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Before I begin my discussion of this episode, firstly, I would like to start by saying that if you have not seen this episode yet but would like to see it, then please, don't read any further, because this entry does contain spoilers, and secondly, I would like to clarify a few small things that pertain to the two most recent episodes, "Fracture" and "Momentum Deferred." For starters, just a few days ago, I caught another instance in "Fracture" (2.03) in which Peter refers to Olivia by her last name, which I am pretty sure brings the count up to three instead of two. Right before she goes into the bathroom while she and Peter are speaking to Dan Gillespie's wife and she is acting really strange, Peter says, "Are you okay, Dunham?" I just felt that I should probably clarify that since I had previously said that he calls her Dunham twice, and again, I want to reiterate how strange I find that to be for him to call her by her last name when he is either in the presence of Walter and Astrid or when he's directly speaking to her, as he is two out of the three times that he does it, and in the entry in which I discuss that, which I think is the entry I wrote for "Fracture" itself, I talk about why it bothered me so much, so I don't really want to rehash all of that.
In addition, last week, I offered the possibility that the reason why Rebecca looks at Peter so strangely near the end of "Momentum Deferred" (2.04) is because perhaps she is his mother in this reality, and although I am not fully sure if I want to throw that out the window just yet, since it is indeed still plausible (even though I never said that I was drinking the Kool-Aid just yet), I now know that that is not really the purpose of that scene. The purpose of that scene is to more or less confirm to us that Peter is indeed from the alternate reality, and that is why he stuck out; she sees people that don't belong here, that are not supposed to be in this reality since they come from the alternate reality. According to the Fringe Podcast, you can see him glow during the aforementioned scene, but I did not catch either of the two times that I watched it, so I think that I will most likely return to that scene and see for myself, because it had to have been pretty faint if I didn't see it either time.
Well, the first part of this episode that I want to talk about is Walter's apparent fear of Seattle. I felt really sorry for him because when he is in the lab set up for him and is about to conduct the first autopsy, he appears to be having a panic attack, and he even looks like he's on the verge of tears. I wonder why it is that being in Seattle upset him so badly. I mean, he says that the air in Seattle reminds him of St. Claire's (and, of course, I love how the writers had to have Walter say what St. Claire's is for those who have not been keeping up with the show), but something tells me that there's more to it than that. Something seems to terrify him, and he wanted nothing more than to get out of there; I don't think that he would have even chosen food over getting out of there. Could it have had anything to do with the final scene of the episode? Perhaps Peter being in Seattle helped him remember something that Walter is hoping Peter would have repressed? Then again, that couldn't be it, because Walter is panicking in the episode, because he is in Seattle, not because Peter is. I'm not sure, but I'm thinking that it must have something to do with the final scene. From what I took from that scene, Walter hears whatever Peter says during his "dream," and it's easy to see from the look on his face that he is terrified, and I'm thinking that it has something to do with the final scene. This could be nothing more than mere speculation, but I'm wondering if it is at all possible that it has something to do with Peter being stolen from the alternate reality by Walter.
"Dream Logic," like "Night of Desirable Objects," is yet another "stand-alone" episode that doesn't seem to have anything to do with the show's mythology, which is a bit disappointing, but at the same time, for a "stand-alone" episode, this was a decent episode, and I give it seven and a half business cards. It keeps you entertained and on the edge of your seat throughout almost the entire episode. There's just one aspect to the episode that makes no sense to me. Dr. Nayak is apparently stealing dreams, and he becomes addicted to this. Olivia uses her stepfather (who is once again mentioned, which only further helps support my theory that he is going to be of importance later in the series) as an example because she says that he was one person when he was sober and a totally different person when he was "smashed," and she says that this was due to his addiction because apparently, an addiction brings out a Jekyll and Hyde aspect in you, but the reason that this made no sense to me is that if her stepfather was behaving one way when he was sober and a completely different way when he was drunk, then that was because when he was drunk, he was under the influence of alcohol, not because he was addicted to it. Perhaps Olivia is implying that the dreams themselves cause him to be someone else? I do have to say that for a "stand-alone" episode, this episode is pretty complex and even confusing.
Throughout the episode, I was wondering what was going on with the business cards. The first time, I didn't think much of it. I figured that it was just an unnecessary line of fluff that the writers decided to include, but then, the second time that she asks for a business card, I knew that there was definitely something going on, but I had no idea what; I never stopped to think that perhaps it has something to do with Weiss, since the scene in which he says something like he hopes that she has no problem with the color red is never concluded. That, of course, makes no sense to me, but I don't think that it's really supposed to make a great deal of sense to anyone. How does his procedure result in what Charlie told Olivia when she first met him, and why red? Last season, there were a few episodes that seemed to be color-centric, and it would seem as if this is another one, because there was the red that Weiss wants Olivia to look for on what people are wearing, and then, there is the color of the dials in Dr. Nayak's house when Peter and Olivia arrive at the end of the episode, which are set to red.
I am very happy to have seen Weiss again. I feared that at the end of episode 2.03, "Fracture," when Olivia walks up to him and pulls a gun to his head without using her cane, and he says to take care, that we weren't going to see him anymore, but apparently, he is still going to have an importance on the show, and I'm happy about that, because I have really taking a liking to him. Once again, there is no Jessup on the show, and that makes me happy while simultaneously frustrating me. It makes me happy, because as I have said before, it's going to take me a little while to warm up to her, because at this point, she doesn't have much of a purpose on the show, but that's exactly why I am frustrated. I want to like her, and I want her purpose to be made clear, but neither of those goals can be accomplished if she is repeatedly not on the show.
