Eureka: Just in time for Pride Week!

 

Back at it again with Niamh Sharkey, and with my good friend Gwendolivia while I'm at it! And honestly? While I found Henry Hugglemonster to be a forgettable pain, Eureka is... pretty decent.

Now I don't know if I would use the word "good" just yet. It's entertaining, fun for kids, and at the very least, background noise for adults, but there's stuff about this show I really respect, notably the canonical LGBT representation and LGBT undertones.

Starting with the representation, there's Eureka's girl best friend Pepper, who has two mothers, Olive and Ivy. You don't really see too much of them, or rather, I didn't in the 13 or so episodes I've watched. Pretty standard fare by this point in terms of LGBT rep, but it always makes me pretty happy, as a bisexual adult. 

The other known LGBT representation at this point is Ember, who is canonically nonbinary, though if you are to watch their focus episode, "Ember Remembers," and many other episodes featuring them, it seems a damn good job is done of hiding this fact. (I don't think their gender is even mentioned once in the episode, and they are referred to with pronouns only in one episode I saw, "Barry On.") However, a little research (an interview with their voice actor, Sasha Knight) shows this is indeed true. Even though we've had characters like Yuck, and even characters who aren't jokes like Raine as nonbinary, I think Ember might be the first Disney Junior character to be nonbinary! I hope we get some focus on this soon!!!

And honestly, I think that's all to be heralded. I don't see really any praise about it other than in small corners of the internet, which is insane. Like, I understand I'm probably the only childless person over the age of 25 to be watching this cartoon, but come on now, there's guys like me watching Bluey, and I don't even think they have gay characters in that.

And as exciting as this news is, I think what interests me more in the subtext in this show... of which... there is a lot. Like a lot more than you'd expect from a show that already has canon lesbians and nonbinary people. Even from the second episode, "Absoflutely Fabulous," it seems like Eureka has a huge crush on the new girl in class, Julia. 

A little down the line, and we get introduced to KB, a creature that challenges the binary of being a bird or a kangadon (I understand that's a made up animal but just go with it). His introductory episode, "KBs of a Feather" has the kids try to get him to do various kangadon and bird activities only to realize he isn't either of those things, and come to accept him for what he is. Also he's voiced by Jack McBrayer.

And the other noteworthy subtextual episode is "Peppereka." Remember when I said Eureka and Pepper were girl best friends? I wasn't kidding. In a few words, I think the best way to describe this one is "The Shipping Episode." Essentially Barry and Eureka find a new shortcut to school that leaves Pepper feeling left out, so the two end up doing everything together, or as Peppereka. The whole thing reads very like a relationship and the scene where Eureka suggests they stop being Peppereka and go back to just being friends reads as a breakup. There's a B-Plot about Bog (Eureka's conservative foil, more on him later), trying to come up with a ship name for himself and his friend Clod as well, which Eureka points out is really silly.

Anyway, I bring all this up because fandom culture, particularly LGBT fandom culture posits this sort of DIY culture to finding LGBT characters in media, especially media for children which is severely lacking in these, and I was never really sure that was... the case. I always considered shipping, then coming out as bisexual to be a sort of coincidental thing. But here, I feel like both the overtones and subtextual LGBT stuff are sort of nods from some of the creative team. I think a particular thing worth noting is Johnny LaZebnik, who worked on the Simpsons episode "Portrait of a Lackey on Fire" (the episode where Smithers dates a fashion designer) is a regular writer on Eureka, and wrote one of the episodes I mentioned, "KBs of a Feather." So some of it might just be wild speculation, while others may be LGBT creatives putting some of themselves in their stories. Either way, I may still keep tabs on Eureka to see if anything else happens with the show! I admit, it has me curious!

I wasn't the biggest on the characters of Eureka though. They aren't horrible, but they do come off as a bit generic, especially at the beginning. I remember actually seeing Pepper and Barry and being instantly reminded of Hattie and Fergie from Alice's Wonderland Bakery. However, both started to grow on me, especially in focus episodes I mentioned earlier ("Peppereka" and "Barry On").

I think the main draw of the show is Eureka herself, and Bog, her main rival.

Eureka I think fits in well with the other Disney Junior protagonists. She's smart, creative, a leader, exciteable, and also a bit of a bundle of nerves... Like, I know baby show characters are usually pretty high energy, but Eureka takes that and makes it part of her character, leaving mid conversation when she gets inspiration from an invention, freaking out when she can't figure something out or when others make things difficult for her, and keeping a positive attitude so people can be welcoming of her new ideas and inventions.

Bog was Gwen's favorite. For some reason. He's kind of the guy you'd love to hate. Super traditionalist, afraid of trying new things, and a bit of a jerk. Bog and Eureka challenge each other pretty well, and I think this song really shows off their dynamic. He's also got a best friend in the form of his turtle loving sidekick, Clod, who I mentioned earlier. He's kind of got an archetype you see a bit, but it's still a fun one.

Overall, I think Eureka grew on me a bit. I was originally unimpressed, but as time went on, I felt more interested in the stories the show was telling. I'm not sure if it's one of those shows you need more than a few episodes to watch, or if it just genuinely gets better midway through season 1, but I'd recommend checking it out either way. It's pretty episodic so like, no stress.

Oh also Eureka invented DDR

Overall Rating for Eureka: B Tier