this changes when they meet. Plans that both of them have go straight to Hell, and everything they thought they once knew about themselves gets called into question. As they both have admitted, these two know each other better than anyone else does and many times, better than they know themselves.
Myka: Breaking Rules and Keeping H.G.'s Secrets
Throughout Season 1, Myka took Artie to task because he withheld relevant information from the Warehouse team. Artie was aware that his former friend and Warehouse co-worker, MacPherson, was making moves against him and the Warehouse, but in an attempt to try and shield the Warehouse team from the dangers of MacPherson, Artie tried to handle it himself. Myka, more than anyone else, took issue with this behavior, furious that her life and the others' were at risk because Artie felt it best to go it alone. Specifically, in episode 1.07: Implosion, after Leena tries to explain why Artie is attempting to handle MacPherson himself, Myka responds, "That's not an excuse. It's not a reason to keep secrets as compulsively as he does." Leena tries to make Myka understand, but Myka walks off, upset with the situation.
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In episode 1.08: Duped, Myka directly confronts Artie about this, telling him, "Here's what you and I both know, but we never talk about it. All right? That I don't trust you. That I need you...to tell me the truth and not treat me like some...some chess piece that you move around on a board that only you can see. That I am valuable. That I matter. And that I deserve to know everything I can about this world that you send me in to every day, so at least, I have a fighting chance." In response to this, Artie apologizes and makes more of an effort to open up to the team. Naturally, as season 2 rolls around, suddenly Myka starts breaking rules and withholding information from the Warehouse for H.G.'s sake. |
Myka: I wonder where the closest lesbian bar is
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In 2.07: For the Team, as soon as Myka and Claudia come upon H.G. Wells, Warehouse protocol would have dictated that they alert the Warehouse. H.G. Wells, at this point, was merely a bad, bad lady who MacPherson (another bad, bad guy) had broken out of her bronzed imprisonment for unknown purposes. Myka didn't know anything about her, other than that she had been bronzed (ergo: evil) and that she killed MacPherson without batting an eye. Pete asks Artie at the end of 2.01: Time Will Tell, "So is [H.G.] dangerous? Do we really need to find her?" Artie sternly directs, "Yes, and absolutely." That's it. For Myka, an explicit instruction is something to be followed.
Instead, in 2.07: For the Team, while she is initially and also, unusually aggressive towards H.G., she never lets Artie know of H.G.'s presence, or anyone else for that matter, except Claudia, who was with her and had to know. Myka and H.G.'s "turning
I hope it's not too soon to share my Netflix password with her
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point" involved a conversation in which only the two of them were present, after Myka had told Claudia to stay behind. Now, not only does Myka not notify the Warehouse so that H.G. can be recaptured, she unilaterally adds her as a temporary agent for the mission, again without consulting the higher ups. This is very unusual for her.
Later in 2.07, Artie yells at Myka, "I don't care if I'm having a brain transplant! If you cross paths with H.G. Wells, you yank me out of anesthesia and you fill me in. Is that understood?" Claudia jumps in by saying, "I'm really glad she showed up. She saved my life." What does Myka do - the woman who yearns for approval from authority figures? She quickly pipes in, "Me too." Frustrated with their response, Artie mentions that MacPherson saved his life multiple times, but it didn't change who he was. He barks, "Is that understood?" Myka, out of her comfort zone, quickly answers, "Yes, sir." At the same time, the show makes a point of showing that Myka has |
undergone a change in mindset due to the appearance of H.G. into her life. Right before she and Claudia walk in on H.G. in the trophy room at Tamalpais University, Myka is confidently lecturing Claudia about how experience breeds instinct on missions: "Human beings are predictable. People rarely surprise you." By the end of the episode, when Pete tells Myka, "I just figured, you know, sometimes, people can surprise you," Myka quietly says to herself, "Yeah, I guess sometimes they do." She smiles a smile brighter than 1,000,000 light bulbs and heads to the Warehouse to put H.G.'s grappler away. Per the show's canon, Myka's rigidity starts to yield once she meets H.G.
