… Despite all the story-line-changing catastrophes.

So there’s this show on SyFy called Eureka. By the end of the very first minute of the very first episode, I was hooked. The cast is amazing. The story line intrigues, grabs your attention, makes you laugh, puts you in suspense, educates. And it’s being cancelled after next season. Makes me sad. It’s one of the best damn shows I’ve ever seen.

It’s one of those quirky dramas like Chuck or Pushing Daisies that can be viewed by just about anyone. There’s no strong language and most of the explosions are by sheer accident. Genius + technology, in this case, means lots of wayward laser beams, invisible cars and a few jokes that are way, way over my head.

But their relationship development is what makes me grin. Eureka’s writers found ways to step outside of societal norms and make the way things developed for each couple perfectly okay, if a little outlandish.

In the beginning, Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson) lands in Eureka purely by accident. Since his divorce, he’s been having issues with his teenage daughter Zoe. She ran away from home so Jack, while doing his job as a US Marshal, picked Zoe (Jordan Hinson) up to bring her home. Naturally, good ol’ Murphy decided to step in, and Jack’s car broke down in Eureka. We’re sure you can guess the rest of the story. Jack helped the town of Eureka solve a genius-induced calamity. The town sheriff was forced to retire by a genius-induced calamity. And whiz, bang, BOOM! There’s a new, sexy, down home sheriff with one of the warmest grins you’ve ever seen in town, and his name is Jack Carter.

A girl could get lost in those eyes.

Carter and Tess – Continuing with the “whiz, bang, BOOM!” theme, Jack and Tess (Jaime Ray Newman) meet by accident. I don’t remember all the details. She’d driven off the road or some such. (What? You’re telling me you remember all the details of your love interest falling in love with someone else?) And Jack, being the all-American guy he is, stops to help. Or maybe it’s his job? I mean, he is the sheriff. But knowing Jack like I do, I’m willing to bet he’d stop whether or not he was obligated by something other his own community-oriented personality.

Of course they argued. Of course the arguments were just a cover for their attraction to each other. And of course, they end up dating for a while.

But it turns out Tess was just a distraction from his main interest. Allison Blake (Salli Richardson-Whitfield). The bane of my existence. (I’m kidding. Both these ladies are awesome in character and out.)

Allison and Stark – At first, it’s okay that Jack’s in love with Allison, cause Allison’s ex-husband, Nathan Stark (Ed Quinn), shows up and he’s saying all the right things. Stark wasn’t ready to be a father and husband. His family took a backseat to his career. But when he finally agreed to a divorce, he realized what was important and manages to talk his way back into Allison’s life.

Stark proposes, but dies on their wedding day saving the world. And later, Allison finds out she’s pregnant with his child, a fact that ultimately draws Jack in more.

Carter and Allison – This is the single most infuriating relationship in the history of all television romances. For five years, Jack and Allison go back and forth with each other. The attraction is so obvious you’d swear the air around these two crackles with desire when they’re in a room together. Even though, for a moment, infatuation with Tess and Stark cools the flames between Jack and Allison, through the entire series there is no doubt the pair belongs together. But every time they get close, something happens to prevent it. Like total annihilation of the space time continuum, or returning from 1947 to find you’re in a serious relationship with an old girlfriend.

I think I’d move.

Jo and Zane – The situation between Jo (Erica Cerra) and Zane (Niall Matter) is equally infuriating. The two hook up in a most hilarious way.

Zane is a screw-up, Robinhood genius who mostly acts out for good reasons, like donating to a cause he really believes in. Jo is a strong military woman who is so good at what she does she landed a job as the sheriff’s deputy in a federally funded town dedicated to the smartest, most ambitious geniuses in the world. Oil and water, you’d think, and at first it seems you’d be right. But from the minute they meet, there are sparks between these two so electrifying that Jo doesn’t even really mind when Zane uses her credit card to mail order a bunch of delicious lingerie.

It’s eventually Zane’s assertion that though Jo may not be a genius, she’s amazing in so many other ways that seals the deal. Until Jo’s whisked away to 1947 before she has a chance to respond to Zane’s marriage proposal and returns to present day to find he’s still the same annoying pain in the ass he was when they first met.

This show’s inherent need to destroy perfectly good relationships with some genius-induced calamity is infuriating! But they make up for it by creating a beautiful, if bewildering, relationship between two people who barely knew each other before the timeline change.

Henry and Grace – Henry (Joe Morton) and Grace (Tembi Locke) are thrown together by time travel, making them the most unusual relationship development plot of the bunch. What’s neat about this is the way they chose to go with the relationship’s story line. Instead of Henry just slipping into Grace’s life, pretending to be the husband she remembers and loves, Henry expresses discomfort in sharing a life with this woman. Even when he realizes he’s in love with her, he does his best to make sure he’s not overstepping his bounds as a (almost) stranger. And eventually, he breaks his vow to keep his adventure in the past secret and tells Grace he’s not her husband.

Of course, she’s angry at first. She wants her husband back. But as time goes on, she realizes that the Henry we’ve followed since the beginning is the same man as her Henry and she proposes.

Holly and Fargo - This is, by far, my favorite relationship and couple development in the whole series. Dr. Holly Marten shows up to do an evaluation. She’s a quirky little redhead (Felicia Day) who is a nervous talker and a bit of a dweeb, and Fargo (Neil Grayston) is hooked from the moment he sees her. But even with his new position as head of Global Dynamics (which was thrust upon him with his return from 1947), Dougie’s still just an adorable nerdy dweeb himself, and he’s petrified of making the first move.

Yet another genius-induced calamity almost puts the kybosh on their budding relationship ever being more than just awkward sexual tension and cautious innuendo. But before long, Holly and Fargo are making all sorts of mistakes and having issues performing at their careers and realize the only way to “fix” it is to do something about their attraction. And Holly’s idea, not Doug’s, is to just have sex and be done with it.

Doug gets some advice from new-timeline-Zane, who, being the typical guy, says go for it! How many dorky guys do you know who’ve had such a hottie just throw herself at them? But it turns out this advice is all wrong for Doug. Fargo’s more interested in getting to know Holly and developing a relationship with her, and the idea of just discharging the sexual energy and moving on makes him more than just a little bit uncomfortable.

Doug got what he wanted. They’ve gotten to know each other, and are officially a couple. And when he told Holly he loves her, she responded by telling him she feels like the luckiest girl alive. Oh… and initiating their first sexual encounter on fake Titan. And trumpets sounded and angels sang as Holly told Fargo they’d have their third lovemaking session on real Titan. For me, anyway. I think I was more excited about them finally consummating the relationship they’d been developing than they were!

Awesome as these relationships and characters are, what makes them even better is they’re not traditional. And that’s okay. Granted, SyFy seems to be ahead of the game in that area. A little more liberal and less “This is how society is and how it should be and we are god so you must do this.” than most mainstream media. Maybe it’s the nature of the beast? It’s kinda difficult to have “normal” characters and relationships in an abnormal town. Especially with all the jumping around in time.

In my mind, this is how TV should be. I mean, really. How many “normal” people do you know?