Douglas Fargo

Douglas Fargo
Eureka character
First appearance	"Pilot"
Created by	Andrew Cosby Jaime Paglia
Portrayed by	Neil Grayston
Information
Nickname(s)	Fargo
Gender	Male
Occupation	Assistant to Nathan Stark Assistant to Allison Blake Head of Global Dynamics
Title	Doctor

Douglas Fargo, usually referred to as simply "Fargo", or occasionally "Doctor Fargo", is a character on the American science fiction drama Eureka. He is an employee of Global Dynamics, the research facility in Eureka. Fargo often acts as an assistant to Doctor Nathan Stark, the director of Global Dynamics, and later Allison Blake. After a trip to the past changed the time-line Fargo is now the head of GD. Fargo has been connected to several separate development projects, including SARAH (Self Actuated Residential Automated Habitat) and the "mental mouse", also voiced by Grayston. Both Fargo and his grandfather have names of cities in North and South Dakota, respectively. A running gag involves Fargo causing various accidents; his personnel file uses the phrase "inappropriately pushed buttons" 38 times.^[1]

He is played by Canadian actor Neil Grayston.

Personal Relationships

Many residents of Eureka look down on Fargo as either less intelligent than the other scientists or simply inept at his job, although his scientific ability has yet to be shown to be sub-par for Eureka^{[citation needed]}. Fargo has a crush on Deputy Jo Lupo; although initially uninterested, she later seems to care for him to at least some degree ("Noche de Suenos"). Later on, he does begin a relationship with a fellow lab tech Julia in "Your Face or Mine", but only after getting to know her whilst she masquerades as Lupo. Their relationship is shown continuing and deepening in the Season 3 finale "What Goes Around Comes Around".^[2] However, in "Founder's Day", when Jo tells him that Zane asked her to marry him, Fargo does act jealous.

He appears to have a deep seated rivalry with Larry, another employee at Global Dynamics, although the basis for this rivalry has never been established. In the alternate timeline, he makes Larry do menial assistant tasks to enjoy his "alternate" timeline status as Head of Global Dynamics.

His social skills and practical intelligence may be less than ideal and he engages in "fanboy" behavior ("Many Happy Returns") and accidentally says thoughts out loud that would better be kept private ("H.O.U.S.E. Rules"). He also is an avid fan of Sarah Michelle Gellar. He has a doll of her and wanted to use her voice for S.A.R.A.H. when he helped to create it. Possibly he is using his own voice when she speaks, but this has not been confirmed yet on-screen.

In "Family Reunion" Fargo discovers his grandfather was cryonically frozen in 1957 and is thawed out into the present. As he helps his grandfather get used to the world, Fargo discovers his grandfather discovered research and techniques that were the basis for Eureka but they were stolen by a rival. His grandfather proves the various scientific theories were his with several things (such as the cyronic chamber) renamed in his honor. Fargo is thus given more confidence as he comes from an illustrious line and hopes to match those achievements.

Fargo is among the residents who are accidentally transported back in time to 1947. When they return to the present, they discover that their actions have altered the timeline with Fargo now the head of Global Dynamics; however, in the new timeline, Julia never moved to Eureka, leaving Fargo single once again. At first excited at finally being treated with respect, he soon discovers that his "alternate" in this timeline was an egomaniac who his staff disliked. In a later episode, GD staff is overcome with rage (due to an experiment gone wrong) and vent their rage on Fargo, burning an Effigy and attempting to kill him. He is saved partly due to the intervention of Sheriff Carter. He does become good friends with Dr. Trevor Grant, especially after saving Grant, Carter, and Allison's son from the Titan rover, displaying excellent driving skills, with Carter and Grant calling him "an excellent wheelman."

Warehouse 13 crossovers

In August 2010, Eureka crossed over with fellow Syfy series Warehouse 13. In the Warehouse 13 episode "13.1", Fargo is contacted by Mrs. Frederic to update the Warehouse's antiquated computer system. While there, he spends extensive time with their resident teenage tech genius, Claudia Donovan, during which he develops a crush on her. He asks Claudia if he can get a tour of the Warehouse, to which Claudia says he doesn't have the clearance level; however, when the computer system goes haywire, he is forced to take refuge in the Warehouse with Claudia and Artie. He seems hopeful of a potential relationship with Claudia, particularly when she tells him that she wishes she had a guy like him in her life that she did not have to lie to about her job. After she kisses Fargo, however, she explains that she had been thinking of her boyfriend, Todd. Fargo is visibly put off by this.

In Eureka's "Crossing Over," Claudia comes to Eureka to check out the town and Global Dynamics. Upon being asked, she tells Fargo that she and Todd broke up. Soon after, they find themselves in the middle of a minefield with Claudia lying on top of Fargo. Carter eventually comes along to save them both from the mines by defusing them. Though they kiss multiple times in both crossover episodes and they have an undeniable attraction to each other, Fargo and Claudia's relationship status is currently unknown. Complicating this potential relationship, Claudia connects romantically with Todd in a later Warehouse 13 episode, but Todd is immediately taken away by his witness protection handlers. Also the fact that Doug has connected with Holly Martin in later episodes of Eureka.

Fargo returned to Warehouse 13 in July 2011 in "Don't Hate the Player". It is revealed that one of his side projects was working on a virtual reality gaming system called "Fargames" with two game programmers from Palo Alto. However, the human brain wouldn't process the virtual information to Fargo's liking, so he managed to track down an Artifact to stimulate the brain into accepting the signal. When things predictably go wrong, Fargo and one of the programmers get trapped in the game, and the other programmer reveals Fargo told him to call Claudia if anything went wrong, resulting in a Warehouse investigation. It's discovered that the game Fargo is playing is called "Fortress 13", which is based on his adventure in the Warehouse the previous year. Even though Doug is currently trying to woo Holly Martin, he had the princess in his game modeled after Claudia.

References

1. ^ Ian Stokes (writer), "13.1". Warehouse 13, Syfy. Episode 17. Aired on August 3, 2010.
2. ^ Jamie Paglia (writer), "What Goes Around Comes Around". Eureka, Syfy. Episode 43. Aired on September 18, 2009.

External Links

• Douglas Fargo at the Internet Movie Database