Episode 7: For the Team
This one starts with Dr. Hernandez (the veterinarian Pete and Myka met in Episode 3) making a house call to treat Myka’s pet ferret. Hernandez and Pete still don’t get along (which usually means they’ll end up dating), insulting each other as soon as they’re in proximity. To be fair, Pete does come running in asking Myka to guess how many croissants he can fit in his mouth at once, which Myka explains is rather impressive when you actually see it. After Dr. Hernandez leaves, Artie shows
up and says there’s some doings a-transpiring at Tamalpais university in Northern California. The wrestling team hadn’t won a match for seven years, but this year they’re unbeatable … and one of them died in a fire while out camping by himself. Artie figures an artifact is helping them win, but also might be killing them. He says Pete isn’t going (even though Pete was a wrestler in college) because they have to be sure all the aftereffects of his freak-out last episode are gone. So Claudia is going on her first assignment, though Artie is quick to stress she’s an apprentice, not a full-fledged agent.
At Tamalpais, we see a wrestler named Philip psyching up before the match and there’s definitely something weird going on. His muscles are expanding 
and bulging all over the place, apparently at random. This is obviously more than steroids. As Myka and Claudia watch, Philip wins his match easily and Myka says they’d better talk to the team. In the dressing room, Coach Tappon says the new winning streak is due to hard work and when they talk to another wrestler (Garry), he basically says the same thing. Claudia is freaked out by all the male flesh on display (though Myka doesn’t even seem to notice), so she waits outside. She sees Philip in the gym, muscles going crazy again; he bursts into flames right in front of her, and Claudia yells for Myka.
Later, as the coach talks to the stunned team, Myka assures Claudia there wasn’t anything she could’ve done to stop Philip’s death. Claudia shows Myka the autopsy reports on the two dead wrestlers (which she hacked from police files) and it looks like both of them just spontaneously combusted. They watch Coach Tappon bring the team together for a prayer and they all grasp a gold medal. Myka figures that might be the artifact, so she tells Claudia to interview the players while she asks the coach about the medal.
At the Warehouse, Pete is going stir crazy from being on desk duty. Artie is in some pain and has to call a doctor; apparently, his appendix grows back every year and has to be removed again. He says it’s a side-effect of working in the Warehouse, but Pete isn’t sure if he’s telling the whole truth. At Tamalpais, Myka mentions the gold medal to the coach and hints that he might be using it to win, at the expense of his players’ lives. He gets pissed off and tells her he’ll have her thrown off campus if she tries to scare his team with her story. The coach leaves for a meeting with a slick-looking guy named Jeff, who he says is one of the school’s benefactors. Claudia talks to Garry about the coach, but she tries too hard to be Myka and comes off like a socially inept robot. Garry gets upset at her insinuations about the coach and points that she’s obviously new at this.
At the Warehouse, Dr. Vanessa Calder shows up (played by Lindsay Wagner) and after examining Artie, says she should take out his re-grown appendix just in case it gets infected. She uses the word “prophylactically”, which makes Pete giggle like a ninny. Pete notices that Artie’s interest in Vanessa 
is more than just professional, but Artie tries to deny it. At Tamalpais, Claudia and Myka prepare to use the purple neutralizer goo on the medal. Claudia asks how Myka can be so sure the coach is behind everything and Myka says her experience has shown that people are predictable, and rarely change. When they get to the office, someone is already there, rifling through the trophy cabinet. When Myka pulls her Tesla gun and tells the intruder to turn around, it turns out to be fugitive agent H.G. Wells.
