I truly love this little town in the middle of nowhere in Oregon; I have since the first episode.

Eureka’s one of those scifi shows firmly grounded in science and reality (of sorts). It seems like the kind of place you just might get if you gathered the finest scientific minds of their generation and put them all in one place with, more or less, unlimited resources.

It was obvious from the very first episode that Allison and Carter were going to get together, sooner or later. And in Season 2 when they got married and Allison got pregnant, it seemed they weren’t going to tease us with the Sam and Diane scenario for years.

Then, in order to save the town, the timeline, everything, Carter and Henry had to lose their loves to save it all, well, I was willing to go along with it. I was even willing to deal with the detour that was Nathan Stark, as he obviously loved Allison and they did, after all, have a child together.

So when Carter and Tess broke up at the end of Season 3 and Allison had had proper time to grieve, it seemed it was time.

Then, Season 4 had a fabulous opener that did a variety of things:
• gave us insight into the creation of Eureka
• gave us James Callis doing one helluvan American accent
• gave us a time travel paradox
• gave us Allison and Carter kissin’ and lovin’ and Jo kicking some SERIOUS ass.

When our intrepid time travelers made it back to present-day Eureka, it was, of course Fargo, who first noticed not everything was the same. The statue of Archimedes used to be granite, but was now brass (bronze? I can’t remember; I might have gotten it wrong).

Jo finds that Zane is in her jail, but he’s not reminiscing about how they met – he’s really in jail and their love was something that happened in the old timeline. Allison makes it home and both her children are still there, but her son, who’s been autistic and noncommunicative, is a happy, normal teenager who just wants to play Xbox with his friends.

That was a beautiful moment, actually – Allison realizing she could have her son more fully than she’d ever been able to, and knowing that her present was, maybe, better than her previous present.

Then, Carter gets home.

S.A.R.A.H.? Check. But she looks different. We see a purse right by the front door. Is Zoe still at Harvard?

“Yes.”

But it’s not S.A.R.A.H. who answers. It’s Tess.

Not that we didn’t see that coming, sorta. But, still.

In this present, Tess never left town. She stayed and is in love with Carter. He was with her, too. But he’s the same Carter who shared the kiss with Allison in the past and created this present.

So, forget about Jack and Diane; it’s Sam and Diane all over again, except they’re named Carter and Allison.

On the plus side: We have Fargo & Jo having a shared experience, which should create some amusing moments. We have Jo and Zane no longer in love, and an angry, unloved Jo is more fun to watch than a happy in love Jo. Sorry, Jo. We have James Callis rockin’ it in the present.

But I really don’t want this detour in Carter & Allison’s love to last an entire season. And I don’t want another detour.

Other than that? No complaints. I even liked the sepia-toned past. Very evocative.