For the character, see Claudia Donovan |
"Claudia" is the fourth episode of Season One of SyFy's Warehouse 13, airing on July 28, 2009.
Synopsis[]
The Warehouse's hacker is finally determined to be Claudia Donovan, who kidnaps Artie and insists that he help her recover her brother who was lost in an artifact-related experiment 12 years ago. Pete and Myka are on the trail to find Artie before the artifact kills him and Claudia.
Plot[]
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Artie has a flashback to himself, lying in a darkened room. Mrs. Frederic appears and tells him that he's been there before and he'll soon remember it. He wonders if it's a dream and Mrs. Frederic tells him to go back to the beginning.Artie snaps out of it and finds himself in his office. Pete and Myka check in on the Farnsworth from a zoo where their most recent artifact search has taken them. They question about the security breach into the Warehouse Artie admits he hasn't been able to find the source yet. They tell him to get some sleep. Once they sign off, Artie has another flashback and Mrs. Frederic tells him to get up. A young girl runs by and Artie wakes up to discover that a young woman has handcuffed him. He doesn't know who she is but the woman says that she was a lot younger the last time they met. When she says the last time they met he told her he was a professor, Artie realizes that she is Claudia Donovan and addresses her by name. He tries to leave and she electrifies the cuffs, stunning him. Artie says it was a long time ago and insists he wasn't responsible for Joshua's death. Claudia insists that he is responsible and now she's going to get payback for her and her brother. Later, Pete and Myka return to the warehouse and discover the front door is open. They go inside and quickly realize that Artie has been abducted. As they try to find clues, Artie's Farnsworth rings and Mrs. Frederic asks to speak with Artie wants to know what's going on, but when they can't give it to him because he has disappeared, she insists that agents can't be taken out of the Warehouse but is soon forced to admit it's possible when they show her the ripped apart security system. Mrs. Frederic tells them to use the Durational Spectrometer to identify everyone in the room in the last five hours, and that they're under lockdown and should stay there no matter what. Claudia takes Artie to Joshua's old lab and he wonders what Claudia has in mind for him. She insists that Joshua isn't dead. Pete uses the spectrometer and scans back for people in the room. They get an image of Claudia and thanks to his knowledge of lip reading gained from communicating with his deaf sister, Pete can tell that Artie called the intruder 'Claudia Donovan.' They start doing a database search on Artie's computer. Claudia is feeling ill but says she brought Artie there because that's where Joshua's presence is closest. She points out that Joshua screwed up, and Artie knows why Joshua screwed up, because Artie rushed him with his experiment. Pete and Myka talk to Claudia's landlady, Mrs. Richman. The landlady reveals information about Claudia and during their discussion Pete and Myka mention that Claudia checked herself into a psychiatric hospital six months ago, but checked herself out two months ago and hasn't been back since; the landlady confirms it. They check out Claudia's room and discover that she has been trying to track Artie across the U.S. They also find a photo of a much younger Claudia with her brother Joshua. Claudia tells Artie that Joshua has been visiting her. She mentions that Rheticus was right and Joshua was correct as well. Artie insists that Rheticus was nuts and the experiment could never work. Much to Artie's discomfort, Claudia tells him she has remade his experiment, and that she has nothing to replace Rheticus' Compass but says she thought the minerals that the compass was made of would work fine. However, Artie tells her she can't just 'replace' an artifact, because they have a special power. She admits she's taken it as far as she can but now she needs Artie to keep his promise and bring Joshua home. Artie has another flashback and finds himself face-to-face with Joshua and his younger sister Claudia from 12 years ago. He snaps out of it and Claudia tells him she's been having visions like that too, only she didn't ignore them. The lab starts to fill with electricity and Claudia starts choking. She tells him to sit down as a glowing ball of light flies through the lab. It resolves into an image of Joshua, reaching out to them for help. Some form of energy flows from him to Claudia and back again before the Joshua image disappears. Claudia insists it was Joshua and since Artie saw it, she also insists she is not crazy. She wants Artie to help him bring Joshua back and explains she has everything there. Claudia wonders why Artie never tried to recreate the experiment or anything else to save Joshua; Artie insists that he thought Joshua was dead.  Artie tries to warn Claudia how dangerous the experiment is but she's adamant that she has to save Joshua. She hacked into Artie's files and discovered that he hadn't done anything to help Joshua in 12 years. Claudia figures he'll help because he feels guilt but Artie insists he doesn't. Claudia doesn't believe it and gets a nosebleed. Artie figures it's been getting worse because of her connection to the experiment. Artie notes that Rheticus' experiment in human teleportation was dangerous and Joshua's more so. Myka reads through the books on Rheticus and notices a post-it note next to a sketch of a 16th century metal compass. According to the books, no one ever saw it despite Rheticus' claims that he owned it. Pete figures that it's an artifact. Artie reviews Claudia's equipment and notes that the compass disappeared with Joshua. She admits that she doesn't have anything to replace it that she needs Artie's help. He threatens to shut her down for her own safety but Claudia accuses him of abandoning Joshua again. She talks of how Joshua gave up his life to raise her and she owes him, and so does Artie. Artie calls Pete on his cell phone from a pay phone and tells him that he's okay and he's taking time off to help Claudia, despite the fact that she kidnapped him. He tells the agents to stop looking for him but Myka warns him that Claudia has been under observation at a psychiatric hospital. Artie still insists on helping Claudia and hangs up rather than hear Myka's arguments. The agents head back to the Warehouse while Artie brings his emergency travel kit's equipment from his car to the laboratory.   