When the episode started, I confess I found it a little strange to have Allison and Nathan’s wedding upon us already, as last week Allison was still planning and trying on wedding dresses. But I got over that, because I enjoyed the show so much.

Overall, this one was done really well. The pacing was great, the characters were well played. Big stories advanced. It was engaging. Some moments were funny, and some were really touching. I could go on in the same vein, but you get it: very enjoyable.

The premise was a “time loop” (think “Groundhog Day”); Sheriff Carter found himself repeating the same day again and again. I loved that he first thought he was repeating the day because he was doing something wrong; his experiments with sharing his thoughts and feelings with his daughter, sister, and Allison were highly amusing. Then of course, it became a scientific dilemma and mystery to solve. There was an explanation credited as a theory of Einstein’s about bending light to alter time (using “ultra indigo” light), and two people died trying to set things right … one of them, Nathan Stark.

So we always suspected that Allison and Nathan wouldn’t actually get married, and I’m a little disappointed that this was the reason. I’m not disappointed in how it worked out in the storyline of this episode – Nathan’s action was brave and generous, and necessary to resolve the crisis – but in a big-picture way, it strikes me as the easiest way to separate them. To me it feels kind of like a cheat (what if they had a falling out, an accident, a secret? much more messy and interesting!). What it leaves us with is a feeling that it’s now inevitable that Allison and Jack will get together. And OK, we may want to see that happen, but will there be any obstacle now? (Oh, probably.)

And this makes me think about the design of the season: eight episodes will air before a break, then the remaining 13. So, at four episodes in, we’ve gotten rid of Nathan; do you think one of the cliff-hangers at end of episode 8 will be the question of an Allison-Jack romance? (I’m not complaining; that’s tidy planning.)

But I’m optimistic that Stark’s death serves the larger story arc for the season. Plus, this is Eureka, after all, and maybe in a few episodes one of the geniuses will figure out a way to bring Stark back – he may not be gone for good.

Also in the ep: Jack’s sister Lexie arrives (played by Ever Carradine), perhaps for an extended stay, and Eva Thorne is still doing something mysterious and geological in that field where Henry ran secret radiation tests for her.

Reviewer rating: 4 out of 5 S.A.R.A.H.s