Henry is even more surprised when a door opens and out drops Kim Anderson. Or at least something that looks just like Kim Anderson. It’s actually a walking, talking computer built by the organic computer aboard the ship when its own systems went on the fritz. As Allison, Tess and Zane try to find a way to download the incredible amount of information stored in Computer Kim, Carter and Jo attempt to return all the items used to build the boson cloud exciter in “If You Build It”.

Unfortunately, a device belonging to Fargo winds up in the hands of someone else. When that guy winds up dead, Fargo is the main suspect. But it wasn’t Fargo. An organic computer virus has infected the town. Zane catches it and almost dies. But Computer Kim is able to help and after rebuilding the boson cloud exciter everyone is saved. Hurray. Will Computer Kim return in future episodes, continuing the now improperly named “alien signal” story line? We’ll have to see.

I really think Jaime Ray Newman and her character, Tess, has added a wonderful new dynamic to Eureka. Not that the rest of the cast has become stagnant but she’s shaking things up a little. Adding a new perspective, in a way. She’s a wide-eyed enthusiast, open to new possibilities and scientific wonders. Unlike Allison, who has to worry about the safety of Eureka, and Henry, who is a bit more hardened and cynical, Tess is more spirited about her work. And now she’s a romantic angle for Carter.

In a way, Fargo’s plot tied into a larger plot point about Eureka implementing a new system of super duper self-driving (Smart Asphalt) that, in turn, allows the signal to take over the minds of the town’s teenagers, including Zoe. They build a series of towers in a field using all manner of bits and pieces from all over town. Mysterious. Tess (played by Jaime Ray Newman) determines that the towers are plasma generators, suggesting that they’re being built by someone at Global Dynamic.

Carter and Tess stake out the field in the hopes of catching whoever is building the towers. They’re shocked when Zoe, Lucas and a bunch of other teenagers show up. Before the towers can be torn down, however, Zane reveals that the plasma generator is now something much more powerful.It might be an antimatter bomb. The teenagers, now joined by some adults (including Zane), return to the towers. Eventually, the connection between the Smart Asphalt and the folks working on the towers is made.

But it’s too late.The towers activate, everyone looks on in surprise, and Allison plans to shoot down whatever is coming. Fargo shows up just in the nick of time to explain what’s really going on: it’s not a weapon, it’s a boson cloud exciter! Whatever that means. Then a space ship shows up. And apparently it’s Henry’s. Didn’t see that coming. Actually, it was a little disappointing to learn that the signal wasn’t alien in origin at all. Just another experiment gone awry, in a very big way, it seems.

Big Ed, or more specifically his “pet” radiation-eating bacteria, made for an interesting villain. True, Big Ed was yet another in a long line of scientists in Eureka who take their experiments just a step too far (he was stealing that special energy source, after all). But the poor guy was eaten by his own creation. That’s comeuppance and then some. Carter has to track down the green glob and tries to freeze it with a freeze ray, making the requisite The Blob reference.

There were some nice scenes involving Carter and Tess (played by Jaime Ray Newman) in which Tess kept laughing at Carter’s questions and attempts to understand the science behind the dangerous blob. I don’t think Jo was in this episode at all; Zoe and Vincent had only a few brief scenes at Cafe Diem, although Zoe was involved in the Lexi-Duncan relationship drama. When poor Fargo was forced to run out of the shower naked and found himself in front of a room full of people, his reaction was wonderful.

“It’s Not Easy Being Green” also managed to move forward the new alien signal storyline. Allison has been charged with developing a defense plan in case the signal leads to danger. Tess isn’t thrilled with the idea, worried that any defensive measures will be misinterpreted or worse. I can’t wait to see where this goes.

Newman was the best part of “Insane in the P-Brane.” Otherwise, it was a trite episode and easily my least favorite of Season Three, although it has been so long since I saw the first ten episodes of the season I may be forgotten some other stinkers. In the episode, Sheriff Carter and Tess find themselves transported to another dimension and have to find a way to get back before they’re stuck forever.

The idea of having characters shifted into another dimension where they can see and hear others but can’t be seen or heard themselves certainly isn’t a new one. The first time I remember seeing it on television was an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (“The Next Phase”). Despite the fact that characters are depicted walking through walls and people and aren’t able to interact with their surroundings, they never, ever, fall through the floor.

Throughout the episode, I kept waiting for Carter to ask why they were able to walk on the floor. But no, it was glossed over again. The scene in the elevator would have been the perfect opportunity. They can’t hit a button but when the elevator moves they move with it? I’m sure the writers could have come up with a funny response from Tess explaining the “science” keeping them from sinking into the ground. But it wasn’t meant to be. At least the episode ended on an interesting note, with Carter confronting Allison about an alien signal.

She’s fine and is soon attempting to uncover the identity of a thief who is stealing various bits and pieces of advanced technology. She’s also watching Zoe while Carter is busy with his test. Zoe wants to skip out on homework to go to karaoke night but Jo puts her foot down. Later, though, after sneaking out, Zoe is shocked to find Jo at the coffee shop belting out a song. It’s impressive. She also gives Fargo a bit ole kiss.

The next day Jo doesn’t remember anything that happened. She claims she was sleeping all night. And when she is identified as the thief, the mystery deepens. To make a long story short, a scientist named Julia (who we’ve never seen before) has developed a way to change the way she looks. She’s been impersonating Jo because she’s interested in Fargo and Fargo only has eyes for Jo. Things fall apart when both Jo and Julia begin exhibiting adverse reactions to the DNA switcheroo. Thankfully, the two are saved. And Carter passes his test.

It turns out Colin Ferguson directed “Your Face Or Mine,” explaining why his character was relegated to a little more than a cameo in the episode. I would have actually preferred to see Carter absent entirely from the episode because his stress test plot was boring. I will admit that I thought the test was intended to determine whether Carter could press the “escape” button, proving he knows when to give up. I thought that would have been interesting.

As much as I enjoyed seeing Erica Cerro in a nice dress, it was frustrating to once again see the “bad guy” turn out to be a genius scientist going too far. At least this time it was for love and not just scientific curiosity. I suppose it would be difficult to have outsiders threaten Eureka week after week. But after three seasons I’m so tired of the good-scientist-gone-bad routine.

For the record, Allison was the pregnant one and Carter was the fired one. By the end of “Welcome Back, Carter” he gets his job back. That wasn’t much of a surprise. His replacement is a robot named Andy who keeps getting smashed and crumpled by roving fields of intense gravity. Carter (who has found a new job) and Jo (who resigned after being passed over as the new sheriff) do their best to investigate. There wasn’t much of Zoe, Vincent, Fargo or Henry in the episode, but they all made appearances.

Simply put, S.A.R.A.H. (the smart house where Carter and Zoe live) has been trying to destroy Sheriff Andy in an attempt to keep Carter around. It was a bit of a twist, I suppose, but for a while it seemed like “Welcome Back, Carter” was going to be another episode about a scientist overstepping their boundaries only to see their experiments go awry. That happens far too often. Eureka is filled with geniuses who, after a dozen or so incidents of this type, should be able to realize that breaking the rules in the name of science never works out in the end.

So, after saving the day with the help of Sheriff Andy, Carter is given his job back by Henry who, as mayor, has final say in the firing of a town official. Everything is back to normal. Welcome back, Carter, despite the fact that you never really went anywhere and nobody thought you’d be gone for long. I thought Sheriff Andy was a neat one-off character but he’d probably get tiring quickly. At the moment, it looks like the big storyline of the rest of the season will be Allison’s pregnancy. Isn’t Lexi, Carter’s sister, still pregnant as well? Babies all around.