I was looking forward to the superhero episode – especially when he appeared to be a bumbling superhero – but the show wasn’t really about the superhero, so I felt a little let down as it unfolded.

Maybe that’s why this episode struck me as a little bit blah. But when I think about the themes, and how it was put together, and how the storylines intersected so nicely, it really was a solid episode. Highly watchable.

Jack’s sister Lexi caused the tensions in the episode, both Zoe’s argument with her father and the troubles created by the appearance of Captain Eureka. These intersected with Eva Thorne’s secret story when Zane Donovan solved the cryptex puzzle, opening a path to a long-forgotten underground military facility … which Zoe and classmates stumbled into (or in Zoe’s case, ran headlong into) and then became trapped inside with Zane.

Pulling these threads together was the sheriff’s endeavor to figure out Captain Eureka’s identity (not such a challenge for viewers to figure out: Opening Scene — Who’s that new guy?) and motives; solving the superhero mystery led Jack directly to saving Zane and the kids. And gave us a nice confrontation between Jack and Eva to wrap up the show: He asks what her secret project is, and she refuses to tell him. We can see this struggle is far from over.

The episode also gave us a peek at some purple sludge (hmm, black oil, anyone?), which Zoe slipped on or fell into or somehow came to blows with (that part was a little unclear) in the hallways of the military facility. Hey, didn’t we see Eva Thorne holding a vial of that stuff at the end of a previous episode? A nice tidbit: the plot thickens, viewers are happy to see the story move forward. So what if there wasn’t really a superhero.

Reviewer rating: 3 out of 5 S.A.R.A.H.s