“Claudia” is episode five of season one of Warehouse 13.
At the end of the previous episode, “Magnetism”, the hacker who started attacking the Warehouse’s computers in “Resonance” finally seemed to get in and sent a message to Artie using the conveniently arranged lights of one of the systems – ‘Knock Knock.’
This episode opens with Artie in an odd place, one he recognises, one that looks similar to something he saw whilst messing with Dickinson’s computer. Mrs Frederic appears and tells him that he has been there before, even though he doesn’t remember. Artie is actually dreaming and gets woken up by the Farnsworth. Pete and Myka have been to a zoo, and they really did not enjoy the experience. The monkeys were a nuisance.
Artie falls asleep again and goes back to the place. When he wakes up, he’s being handcuffed by a young red haired woman. One who knew him when she was younger, and who told her he was a simple professor. Then he recognises her – the titular Claudia. She’s the hacker. Artie says he doesn’t have time for this, but the cuffs have been electrified. Artie thinks that Claudia blames him for her brother Joshua’s death, and she says it’s time to make good on his promise before taking him out of the Warehouse. Pete and Myka get back to discover the Warehouse open and Artie missing. They don’t know how to start looking for him when Mrs Frederic contacts them. Well she was actually trying to contact Artie.
Claudia has taken Artie to her brother’s old lab. Although Artie says that her brother died in an accident, Claudia says he isn’t dead, just stuck. Pete and Myka, using some equipment that Mrs Frederic mentioned, find out Claudia’s name and that she was institutionalised. Well, if you think your dead brother is still alive, that sort of thing is highly likely to happen. Even if he is alive. Claudia wants Artie to help bring Joshua back. Artie still thinks Joshua is dead and Claudia doesn’t seem entirely stable. She claims that Joshua visits her. Claudia needs Artie’s help to bring him back.
Pete and Myka are following Claudia’s trail (after their parents died her quite a bit older brother cared for her then, when he died, she went into the foster system) and, in her registered address, don’t find a wall of crazy but an entire room full of crazy.
Artie is having flashbacks then, at Joshua’s lab, something appears. Which resolves itself into a ghostly Joshua. So, Claudia is not quite as crazy as she seems. Claudia has been trying to recreate Joshua’s experiment, and this is what she needs Artie for. The experiment is related to something that a 16th century mathematician called Rheticus was working on – human teleportation – and it’s making Claudia sick. Artie doesn’t think it’s possible to save Joshua and that trying to do so is too dangerous, but Claudia talks him around.
The experiment failed when Joshua tried it. If it’s going to be tried again, what went wrong needs to be fixed or both Claudia and Artie will go the same way as Joshua.