Nathan Stark’s Future In Eureka
NOTE THE SPOILERS ‘CATEGORY’. It really does mean there are spoilers here. ;-)
So I completely freaked. I know–I run Eurekafan.com so I should keep up with the spoilers. But I don’t. I enjoy the excitement of not knowing what’s going to happen and if I did know, then I’m not sure I’d be such a fanatic for the show.
After watching I Do Over, I went on a spoiler hunt, but I didn’t really find anything about the “death” of Nathan Stark and whether or not it is permanent. However I did find this interview, which I’ll post the relevant bits of here and let you assume what you will. With, of course, a few choice comments from me.
The entirety of this interview with Ed Quinn (Nathan Stark of Eureka) can be found at this site: MediaBlvd Magazine
When asked if he saw himself as part of Eureka for the long haul….
Of course you say, “Yeah, I’d like to be a part of it from beginning to end.” But shows change, shows evolve. And sometimes characters don’t evolve with them. So you just go in every day and every season and just try to do your best work and see where it goes. The show is kind of organic and depending on where it goes and some characters can evolve with the show and some can’t. I think you’ll see this season that there will definitely be some losses of some supporting characters, and an introduction to a bunch of new ones.
A bad sign for the reappearance of Stark, in my opinion!
When asked if he had spoilers to share….
“I think the only ones that I’m allowed to talk about…”
Definitely a hint that Ed Quinn knows something he can’t discuss.
But there is a big, big reveal this season that I think will make the first eight episodes kind of memorable, then really send the show off into a different direction.
I have hope. Stark appears to die (or fade away as he is pulled backwards in time — my own personal theory for what happened to him until someone offers a better theory to me) in I Do Over. However, I Do Over is episode number 4.
Does this mean that Nathan Stark isn’t gone for good? Why would he know about the rest of the episodes and where the direction of the show is moving if he doesn’t have a part in it? Am I reaching? I really don’t know that much about how the world goes round in the tv business…
When asked about the dynamic between Nathan Stark and Jack Carter and if it would continue into season three….
Absolutely…. The creators thought that one of the funner relationships was the Carter/Stark relationship….because a lot of the story lines got resolved, the conflict got resolved. In season one, Carter and Stark were diametrically opposed. Carter and Stark just happened to have the competition of the love for the same lady. In season 2, Stark…didn’t have a dark agenda anymore…. So all of a sudden Carter and Stark had the same objective…. In the beginning of this season there is some more of that.
In the beginning says it all.
I think that wraps it up nicely. Decide what you will, but my opinion? Stark is gone.
And I am sad.
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I appreciate any and all discussion of Eureka, so if I post something you want to respond to, please do. I promise I won't make you invisible. :-)
August 19th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
I, too, was searching the Internet to see if Stark is really gone or not and came upon this site. Man, I hope they bring him back as he a great character for the show.
August 19th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
I was pretty shocked when Nathan faded off. I remember, though – wasn’t there an episode where Alison’s boy teleported and was a cloud of dust in a similar fashion? Or am I remembering wrong?
I think Stark will be back, if for no other reason the great sarcasm between the two. But it’s true — they had grown to have an understanding and trust of each other. And the corporate downsizer has the evil role done quite well. Still it wouldn’t be a replacement.
Personally, I thought Henry might get the axe, which would be a shame if we lose Henry. Yet his character, which was once central, shows up less and less.
I do like the introduction of more and more “other” people who live in Eureka – that “changes it up a bit”.
And having Carter figure out solutions in the “gee golly gosh” fashion, I still love that.
Still, I can kinda see where the Stark character was having trouble changing with the times. He steadily was losing his power, and if Stark does get back with Alison, then Carter would need a new love interest, no?
It’ll be interesting to see how the show evolves. It was off the air for WAY too long, but it seems to be finding its feet again quite well. I loved the Dr. Who reference (a nice nod to Time Travel – gotta mention Dr Who, one of my favorite shows of all time) and the new product placement for Degree antipersperant was absolutely BRILLIANT! Don’t hide the product placement — make it OBVIOUS and it lets everybody in on the joke, while also helping advertise the product. Genius for 2008!
Ken Udut of Naples, FL
August 20th, 2008 at 3:41 am
The show will not be the same without him.