In 2.09: Vendetta, H.G. appears again when she visits Myka at her former superior's funeral in Washington D.C. Myka, as she did in 2.07, starts off in a hostile tone towards H.G., but still, she makes no effort to let anyone in the Warehouse know of this meeting. Instead, she hears H.G. out, and, again like she did in 2.07, she softens towards H.G. She even tells her, "I'll talk to Artie," indicating she would argue on H.G.'s behalf. H.G. gives Myka her contact information and also slips a transmitter into Myka's pocket to track her, which Myka knows of and intentionally keeps in her pocket so H.G. could follow her.
Later, when Pete discovers H.G. on the NSA security cameras, Artie starts freaking out, yelling about H.G.'s evil intentions:
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Myka intervenes: Look, maybe she was here for other reasons. Artie: Like what? Applying for a job? Myka, forgetting herself for a moment: No, like hunting down whatever artifact that did this so she can prove herself and rejoin the Warehouse. Artie: Myka, how do you know that? Myka, grimacing: I may have spoken to her. Artie, furious: Let me understand this. You spoke to H.G. Wells about official Warehouse 13 matters and you didn't tell me? Myka: I was waiting for the right time. Pete: This ain't it. Artie: You, of all people, you accused me of keeping secrets and then you go and do something like this!" |
I may...have had sex with H.G....in a cemetery
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Even Artie is aware of the hypocrisy of Myka's actions. The difference is that Artie withheld information from Pete and Myka to protect them, but Myka is withholding information from Artie and Pete to protect H.G.
When H.G. shows up in Russia having used the tracker that Myka was aware of, Myka goes right towards H.G. and says, "We could use your help," without consulting Artie or even her partner, Pete. Shocked by Myka's proposal, Pete yells, "Myka, no! Artie would blow a gasket." Myka quickly steamrolls over his concern: "Pete, we need help, and she's here." Myka ignores
When H.G. shows up in Russia having used the tracker that Myka was aware of, Myka goes right towards H.G. and says, "We could use your help," without consulting Artie or even her partner, Pete. Shocked by Myka's proposal, Pete yells, "Myka, no! Artie would blow a gasket." Myka quickly steamrolls over his concern: "Pete, we need help, and she's here." Myka ignores
That big lesbian f-ed me over again!
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everything she's been told and chooses instead to have H.G. join up with her. Later in 2.09, H.G. is reinstated as a Warehouse agent and we find out that her reinstatement was a result "in no small part to Agent Bering's report." As Artie flips around to look at Myka in shock, he sputters, "Agent Bering's report?" and Myka weakly says, "I tried to tell you, but I..." She doesn't even finish the sentence because it's apparent that Myka prepared a report without Artie's knowledge because she knew he would oppose her doing so. Again, she is directly contravening her boss' wishes - not for the sake of the Warehouse, but for personal reasons - for H.G.
In 2.10: Where and When, Myka's rebellion against authority continues as she and Artie engage in another war of words over H.G. When her plan to try and win Artie over goes kaput, she returns to the Warehouse and agrees to |
defy Artie's orders again by taking a ride on H.G.'s time machine with Pete. Fortunately for her, by the end of the episode, the artifact is snagged, bagged, and tagged, and Artie shows signs of warming to H.G. Myka could not be happier. That happiness, of course, abruptly takes a nosedive in episode 2.11: Buried.
Episode 2.12: Reset, for Myka, is largely a time for reflection and regret. When she wakes up post-Tesla-ing and realizes what has happened, she yells out, "H.G., she played us! She played me!" Quickly, she personalizes the situation/betrayal. Pete, Claudia, Artie, etc. don't seem all that surprised, nor do they seem to carry a personal vendetta against H.G. for her turn. Only Myka has this reaction. She goes on to rage to no one in particular, "I'll kill her! I...I...I'm going to kill her!" In a completely bizarre turn of events, Pete is the one who has to pull Myka out of her H.G.-centric tailspin to get her to focus on her job, which is quickly being endangered (along with her life) due to the imploding Warehouse 2.
Once Pete and Myka escape the lost Warehouse, Myka realizes how out-of-character she has been with H.G. and starts to self-criticize herself to death over all of the ways she made exceptions for H.G. When Pete tries to make her feel better, she fights his comfort, stating, "No, there was plenty of doubt from everyone but me." Everything comes to a head when H.G. and Myka confront one another in Yellowstone. Despite Myka's fury over H.G.'s actions, she still believes in the good in H.G. She believes in it so much that she literally bets her life on it, forcing a gun into H.G.'s hands and pointing it directly between her own eyes. Even after H.G. broke her trust less than 24 hours prior, Myka's faith in H.G. does not waver and she takes the ultimate risk in proving her theory correct.
