Although BATTLESTAR GALACTICA gets the lion’s share of the buzz generated by the Sci Fi channel, it’s worth noting that the soon-to-conclude space opera isn’t the only intelligent, layered, well-acted program the network has produced. Case in point: EUREKA, which launches its second season on Tuesday, July 10 at 9 p.m. ET, with an episode which picks up where the emotionally stunning first season finale left off.
For Eureka sheriff Jack Carter (played with equal parts wit and charm by Colin Ferguson), this means trying to keep quiet about the fact that he and mechanic Henry (Joe Morton) spent four years living an alternate-future timeline and therefore know — or think they do — what the next four years holds for their friends and neighbors. It also means forgetting the four years of bliss he had with Alison (Salli Richardson) and being forced to watch her be lured back into the web of her charming-to-a-fault estranged hubby, Nathan. And although Jack begins the season believing that all good things will come to those who wait — easy to do, what with having already seen tomorrow with his own eyes — unfolding events (and spontaneously combusting townies) quickly prove that the future isn’t necessarily carved in stone.
This first episode of the season will prove very satisfying for fans of the series, but a bit intimidating to newbies, who might be better advised to jump in during the following week’s offering, titled “Try, Try Again”, which relies less on knowledge of past plot points. In either case, EUREKA is yet another example of the smart, hip offerings the Sci Fi Channel specializes in, with witty dialogue delivered by appealing actors in a quirky-yet-completely-relatable small-town setting. It’s not surprising the major networks tend to avoid diving into this genre, as it’s hard to imagine them green lighting shows like EUREKA, which takes the box we’re always told to think outside of and reveals it to be a doorway to another dimension. 