Artie uses the Ben Franklin's Lightning Rod from his emergency travel kit to substitute for the compass. He admits he knows she was in a psych ward and offers his condolences. Claudia finds Joshua's journal and they go through it.   Artie prepares to boost the power through the lightning rod and Claudia warns that Joshua is coming. Artie has another flashback and finds himself in the laboratory 12 years ago. Joshua is there with young Claudia. In the past, Artie insists that the rumors about Rheticus and his experiment are just that but Joshua doesn't believe it. He shows past-Artie Rheticus' compass and insists he can duplicate the teleportation experiment.  Pete and Myka find the various inscriptions and realize the compass had inscriptions too. Looking over Joshua's notes they realize he said nothing about the secret inscriptions, meaning he didn't find them, causing the experiment to fail. The phantom Joshua starts draining energy from Claudia and warns Artie that there's not enough power. Joshua warns that Claudia and Artie are tied to him now and the lab is becoming increasingly unstable. The next time he arrives, it will kill Claudia. Joshua tells Artie to overload the equipment using the lightning rod, and he'll die but save Claudia. He disappears again. Myka and Pete report to Mrs. Frederic and explain that Claudia must have taken Artie to the lab. Mrs. Frederic is pleased at their initiative in Artie's absence and Myka wonders if Artie is going somewhere. She tells the agents to get to the laboratory as quickly as possible. Claudia wakes up and thanks Artie for his help. He has another flashback-vision of himself telling Joshua that the people who want the teleportation device are coming for it now and Joshua has to protect himself and his family. Past-Artie promises to protect the compass and past-Joshua goes to get it. He asks past-Artie to watch over young Claudia.  Past-Artie worries that past-Joshua hasn't come back yet. He takes young Claudia's hand and goes to the lab, promising he won't let anything happen to Joshua. Claudia collapses and present-Artie promises to save her. Pete and Myka break in. Past-Artie arrives in the lab to see past-Joshua using the compass to power the teleportation device. Present-Artie is angry the agents followed him. They explain that Joshua didn't have all the rules and the vital inscriptions are inside the compass. As his nose starts bleeding, Artie remembers that the compass disappeared with past-Joshua as young Claudia looked on. Present-Artie grabs Claudia and steps into the teleportation field, realizing what he has to do. Past-Joshua promises young Claudia that he'll always love her.    Back at the bed and breakfast, Artie congratulates the agents on their work. As they leave, Myka offers him a sympathetic ear if he wants to talk about losing someone on the job. He says he doesn't but then offers to talk if she ever wants to talk about losing someone on the job.  Later, Mrs. Frederic comes to see Artie. He admits he had to go back and take care of his responsibilities to Joshua. He pushed Joshua to try it and as a result he was lost for 12 years. Mrs. Frederic notes she might have been able to save 'Gus,' but didn't. She tells him they can't save everyone, but that's not why she's there. Mrs. Frederic warns Artie that Claudia knows too much. Artie insists that she wouldn't hurt them. Mrs. Frederic warns that others might and Artie knows what options they have to deal with her.[1] |
Credits[]
Main Cast[]
- Eddie McClintock as Pete Lattimer
- Joanne Kelly as Myka Bering
- Saul Rubinek as Artie Nielsen
- Genelle Williams as Leena (credit only)
- Simon Reynolds as Daniel Dickinson (credit only)
Guest Star[]
Cast[]
- Tyler Hynes as Joshua Donovan (named Joshua Wheeler)
- Sophi Knight as Young Claudia
- Marium Carvell as Mrs. Richman
Trivia[]
- This and "MacPherson" are the only two episodes of the series to be named after characters.
Errors[]
- Episode dialogue says Joshua was missing for 12 years and Joshua says Claudia was 10 years old, which would make her 22 in the episode. Later episodes state Claudia is under 21 until the 4th season. (Possible explanation, she was only 7 years old and Joshua calling her ten was an inside joke.)
- Joshua's last name in the end credits is given as Wheeler instead of Donovan.
Artifacts and Gadgets Featured[]
- Rheticus's Compass: Allows for teleportation by following the series of instructions on the compass correctly. Incorrect usage results in becoming trapped in an inter-dimensional space. It is the main artifact of the episode.
- Durational Spectrometer: Emits a light that displays activity in the area shone on for the last five hours.
- Benjamin Franklin's Lightning Rod: Attracts electricity and other various energies.
- Claudia Donovan's Handcuffs : Handcuffs built by Claudia, the handcuffs are designed to discharge an electrical shock of up to 20,000 volts.
References[]
| #01 "Pilot" | #07 "Implosion" |
| #02 "Resonance" | #08 "Duped" |
| #03 "Magnetism" | #09 "Regrets" |
| #04 "Claudia" | #10 "Breakdown" |
| #05 "Elements" | #11 "Nevermore" |
| #06 "Burnout" | #12 "MacPherson" |