Fortunately for her, she is right, though it's not enough to assuage her guilt over what has transpired with H.G. Regent Kosan commends Pete and her, remarking that H.G. was a formidable opponent who fooled everyone. Myka refuses any consolation, sternly noting, "She didn't fool Artie." For Myka, a person who defines herself by excelling at her career, to believe that she failed at her job for a personal reason - making what she believes to be foolish mistakes - is too much to bear. Holding herself to the highest standards, as a self-imposed punishment, she leaves the Warehouse and the job she loves; she leaves her makeshift family and the people she loves; and, most importantly, she abandons her belief in herself and who she really is.
Episode 2.12: Reset, for Myka, is largely a time for reflection and regret. When she wakes up post-Tesla-ing and realizes what has happened, she yells out, "H.G., she played us! She played me!" Quickly, she personalizes the situation/betrayal. Pete, Claudia, Artie, etc. don't seem all that surprised, nor do they seem to carry a personal vendetta against H.G. for her turn. Only Myka has this reaction. She goes on to rage to no one in particular, "I'll kill her! I...I...I'm going to kill her!" In a completely bizarre turn of events, Pete is the one who has to pull Myka out of her H.G.-centric tailspin to get her to focus on her job, which is quickly being endangered (along with her life) due to the imploding Warehouse 2.
Once Pete and Myka escape the lost Warehouse, Myka realizes how out-of-character she has been with H.G. and starts to self-criticize herself to death over all of the ways she made exceptions for H.G. When Pete tries to make her feel better, she fights his comfort, stating, "No, there was plenty of doubt from everyone but me." Everything comes to a head when H.G. and Myka confront one another in Yellowstone. Despite Myka's fury over H.G.'s actions, she still believes in the good in H.G. She believes in it so much that she literally bets her life on it, forcing a gun into H.G.'s hands and pointing it directly between her own eyes. Even after H.G. broke her trust less than 24 hours prior, Myka's faith in H.G. does not waver and she takes the ultimate risk in proving her theory correct.
Fortunately for her, she is right, though it's not enough to assuage her guilt over what has transpired with H.G. Regent Kosan commends Pete and her, remarking that H.G. was a formidable opponent who fooled everyone. Myka refuses any consolation, sternly noting, "She didn't fool Artie." For Myka, a person who defines herself by excelling at her career, to believe that she failed at her job for a personal reason - making what she believes to be foolish mistakes - is too much to bear. Holding herself to the highest standards, as a self-imposed punishment, she leaves the Warehouse and the job she loves; she leaves her makeshift family and the people she loves; and, most importantly, she abandons her belief in herself and who she really is.
H.G.: Taking my vest away was entirely unnecessary
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Myka: At least I got to keep my vest
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Myka did not even do this after Sam's death in Denver, Colorado. Even though Sam was killed in the line of duty and Myka always worried about her role in Sam's death (until 3.08, at least), any doubts she had professionally were not enough to keep Myka from continuing on as a secret service agent. Just the opposite, in fact. When her life was chaotic or unpredictable, Myka took comfort in focusing on the one constant that she had full faith in: her ability to do her job and do it well. But after the traumatizing ordeal with H.G., Myka, for the first time ever, was willing to walk away from everything she had worked so hard for and everything that made her happy.
Understandably, after the profoundly core-shaking events of season 2, Myka becomes hypervigilant during season 3 to not allow herself to walk down the same path as she did in season 2. She is noticeably more distant and overtly angry around H.G....at first. But, as the theme of this section conveys, the fact of the matter is: Myka Bering is utterly powerless against her feelings for H.G., even when she desperately does not want to feel anything towards her.