August 20th, 2008 at 7:44 am
I agree with all of you! The show won’t be the same without Stark. The one-upmanship that’s been going on between Carter and Stark is one of my favorite aspects of the show and although I think Allison is a great love interest for Carter, I’m more than happy for them to take that in another direction if needed.
Kevin, Allison’s son, teleported in the episode A Night at Global Dynamics. I don’t really think of that as the same kind of thing as what has happened to Stark.
Here’s my own private speculation–and I’m probably totally off the mark here, but why not throw it out there?
Nathan comes back after a huge reveal in the 8th-ish episode where time is shifted and things revert to a pre-Nathan/Allison time. They’ve played with time before, so why not again?
On another note, I am dying to know what the “big, big reveal” is!
August 20th, 2008 at 9:56 am
I am so irritated if it is permanent…..he is my favorite character and the show will not be the same….ugh… :(
August 20th, 2008 at 9:59 am
I don’t think Nathan is gone. I don’t think he will be with Allison anymore. Here words in the show concerning that things between her and Carter weren’t meant to happen, as we know were incorrect. I think Stark’s time line has been changed, allowing Jack and Allison to get together.
August 20th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Dee –> I really hope you’re right! I agree with lots of other who think that the end of Nathan Stark will really change the show’s flavor. I will miss him enormously. I also noted the very precise wording of Everything will work out the way it’s meant to be. {My paraphrase here.} I hope it has implications beyond this single episode.
Sharon –> He’s definitely one of my favorites. I do love Carter though. :-)
If I come across any more information on the subject, you can be sure I’ll post it.
I noticed too Henry’s speech about love. Henry can remember the altered time-line, so I found his words very interesting in light of that!
August 20th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I was blown away…
Nathan Stark is my favorite character on the show after Jack. Shoicked, distraught, I can not begin to describe the thought of the show without Nathan but I do not think this is permenant. I also think this marks the end of the Jack/Allison relationship wheel. Jack ‘saw’ for the first time how much Nathan really loved Allison. I think the audience in general saw got one of the first real glipmses of the inner Nathan Stark right before he vanished. I think Jack final sees how much the two of them love each other and that will change his opinion of the couple.
I forsee Nathan poping out of time at some surprising moment…
August 20th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Jeff –> I hadn’t really thought of it like that. If you think about one of the spoilers I reported on the site a while back (I’m only linking, not saying, so that anyone not wanting a spoiler doesn’t have to see it), it might be time to end the romantic entanglement between Jack and Allison.
If you go by what happened in “Once in a Lifetime,” Allison and Jack’s relationship didn’t take long to develop, mature, and reproduce. That would be bad for the show I think. :-)
Maybe they need to find Jack another love interest–maybe they already have, and maybe Allison will be reunited with Nathan soon. Because I’ll miss Nathan Stark in every episode I see without him! What will I do without those snide comments about Jack’s intelligence?
August 20th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Silly how they got rid of one of the more interesting characters on the show just to make CarterxAllison (a rather forced pairing, the two don’t even have that great chemistry with each other with her being a mother to him half the time) possible. Quite sad.
August 20th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
As we all remember, Henry is the only one who can remember the original timeline. Stark also said going back in time would cause time to fold back on itself and everything would be deleted (paraphrasing here).
Will Henry ever come clean about the altered timeline to Jack? Will he figure the losses of this new timeline (friends that were killed in this time, events that were catastrophic) were not worth the sacrifice of his one love? Will he find a way to restore the original timeline?
Only the very sneaky writers know for certain. As far as Stark, if he does come back (somehow.. maybe he just moved to another point in time) that would preclude an ending that Henry would come clean and restore the original timeline.
All in all, I will (hopefully temporarily) miss the dynamic between Carter and Stark, as it was one of my favorite things to watch in the show.
That would make for an interesting end-of-show reveal.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
OK we all realize that this may be the end of Stark
But from what I’m hearing, there may be a future for stark in Eureka.
so see if you can follow me on this one…
Remember in the episode “Invincible”
As the Carl the invincible scientist prepares to step into the Artifact chamber…
Nathan Stark: Carl, I have to know… what is it?
Dr. Carl Carlson: Someday, you will know. The question is, will you be ready? I am.
[Carl steps into the chamber and the door closes behind him]
Also later in Episode “Phoenix Rising”
During with a conversation with Congressman Faraday, Beverly Barlowe states
“Energy of that magnitude doesn’t just die, it had to go somewhere”
Now i know that the mind and energy of the Artifact transported itself into Kevin Blake to survive. Then in the end of season 3 Henry uses the teleportation device to “filter” Kevin from the artifact.
