The series finale of Eureka airs tonight at 9PM on Syfy, and last week, the cast and series co-creator Jaime Paglia got together for a special Q&A and screening at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, California.
We got to speak with them briefly on the red carpet, and here is a bit of what they had to say, both about tonight’s finale and the legacy that Eureka leaves behind after five seasons on the air.
Salli Richardson-Whitfield (Allison Blake)
How has Allison changed over the years? “I think that she grew a lot. You know that it’s going to change, especially if you last a long time. But she definitely got to do a lot of different things that me as the actress, and Allison, we both kind of grew up on this show together.”
Will fans be satisfied with the finale? “I don’t think people will ever be satisfied, but I think that Jaime found a way to at least wrap some things up so that you’re not left hanging. It would have been horrible if they hadn’t at least given us that one episode to satisfy the needs of our fans.”
Would she like to do a continuation of the series? “Oh, of course! We always hope that maybe they’ll do a Eureka movie. That would be so much fun, to be with everyone.”
Joe Morton (Henry Deacon)
After doing so much sci-fi, what attracted him to Eureka? “Eureka offered me a character that did something that I didn’t get a chance to do much of, which was comedy. A lot of what I’ve done in terms of film and the theatre has been drama. Even all the television has been drama. So, this gave me an opportunity to do comedy. So that was the #1 thing. And the #2 thing was that Henry was in a situation where all things are possible. Where he was this supreme scientist that would delve into all kinds of things, and produce all kinds of things, and that was exciting for me.”
What is the biggest surprise that came from the show? “Whenever you do a television series, the thing that surprises you is that it lasts as long as it lasts. Five seasons is a nice run. So I think for all of us, we were delightfully surprised that we held on that long.”
Would he appear in a Eureka continuation? “Sure. We’ve actually kind of talked about it, and hope that maybe somebody would do a Eureka movie, which would be lots of fun. Then you can go even a little further. So we shall see.”
Neil Grayston (Douglas Fargo)
Did he know this show would be this big? “I remember when we filmed the pilot, and I found it to be so solid that it sort of short itself. It was one of those things that was completely natural to read. It was a page turner. So I was like ‘okay, sure, of course this thing is gonna go.’ And then, five seasons. That’s more than a lot of shows. We’ve been very lucky.”
Did he expect to play so many different characters on the series? “That, I did not expect. I actually only signed on for seven episodes a season, for like two scenes, and that was all. So, having done now what I’ve done, that was unexpected. They just kept on putting me in there.”
What is it like to portray Fargo’s relationship with Holly? “It’s fun to play Fargo as a human being with feelings rather than just infatuations, which I think could have gone that way, but the writers are so good, that it gave me real stuff to do.”
Any hints about the finale? “One thing that I can say, is that it is amazing, what the writers pulled off. With the amount of time that they had to break the show, and to write it… five days… and it’s very satisfying. That’s about all I can say.”
Would he like to play Fargo again someday? “Yeah! Absolutely. How could I not? It would be great.”
What is it like to miss Comic-Con this year? “It’s gonna be weird. This is, like, the first time in five years I will not be in there.”
Jaime Paglia (Show Co-Creator/Executive Producer)
Did he expect Eureka to be such a beloved show? “You always hope, but we had no idea whether or not what we were going to do was going to find an audience. It’s funny that Neil was just talking about Comic-Con, but I think it wasn’t until our first time at Comic-Con that I really realized that there were people out there watching the show. It was the first time we really had been outside of our bubble of 150 or 200 people who made the show, and seeing the response… it was pretty amazing.”
Was the timeline change in Season 4 always intended to be permanent? “Yes. When we went in to tell the network what we wanted to do with Season 4, and how we were going to go back to 1947 to Camp Eureka, and when they got back, things were going to have shifted… we told them the changes for all of the individual characters, and they just loved the idea. Just really just danced in their chairs. And the first question was, ‘So when does it all go back to normal?’ And I said ‘it doesn’t.’ And then it was like ‘wait a second. We have to have a talk about this.’ We had a really honest discussion. We were really committed to not wanting to yank the rug out from under the audience after being invested in those new stories for season. We were really lucky. Mark Stern, who is our network head, has been a huge supporter of our show from the very beginning. He said ‘well, I told you guys to go big. So, I guess I gotta stick by my word’.”
Did that change open up story possibilities in the writers’ room? “Yeah. It opened up a lot. It was the same town, same characters, but with this ninety degree shift that just sort of made all of these new storylines possible. I think that it gave us a chance to grow it in new ways that were really satisfying.”
Would they have plotted Season 5 differently if they knew it was the end? “I’m sure we would have. The ‘Double Take’ episode has a huge cliffhanger season finale, and then we had to add one more to wrap everything up. There was no time to rewrite this episode. So, it was the payoff for a season of storylines that we were building to. If we had known that we were building to the end, I think we would have done things differently, for sure. But I love the season, overall.”
Would he be open for a Eureka continuation? “We’ve had conversations, but of course you do. We had a great team of people, and we all really enjoyed working together. It’s a fun universe to play in. We’ve talked about the potential for a spin-off. I’ve been working on a lot of interesting new projects right now, so at the moment, we’re not pursuing them, but we’ll certainly look into it. We’ll see if it makes sense at some point. We’ll enjoy this for this for what it was before we launch right into the next iteration.”
Debrah Farentino (Dr. Beverly Barlowe)
What is the most fun part about playing her character? “I feel incredibly grateful that they wrote a character who pushed the envelope and believed so deeply in her cause that her moral center was in a place that I got to go deep into my imagination to find.”
What can she say about the finale? “I am grateful to be in it. That’s all I can say, is that I’m grateful. I think everyone’s going to be surprised. I think they’ll be rooting for a movie after this. Because it’s not like everything’s tied up. To me, it’s almost another beginning.”
Is there anything that she wishes Beverly could have done? “To go out on a date with Sheriff Carter. I think Beverly loved him, and she didn’t get to go out on a real date with Sheriff Carter.”
Would she do a Eureka reunion? “Absolutely. It was one of the most fun gigs ever.”
Felicia Day (Holly Marten)
Did she expect her run on the show to be this long? “No. I was only supposed to do two episodes, actually. They just kept writing me in, and you can’t say no to a good character.”
Was she surprised when her character died and then came back? “When I saw I died, I said ‘well, that’s it. It’s been fun.’ But they were like ‘no, no, no!’ We’re not killing you forever. So, it was a treat. Every step of the way, it’s just been a blessing.”
What can she say about the series finale? “Well, I think given the time constraints, the surprising end to the series, I think Jaime and the writing staff did an amazing job, to give the fans the satisfying ending they want.”
What has Eureka meant to her? “Eureka has been the best family for me since Buffy. It’s the longest I’ve been on a TV series in a while, and other than The Guild, I feel like I’ll know these crew and cast members for as long as I do some of my friends in The Guild. It really was a true family, and going to Vancouver will never be the same, if I’m not going to the Eureka set.”
Would she do a Eureka reunion? “You know, depending on the circumstance, it would be really cool. I have the privilege now of only doing things that I really love, because I’m so busy with my digital stuff. So yeah. Holly is an amazing character, and I feel like she’s an inspiring woman character, which is rare.”
The series finale of Eureka airs tonight (July 16) on Syfy. Don’t miss it, and our thanks to the Eureka cast for speaking with us and for creating such an enduring series.
