Don't Hate the Player

Don't Hate The Player
Season	3
Number	6
Air date	August 15, 2011
Written by	Ian Stokes
Directed by	Chris Fisher
Previous	3... 2... 1
Next	Past Imperfect

Don't Hate The Player was the sixth episode of Season 3 and the thirty-first episode in the series Warehouse 13.

Synopsis

When Douglas Fargo gets trapped in his own video game, a game inspired by Warehouse 13, Gibson Rice, a friend of Fargo, calls on Claudia, Pete and Myka to rescue Fargo. Meanwhile, Sally Stukowski requests Artie and Steve's help with a case. However, the artifact is only a MacGuffin used by Stukowski as a means to smuggle nanites into the Warehouse, with the purpose of hacking its mainframe.

Plot

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Claudia goes into town to get coffee for the all-night audit of the Warehouse. Pete is there and suggests that she participate in open mike. Claudia disagrees and gets a call from Gibson Rice, who says someone told him to call her if something went wrong with the beta test. He finally explains that Fargo told him to call her... and he's strapped into a virtual reality rig and close to death. Claudia, Pete, and Myka go to Fargo's apartment in Palo Alto. Fargo and another man are strapped into VR rigs, and Claudia is unable to free them. Gibson explains that they're playing a video game and can't get out, and shows them the laptop with Fargo's promotional video for BRAID (BioElectric Reality Augmentation Interactive Device), a virtual reality with full sensory experience. Fargo and Jerry were beta-testing it when they became trapped. It turns out that Fargo and Jerry each took a drink from a tea set to let the headbands work, and the agents discover that it's an artifact. Agent Sally Stukowski calls Steve to the Hobbes Gallery in New York and discovers that Artie came with him. Artie gets off the Farnsworth with Pete and Myka and Stukowski introduces herself. Stukowski explains that the curator committed suicide, jumping to his death, and that there was no reason to want to kill himself. According to the autopsy report, the curator was crushed from a multi-story fall through safety glass, despite the fact he only fell two stories. Artie finds a leaf and notices an oil painting of Stormy Night by Van Gogh. The painting has been missing for decades and left a trail of death. Artie tells Stukowski that it was a normal suicide and then leaves, telling Steve what he knows. The agents neutralize the teapot and three of the teacups. Leena confirms that the set belonged to Beatrix Potter, that the fourth cup is in Warehouse custody, and it triggers the imagination. Myka has Leena send her scans of Potter's first editions and signs off. Fargo and Jerry convulse against and Claudia points out that there's nothing they can do... from outside. Claudia quickly rigs up Fargo's spare VR headbands and prepares to go into the system with Pete. Gibson sets them up with avatars and explains that it's a sword & sorcery game that Fargo created. Pete chooses to be a badass and Claudia plays as herself - a suggestion the stressed out Gibson mishears, causing him to render her as an elf. Myka pours the tea from the artifact and Claudia and Pete drink up. They pass out and find themselves in a virtual reality landscape... with a castle based on Warehouse 13. As they approach the castle, a virtual image of General Arthur appears, looking like Artie. He tells them that they'll be going on an endless quest and they fall through a hall in the ground and find themselves in a dining hall. General Arthur is there and informs them that the Princess is imprisoned in the Black Tower and her life is slipping away. When Pete tries to resist the programming and find Fargo and Jerry, the program shocks them until they play along. A yellow path appears, leading them to the Black Tower key so that they can free the Princess. Arthur tells them that awards await those who play the right way and then disappears. Myka calls to tell them that Fargo and Jerry don't have long and they need to follow the path to find the key. In New York, Artie and Steve sneak back into the Hobbes Gallery and Artie easily bypasses the security systems using a negation device known as The Eclipse. However, they find Stukowski waiting for them and she threatens to trigger the alarm unless they include her. Myka goes through Potter's original manuscripts and discovers that they differ from the final published versions. She picks up a pencil and notices a photo on the cup of Jerry and a woman. Pete and Claudia discover that they're wandering in circles. They find a prisoner chained to a disco ball and Pete tries to cut her free. He fails and Claudia uses some neutralizer fluid her avatar has with her to free the prisoner. It's Leena of the Eagle People, who grows wings and thanks them. She offers to show them to their destination, reveals another yellow glowing road, and gives Claudia the boon of a feather. She can use it to call upon Leena. Pete's contribution is minimal since, either as himself or channeling his inner gladiator, he is mesmerized by virtual Leena's assets. As they leave, they're unaware that a robed Executioner with an axe is following them. Claudia and Pete enter a virtual version of the Dark Vault. There's a key on a pedestal and Claudia picks it up. The floor ripples as if it's liquid and someone reaches out. Pete uses his sword to pull them out and they discover that it's Fargo. In the real world, Fargo's life signs stabilize. He hugs Claudia and realizes that they still have their controllers. Fargo explains that the Executioner took his controller. The Executioner appears and telekinetically removes the controllers from Pete and Claudia. It then cuts through Pete's shield and the trio, at Pete's suggestion, run away. Once they get clear