“The Living and the Dead” is episode eleven of season four of Warehouse 13.
In the previous episode, “We All Fall Down”, Evil Artie had broken the covering on a flower, a blue Chinese orchid, that would release a plague. Although Good Artie had managed to take control long enough for Claudia to stab him with the dagger, just as he saw her do in “A New Hope”, the flower still turned to ash when Pete caught it, spreading disease across the world, one which could wipe out half the population, English sweating sickness. Which is bad.
This episode with Artie and Leena talking at Leena’s. Artie is actually in a helicopter with the others with the dagger sticking out of him. He doesn’t look so good. The helicopter is taking them all back to the Warehouse.
The news is reporting a heat wave in Europe, which is causing people to apparently have problems with dehydration. Doctors are advising them to keep out of the heat – no-one else knows about the disease yet. It’s 16 hours until the first mortalities. Mrs Frederic says that they are all infected with the disease, which will eventually kill them. Dr Vanessa, whose day job is with the CDC, is coordinating with them. Artie is catatonic, not dead – Claudia stabbing Artie apparently separated him from his evil side. Something she did on instinct.
Jane has a theory and she wants Jinks and Claudia’s help. She has a watch that belonged to Sigmund Freud and wants the two of them to go inside Artie’s mind and see if they can bring him back. Before his consciousness disintegrates. The inside of Artie’s mind is the Warehouse. A very blue Warehouse that is shutting down. With Artie’s mind shutting down, he wants Claudia and Jinks out of it. Claudia is feeling a bit down, and Artie’s mind is not cooperating. It’s sending people against them, who are using artefacts. He doesn’t want to be saved.
Mrs Frederic wants Myka and Pete to help find out a way of stopping the plague. The orchid turned to ash each time there was an outbreak of the disease, and reconstituted, causing the outbreak to stop. So they need to reconstitute the flower themselves. The Count of St. Germain – a noted charlatan – supposedly had the power to return sickly plants to life. So Pete and Myka go to see an expert on the count, a professor at Columbia University. Who is rather drunk. Not a promising sign. He’s the one who they want to help save the world. As Pete says, don’t tell the world – it’ll panic. The Count’s things were buried with him in the Catacombs of Paris. Which are very, very big. The professor is also rather more knowledgeable than he appears at first glance, and wants something himself. And isn’t what he seems.
As the episode progresses, there are news stories reporting on the disease, and a countdown until the first deaths. And the team is getting sicker.
A new plot thread opens up at the end.