In 3.01: The New Guy and in 3.05: 3...2...1, just like in the beginnings of 2.07: For the Team and 2.09: Vendetta, Myka starts off hostile towards H.G., but within moments, the anger dissipates and soon Myka is the same starry-eyed, vulnerable woman she always is with H.G. In 3.01: The New Guy, Mrs. F surprises Myka by bringing the woman who made Myka doubt everything she thought she once knew about the world and herself to her family's bookstore. Initially, Myka crosses her arms and appears indignant by H.G.'s presence. Soon enough, though, H.G.'s words start to penetrate the walls Myka has erected around herself, and by the time H.G. is recalled to her prison orb, Myka is visibly upset by the loss. So, after the devastating betrayal that ripped Myka away from all she knew and loved, it took only a few minutes for her to open herself back up to H.G.
Understandably, after the profoundly core-shaking events of season 2, Myka becomes hypervigilant during season 3 to not allow herself to walk down the same path as she did in season 2. She is noticeably more distant and overtly angry around H.G....at first. But, as the theme of this section conveys, the fact of the matter is: Myka Bering is utterly powerless against her feelings for H.G., even when she desperately does not want to feel anything towards her.
In 3.01: The New Guy and in 3.05: 3...2...1, just like in the beginnings of 2.07: For the Team and 2.09: Vendetta, Myka starts off hostile towards H.G., but within moments, the anger dissipates and soon Myka is the same starry-eyed, vulnerable woman she always is with H.G. In 3.01: The New Guy, Mrs. F surprises Myka by bringing the woman who made Myka doubt everything she thought she once knew about the world and herself to her family's bookstore. Initially, Myka crosses her arms and appears indignant by H.G.'s presence. Soon enough, though, H.G.'s words start to penetrate the walls Myka has erected around herself, and by the time H.G. is recalled to her prison orb, Myka is visibly upset by the loss. So, after the devastating betrayal that ripped Myka away from all she knew and loved, it took only a few minutes for her to open herself back up to H.G.
H.G.: My body is ready
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H.G.: There it is
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In 3.05: 3...2...1, Myka again starts out very wary of H.G., even though she is the one who requested her presence. When H.G. comments on her role in Myka's return to the Warehouse as a dig to Pete (and possibly Artie), Myka turns away from her in frustration, maintaining her distance. Throughout the episode, as Pete and H.G. continue to butt heads, Myka refrains from intervening on H.G.'s behalf, as she expectedly would have done in season 2. By the end of the episode, though, she is alone with H.G. again, presumably by choice. During their discussion, Myka admits that she and H.G. made a good team and openly states that she wishes H.G. had realized that earlier. Myka would never have thought this moment possible at the beginning of the season, but the difference between what Myka plans in regards to H.G. and what actually happens when she is with H.G. is equal to the difference between how Jack Kenny views Bering and Wells and how I view Bering and Wells. Needless to say, it's ginormous.
At the beginning of 3.05: 3...2...1, Myka tells Pete, "I have an idea, but you're not going to like it." This idea turns out to be letting H.G. assist on the case they are investigating. Myka is right and Pete fights against it the whole way, with Myka constantly arguing that Pete needs to focus on saving lives and accomplishing the mission, not on his personal feelings towards H.G. Similarly, she chastised Artie in 2.09: Vendetta, arguing that he should allow H.G. to assist in a case, regardless of his clear dislike for her, because she had intel.
In contrast, in 3.11: Emily Lake, Pete tries to use Myka's "anything for the Warehouse" attitude to convince Myka to sign on to his idea to destroy the Janus coin. Almost mirroring Myka's 3.05 comment, Pete tells Myka, "I have a thought, about a way to protect
At the beginning of 3.05: 3...2...1, Myka tells Pete, "I have an idea, but you're not going to like it." This idea turns out to be letting H.G. assist on the case they are investigating. Myka is right and Pete fights against it the whole way, with Myka constantly arguing that Pete needs to focus on saving lives and accomplishing the mission, not on his personal feelings towards H.G. Similarly, she chastised Artie in 2.09: Vendetta, arguing that he should allow H.G. to assist in a case, regardless of his clear dislike for her, because she had intel.