of the Executioner, Fargo explains that everything was going fine at first but then the death traps and killer monsters started. Myka calls and explains that Potter's original stories were more like dream journals, and suggests that the tea set brings the victims' fears to life. They figure out that the Executioner is from Jerry's imagination as the quicksand was Fargo's doing. Fargo concludes that Jerry went to the Black Tower to save the Princess and finish the game so he could escape. Myka asks Gibson what might be in Jerry's subconscious. He has no idea and Myka says that she needs a woman. She asks Gibson who the girl in the photo is, but Gibson has no idea who it is. Myka goes through Jerry's calls and finds a call to a woman named Hannah. In New York, Artie explains that he's going to substitute a forgery for the Van Gogh. He gets Stukowski out of the room to check on a noise, and then takes a photo of the real painting and transposes it onto a piece of memory paper. When Stukowski arrives, she's surprised to see the fake and Artie has to step in swiftly to make sure that Steve doesn't tell her what happened and how. As they prepare to switch the painting, Stukowski sneezes on the painting and a storm blows out of the painting, blowing them toward the window. Artie manages to spray neutralizer fluid on the Van Gogh, negating the storm. As they prepare to leave, a stray leaf blows on the alarm, shorting out Artie's negation device. Hannah arrives and Myka asks what is going on in Jerry's subconscious. The girl explains that she broke up with Jerry last week because she wanted something serious. However, Jerry never asked her to get married and Hannah broke up with him. Artie and Steve finish the swap just as the alarm goes off. Stukowski grabs the Van Gogh and jumps under the security gates just as they close, sealing Artie and Steve inside. Pete, Claudia, and Fargo make their way through an umbilicus to the Black Tower. Claudia opens the door and discovers that the Princess looks like Claudia, built to Fargo's fantasies. Jerry is crying in a corner and screams as the executioner enters the room. It cuts apart the Princess and blasts Pete down with a bolt of lightning. The Executioner advances on Jerry and picks him up, and it removes its hood to reveal a demonic Hannah. She disappears with Jerry into a puff of smoke that goes through a door. When Pete follows, he finds a fire-breathing dragon blocking his path. Gibson confirms that all of the players' hearts are accelerating. Myka calls Pete and explains that Jerry's anxiety is coming from Hannah. As Myka tries to explain what happened, static cuts them off. Claudia insists that it should be working and Pete admits that he thought it would be scarier if their communications were cut off. Fargo explains that the dragon is part of the game and all they need is the Dagger of Josephine. However, he forgot to program it into the game. Claudia summons Leena to help them, and she summons a griffin to fly them out of the Tower. The police arrest Artie and Steve, and Artie figures that Stukowski set them up as part of some master plan. Steve isn't so sure. However, before the police can take them away, Stukowski arrives and claims that Artie and Steve were working for her on a ten-month operation. The officer quickly frees them. Pete, Fargo, and Claudia find the Demon-Hannah preparing to cut off Jerry's head. Fargo admits that he doesn't know what will happen if Jerry dies in the virtual reality. Claudia tries not to think about her worse fear, but Dr. Michener from the psychiatric hospital appears and tells her that it's a delusion. Michener tells her that she's just a troubled young woman and her brother is dead. She finds herself strapped to a table undergoing shock therapy while Pete and Fargo are trapped in straitjackets. They try to get through to her, insisting that they're real, but Michener attaches the electrodes. In the real world, Gibson starts to panic. Myka tells him to calm down and looks at one of the VR helmets. In the virtual reality, a hooded warrior appears, and shoots Michener with a crossbow. Claudia breaks free and destroys him, and the warrior removes her hood to reveal that she's Myka. When Myka asks if Claudia is okay, she admits that it felt good. They wonder what to do next and they realize that each of them have to face their own fears. Myka and Claudia go to talk to Jerry while Fargo and Pete distract Demon-Hannah. Stukowski apologizes to Steve and Artie and lets them go. As they leave, Artie admits that there's something wrong. Meanwhile, Stukowski signals to Marcus Diamond, who is watching from nearby. Pete and Fargo attack Demon-Hannah, who knocks down Pete. Fargo reveals he has a wand and uses it, but Demon-Hannah destroys it. Pete tries to stab her without effect, and Myka tells Jerry that he has to face what he wants more than anything. Jerry says that he wants Hannah and Myka tells him to go over and tell her how he really feels. He kneels before the Demon-Hannah and puts his engagement ring on her finger. She smiles and disappears, and the group find themselves back in the dining hall with Arthur. He tells them that it's time to eat... and they emerge from the virtual reality world. Hannah and Jerry hug. Later, Claudia goes to the coffee house and prepares to play. She tells the audience that it's time that she's decided to get out of her comfort zone. Fargo packs up and leaves Palo Alto. Jerry proposes to the real Hannah. Myka and Pete put the tea set into storage and walk away, skipping arm in arm. Everyone applauds as Claudia finishes her song. Stukowski goes to see her superior, who says that now they wait. Deep in the Warehouse in the artifact painting section, a horde of mechanical bugs break out of the Van Gogh painting and swarm outwards.

