Season two begins and it's on fire.  "Phoenix Rising" picks up one month after the first season finale.  We open with Kim and Stark in the Artifact chamber, and things unfold as destiny made them last time.  Then the scene pulls back, and it's a hologram in Henry's workshop, and when he reaches for someone he cannot touch, it hurts to watch.  When last we left our intrepid heroes, Henry and Carter had extra memories from the time loops they've lived.  Carter remembers an extra four years, a marriage to Alison, a child on the way, and Zoey as the valedictorian of her class.  Henry should only remember an extra six months per the timeframe he gave in "Once in a Lifetime."

The premise this week?  Spontaneous human combustion.  There's some fun with Taggart (and some tension as Lupo is reconsidering her encounter with him) in the form of the legend of the phoenix.

  With the repeated references to burning and rebirth, there was hope still for Kim's fate (though not much).  Instead, the link is with Kim's accident sure enough and all the clues lead Carter right back to Henry.

"Eureka" uses its science fiction cop show premise, but wisely relies on the actors to bring the real heart of the series.  Joe Morton radiates pain at Henry's loss.  Colin Ferguson continues his "just slightly clueless but willing to learn" part while wearing the four years that never were on his sleeve.  Their struggle to readjust to life in the past is the crux of the episode, and the two actors deliver.  And because of this, the ending is doubly chilling, from Jack's suddenly stolen memories to Henry's oath of vengeance.  We haven't seen the last of the repercussions from last season.

As for this episode's repercussions, we'll have to see what lurks in the hearts of young autistic savants.