In contrast, in 3.11: Emily Lake, Pete tries to use Myka's "anything for the Warehouse" attitude to convince Myka to sign on to his idea to destroy the Janus coin. Almost mirroring Myka's 3.05 comment, Pete tells Myka, "I have a thought, about a way to protect
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the Warehouse, but...you might not like it." As Pete hopes, Myka predictably responds, "Well, if it protects the Warehouse, I like it already." This time, the idea is something that will result in H.G.'s death, which Myka adamantly refuses to allow. All arguments about saving the world, the Warehouse, or whatever else suddenly become meaningless to Myka, and she firmly stands in the way of Pete's plan moving forward. H.G. then attempts to get through to her, by gently saying: "Myka, we have to think rationally, and not emotionally." For Myka Bering, out of all of the Warehouse team, to need to be told to think rationally, instead of emotionally, about work-related issues (by H.G. of all people) is astounding. It would be the equivalent of Pete telling Myka to stop screwing around and eating everything. Yet, what H.G. is suggesting is correct. She knows, and so does everyone else, that Myka is basing her position off of her feelings for H.G., instead of what is "best" for the Warehouse. Myka ends up
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Myka: I thought I told you to go wait in the car
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relenting, but only at H.G.'s personal plea, and she walks away from her partner, refusing to watch Pete literally end H.G.'s life right before her eyes.
That episode also signals that Myka has ceased all efforts to distance herself from H.G., physically or emotionally. 3.11 starts off with Myka seeing H.G./Emily Lake and immediately engaging with her, against Pete's wishes. They then follow up at H.G./Emily Lake's apartment, which Pete believes is a waste of time because he is certain the "Emily Lake" front is just that: a front, masking H.G.'s true plans. Yet, even though Myka has tried in 3.01 and 3.05 to not revert to the Myka of season 2, she has...sort of. She believed in the good in H.G. in both seasons; the only difference is that in season 3, H.G. is actually trying to be what Myka believes her to be. When Pete tries to convince Myka that she is falling for H.G.'s ruses again, Myka confidently tells Pete that she knows it's not her; it's not a facade. Again, in a move similar to the one she makes at the end of 2.09: Vendetta, Myka marches back into the Warehouse, going right at Regent Lattimer and Artie - demanding answers about H.G. and pleading to allow the team to try and find her. She also appears to be the only one affected and upset by the Regents' "punishment" of H.G. via the Janus coin. The H.G.-loving Myka has returned and luckily, H.G. lives to see another day by surviving into the next episode, 3.12: Stand.
After the nightmare that is the Ancient Regent Sanctum's chess lock, Myka and H.G. find themselves alone for the first time since the end of 3.05. When H.G. expresses her regret to Myka over Sykes' use of her to access the Warehouse, Myka stops H.G. and
That episode also signals that Myka has ceased all efforts to distance herself from H.G., physically or emotionally. 3.11 starts off with Myka seeing H.G./Emily Lake and immediately engaging with her, against Pete's wishes. They then follow up at H.G./Emily Lake's apartment, which Pete believes is a waste of time because he is certain the "Emily Lake" front is just that: a front, masking H.G.'s true plans. Yet, even though Myka has tried in 3.01 and 3.05 to not revert to the Myka of season 2, she has...sort of. She believed in the good in H.G. in both seasons; the only difference is that in season 3, H.G. is actually trying to be what Myka believes her to be. When Pete tries to convince Myka that she is falling for H.G.'s ruses again, Myka confidently tells Pete that she knows it's not her; it's not a facade. Again, in a move similar to the one she makes at the end of 2.09: Vendetta, Myka marches back into the Warehouse, going right at Regent Lattimer and Artie - demanding answers about H.G. and pleading to allow the team to try and find her. She also appears to be the only one affected and upset by the Regents' "punishment" of H.G. via the Janus coin. The H.G.-loving Myka has returned and luckily, H.G. lives to see another day by surviving into the next episode, 3.12: Stand.
After the nightmare that is the Ancient Regent Sanctum's chess lock, Myka and H.G. find themselves alone for the first time since the end of 3.05. When H.G. expresses her regret to Myka over Sykes' use of her to access the Warehouse, Myka stops H.G. and
That's it! Pants off! I'm gonna show you on this chess board how much I believe in you until you forget how to say, "I'm sorry"
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makes her feelings on the topic abundantly clear: "You're not the bad guy, okay? I believed in you and I was right. So, get off your...your cross and help me figure this out." As H.G.'s path from 3.01 to 3.12 was one of redemption, her path with Myka is one and the same, but Myka forgave H.G. a long time ago, way before H.G. forgave herself. As H.G. and Myka engage in a playful reparte after Myka's declaration of faith in H.G., it is 100% clear that Myka is more devoted to H.G. than she ever has been and their connection is only getting stronger.
