After two scientifically successful seasons on SCI FI, the cast of Eureka is making their return to the airwaves on Tuesday, July 29. When actor Colin Ferguson rolled into the oddly bizarre Pacific Northwestern town co-created by executive producer/writer Jamie Paglia in the first season, his character, Sheriff Jack Carter, was put through the paces in trying to solve the puzzle that is Eureka and the mystery surrounding Global Dynamics. Now the popular series is back for a third season and we caught up with Colin Ferguson and Jamie Paglia last week on a conference call to find out what's in store for Season 3 of Eureka, the love life of Jack Carter, and what type of strange technologies fans can expect to see.

THE DEADBOLT: Since Joe and Allison have love interests, is Jack going to get a girlfriend this season? I know he's kind of got a thing with Allison, but she's with Nathan.

COLIN FERGUSON: Yeah. I mean not in the first date, but I want him to have a girlfriend. Jaime?

JAIME PAGLIA: Yes. We're working on that idea, believe me.

FERGUSON: I got some choices...

PAGLIA: Colin's always sending pictures.

FERGUSON: I hear that Michele Pfeiffer's available. It would be funny to see if someone, like if some sort of Eureka harmony.com thing, what it would send up.

PAGLIA: Well, we are actually working on that episode, an episode idea from Season 1 that we never did that we're talking about. Eureka version DNA speed dating. You know, you basically take a little DNA swab and put it in the scanner and people figure out whether or not those markers line up, if they're a good match for each other. So how does that go awry? So anyway, that's a concept that we're still playing with.

THE DEADBOLT: What's the latest technology you guys are working into the upcoming episodes, like nanotechnology or anti-gravity?

PAGLIA: We have been doing a lot of homages to some of our favorite kinds of sci fi concepts in films this season. And some of those are heavier in technology than others. We wanted to do an episode that was sort of a personal nod to me, to my dad who was involved some years back. I think you might remember the Biosphere 2 project that was out there in Arizona - my dad's a scientist, a medical doctor, and he was one of the primary consultants on that.

So we have an episode that's about - what does a biosphere in Eureka look like and what happens if you have a missing persons case inside of the closed Biosphere? We're playing with a nod to a Groundhog Day because it's one of those we've always wanted to do. And to Carter, it happens on the worst day possible. We wanted to see what it would be like - It's a comic book nod to have a super hero in Eureka and what technologies might he be using in terms of appearing to have super powers, from whether it's jet boots to being able to walk through walls.

And then we've got a couple of other things that we're looking at for the back half of the season that will also be incorporating visual tech as well as tech that's sort of non-lethal weaponry and things like that and what does that look like. What are the possible affects on our townsfolk if they're exposed to certain things?

THE DEADBOLT: Do you guys keep on top of that yourselves or do you have the writers researching that?

PAGLIA: I think all of us; it's a team effort. I mean we take a good idea from anybody, and it doesn't matter whether that's somebody who's on staff or the crew or the caterer throws out an idea we love, we'll run with it. But we all read the tech magazines and we're on the websites and we have a science advisor, Kevin Grazier, also who throws things into the mix occasionally when he's not vetting our scripts for actors.

FERGUSON: I guess the difference between, or the different duties of the writers room versus the on set, is the writers come up with the idea and they write it in and they do all the back story on that. Then we're sort of the beta testers on set. We get this technology and it shows up in prop form and we're, "Okay, well if it's shaped like this, and does this, and it has to work like this, we've got to make sure that this really stays constant through the episode," because you're dealing with a real life prop at that point. And it has specific material property.

THE DEADBOLT: Colin, why is Jack's sister Lexi in town and what's their relationship like?

FERGUSON: She's here because she wants to get closer to the family. We won't say why, but that's why she's here and that's why it's absolutely great. Ever Carradine plays my sister and she brings such an energy and such a life and she doesn't look dissimilar to my sister. So we have an instantly sort of fun cantankerous, irritating each other relationship which we both really enjoy. She looks so similar to my sister it freaks me out.

THE DEADBOLT: She's described as new age. Is she like a hippie?

FERGUSON: Yeah. She's like a Topanga Canyon kid.

THE DEADBOLT: In the pilot Jack seems upset that Zoe's getting more independent. How is their relationship going to evolve this season?

FERGUSON: It's sort of continues on from where it's gone. I mean it's definitely been a relaxing of the tensions between Zoe and myself and to the point where she's getting good grades and she's in school. So you can't really get angry at somebody for wanting a little independence when they're doing everything, right?

We definitely sort of walked that line where - I think there's one episode we did where he was nervous about her getting a job. But that's about as far as you can carry that. It's really nice to be in a relationship that develops as opposed to hitting old beats that don't really ring true anymore.

PAGLIA: You know, you want them to get better in their individual roles as parent and kid and they're certainly evolving together. But from the writer's standpoint on that particular instance, things are better. And Colin has, or Carter has, for the first time, sort of eased into this idea of really being a dad and he's doing it right and they're on the best terms that they've ever been. And now there's a possibility - now she's almost 18 and she's going to leave house and go to college and get a job and I'm not ready for that. I want to enjoy this part more.

So it's the controlling aspect of it is more selfish. That's a flaw on his part but it's one that I certainly relate to just seeing kids growing up right now, and they're much younger. So those are some of the things that we know are playing in. Zoe still has an impish streak to her that you don't want to lose. There are going to be times where she will cross the line just because that's what she does and that's what she may just do.

THE DEADBOLT: In the pilot you were playing chess with Henry in prison. On set do you and Joe [Morton] get to play chess at all?

FERGUSON: No. I'd love it if there was enough time to play chess on set. That'd be great. No, I mean we're always sort of troubleshooting two scenes ahead and you get your marching orders in the morning what you're shooting that day.

And there's always a scene where [it's] like, "Okay, we better start working on that now." A case in point with the chess scene - all those moves are real. So not only are you doing dialogue but you're actually - and of course they put the chess board on my side of the metal bar so I've got to move all the pieces. It's like, this goes over here. He takes that, he gives it, and it's a lot of prop work. And so, no, we don't end up playing chess on set. But we do end up talking about the science that's there because it's always a question of, "Okay, is this right? How does that work? If that means this, then this means that." And so great discussions are had to be sure.