“Elements” is episode six of season one of Warehouse 13.
In the previous episode, “Claudia”, the titular Claudia, who was the hacker that had been assaulting the Warehouse, abducted Artie and asked for his help recovering her brother, Joshua. They knew each other, back when she was young, and her brother had made a mistake with an experiment (when Artie was his professor), trapping himself in another dimension. Artie did help and the brother was recovered, but Mrs Frederic said that Claudia now knows too much about Warehouse 13, and that there are a limited number of options for what to do with her.
So, rather than considering Claudia, this episode opens on Manhattan Island, 400 years ago (or what will later become Manhattan Island in that case). Some sort of ceremony is being carried out, with different items. A man drapes himself in a garment which then shimmers (in the way artefacts have so far). Translated, what is said is ‘When He comes, let these elements be His strength and hope.”
In New York City in the present day, someone drapes themselves in the same shimmering garment from earlier. Then walks through a wall and steals something. Artie is briefing Pete and Myka; the item stolen is a sculpture from a high end auction house. The briefing gets interrupted when Claudia and Joshua start arguing. Loudly. She doesn’t appreciate his current lifestyle choices (which involves watching a lot of YouTube). Claudia thinks Joshua should get a job; Joshua points out that there is a 12 year gap in his resume (during which he didn’t age). Artie has Claudia writing up how she managed to hack the warehouse then, when that is finished, she has to go and fix everything she broke.
Regarding the sculpture, what Artie is interested in is how the sculpture was stolen, because it should have been impossible. That’s why he wants Pete and Myka to take a look. The sculpture wasn’t even the most valuable thing in the vault. It was put up for auction when two parties showed interest in buying the item. Perhaps one of the parties stole the item. In the vault there is a feather stuck in the wall, a feather which grants the ability to pass through matter. It’s only got a limited effect, because it’s only part of the thing. One of the parties is a rich real estate developer. The other, Jeff Weaver (played by Stargate: Atlantis‘s Joe Flanigan), is the son of a conman, ravager of cultures and swindler (according to Artie). The sculpture is one of a set of four, each named after one of the four classic elements, and linked in some way to Native American culture – and the others are probably targets as well.
So, why is the thief after the sculptures? He could be stealing much more valuable items. Or, at least, items that are more obviously valuable. Presumably, the four sculptures together have more than their apparent intrinsic value.
Pete flirts with the representative of the auction house and Myka is attracted to Weaver.
Claudia has now accomplished what she set out to do, and Leena says that she now doesn’t know what she should do with her life. That she needs Joshua to be successful to prove it was worth it. Leena seems to think that Claudia might fit in well at the Warehouse.