This, of course, leads to H.G.'s sacrifice of her own life for the sake of Myka's. When the mini-barrier surrounds Pete, Myka, and Artie, Myka rushes to the front of the enclosure, asking, "Helena, what are you doing?" As H.G. just smiles at her, she asks again, "Helena, what is this?" When H.G. tells her that it was done to save her, Myka's voice drops lower and she asks, not wanting to know the answer, "What have you done?" Myka does not ask this with |
suspicion of wrong-doing on H.G.'s part. Instead, her question is fraught with concern that H.G. has done something that cannot be undone. When H.G. explicitly reveals what is about to happen, the only one who does not protest is Myka. Myka can tell from the resolve on H.G.'s face and the calmness in her tone that what has been set into motion will not be stopped, so she takes their remaining moments together and they find their own small way to say their private goodbyes.
In 4.01: A New Hope, Myka is literally standing in the ashes of the Warehouse, in the same place where she watched H.G. die. When the show reveals the inner thoughts of Pete, Myka, and Artie, Pete and Artie both flash back to happier times in the Warehouse with Myka. Myka's thoughts, on the other hand, are focused on one person: H.G. Wells. Pete is not in the memory; nor is any other Warehouse member. The Warehouse itself is featured only because it happens to be the place where Myka put H.G.'s grappler and Post-It note away. No, while the Warehouse is Myka's "happiest place," it still comes in second to H.G. Ultimately, everyone does.
In 4.01: A New Hope, Myka is literally standing in the ashes of the Warehouse, in the same place where she watched H.G. die. When the show reveals the inner thoughts of Pete, Myka, and Artie, Pete and Artie both flash back to happier times in the Warehouse with Myka. Myka's thoughts, on the other hand, are focused on one person: H.G. Wells. Pete is not in the memory; nor is any other Warehouse member. The Warehouse itself is featured only because it happens to be the place where Myka put H.G.'s grappler and Post-It note away. No, while the Warehouse is Myka's "happiest place," it still comes in second to H.G. Ultimately, everyone does.
FYI: I'm totes preggers with H.G.'s chess lock baby
Once Pete, Myka, and Artie arrive at the B&B, the team tries to come together to figure out how to cope with the disaster that has befallen them. When the use of MacPherson's watch is proposed, we see Myka struggle with her two priorities: H.G. and her career. While Pete and Claudia do not hesitate in using the watch, Myka cautions them that they need to make sure that the artifact does not have ill effects before they contemplate using it. When Claudia vents her frustration with this statement, she starts listing off all of Walter Sykes' casualties, but at the mention of H.G., Myka cuts in, "I know. I watched her die." H.G. is Myka's and she lets everyone know it. She goes on to say, "Everyday people die. Sometimes, it's people you care about and sometimes, it's people that we love. We just need to make sure we're not being selfish." These statements perfectly summarize the recurring internal conflict that Myka has faced over and over again - love for H.G. vs. love of the Warehouse. The reality is that those two are not fundamentally fixed in opposition to one another. They can go together, and Myka, more than anyone, believes in that possibility.
By the time 4.15: Instinct rolls around, it appears Myka has used the long (and I mean looong) unexplained absence of H.G. to come to some conclusions in her own head about where H.G. fits, in relation to her and in relation to the Warehouse. The problem is: H.G. is no longer H.G. While their time apart solidified some of Myka's feelings regarding H.G., that same distance
By the time 4.15: Instinct rolls around, it appears Myka has used the long (and I mean looong) unexplained absence of H.G. to come to some conclusions in her own head about where H.G. fits, in relation to her and in relation to the Warehouse. The problem is: H.G. is no longer H.G. While their time apart solidified some of Myka's feelings regarding H.G., that same distance
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allowed fear and self-doubt to infiltrate H.G.'s already troubled soul, transforming her into a different person entirely - the self-described "Emily Lake." So, by 4.15: Instinct, Myka seems ready to take a leap, but H.G. is nowhere to be found.
