I brought this up one other time when the cups seemed empty, and Colin said that they usually have liquid in them. I think they should fill them with mashed potatoes or something.

The gag reel in my head has 'em putting marbles in the styrofoam cups, with the inevitable scene with the lid coming off, marbles hitting the floor, people falling all over, Hepburn/Grant/Bringing Up Baby thing going on. (ETA: Good gravy, I just noticed who posted that comment. Daniel and I are such a geeky, met-online couple. We didn't even bother to have this discussion outside this forum. And let's not go into the whole IMing from the living room to the dining room thing.)

Two things. I wonder what Belle's work in Eureka was. And, I was going to ask why a slap-dash, quonset-hut military installation, backwater town was doing with a jewelry store, way back when it didn't have many of the amenities it does now. But then I remembered that Charlie was growing that diamond. So, is the growing of gemstones for scientific, laser of death purposes Charlie's raison d'etre en Eureka and the jewelry making a happy sidelight, or is the jewelry so brilliant that the scientific lapidariness of Charlie the secondary effect?

Windsparrow's post reminds me how different we (meaning Buffistas) are as an audience. I assume that's intended to be handwaved, because of course they'd have a jewelry store, and why would we even think they wouldn't?

(The clocks made me think that it was an actual jewelry business, and maybe he just worked there because of his skill in diamond cutting, reapplied for science.)

eta: for gross mis-naming of a Buffista.

We all squeeed when we saw it was a Jane Espenson episode!

I missed that! I thought I read that she wasn't going to be able to write an episode this season.

And, I was going to ask why a slap-dash, quonset-hut military installation, backwater town was doing with a jewelry store, way back when it didn't have many of the amenities it does now. But then I remembered that Charlie was growing that diamond. So, is the growing of gemstones for scientific, laser of death purposes Charlie's raison d'etre en Eureka and the jewelry making a happy sidelight, or is the jewelry so brilliant that the scientific lapidariness of Charlie the secondary effect?

YES, this. I meant to make this point. Even if Charlie was growing the diamond for Belle as a sideline, why would he have professionally printed receipts?

Pierre's forgiveness seemed unbelievable; in between morning and night you lose your youth, health, and fifty years of your life, and you just go "living with what he's done will be enough punishment"? There's an entire world of grief that they tiptoed over there. But given that the show is supposed to be more lighthearted than not, I guess that they didn't want to spend too much of their emotional capital on a guest character.

One small thing that I intensely liked: they made a point of Belle not wasting her life while pining over Pierre. No Miss Havisham-ing for her, but dogsledding in Alaska. It reminded me of my great aunt Elizabeth's response when asked why she never married: "It takes a mighty fine man to be better than no man at all."

"It takes a mighty fine man to be better than no man at all."

I don't know. You add a root to the equation and it just might balance out.

Even if Charlie was growing the diamond for Belle as a sideline, why would he have professionally printed receipts?

The screen we watch the show on is too small for me to be able to tell if that receipt had Charlie's personalized business logo on it. I figured that was a generic, $2 at any office supply store receipt that any one with a side business might use. The skill and art of jewelry-making is pretty intense, I'd imagine. At the same time, I can only imagine the level of scientific expertise it takes to monkey around with growing gemstones - especially at that early stage of the game, when it would not be simply babysitting a machine that someone else had designed. Do we handwave Charlie into a dual-genious, something like the Henry of his generation? I suppose it would not be a great stetch of the imagination to believe that Charlie's father had been a jeweler, who taught Charlie that set of skills in his youth. Then Charlie being a genious went off to university, and developed the scientific chops to work on growing the crystals. Bring him to Eureka, and voila, gem-growing, jewelry-making, laser-of-death-supplying career begins.

Pierre's forgiveness seemed unbelievable; in between morning and night you lose your youth, health, and fifty years of your life, and you just go "living with what he's done will be enough punishment"?

But imagine being so eaten away with envy, that it makes you willing to take steps to do that. Charlie's aim was to take Pierre's Great Love away because he wanted it for himself. But he not only did not succeed in gaining that love, but now he has to watch Pierre and Belle enjoy that Great Love. If I had been in Pierre's shoes, I might still want Charlie to go to jail, but I for damn sure would want the chance to flaunt my happiness in front of him. A lot. Putting Charlie in jail mightput a damper on that.

Living well as the best revenge - not every show can really do that with as much flare.

The screen we watch the show on is too small for me to be able to tell if that receipt had Charlie's personalized business logo on it. I figured that was a generic, $2 at any office supply store receipt that any one with a side business might use.

no, it definitely had a logo, and that logo matched the one on the outside of the shop.

Pierre's forgiveness seemed unbelievable

On the one hand, yeah, but on the other, who cares? I'm okay with a show fudging some of the minor elements of the episode as long as it stays true to the main characters, and to whatever elements (tone, sci fi conventions) drew me to the series in the first place.

On the one hand, yeah, but on the other, who cares?

Yes. At first I was in the camp of listen-to-the-sheriff-that's-not-Pierre's-call about going to jail. Then I hand waved it with cryogenics not being attempted murder. He was just giving him an extended vacation. And, most importantly, we wont see the characters again.

But I am pissed about the scientist who stole the work and they were all laughing buddies at the end. That might be a me thing though.