She's Back! Joanne Kelly Dishes on the Warehouse 13 Season Premiere

Syfy's Warehouse 13 returned for its third season last night with the proverbial bang, plus a seismic shock or two. The good news: Leading lady Joanne Kelly is still with us as Myka Bering, even though the tough, vulnerable, funny and deliciously dishy superagent quit her job in the Season 2 finale after her trust in H.G. Wells (Jaime Murray) almost led the end of the world. Now for the bad news (though it's actually good news!): The evil H.G. is already back — albeit in holographic form — cryptically claiming she's being held captive somewhere and urging Myka to return to her job at the Warehouse. TV Guide Magazine had an exclusive chat with Kelly to get the lowdown on Myka's return, her future with H.G. and her crazy-good chemistry with this hot new Steve guy.

TV Guide Magazine: So did your many fans fall for the Season 2 finale cliffhanger? Did they really think you'd left the series?
Joanne Kelly: I actually don't know! [Laughs] I try to stay away from all the blogs and messages boards. I think the writers definitely wanted to create that impression. I haven't been doing any press until now. I'm not active on Twitter. I don't think the network has said anything about my staying with the show. I've just sort of...disappeared. Myka had an emotionally devastating experience with H.G. and she made the choice to leave. Our Season 1 finale was the same thing. Everyone was asking, what happened to Artie [Saul Rubinek]? Has he left the show? [Laughs] This is what we do on Warehouse 13! Somebody always vanishes — and it'll be somebody else at the end of Season 3! But this is science fiction — nobody ever truly goes away.

TV Guide Magazine: And how! The surprisingly quick return of H.G. Wells was one of the stunners in your season premiere. Is she here to stay?
Kelly: You'll see her throughout Season 3. [Long pause] I don't know if I'm supposed to say that. Oh, well! [Laughs] The relationship with Myka and H.G. will be even more interesting this season.

TV Guide Magazine: Warehouse 13 remains Syfy's highest-rated series ever, so it's nothing short of radical that they've shaken up a successful formula and added another lead character — Steve [Aaron Ashmore], the human polygraph Buddhist — to what is essentially a two-lead show. He's terrific by the way and you two really spark, though they're obviously not going to push a romantic triangle with the three characters.
Kelly: We've never followed the rules here, and I don't think we'll start now. [Laughs] Steve's gay so I don't think he's a possible love interest for Myka. Anyway, that's not what we do on our show. I don't think the tension between Myka and Pete [Eddie McClintock] has been particularly romantic.

TV Guide Magazine: You're kidding, right? This show is Moonlighting all over again!
Kelly: The possibility of romance has always been there but it's not something we've gone after in the scripts. I think that's complete conjecture from people who either do or don't want to see it happen.

TV Guide Magazine: Oh, stop! You guys milk the repressed sexual tension for all it's worth — even Steve commented on it in the season premiere!
Kelly: Our show runner, Jack Kenny, says none of our characters has the time for a relationship because we're too busy solving cases — we have no lives away from work — so I don't think you'll be seeing any huge relationship arcs unless the dynamic of our show changes drastically.

TV Guide Magazine: Do you fear, like with Moonlighting, that if you go for it with Myka and Pete that you'll screw up a good thing?
Kelly: Hey, it happens enough in real life. You can be really good friends with someone and then take that plunge and sometimes it's for the better and sometimes for the worse. If anything, I think the closest Myka comes to a romance is with H.G. Wells.

TV Guide Magazine: Hey, womances are the hot thing on TV these days!
Kelly: I really welcome that dynamic. It's interesting to see two strong and smart female characters developing such a really cool relationship.

TV Guide Magazine: Which is why we fans were all shocked you-know-whatless when H.G. held a gun to Myka's head during that disturbing scene in the season finale!
Kelly: It's a fine line we walk on Warehouse 13. We really earn our dramatic moments, but our tongues are always firmly in our cheeks. If we take ourselves too seriously we get into trouble. After [the incident with H.G.] we're once again seeing Myka as someone who's not all that emotionally trusting. She's gone back into her shell. That lack of trust goes all the way back to the pilot when Myka was this lonely and isolated woman. But as this new season progresses you'll see we're really pushing the envelope with the character. There's a great journey coming and huge changes in her makeup and personality. You'll see her really open up and grow and I'm proud of that because that's what happens in life — we either wilt or we blossom.

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