Myka almost strangles her before Wells admits she’s after the same artifact they are. Wells also shows little remorse for killing MacPherson, saying he’d happily have wasted all of them given the chance. Wells hands over the medal, but before Myka can figure out what to do with her, they hear the coach coming. Wells distracts him long enough for Myka and Claudia to slip away. (Claudia: “She’s good.”; Myka: “Sure, in an obvious kind of way.”;
Claudia: “Worked on Pete in London.”; Myka: “Well, that’s not exactly scaling Mount Everest, is it?”) At the Warehouse, Artie is getting ready for his operation when Vanessa gets a call (her Farnsworth ringtone sounds like the old Bionic Woman sound effect). Pete slaps down an artifact he found in Artie’s desk (P.T. Barnum’s top) which can be used to grow extra limbs … and internal organs. Artie has been using it to regrow his appendix as an excuse to see Vanessa, and Pete suggests the obvious: why not just ask her out on a date, instead of scheduling invasive surgery every year? Artie isn’t too thrilled at the idea and is even less happy when Vanessa tells him she has an emergency in Budapest and has to postpone his surgery. She does seem like she’s kinda interested, so Artie should take Pete’s advice.
At Tamalpais, Myka puts the medal in the neutralizer, but nothing happens … so it isn’t the artifact after all. She’s sure Wells knew that, which is why she handed it over so willingly. Claudia shows her the coach’s file (which she stole from the office) and he just moved to a big house in the rich part of town. Myka wonders if Wells is behind everything and is paying the coach off. She says she’ll check into it while Claudia keeps interviewing the wrestlers. Claudia’s not too keen on that, mentioning her disastrous attempt to act like Myka. Myka says she should just be herself and connect with these guys on their own level, since she’s their age. Myka uses reverse psychology, getting Claudia to admit she’s not ready to go back to a support role. Claudia sees through it (because she’s smart), but appreciates what 
Myka’s doing. Claudia talks to Garry again, but this time she’s her usual cool, snarky self (and points out the pictures of hot models he has pinned up on his wall are photo-shopped). She mentions the coach might be getting paid off and Garry looks like he knows something. He doesn’t want to talk shit about the coach, saying the only two options in the town are a scholarship or working at the bottling plant—and the plant’s about to shut down. Claudia appreciates that the coach gives the team options, but she says Garry owes his friends too, especially if they’re getting hurt. Garry admits that after the first wrestler died, the coach started acting scared.
Outside, the coach is talking to someone on his cell, saying he didn’t think things would go so far and he feels partly responsible, so he wants out. As he’s talking, a black SUV runs him down and someone takes his cell before driving away. At the Warehouse, Pete urges Artie to ask Vanessa out before
she leaves, but he chickens out. She seems to sort of know what’s going on, and is disappointed he didn’t ask her out. I’m not sure why she doesn’t just ask him out, but maybe she’s shy too. At Tamalpais, Myka and Claudia wonder who killed the coach. Myka spots Wells in the crowd and goes after her. Wells denies having anything to do with the deaths and shows Myka the locket she took from the Escher Vault. It contains a photo of her daughter, who’s probably long dead by now. Wells says every connection she had to the world has withered and died since she was bronzed; the only tether she has left is the Warehouse and she wants to come back and work there again.
Myka says that’s a long shot, but Wells offers to help solve the current case as a show of good faith. While Myka’s pondering that, the black SUV tries to 
run them down; Wells saves their asses with a grapple gun, pulling them up out of harm’s way. Myka is somewhat impressed (especially since Wells invented the grapple gun herself), but tries to play it cool. She’s also wondering if the whole thing was a set-up to make Wells look good, but finally decides to let Wells help. (Partly so she can keep an eye on her.) Back at the Warehouse, Artie is in some serious trouble (and pain) since his new appendix hasn’t stopped growing, and could burst at any time.
At Tamalpais, Myka and Wells break into the coach’s office to look around. Myka asks what Wells did to get bronzed in the first place, but she’s pretty cryptic about it. (“The scales that Lady Justice holds are more easily tipped than one knows.”) They find some image files of Philip and see that he was kinda chubby, but turned totally buff within three weeks. Whatever’s killing
the wrestlers is turning them into perfect specimens first. In Univille, Pete takes Artie to see Dr. Hernandez (the regular doctor is away), figuring a vet is better than nothing. There’s still tension between them, but she agrees to help Artie and orders Pete to assist. (Pete: “Okay, but I’m not shaving anything.”) At Tamalpais, Myka, Claudia, and Wells find a padlocked refrigerator in the gym and bust in. They find a bunch of energy drinks from a company called Boiling Point. Claudia remembers Garry was pounding the energy drink every time she saw him and Myka sends her to warn Garry, since whatever’s juicing (and killing) the wrestlers must be in the drink.