For Bering and Wells, a duo that is always inexplicably in sync, their disjointedness upon their reunion is jarring. Myka, in particular, is staggered by her reception from H.G. and seems a bit thrown for the first half of the episode as she tries to absorb the reality of what is before her. As demonstrated in 4.04: There's Always a Downside, Myka has been worried about H.G.'s whereabouts and well-being the entire time H.G. has been away from the Warehouse, so when Myka finally gets the opportunity to reconnect with H.G., she presumes H.G. will be just as eager as she is for her to return to her Warehouse family. To find out H.G. has chosen to stay away from "endless wonder," and in essence, her, is like a glass of cold water in Myka's face. When H.G. and Myka reunite in the police laboratory in Boone, Wisconsin, Myka starts off interrogating H.G. as to the details of her life for the past year or so. She does not pretend to be concerned with the reported artifact in play, and it takes an uncomfortable H.G. deflecting attention away from herself to actually focus Myka on the mission: "Now, may I fill you in on the case at hand?" When Myka responds with a stunned assent, her mind reeling, she continues to stare wide-eyed in confusion at H.G. and the case could not be further from her mind. Myka proves this when she asks Pete as they depart the lab, "So, what are we missing?" When Pete reasonably presumes Myka is discussing work, Myka cuts him off, explicitly clarifying that she is not thinking of the artifact, but of H.G. Similar to the beginning of 2.12: Resent, where Pete had to shift Myka's focus |
Stay calm, Bering. This has to be artifact-induced...
...or not and the bitch be crey
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away from personal issues (with H.G.) to her job, Pete again is in the rare position of being the more Warehouse-focused agent at the moment, due to Myka's overwhelming preoccupation with H.G.
The next we see of Myka, she has separated from her partner Pete to go see H.G. by herself, against H.G.'s wishes and under
The next we see of Myka, she has separated from her partner Pete to go see H.G. by herself, against H.G.'s wishes and under
Myka: I already told you that hockey player meant nothing to me
Tell Nate I'm coming for him...and his little girl too
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the pretense of needing H.G.'s help in obtaining police videos. It's a pretense because as soon as the two of them are shown speaking to one another alone, Myka renews her earlier interrogation of H.G. regarding her new life. It's only once Myka gets answers from H.G., particularly answers Myka does not want, that she finally brings up the case at hand, but even that discussion involves Myka trying to get H.G. back into working with her for the Warehouse.
Later in 4.15, after Nate is saved from an artifact attack, curiously, Myka and H.G. are off on their own in Nate's house having another private discussion that again does not concern the current mission. When the show finally cuts to their hushed exchange, Myka is challenging H.G.'s life away from the Warehouse. H.G. becomes angry with Myka's questioning, but surprisingly Myka does not back down. Instead, she becomes more assertive, making her criticisms of H.G.'s choices open and unambiguous. This is the only time H.G. shows any hint of anger towards Myka, outside of when Myka is laying down some other hard truths in 2.12: Reset. Their intense conversation is interrupted by what Pete and Myka are actually in town for - the mission. The only time Myka focuses on Warehouse business is once the artifact has entangled itself with H.G.'s life. When Myka senses H.G. about to spiral downwards, she takes the artifact and decides to confront the bad guys alone, intentionally preventing H.G.'s potential descent back into darkness. When Pete tries to stop Myka, she tells him she's doing it for H.G., |
as she feels responsible for her involvement, even though as Myka pointed out earlier, H.G. called the Warehouse first. As usual, when H.G. is involved, all bets are off.
Finally, at the end of 4.15: Instinct, Myka and H.G. are alone for a final time. When Pete rushes off to hide in the car, Myka turns to H.G., lightheartedly asking a question that is rooted in fear, "So, is this goodbye?" When H.G. responds in the negative, Myka nervously laughs and gazes at H.G., with a look overflowing with adoration and unbridled yearning. Myka appears on the verge of voicing something she desperately wants to say, but right before the words escape her lips, she cuts herself off and looks away. As an awkward silence fills the space between Myka and H.G., Myka's eyes finally meet H.G.'s once again, but her face wears a weary expression of resignation. She abruptly blurts out a direction to H.G. that she stay with Nate and Adelaide and make them her home.
