By Jason McClain (@JTorreyMcClain) in San Diego
In contrast to an upcoming post about Concrete Volume 1: “Depths”, I saw the magic of work on display Saturday at Comic-Con. I attended three panels and they all gave me a glimpse of those special relationships that develop between co-workers. From Matt Smith calling Steven Moffat “Moff” and Steven “Fat” telling Matt that he’ll be dying soon (on Doctor Who), you could tell a bond had developed. The Being Human panel featured a question from an audience member named Audrey and that led Sam Huntington to comment that was his daughter’s name. Then came a whole riff on whether or not this was his daughter time-traveling from the future, and then when Sam Witwer was on the other end of Audrey’s question, eventually Meaghan Rath dropped the mic and left the stage as it was one of many questions directed Sam W.’s way. The smiles back and forth between those three and the continual riffing revealed how close they were. However, neither came close to meeting the emotion of the Warehouse 13 panel.
(I so wish I had photos to share with you of Warehouse 13, but my phone died. I would have looked to the ceiling, clenched my fists and yelled, “PHONE!” but I didn’t want to interrupt the panel.)
The first emotion – excitement. The panel started out like any other with introductions of the participants. When the moderator came to Eddie McClintock, I didn’t see him up on stage because he ran up one of the aisles of the Indigo Ballroom as a human version of a t-shirt cannon.
The next emotion – mischievousness. Apparently Eddie likes to tweet. So, as the panel starts, Eddie has his fingers working furiously on his phone while Joanne Kelly tries to snatch it from him. The moderator asks Saul Rubinek a question as the battle for the phone comes to a head and Joanne wins and slides it down the table to prevent Eddie’s distraction. The question goes unanswered as the phone takes center stage and Jack Kenny starts to narrate the visions of the photos that he “sees” and a callback to an earlier Cialis reference.
The last emotion – sadness. Now, this isn’t a solemn or grieving sadness, but rather the sadness that comes with saying good-bye. Every good-bye has a tinge of sadness as the time we share with those we care about nears its current end. There will be a tomorrow in the not too distant future, but many days of joy are forever left in the past.
It was the last Comic-Con for the cast. The last six episodes for Eddie, Joanne, Saul, Allison Scagliotti, Aaron Ashmore and showrunner Jack Kenny. The last month to spend the majority of everyday with their Warehouse 13 family. Joanne was the first to break and a helpful audience member ran a package of tissues up to her as she talked about how much the earnest love of the audience for the show meant to her. Next came Eddie and Joanne loaned him one of her newfound tissues as he thanked Saul, Syfy and everyone for believing in him as the lead of a show. Saul came next, but he kept his composure a bit better as he reflected on what he considered his best role of his life when he wasn’t even looking for it. Last, as the panel wrapped, Jack broke as he recited the words to a song that said how much good-bye hurt.
Like they said as they talked in the Indigo Ballroom to a throng of fans, the love they have for each other shows on the screen. The love the audience has for the actors showed as the applause and cheers rang out to encourage every word of appreciation and gratitude to their fellow Warehouse family members. To paraphrase Joanne, the audience and the cast shared a love for each other for these great five seasons.
Seeing people that close, that open with emotions for each other made me smile many times and made me think of my best work friend, CJ Bunce. CJ, thanks for hanging out during lunches, taking me to the Renaissance Faire and dressing me up in a costume, for going to comic book shops, for sharing the opportunity to write and for running around the world (well San Diego and Kansas City) to explore science fiction, fantasy and pop-culture with me. That is a work friendship for which I am grateful and you and Elizabeth are missed in San Diego this year. I look forward to seeing you both again next year or as soon as possible. Though just like with the Warehouse 13 folks, another good-bye in the books will be tough, but oh so worth it.