But what if Beveryly is right and its not gone for good, and if Carl communicated with this artifact and told Stark “Someday, you will know” will being the key word. On top of that Starks’s last words to Carter were “I’ll see you around, Jack.”(by the way that sent chills up my spine, and twisted my gut).
So I say Stark is coming back. And I have to tip my hat to the Producers of Eureka for one of the best character removals since, Daniel Jackson Season 5 of stargate sg-1. Just like that series we didn’t know for sure Daniel was coming back but he did. Id also say this good bye was even better, with that frozen fake smile of his , to remember him by. that’s coming from a huge SG-1 fan. So for now i wait, hope, and keep watching.
And remember expect big things from America’s smartest little town Eureka!
August 20th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I, too, read the interview posted above. Quinn was very cagey throughout, doing a great job of not really committing to any straight answer regarding his longevity on the show.
I hope they are going to bring him back. A very common theme to the comments on any Eureka blog is that everyone loved the banter between Stark and Carter. Eureka’s producers would be foolish to turn their backs on something so finely appreciated by the majority of their fans.
Something else to consider: Way back in the first season the episode “Primal” featured an army of nanoid-based Stark clones. Maybe the writers will do a callback from that episode to bring Stark back later on. Here’s hoping…
August 20th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
I would hope they have gotten rid of Nathan Stark just to remove the barrier between Allison and Jack. The chemistry is there something, in my own opinion, but I loved the love triangle between them! Anyone else ever watch The Dead Zone? That love triangle worked for years until the producers got stupid and removed Walt from the equation.
I completely agree! I nearly choked up at this. I admit I’m a sucker for emotional moments like this on a show. I love Stargate myself, and agree that this was a fantastic send off for Nathan.
If it does turn out that Nathan Stark is gone for good, I will at least feel like he went out in character! His love for Allison was heartbreaking and his choice to not let Fargo do the deed made me respect him in a way I hadn’t before.
Keeping the hope alive, remember this bit from the interview, where Ed Quinn said, “In season 2, Stark…didn’t have a dark agenda anymore…. In the beginning of this season there is some more of that.”
Maybe this simply means that Stark is going to return to the “old” Stark, the man with the dark agenda.
I can see this working with archimedes theory. The Nathan Stark that we came to know and love in season two was a nanoid clone of Stark and the real Nathan Stark is out there somewhere, ready to be revealed at any moment. ;-)
August 21st, 2008 at 12:30 am
i dont think hes dead its the dumbledore rule if theres no body hes not dead
i refuse to believe nathans dead ++
August 21st, 2008 at 11:54 am
Do not forget the first season episodes. The show has already shown that somebody can be caught in time. So I don’t see this being a big goodbye yet.
EDIT: nvm… http://revealthescience.blogspot.com/2008/08/goodbye-nathan.html
August 21st, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Ok, so I won’t lie, I screamed louder then I probably should have when Stark gracefully started to float away. All I kept thinking was “What the hell?!”. He has to be coming back, Fargo is a minor character (unless the axe has yet to drop on him too)remember he offered to do it and Nathan wouldn’t let him. It’s like Nathan knew what would happen or that he would come back eventually;).He seemed to chummy chummy with the reorganizer in the beginning of the season. For some reason (conspiracy theory I am sure) I feel like he will pop back up and she will have something to do with it. I liked the introduction of Jack’s sister, she is a groovy sort of gal so she will definately bring a new vibe to the show. As much as I want to see Jack and Allison together, the folks at Eureka won’t just throw them into each other’s arms no matter how much we wish it. This season is turning out to be everything I had hoped for, it was gone way too long.
August 21st, 2008 at 4:55 pm
For the love of God, I hope they don’t use this as an excuse to get Carter and Allison closer. The whole love interest crap was annoying enough as it was. I’ve seen enough shows killed off just cause the writers wants to get rid of a 3rd wheel.
It’s bad enough that the show added the new lady running things. She’s annoying enough but now they take away a main character who made things entertaining.
August 21st, 2008 at 9:38 pm
So…I’m a huge Eureka fan, I’ll admit. I’ve loved the show from the beginning, but seriously, I’m not sure where it’s going this season. And frankly, I’m not so upset over Stark being killed off as I am with the fact that everything seems like it’s predictable now. Where’s the deep science that founded the show and brought in those into the science part of the show as well as the witty characters?