Why does Myka say this to H.G.? An earlier scene - when H.G. is distraught after she finds out Adelaide is being held hostage - may be relevant:
Finally, at the end of 4.15: Instinct, Myka and H.G. are alone for a final time. When Pete rushes off to hide in the car, Myka turns to H.G., lightheartedly asking a question that is rooted in fear, "So, is this goodbye?" When H.G. responds in the negative, Myka nervously laughs and gazes at H.G., with a look overflowing with adoration and unbridled yearning. Myka appears on the verge of voicing something she desperately wants to say, but right before the words escape her lips, she cuts herself off and looks away. As an awkward silence fills the space between Myka and H.G., Myka's eyes finally meet H.G.'s once again, but her face wears a weary expression of resignation. She abruptly blurts out a direction to H.G. that she stay with Nate and Adelaide and make them her home.
Why does Myka say this to H.G.? An earlier scene - when H.G. is distraught after she finds out Adelaide is being held hostage - may be relevant:
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Myka: Helena... H.G.: Myka, you...you were right. You warned me. Myka: About what? H.G.: I can't have a normal life. I was being foolish...selfish. How can I bring anything but misery to... Myka: No! No, that isn't what I meant. Helena! H.G.: I know what I am. I can't just sit here. I know what I have to do. |
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In this moment, Myka realizes the extent of how tortured of a place H.G.'s mind is still dwelling in. This is not surprising. When we take a step back and do a quick recap of H.G.'s life up until this point, we see a horrifying roll call of events: H.G. has 1) lived a lonely life as an outcast in the 1800s; 2) suffered the brutal loss of her daughter due to a senseless crime; 3) accidentally killed one of her fellow agents when trying to get her daughter back; 4) been bronzed for over 100 years where she remained conscious; 5) been woken up in a completely new world by a bad guy trying to use her for his own purposes; 6) almost destroyed the world, but was stopped when she was forced to hold a gun to the head of the one person who knows her best; 7) had her consciousness separated and stored on a Janus coin, while she was being held inside a black orb as a prisoner; 8) been asked to sacrifice her life by the people holding her prisoner and agreeing to it; 9) been held hostage by a vengeful Walter Sykes where she was forced to play two chess games that resulted in one young boy getting his head cleaved in half and the person she loves most almost losing her life at her hands; 10) willingly allowed herself to die in a fiery explosion for Myka and the Warehouse's sake; and 11) been ordered to stay away from everyone she knew or cared about to protect Magellan's astrolabe from an evil Artie.
The fact that H.G. is even functional after all of this is a miracle. She has gone from hating the world to hating herself, and it is easy to see why she truly believes that she, H.G. Wells, is incapable of living a life that is anything other than chaotic and highly dangerous to those around her. In Boone, Wisconsin, H.G. is trying for once just to be "normal." She's not worried about being happy because she does not think she is worthy of it. Instead, she's just trying not to bring pain into others' lives. Separation from the Warehouse means separation from hurting those she loves - Myka, most of all. But when Adelaide is suddenly endangered as a result of her tie to the Warehouse, H.G. begins to believe that no matter what she does and where she is, she is innately a negative force in the world, bringing sadness and destruction to those she encounters.
The fact that H.G. is even functional after all of this is a miracle. She has gone from hating the world to hating herself, and it is easy to see why she truly believes that she, H.G. Wells, is incapable of living a life that is anything other than chaotic and highly dangerous to those around her. In Boone, Wisconsin, H.G. is trying for once just to be "normal." She's not worried about being happy because she does not think she is worthy of it. Instead, she's just trying not to bring pain into others' lives. Separation from the Warehouse means separation from hurting those she loves - Myka, most of all. But when Adelaide is suddenly endangered as a result of her tie to the Warehouse, H.G. begins to believe that no matter what she does and where she is, she is innately a negative force in the world, bringing sadness and destruction to those she encounters.
When Myka sees the depth of damage that H.G. still bears the scars of and how distorted a view H.G. has about herself, Myka makes a decision that she believes is the kindest to H.G., as much as she disagrees with it and as much as it breaks her own heart. So, she wills herself to say the words she thinks H.G. needs to hear just to be okay. Even though both she and H.G. know what she says is far different than what she feels (considering she spent the whole episode forcefully asserting the contrary position), Myka ultimately chooses the selfless decision, putting the possibility of H.G. living a life of peace over her own knowledge and desire for H.G. to live a life of truth. That's love.