“Trials” is episode two of season three of Warehouse 13.
In the previous episode, “The New Guy”, Myka returned to the Warehouse after saving the titular new guy, ATF agent Steve Jinks, from death by artefact and having a chat with H.G. Wells, whose consciousness Mrs Frederic brought to see her. She has finally come to terms with what happened in “Reset” it would seem.
At the end of the episode, the artefacts – pages from a lost Shakespeare folio were shown to belong to some new player in the game who was using them for some type of advantage. This new player is clearly quite ruthless; not only was he willing to kill people who were essentially bystanders who might know something, as well as his actual targets, but he was also willing to eliminate his own people when they became a potential risk. Using the FBI agent Pete and Jinks had met.
This episode opens with a pilot and his first officer on a plane beginning its descent. The pilot’s eyes and their surroundings suddenly go strange and, when that effect disappears, the pilot asks all confused and leaves the cockpit – it seems that he has forgotten how to fly. This leaves the plane in a currently uncontrolled descent – otherwise known as crashing.
It’s Myka’s first day back on the job and she’s feeling nervous about it. She’s also narrating her feelings. It seems that the plane survived – the first officer successfully took over – so Myka and Pete are heading out to Seattle to find out what happened. Myka is uncertain about how Pete feels towards her currently, something that gets dealt with in the episode.
Claudia and Steve are going to Boston to an auction, where they are to buy a butcher knife belonging to Mary Mallon. Otherwise known as Typhoid Mary. The knife can transfer illnesses from one person to another. Claudia is excited about being lead agent – Artie is going to New Hampshire to attend the funeral of a Regent who was killed in a boating accident (could this be related to the mysterious new player?) – and keeps rubbing it in Steve’s face. Steve himself thinks the case is boring – he was looking forward to a bit more action, something involving bad guys and guns. They successfully get win the knife at auction (Claudia definitely doesn’t know how to bid at auction) but it’s been stolen. So Steve gets his wish. Although things aren’t what they seem.
In Seattle, the pilot from earlier is losing his memories. He’s now back to five years old. Eventually, he will lose all his memories – including knowing how to breathe. So it will be fatal. Whilst Myka and Pete are in Seattle, a surgeon gets affected the same way as the pilot – during heart surgery. She also forgets what’s she’s doing. Fortunately, another surgeon takes over and the patient survives.
The connection between the two is that they were both at a restaurant where a waitress was brutally murdered. They were also both witnesses for the upcoming trial – for the defence. The man accused claims he is innocent and two of his three witnesses have been affected. Then the third, his best friend, is too.
The mother of the murdered waitress is convinced that the accused man is guilty (his lawyer isn’t) and he is being tried in the press by a rather aggressive TV reporter who looks to have something to push. She looks like an obvious suspect. Then Pete, who has nothing to do with the trial, gets affected – and then the reporter as well. So who could be doing this? It certainly isn’t helping the defence but it’s also affecting others as well. If what’s happening isn’t reversed, everyone affected will die. Including Pete.