ONCE IN A LIFETIME (EUREKA)

"'Once in a Lifetime'" is the twelfth and final episode of Season 1 of the American science fiction television series ''Eureka''.

Contents

Plot synopsis

Trivia

Plot synopsis

Stark is given the opportunity to investigate "the Artifact." Shortly after an attempt is made to extract a portion of the artifact, the narrative fast-forwards to 2010 and the town is a very different place.
Jack Carter is married to Allison Blake, who changed her name to Carter and is pregnant with Jack's child. Zoe Carter is about to graduate as valedictorian of her class. Nathan Stark left Eureka after being fired from Global Dynamics for the improper handling of the Artifact with Henry taking his place as head scientist. Henry is also in a relationship with Kim Anderson, the scientist who was working with Stark on the Artifact. Also, Jo and Taggart's relationship that started in ''H.O.U.S.E. Rules'' is still strong.
Shortly after Zoe's graduation speech, something strange happens in Section 5. Carter, Jo, and several Section 5 personnel are sent to investigate. They find a charred and distorted body that wasn't there before. Allison suggests using Kim's DNA-reconstruction program to "unscramble" the body's DNA, as there are no other possible means of identification. While Kim is working, strange(r) events happen all over town, including earthquake-like tremors, flashes of light and time "hiccups". Carter figures out that these things are somehow brought from the past when his sheriff's Jeep shows up in the middle of the street with a 2007 sticker on it and his lucky charm in it (the same lucky charm as in his pocket). They begin to suspect Walter Perkins, the only scientist in Eureka who ever experimented with the space-time continuum (''Pilot''). However, Walter is under permanent house arrest and is prohibited from owning or using any complex device (he had to petition just to get an Xbox 360). Carter has Jo compile a list of all people who have access to Walter's device and know how to use it. Stark is one of two people on the list. When Kim finishes reconstructing the dead body's DNA, she discovers that it's hers, presenting a dangerous time paradox. Carter confronts Henry with the information that Henry is the only one besides Stark with the knowledge and access required to use Walter's device. Kim realizes that she was supposed to die in the failed experiment with the Artifact. Henry used the device to send his consciousness back in time and save her. However, this has created an alternate timeline which is beginning to come into conflict with the "original" one.
As if on cue, a tornado that struck Eureka several years before reappears to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting town and disappears just as quickly. The new timeline is unraveling, and the only way to stop it is to stop Henry from saving Kim. Henry refuses to help Carter with this, so Allison asks Stark for help. While Stark is attempting to reactivate Walter's device, Kim tries to convince Henry of the necessity of her death. Henry eventually relents and hands Stark a piece of the Artifact that he had retained to prevent anyone else from attempting to change what he had done. Stark sends Carter's mind back to the day of the experiment. Carter intercepts Henry as he is hurrying to save Kim and holds him in place until the energy surge from the Artifact kills Kim.
At the conclusion of the episode, Carter is looking at a photo of Kim's charred corpse as Allison walks in. Fearful that he cannot reveal future details to anyone without risking another paradox, he is encouraged when the Allison of the original timeline tells him to "Have a little faith," one of the last things he said to the Allison of the paradox timeline before he jumped back in time. He decides to embrace the idea of reliving the last four years and pursuing a life with Allison again. As he told the paradox Allison before he jumped, "No time, no space, no way that we don't end up together."

Trivia

★ The date that the experiment on the Artifact is performed is the actual date of the original airing, October 3, 2006.

★ It is revealed that Beverly's contact within the Consortium is somebody within Global Dynamics, as witnessed by the vidscreen at the end of the scene. Point by point comparison, between the vidscreen shot in the "Once in a Lifetime" and 1x08 "Right as Raynes" demonstrates that, perhaps through reuse, perhaps through intent, it is the same vidscreen as in Stark's office, right down to the lights in the background.

★ Within the alternate future witnessed during the episode, Beverly stopped working for the Consortium. However, she continues to pursue extra-legal routes to determine the secrets of Global Dynamics, indicating that she might have an alternative interest in discovering the secrets of Eureka.

★ The episode was a ratings success, earning a 1.9 household rating and 2.4 million viewers.[1]