For the first time since the pilot, Pete shows clear signs of being interested in Leena, although it is primarily her "enhancements", courtesy of Fargo, which grab his attention, and lead him into potentially embarrassing "pronoun trouble".

Cast

Main Cast

• Eddie McClintock as Peter Lattimer
• Joanne Kelly as Myka Bering
• Saul Rubinek as Arthur Nielsen
• Allison Scagliotti as Claudia Donovan
• Genelle Williams as Leena

Guest Starring

• Aaron Ashmore as Steve Jinks
• Neil Grayton as Douglas Fargo
• Sasha Roiz as Marcus Diamond
• Ashley Williams as Sally Stukowski
• Steven Yuen as Gibson Rice

Co-Starring

• Mark O'Brien as Jerry Hoffler
• Natalie Urquhart as Hannah
• Victor A. Young as Dr. Michener
• Paul De La Rosa as NYPD Cop #1
• Geoff Willingham as Musician

Artifacts and Gadgets Featured

• Beatrix Potter's Tea Set: Tea brewed in the kettle and drunk from the cup stimulates the precuneus area of the brain, the part responsible for the imagination. Fargo combined the tea with the BRAID to make its virtual reality capabilities appear more realistic, but when playing the game it revealed the tea set's downside: it brings a person's worst fears to life. The only way to defeat the person's fears is to confront and defeat them. It is the main artifact of the episode.
• B.R.A.I.D.: The B.R.A.I.D (Bio-Electric Reality Augmentation Interactive Device) is a device created by Jerry Hoffler, Gibson Rice and Douglas Fargo. It is an artificial interface that allows people to play in a virtual reality environment. Fargo claimed that it enabled players to a full sensory experience (to see, hear, smell and touch things in the virtual reality) but the interface never truly worked as the human brain couldn't fully accept the live artificial reality, so he combined the BRAID with Beatrix Potter's Tea Set.
• B.R.A.I.D. Communicator: Built by Claudia so outsiders can communicate with players inside the BRAID.
• Vincent Van Gogh's Stormy Night: Summons a ferocious tempest when a sudden current of air (like from a cough or a sneeze) makes contact with the painting.
• Analog Password Cracker: Utilized by Artie to deactivate part of the art gallery's security system.
• The Eclipse: Deactivates all laser security systems for 42 minutes and 59 seconds.
• Johannes Gutenberg's Memory Paper: When a special camera that has taken a photo of a painting and then applies it to the memory paper, the paper shifts and changes to form a perfect replica of the painting.
• Tyler Struhl's Nanites: Microscopic robots designed to infiltrate the Warehouse. The true nature of their existence is not revealed until "Emily Lake".
• The Schlage: In the 1920s, Walter Schlage created an artifact lock pick that can open any lock after he grew tired of locking himself out of his own inventions. It was used by Artie to unlock the Hobbes Gallery.

• George Seurat’s Bathers at Asnières: Effect(s) unknown. Seen in the Art Section with Stormy Night.

• J. M. W. Turner’s Rain, Steam, and Speed: Effect(s) unknown. Seen in the Art Section with Stormy Night.

• Auguste Renoir's Two Young Girls at the Piano: Effect(s) unknown. Seen in the Art Section with Stormy Night.

Notable Quotes

"There is some serious copyright infringement going on here." - Claudia

Claudia: "I'm the Princess?!"

Pete: "Really?! You didn't see that coming?"

Trivia

• Leena, as Leena of the Eagle People, makes a reference to the Curse of the Pharaohs, specifically that of Tutankhamen. When she is freed from the Studio 54 Disco ball, Leena thanks Pete and Claudia from saving her from 'Carter's Curse'. Howard Carter is the man who discovered Tutankhamen's Tomb, a pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. A series of mysterious deaths that surrounded Carter after he opened the tomb has been sensationalized over the years to be attributed to a mummy's curse.
• The tag line for FarGames is "Imagining Greater", a play on SyFy's tag "Imagine Greater."
• The title is the first section of the phrase, "Don't hate the player hate the game".

References

<< Season 2 Warehouse 13  :  Season 3 Season 4 >>
#01 "The New Guy"	#07 "Past Imperfect"
#02 "Trials"	#08 "The 40th Floor"
#03 "Love Sick"	#09 "Shadows"
#04 "Queen For A Day"	#10 "Insatiable"
#05 "3... 2... 1"	#11 "Emily Lake"
#06 "Don't Hate The Player"	#12 "Stand"
"The Greatest Gift"   (Christmas Special)