A guy who looks and dresses more like a fifteen-year-old emo kid than a prominent and established scientist is being lectured in Allison's office by Tess, who apparently thinks she has some kind of authority here now. She doesn't -- Allison says she gave the guy permission to conduct any necessary tests for his project, including surprise missile explosions. Carter enters and is introduced to the man, Dr. Weinman, who is working on planetary defense. "Nice hoodie," Carter says. "Jealous?" sniffs Weinman. No, but I think there's one thing we can all agree we can be jealous of: Jo's station wagon. Allison says that Weinman's test went wrong, so he followed proper safety protocols (a GD scientist following proper safety protocols, even at the expense of his project? NONSENSE!) and blew it up. Tess whines and tattles on Weinman for using a missile he wasn't authorized for, and Allison says once again that Weinman is authorized to use anything at GD for his project. Carter doesn't think he should be allowed to put Eureka at risk, as if Weinman is the first GD scientist to do this. He isn't even the first GD scientist to do that this episode. Tess thinks Allison is letting Weinman "run wild." Allison says it's necessary. Tess didn't seem to mind being allowed to run wild when she was the one doing it.

Allison dismisses Weinman, and Carter asks why she's stepping up the planetary defense. He doesn't need to read his emails to know it has something to do with The Signal. Tess says it's going to be there in just 138 hours, which is much sooner than I thought. Carter volunteers to put out traffic cones or whatever Allison might need, and Tess thinks that's actually a good idea. She wants the town to be ready to receive the signaler peacefully and resents Allison for following Gen. Mansfield's orders to be prepared for war. I side with Allison, though, because I saw Mars Attacks.

Jo is on the phone with a citizen whose doorbell has been stolen. "Why would someone steal your doorbell?" she asks. I know a reason. My next-door neighbor has a doorbell for deaf people that emits a blast of sound that could wake the dead. So it certainly wakes me up when she has visitors at 7 in the fucking morning. On Saturdays. It doesn't always wake her up, though, so the visitors often ring it again and again. I fantasize about stealing that doorbell and burning it. Jo hands Carter a list of calls he missed while he was at GD. Apparently, Ranger Tom called six times to report "something weird." What's weird is that I have no idea who Ranger Tom even is. Whatever happened to Taggart? Jo says that people have been calling to report missing things all day, including a weather vane, Christmas lights, and a parking meter. Who's the idiot who calls to report a missing meter? Just count your blessings that you don't have to pay and keep walking. Actually, why does Eureka have parking meters at all if no one ever uses money? One thing that's missing that hasn't been reported is Carter's desk chair, as he discovers when he tries to sit down and finds empty space where it used to be.