Take this episode. It was too similar to the GROUNDHOGS DAY theme. It’s been done. Find something new! I’m sure I’m not alone in this, but I’m tired of being able to predict what’s happening before the show’s over.
In all fairness, I’ll admit that I didn’t see Stark going away, but I couldn’t imagine how they’d work the character dynamics with all being well in love-love land and the tension between Ally and Stark and Carter being more of a jealousy thing on Carter’s behalf. I don’t think Carter would be that fun to watch if he were all the time brooding, and he isn’t the kind to try to break up a happy couple. That’d be wrong. So…where does that leave the show?
If they take away Stark and add in Carter’s pregnant sister…maybe they’ll start developing more interesting shows and keep us guessing about what might develop. But only time and more episodes will tell, I guess.
Later,
Heather R.
August 21st, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Think Daniel Jackson SG1 (which someone already mentioned, but it’s my favorite show of all time so must reiterate). The dynamics between Stark and Carter are just a likable and popular as those between Daniel and Jack when Daniel left. He came back, and I think Stark will come back in some late season shocker that will have fans on there feet. He’ll be back, even if it takes a whole season.
August 22nd, 2008 at 9:43 am
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August 27th, 2008 at 12:18 am
I just finished watching this week’s episode and I’ve been trawling the web trying to figure out if Stark’s really dead…
I have hope that this is just a gimmick on SciFi’s part to get people watching the show. The dynamic between Carter and Stark is just TOO perfect to get rid of! The creators would, honestly, have to be on SPEED to get rid of Stark, especially with the chemistry between Carter and Stark. As someone who writes screenplays and understands the chemistry between characters, I can honestly say that it’s suicide to delete a dynamic like that. Even though the “love interest” has disappeared with the remarriage of Stark and Blake, there’s MUCH more there for Stark and Carter to be at odds about that the creators can still use.
I have faith that Stark WILL RETURN!
(please o.o)
August 28th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
IMDb lists Ed Quinn in 29 episodes from 2006-8; and all the other main actors as being in 32 episodes.
Query: how many episodes have been aired cumulatively to date?
By simple subtraction we ought to be able to figure out whether he’ll be back this season…
September 1st, 2008 at 2:33 pm
If Stark goes through time then doesn’t he become a paradox as well? His return would change the so called continuity of time and make alternate times compete for the same quantum time space? At least, this is what was explained when Carter went back to stop Henry. Experiments in time travel have always ended in disaster on this show.
To bring Stark back, in any time, would be to blast away the theory they have so carefully laid down in more than one episode.
If Stark is still around then he is “out of phase” and still in the same time stream. That means he is watching all that is happening now in Eureka. Maybe they will make him reappear to expose all that the evil Eva Thorne is trying to do in Beverly Barlow’s absence?
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Like many others here, I too have been searching the web trying to learn if Stark is truly gone, and came across this blog. At the risk of repeating everything already posted, I can’t emphasize enough what a loss I felt when I realized what I was seeing in that fateful episode. Surely I’m not the only girl TOTALLY in love with Stark?? He’s my favorite reason for watching! I am harboring a faint hope that the show’s writers are also reading this thread, and will see how much he means to the show and to the fans. I don’t believe for a moment they aren’t brilliant enough to find a way to bring him back, and make the storyline entirely plausible. I don’t mean to sound like a teenybopper whining over the latest Tiger Beat idol, but please, please don’t take Nathan away for good!
October 5th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
I don’t think he’s gone, it makes it too easy for Carter cause Thorne’s gone now, so they need someone for Carter to fight with, things will be too calm.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I think so too, Beth. I think he’s gone, but now that Thorne is also gone, who’s going to be the trouble maker?!
January 18th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
yeah, stark might be stuck in tmes, like that guy that was stuck betwin secounds, than he will find a way t talk to them. my other theory is that stark really got back in time, and in the time he is he will try to create a machine to send is consience forward in time, like the other dude that send backwards.
January 18th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
I would certainly love it if that turned out to be the case with Stark. His character was one of my favorites.
April 9th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
If Stark is “erased” from the progress of time, he’s not dead. He’s just going to be stuck in the time loop Carter was in, but without being exposed to the ultra-indigo light, he wouldn’t know it. I think Stark missing from the timeline might have the same effect on the town as Walter’s Tachyon Accelerator, so someone will have to go back and “trip” Stark, or knock him out of his eternal routine.