At the bottling plant, Myka and Wells meet Dr. Mahoney, the guy who developed Boiling Point. He assures them it’s harmless, only meant to increase muscle mass and performance quickly. Myka points out that using 
the wrestlers as guinea pigs for the drink is illegal and that Mahoney was obviously paying off the coach to push the drink on his team. Mahoney says it wasn’t his idea and we see the slick dude who met with the coach earlier (Jeff Russell), who turns out to be the founder and CEO of Boiling Point. He says he wanted to help the team, since the coach helped him focus back when he was a student. He says he can prove the drink is harmless; Myka and Wells both suspect a trap, but go along anyway.
At the boardinghouse, Dr. Hernandez is making fun of Pete, who almost got sick during the operation at the sight of blood. Artie is fine and turns the tables, urging Pete to ask Kelly out. Artie says he can see Pete has been
feeling uprooted and wondering if his life will be empty as a Warehouse agent. Artie urges Pete not to waste his life like he has and Pete says he’d be honoured to have a life like Artie’s. At Tamalpais, Claudia warns Garry (who looks like shit) about the energy drink and asks about the bottling plant closing. Back at the boardinghouse, Pete asks Kelly out, but she’s not interested. She says her ex was a real toolbox, so she moved to a place where she thought she couldn’t possibly meet any cute men (which Pete loves, since that means she considers him cute).
At the bottling plant, Myka and Wells discover the ladle used to take test samples of the drink is the artifact; it belonged to Godfrid Haraldson and 
gave his warriors strength before battle when they drank from it. Claudia comes in to tell them that the plant is being sold and moved to Illinois for big bucks, which would give Jeff motive to keep the deaths quiet until the sale went through. But Dr. Mahoney shows up and tries to take the ladle. They realize he’s the one behind everything and was keeping it quiet because he has millions in stock options. While they’re struggling over the ladle, Claudia is knocked into a vat of the energy drink. Mahoney says the more you take in the faster it works, and since it’s seeping right through Claudia’s pores, she won’t last long.
Jeff is pissed off that Mahoney knew the drink was dangerous and covered it up (and killed the coach), but Mahoney says the wrestlers died because they drank too much, insisting it’s safe in smaller quantities. Claudia is starting
to heat up (“Is it warm in here, or am I wearing 48 Snuggies?”) and Wells figures she might be able to put together an antidote, since the drink is supposed to work on amino acids and she studied amino acids under Dr. Moreau. Mahoney tries to run, but Myka clotheslines him and Wells forces him to help her look for an antidote. Meanwhile, they stick Claudia in an ice bath to slow the burning process.
Wells finds the antidote in time and saves Claudia. She asks Myka to keep an open mind about her returning to the Warehouse and disappears while Myka is checking Claudia. Wells leaves her grappling gun behind, with a 
note that says, “Keep it—you can owe me.” At the boardinghouse, Artie is pissed off that they didn’t tell him about Wells. Myka and Claudia say Wells saved their lives, but Artie points out that MacPherson saved his life lots of times and it didn’t change who he was. Myka encourages Claudia to take some university classes, since she’ll need a college degree to apply for the Secret Service and become a Warehouse agent. Claudia thanks her for the tough love.
Pete says he has a date with Kelly … maybe. Even though she already said no, he figures he’ll try again, since people can sometimes surprise you. That seems to be the whole theme of this episode. Despite Myka’s earlier
statement, people aren’t always completely predictable. We see that in action, as Vanessa returns to see Artie and he finally asks her out (she says yes). And when Pete asks Kelly out again, she says yes, even though Pete is his usual goofy self (Kelly: “The Chinese place on Main and we’re going dutch.”; Pete: “Couldn’t we do the Dutch place on 5th and go Chinese?”). Myka is left to wonder if she might’ve been wrong about Wells, as she shelves the grappling gun and ponders the note Wells left her.