Eureka s4e21 "Do You See What I See?" (2011)
Retro Review #36: The best television series Christmas episode that you probably haven't seen.
Eureka s4e21 “Do You See What I See?” (2011) — The best television series Christmas episode that you probably haven’t seen.
+ TV episode /@ /!@ 43m
A+^
Family Suitability
+ ✅2️⃣ OK for teens and adults. (Grades 7+) | TV-PG
Alignment with Judeo-Christian Values
+ ⚠️0️⃣ Tolerable (Not in alignment with Judeo-Christian values, but focuses more on entertaining, not on advocating its viewpoint or pushing an agenda.)
+ Episode #64/77 of Eureka ⭐
+ Episode #21/21 of Eureka, season 4 ⭐
Eureka s4e21 “Do You See What I See?” (2011)
Grade: A+^ (20.0) / HOF: 12
EQ 👍A++ | 📖A+ 👥A+ 📽️A+ 🎼A+
DW 😎😎10.9 | 🌚10 🌝13
POPCAP 💯n/a 🍿n/a 🧢n/a
L-R ☮️n/a ◀️n/a ▶️n/a 🛐n/a
Merry Christmas, everyone!
I want all my readers to see “Do You See What I See?”, because it’s my favorite Christmas episode of a TV series ever. Forget Christmas, it might be the best TV episode I’ve ever seen on any topic. So consider this recommendation to be a heartfelt Christmas gift from me to you!
I’ve seen this Pure Dark Whimsy masterpiece six times now, but last year was my first time seeing it in twelve years, so I confirmed it’s even better on an 84-inch TV than a 60-inch relic. 😉
Eureka is a television series that ran on the SyFy channel for seven seasons (officially five, with two “seasons” split in half and each part televised a full year apart) from 2006 to 2012. It is the first of three series, followed by Warehouse 13 and Alphas, set in a shared SyFy fictional universe, with a handful of character crossovers.
You don’t need to see the first 63 episodes of Eureka to thoroughly enjoy this episode, that stands on its own exceptionally well. The premise of the entire series can be quickly deduced in this episode, but let me give you a summary to give you a head start.
The fictional town of Eureka is a setting in the Pacific Northwest. Usually Oregon. It’s a secluded and top secret mountain enclave run by the government in cahoots with a big technology corporation, Global Dynamics. The majority of the citizens are science geeks with super high IQs. Even the corporate bureaucrats aren’t complete idiots. Into this setting stumbles single dad and sheriff, Jack Carter. He’s no super-genius. But when the town’s sheriff job goes vacant, his likability, social skills, policing experience and common sense get him hired as the right man to fill the role.
Hmm. I should also tell you Jack lives in a self-aware AI smart house that goes by SARAH, is dating single mom Dr. Allison Blake, and has an android deputy named Andy. Jo used to work for Jack, but now she’s head of security at GD. Just assume that all the rest of the adults are some sort of scientist and/or genius.
The series is sci-fi with touches of crime, mystery and drama, usually overlaid with generous helpings of comedy. Most episodes deal with technology going bad, either on purpose or accidentally, and “Do You See What I See?” is an example of the latter.
When technology malfunctions on Christmas Eve the entire live-action town of Eureka is in cartoon danger. This episode is a loving tribute to, and hilarious, partially animated send-up of, animation in general and TV Christmas specials in particular, as wave after wave of various styles of animation crashes across the town.
Everything (except the Eureka technology) works in this episode. The peril is high, the laughs are frequent, and the satire is biting. The animation is spot on, the visual effects dazzle and the audio effects are pitch perfect. Putting a bow on the Christmas gift, Jim Parsons (Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory) is just the right guest star to play the voice of Carl, Sheriff Carter’s jeep.
Episode 64 of Eureka was the last episode of season 4, and the first Eureka episode ever that I graded A+. It began a run of four straight and five of six A+ episodes, carrying over into season 5.
The whole series is fun to watch, earning a 6.35 GPA from me, which would give it a B+^, a little closer to B+ (5.00) than A- (8.00), and in the top third of the B+ tier. Many episodes of each season share interesting story arcs that relieve some of the “bad-tech-of-the-week” repetition. “Do You See What I See?” proudly stands on its own though. Seek it out and see what I saw!
Onwards!
+ last viewed (6) 2025-12-25, HDX7, 1.78, 5M
+ first viewed 2012-06-21, HDX5, 1.78, 5D
+ 🎈⛄🎄🎅🪐🌎⚛️🌪️🥸😛
Family Suitability Detail
+ ✅2️⃣ OK for teens and adults. (Grades 7+) | TV-PG
+ 😡+2 😵💫+4 🤬+2 🫢+2 🫣+2
Judeo-Christian Values Detail
+ ⚠️0️⃣ Tolerable (Not in alignment with Judeo-Christian values, but focuses more on entertaining, not on advocating its viewpoint or pushing an agenda.)
+ ✝️ -0 ➕❤️(🩸) ➖🦠(❤️🩹💧👙)
+ ✡️ -1 ➖🦠🤬
+ 🗽 +1 ➕(🗽)⬜🚓💛 ➖🦠
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Originally posted to text group 2024-12-25
Re-reviewed and updated 2025-12-25
Note from Rick Retro: This review was originally posted December 25, 2024 to a select group of friends and family via a text group. We have roughly five times as many subscribers in our community now, so I am working on formatting and uploading all those old reviews to Substack for all of you and future subscribers as well.
At that time, I had not completely developed my full review format, so I am also re-reviewing most of these works to match the format of my newer reviews. Since these posts were almost entirely holiday themed from a 2024 Christmas Tour, I am now uploading these reviews as part of a 2025 Christmas Tour, all intended to get my archives completed while giving new subscribers a chance to experience older reviews on a measured basis.
But if you’d rather just start from the original beginning, visit this post and follow the “Next (all sections) ➡️” links at the end of each post, until you arrive at this one, where that link will be dead, until I upload the next post from our text group archives 😉. When the next post is not yet available, there will be a link to the post that is “Next Available, skipping over text group posts not yet uploaded ➡️”
The first post to Substack after the current “Text Group Gaps” of posts I have not yet uploaded can be found here. From this post, following the “Next (all sections) ➡️” links will bring you all the way to the most current post.
This note will disappear when the next text group post is added, and this review takes its rightful spot in our archives. For now, I hope you enjoy this look into Christmas past!