Carter meets up with Jo and her ever-present cup of coffee that clearly has nothing in it (I've said in recaps for other shows that the one thing that even the greatest actors can't pull off is making an empty prop cup of coffee look like it has something in it, and Erica Cerra is no exception). She says Carol refuses to release Fifi's remains for the dogtopsy, as she believes people will try to steal her secrets. Because everyone wants a dog that explodes. Let's be real here, Carol. Carter refuses to investigate the matter further, saying it's ridiculous that he's stuck on this trivial matter when there are phantom earthquakes about. Even Jo doesn't believe Carter, saying once more, for the record, that there are no earthquakes in Eureka. Of course, that's when the ground starts shaking.

It's a larger earthquake than the one Carter felt before, shaking up all of Main Street before a hole opens up in the road and a light comes shining out of it. But it soon becomes clear that this is not an earthquake, but an underground tunnel machine coming to the surface. I bet all those people who panicked and screamed feel pretty stupid now, don't they? Dr. Hood emerges from the machine with a huge manic grin on his face and seemingly no concerns about the destruction he has just caused. His mind is on far more important matters: "there's somethin' brewing down there and she's fixin' to blow!" he says. Carter can't decide if he's happy that someone believes him or sad that that person is Dr. Hood.

Carter may think that looking for robot dog saboteurs is a waste of his time, but when we return from the break, he's perfectly happy to stand in the street directing traffic around Eureka's newest pothole. Interesting logic. Allison comes marching up to yell at everyone. She has very little patience for Hood and his explanation that when he heard about the shimmering lights Carter saw, he just had to dive down there in his tunneling machine to investigate. Apparently, rocks under great seismic pressure can "sometimes" release "invisible electromagnetic energy." Except that wasn't invisible, so I'm confused. Hood goes on to say his readings indicate that there's a pocket of molten rock under the town. "Like a volcano?" Carter panics, as well he should. Volcanoes are scary. Hood says it's exactly like a volcano, and this one could blow at any moment. Since the pocket isn't connected to a fault system, the earthquake could only be felt by someone standing directly over it, which explains why Carter felt it but no one else. It also explains Mandle's "break-in" -- the fallen beaker was caused by an earthquake, not someone routing around for dog mucus. Allison doesn't believe that pockets of magma can just randomly appear in the ground, but humors Hood and says GD's geological people will look into the matter. She orders him to stay out of the tunneller. Hood walks off, and Carter asks Allison what evacuation procedure they should use. That's when he learns that Allison has no intention of evacuating anyone; she thinks Hood is insane. Apparently, five years ago he predicted a huge earthquake that never happened. He left GD shortly thereafter, and Allison chalks it up to a man cracking under pressure. Carter's new assignment is to keep his eye on Hood.