Also, spoilers abound.
I’m going to talk about Warehouse 13. I really like Warehouse 13. It is an amazing bit of television. It’s amazing that it started as a science fiction show, utterly failed, and carried on to become a great fantasy show. I could talk about how it’s one of the few shows with a steampunk ethos. I could just gush about the characters. But I’m going to focus on something that’s actually amazing.
Warehouse 13 is one of the most queer friendly and feminist shows I have ever seen.
Recently we watched episode 4×17. In it, the main crew of the warehouse have to take physicals for work. We find out that Pete and Myka both have something. In Pete’s case. it’s low testosterone, while for Myka it’s ovarian cancer. These are both very gender-centric conditions but are handled in unexpected ways. For Pete, there’s a running gag of him trying to prove his manliness but the episode culminates in a situation where, in order to escape the effects of an artifact, he has to be completely honest and open. By breaking down and crying he takes control of the situation and proves that he can “man up”. It’s an interesting juxtaposition. Myka’s cancer is an interesting choice not because of what happens in this episode but because of her already established character . While she is incredibly fond of her niece, it is clear that Myka has no immediate plans for kids of her own. Giving her a disease that will most likely effect her fertility is an interesting choice. Her not being a mother now or in the future is never even mentioned. So for taking the two leads and giving Pete a condition that screams “man” and Myka one that says “woman” it was different to see the direction that the show took.
But then my wife and I realized that it wasn’t really different for Warehouse 13. During an episode where an artifact is found that grants wishes (4×5), Myka ends up pregnant. Stereotypical? No. Myka spends the whole episode freaking out, not wanting to be pregnant, and wanting her body back to its proper shape. Pete is the one who wished her pregnant. Because he wants to be with her romantically? No. Despite the male/female odd-couple partnership, they are more like siblings than anything else. It comes out that Pete just wished for that because he wants a kid. He’s the one with the ticking biological clock. And he doesn’t want to be romantically entangled with Myka. If he did he would have just wished for that and gotten a kid the regular way. No, he realizes how lonely it is to work for a secret agency and knows that Myka is indeed his partner and one of the only people he can be honest with. Who better to share your life with? The ironic gender treatment has been a constant theme to the show. There’s the standard bodyswap episode (2×8) that’s not so standard. Pete (in Myka’s body) attends Myka’s class reunion and ends up being very popular with her old crush because “Myka” seems to just fit in as one of the guys. Instead of it turning into an embarrassing situation it becomes one of frustration. At the end Myka has to essentially ask for a reset and earn a second date now that she’s herself again.
And it goes beyond just gender subversion. There are two queer characters: Steve Jinks, who is gay, and H.G. Wells, who is a bisexual woman who had to present as a man in her professional life. Sorry, let’s take a moment to unpack these characters. I’ll start with H.G. In her own time she presented as a man to be taken seriously as a writer. In reality she let her brother front for her in public. Her introduction to the show is that she’s an ex-agent for the Warehouse, a genius, and went mad over the loss of her daughter which propelled her into villainy. Already she has more depth than just an oppressed working woman or wronged mother. There’s the added bonus that she never identifies as a wife. Even when she’s identified as “mother” it’s relative to a character who’s not present, and it’s not necessarily for the better. She is always her own character and even motherhood turns her into a wolf rather than a lamb. As the show progresses she is rehabilitated and comes back as an agent. Her new emotional anchor? It’s Myka. Yes, H.G. Wells and straight-identified Myka develop a purely unaffected relationship. They have incredibly chemistry together both from their performances and through the scripts. While they never become explicitly romantic there are clear looks and conversations that show they both know that they have a connection. It’s not a clear-cut relationship but it is a strong and sincere one.
And then there’s Steve Jinks. How is he written? Perfectly. How do we know he’s gay? for the most part because he comes out to Claudia when she thinks that there might be something romantic between them. Yes, there’s another trope defused. They take the two young and photogenic characters, put them on a mission together and let the sparks fly… and fizzle. Claudia and Jinks end up with their own sibling relationship after that awkward start but it’s just another time that the show doesn’t go where the standard path would. It lets the characters grow rather than fit into a mold. So how often does Jinks’ homosexuality actually come up? Just about as often as any other character’s heterosexuality does. The gay jokes are few and far between, and we really only see it when it’s relevant. Jinks has an ex that he’s forced to work with in the field at one point. The ex is a guy. That’s really the end of it. If there’s ever an awkward moment that happens because he’s gay the only people to be made uncomfortable by it are characters. It’s never used to make the audience squirm.
And that’s the show in essence. It’s irony at its most functional, taking the set up for old tropes and standard outlines, then twisting them against expectation in service of character development. Every character on this show is nurtured, tested, and grown. The result is an organic cast that can propel the program though what would be a weak episode for any other show with deftness. It’s that organic factor that makes it, too. Instead of these roles and orientations being used to make a point they’re used to make people.
All of this? This is just one reason why this show is great.