I found it hard watching the last few episodes without Stark…
April 9th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
There did seem to be something missing without Stark around. Now that he’s gone, I think the writers of the show are going to have to step it up to keep the show up to par with its previous goodness!
July 16th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
I´m a spanish fan and I like the Stark returns
¿no body?.¡no dead!
Stark es el mejor!!!
July 20th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
And yet, no sign of Stark. Maybe the unknow NAVSAT thing is, somehow, Nathan returning. (not saw ep10 yet)
August 26th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
I also hope stark isn’t dead he brings so much 2 the show, and the episodes after his death just feel as if something is missing. Hopfully producers will listen and bring bc nathan stark after all its eureka and anything is possible
August 26th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
and STILL… no sign of Stark. i guess we’ll be kept waiting longer. season 4 cant get here fast enough!
also, to some comments above regarding Henry’s knowledge of the tampered timeline; am i correct in assuming Henry did not actually live that timeline? he returned to the accident site after Kim died, but he never actually got to proceed into it because Jack showed up to stop the mess before it even started. so i’m guessing jack told him about the events that transpired in “Once in a Lifetime”.
or am i missing something?
August 27th, 2009 at 6:42 am
Your theory about Henry sounds about right to me. I seem to remember Jack telling Henry about everything and then of course they discovered that the body was Kim’s. I would love to see Stark again, but I think he’s gone for good! I’m not sure if a guest appearance would make me feel any better since it would only be a temporary thing.
August 27th, 2009 at 7:51 am
i agree
stark’s return would need to be permanent
September 18th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
So, I haven’t missed episode yet, but I just don’t find myself as eager to watch anymore. Is it just me, or does this show now seem a little dull without Nathan? Carter has no one to keep him on his toes. It just feels like the old Stark spark is missing. I’m almost… bored. Anyone else??
September 18th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
I still like the show, but I admit I miss Nathan! I wonder if they’re having a little trouble finding someone new to antagonize Carter? That, to me, is the missing link right now.
I would have loved to see the new robotic sheriff stick around because I loved that dynamic. However, I’m not sure that it would have worked long-term. Welcome Back, Carter remains my favorite episode of the second half of the third season.
September 18th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Lynn, I’m glad you mentioned something, because I’ve been unsure. IS this still the continuation of the third season after that loooong hiatus? When this season is done, all the episodes from last year AND this year will be on one DVD set?
September 18th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Yes, that’s usually how it works, although they did do a 3.0 season release of the dvds (see my season three page). They’ll probably release a 3.5 set, but also a full season 3 set soon after the season ends. Tonight’s episode is actually the end of season three—already! :( Let’s hope season 4 isn’t far behind.
October 13th, 2009 at 11:09 am
I really hope that they will have season 4 very soon. I am watching through season 3 & with the disappearance of Dr. Nathan Stark I couldn’t possibly imagine Eureka without him. What a great guy, didn’t expect the character to go so early.
December 7th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Allison’s pregnancy is very simple.At the same time Nathan sacrificed himself and basically saved Time,Space and pretty much existance. Allison did not realize that she was pregnant until after he did it.Recall episode “Once in a Lifetime”,the (Season 1 finale 2006) when Carter wakes up in bed with a Pregnant Allison Blake,a normal day,together married,and it’s 2010.It had to do with Henry’s plan to save Kim, by tearing a hole in space and time.When Carter returns to the right spot in time,life returns to normal after Henry’s mind eraser.Simply The baby is Carter’s that came through some time fluctuation as a result of the time infraction.Just for “Once in a lifetime” was supposed to be taking place in 2010.Perfect timing for the upcoming season 5?
February 24th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
OMG!!!!! Nathan was my fav on EUReKA!!! I too, was searching about Nathan when this came up. I reeeeeeeeeealy hope the Dumbledoor rule aplise here. Now that Carter has Tess, that leaves Allison open. My theory is he’ll just come back in a different time zone…. which is season 4. Please come back Nathan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 20th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
I love Fargo but the clone idea wouldnt work wasn’t the nathan that was still alive exposed to the noise which destroyed the clones so wouldn’t that mean he would of died. I hope he comes back like in prison break kellerman supposedly died but he returned in the last episode and saved them all so maybe nathan will come back and solve some problem which was goin to end the world. No body no proof