- An immense ice core from Russia threatens to turn Eureka into a giant ice cube and the residents into icicles.
- With Allison starting maternity leave, Tess is in charge at Global Dynamics.
College is on the horizon and Zoe has just taken a career assessment test. She gives Carter the go-ahead if he ever wants to have Tess sleepover.
Jo is excited that Zane is back after a month away. She and Carter watch a preposterously long truck pull into town.
Zoe opens the results of her assessment test with Lucas. She is almost a dead-match for robotics and isn't happy about it.
Zane is strangely cold to Jo when she greets him for the first time.
Tess needs Carter to work security on 750,000-year old ice core GD just had drilled out of an arctic sheet. Basically a long frozen tree trunk, the core will provide scientists a record of the planet's atmosphere. Tess shoots down Carter for a dinner date because of all the work she has coming up. The team leader of the GD's arctic expedition arrives and . . . it's Max Headroom-er Jim Taggart! Taggart (and his poorly executed fake Australian accent) tells Zane there are temperature fluctuations with his refrigeration unit. With everyone else in heavy coats, Zane is wearing a thin shirt made of PetroTech, the thermal barrier that happens to protect all the buildings in town.
Carter reminds Tess that Taggart and Jo used to date. The core came from Russia, and for security liaison Yuri Gregor to sign the core over to GD he needs Carter to perform a lengthy security check.
Taggart and Jo run into each other at Café Diem. He tells her the reason he left without a word two years earlier was that her relationship with Zane was taking-off. Taggart tells her he found Zane friendly at first, but progressively more standoffish as the expedition went on. Jo confronts Zane again, and once again he doesnt seem interested in what she has to say.
Carter is working through Eureka's entire disaster plan library. One of those he checks is an emergency pneumatic vacuum tube communication system (hmmm, wonder if that will be important later?). Jo tells Carter about Zane's weirdness.
Carter brings his completed checklist to Gregor, who promptly asks him for a manual measurement of the core before he will allow GD to begin working on the core. Carter heads to the core's refrigeration room where he finds tons of additional ice and sees that Taggart has been frozen solid.
A thawed Taggart tells Carter and Tess he was "attacked" by the ice.
Carter spots black streaks in the refrigeration room ice.
Lucas is pushing Zoe towards robotics, even buying her a kit. She is grouchy because she has her heart set on medical school.
Carter and Jo ask Zane about his refrigeration system. He tells them it couldn't be his fault and blows them both off.
Taggart apologizes to Jo for running off on her without saying good-bye and wants them to be friends. Taggart says the black streaks are evidence of incredibly fast ice crystal growth, adding that the ice is still spreading.
Just as Tess tells Carter it is "impossible" for the ice to be spreading, they witness it completely engulf GD's rotunda. Tess begins freaking out since all this is happening on her watch.
As the ice continues to spread, Taggart thinks the only solution is to find the cause.
Zoe struggles with her robotics kit. Lucas admits he really likes the idea of her studying robotics at MIT (which does not have a medical school) with him.
Carter confronts Zane about his lack of concern over the ice spread. Jo is convinced "that's not him. He's different." Zane leaves the room and they find him slumped over and freezing.
There were ice crystals growing inside Zane just like those growing inside GD. Some of them were in his brain, which explains his personality change.
Taggart discovers that a fungus came back with the core. Tess doesn't think the fungus could have grown that quickly without help.
Zane is back to normal and apologizes to Jo for acting weird. He realizes he won't get better unless he helps Taggart figure out what's going on.
As Carter and Tess watch Taggart and Zane work, Carter notices the only difference between Zane and Taggart is the PetroTech Zane is wearing. It turns out the PetroTech was "fertilizing" the fungus in the ice. This is not great news given that PetroTech is everywhere in the town. Zoe calls Carter to tell him they are trapped in Café Diem and the ice is moving in.
Taggart tells Carter the fungus is mutating. Before it gets worse, the plan is to use the vacuum tube system to pump a fungicide throughout the town.
Taggart takes Carter to Café Diem using snow dogs. They find the gang locked in the walk-in freezer, a plan to save their lives devised by Zoe. Once they slide open the tube hatch in the wall Café Diem clears right up.
Zane and Jo make-up completely and head off for some alone time. Zoe realizes she is good at robotics but Luke comes to terms with the fact medical school might be the place for her after all.
Carter and Tess have dinner. She initially decides to go home, but once Zoe leaves for the night changes her mind and spends the night.
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