Carter is having his morning shower, and can we have a butt shot, a la NYPD Blue? But no. So, water cold, Carter peeved. You thought I would say hot didn’t ya? Yeah, I’m walking down a different garden path today. So, instead Carter tries to shave and manages to cut himself. I hear bad luck comes in threes. Let’s try breakfast. Eggs are on the menu, and so is ketchup, which he splats all over his last clean shirt. Poor Carter. Zoe tries to cheer him up with some sharing, but is interrupted by the door. It’s Carter’s sister, Lexi, three days early, much to Carter’s chagrin. Lexi’s brought a cat that she thinks is a reincarnation of their Grandma Lil, and Carter has them go to the guestroom while he goes to take care of business at GD before Allison and Stark’s wedding later that afternoon.

At GD, Carter meets up with Allison and they find out that Thorne wants Allison to finish some paperwork and redact a dozen more employees before the end of the day, which is why Carter was called in. Carter gives almost everyone their pink slips, but when he gets to Leo Weinbrenner, a violet light surrounds him and Carter decides that the pink slip can wait for another day. Carter gets to the wedding and sees Allison in her wedding dress, telling her that he will always be there for her. During the ceremony, as Henry, who is officiating, asks if anyone objects and Carter sees a light grow in the sky. Suddenly Carter is back in his shower, and his day is starting all over again.

Carter goes through several more variations of the same day, each with changes that Carter instigates to try and stop the time loop to no avail, before he figures out that it is Leo the Time Guy who caused the time loop to begin with. Leo has been trying to stop it, but he hasn’t been able to work out a timer complex enough to fix the problem before people begin to start disappearing from the real universe. Leo says that if he cannot fix it, Stark is the only one who can, and teaches Carter an equation to convince Stark the loop is real. When Leo is fried in the last loop, Carter manages to get Stark on board with much difficulty, and brings Fargo along.

Stark does indeed manage to fix the timer issue, but he must be inside the atomic clock’s vacuum seal to do it. Carter knows this means Stark’s death, and Stark tells Carter to make sure to give the necklace to Allison as it is one-of-a-kind, just like she is. The clock counts down and then moves forward, and Fargo cheers as time is out of the loop, but Stark just stands there, still smiling at Carter as he dissipates into a fine dust of light particles, shocking Fargo. Carter and Fargo drive to the wedding where Carter tells Allison that he will always be there for her. Allison senses something is wrong and asks where Stark is, but Carter doesn’t answer. Allison sinks to the chaise in grief, as Carter lowers himself beside her.

You Know You'll Miss Me

People have been calling this the Groundhog Day episode, which it could be, but every sci-fi show has one of these, so wouldn’t a Time Loop episode be more correct, as it’s been going on longer that Groundhog Day, the movie, existed? This wasn’t bad, but I must say that hearing Stark go on like a broken record about the bloody necklace was irritating by the second go-around. I hated that rock the first time I saw it. Cheap quartz knock-off. Like you don’t have one just like it floating around your jewelry box. Or your sister does. Whatever.

I was cheesed they broke up the three musketeers, however. Ed Quinn, Colin Ferguson, and Joe Morton are a trio of triumph and make the show what it is. Ed and Colin trading quips, and Joe and Colin being besties, and the three of them working together to solve crises that only they could, are the selling point. Without Ed/Nathan, you are missing a leg of the triangle, and one thing I know about business, if you lose or forget a part of the triangle, the whole kit and caboodle collapses. I have no idea how they are going to put this triangle back together again, but I am not holding my breath for this one. I know the entire dynamic of the show has to change, and I am a little bit nervous about this.

I liked how they brought about the end of Stark, but I still do not like the fact that Quinn chose to leave. That man knows nothing about triangles. I’d hunt him down and smack him around, but I fell down the stairs the other day and am seeing a bit funny, so that is out of the question. I’d send my brother, but he has no sense of duty. Stark got to go out in style, a cloud of light photons shimmering out of existence, and Quinn gets a nice paycheck, a party most likely, and a return to a hotter climate. Hmmm. I would’ve stayed to keep the triangle intact and put on an extra sweater. It’s four months of filming a year, which won’t kill a person. What does the man need the extra four months for?

Carter has a sister named Lexi and she’s preggers. This brings a whole new wrench into the family dynamic. Carter has enough on his plate with Zoe, and now he has to deal with Lexi’s hormonal surges from the impending birth and all that brings with it. I wonder how long she will be staying in Eureka? I also wonder if she will end up working at GD? She does have a science background, so it is not implausible.

Overall, I enjoyed this episode. It handled Ed Quinn’s departure well and tied up Allison and Stark’s engagement. A little rushed, but then Ed did not give the writers a lot of time to smooth that one out. Boo-hoo.

Score