I am also really happy to see that Charlie's death is taking such a toll on Olivia because that is what I was hoping would happen. I feared that there was a slight possibility that the writers would kind of just brush it off and move on, but Olivia is hurting badly in this episode, and I knew that she would be. The scene that is especially painful to watch is when she and Peter are having the conversation about her first time meeting him, and before she tells him the story, her eyes glance to the photograph of the two of them together (Olivia and Charlie), and the both of them have wide smiles across their faces. Then, after she's done telling the story, she says something like she is just going to have to accept the fact that he's gone and that he's not coming back, and as her voice breaks, her eyes begin to fill with tears, and so did mine.
I am wondering if it was at all a "hint-hint" when she says that he is never coming back, a hint that he will indeed be coming back, since he will come back from the alternate reality. I think that I might actually have a theory here. We now know that one of Olivia's "abilities" is to travel between realities without the fatal consequences that most would face, and we know this based on what Bell tells her in the previous episode, "Momentum Deferred," so since she knows this now, what if she eventually tries to bring alter-Charlie over from the alternate reality? I have a really troubling feeling that based on this episode's final scene, Peter is going to find out very soon that he does not belong in this reality, that Walter brought him here from the alternate one, and when that happens, it's going to light up a bulb in Olivia's head, and she is consequently going to realize that she can do the same thing, that she can bring alter-Charlie here; that's just my theory, and I think that it's a pretty sound one based on the evidence that I have given to support it.
Anyway, as I was saying, I am very happy with the tribute being paid to Charlie, and I am very happy that they tacked on that scene in which Olivia goes to his grave-site to visit him, even though I think that I would have been even happier if the tribute scene had been more like a ceremony, with Peter, Walter, Broyles, and so forth all there to pay honor, but perhaps we'll still get that a little bit down the road, and speaking of what we'll get down the road, where are Rachel and Ella? We see Rachel in the premiere episode when she visits the hospital to see Olivia, but after that, we have not seen her, and I'm wondering if she has moved out of Olivia's residence due to her ex wanting custody of Ella, as we find out in episode 1.18, "Midnight." That issue has not been resolved, but since Rachel tells Peter that she left Ella with her babysitter in the premiere episode ("A New Day in the Old Town"), even if Rachel has moved out, I'm assuming that she still has custody of her.
I do have a theory regarding this issue, even though it's not a really a theory as much as it is putting two and two together. There was a promo for the new season that aired at the end of the season finale last spring, and so far, not one shred of the footage that is in that promo has been anything that we've seen this season so far (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n3GS4jNERc), and if you recall, the first season was initially supposed to have twenty-two episodes, and then, at the last minute, it was decided that the season would be cut to twenty episodes due toAmerican Idol taking Fringe off the air for so long and also due to Glee being on the week after the finale was actually on, so I think that there are "lost" episodes floating out there somewhere that we unfortunately will probably never see, and I mention this now, because to further help support this possibility, in the finale episode, "There's More than One of Everything" (1.20), Olivia is sitting on her bed when Nina calls her to tell her that she would like to hold her end of the bargain and set up a meeting with William Bell for her, and on the bed with Olivia is what appears to be a packed suitcase, so is it possible that that suitcase is Rachel's suitcase?
Something that I would really like to see out of this season is some substance on the "super-hearing" that we see in episode 2.02, "Night of Desirable Objects." It is abandoned after that episode, and in the next episode, "Fracture," the headaches become the problem, and if I remember correctly, Olivia doesn't even mention the "super-hearing" to Weiss, which I don't understand. She's so anxious to be "fixed" and to find answers that she puts a gun to his head, yet she doesn't tell him everything that there is to tell. Why does she experience the "super-hearing," and why does it suddenly stop? Anyway, as most of you probably know, we're unfortunately saying goodbye to Fringe for three weeks, due to baseball. The next new episode ("Earthling") will air November 5th and will apparently focus on victims crumbling into dust (let's hope that this one ties into the mythology somehow). I think that I said in my last entry that the break would be at least two weeks, but it's definitely going to be three, which is a downer, but the bright side is that I would much rather that it take a few three-week breaks throughout the season than take two two-month breaks. Until November 5th, though, stay on the fringe.
Needless to say, I have quite a bit to write about this week because this is one of the absolute best episodes of the entire series thus far, and even though there are a couple of things that disappointed me about the episode, which is why I really cannot give it a perfect score, ultimately giving it nine frozen heads, it is most definitely up there with my very favorites, which include, at this point, "Ability" (1.14), "The Road Not Taken" (1.19) and "A New Day in the Old Town" (2.01). A great deal of questions are answered in this episode, which I think is why it has seemingly already gone down in the Fringe community as legendary. Of course, one of the two things that I just mentioned that disappointed me about the episode is that I think that this episode perhaps answered too much in one episode because now, it seems to me as if they're going to have to initiate new plots in order to keep the show interesting. However, this episode is ultimately epic, so I'm not really making any major complaints. If you have not seen this episode yet but would like to at some eventual point in time, then I urge you not to read any further than this, because it will contain spoilers.
The primary aspect of this episode that really disappointed me is that they did almost exactly what I said in my last entry that I was really hoping that they wouldn't, which is that in this episode, Charlie's "shapeshifter" body snatcher is killed off, which effectively ends Charlie's story, in this reality anyway. We do, of course, hopefully still have the alter-Charlie to deal with, a Charlie who, for one reason or another which has not been divulged yet, has a scar on the side of his face. At this point, my thought is that his scar is related to what happened to him in this reality, as in the shapeshifter killing him and throwing his seemingly strangled body into the furnace, but that's really all I have to offer. I have no idea whatsoever how the two are related or if they even are. Anyway, I'm wondering if this shapeshifter will even be given a name eventually. Like I said, Charlie is dismissively disbanded in the premiere episode, and now, even his doppelanger is seemingly dismissively disbanded; all it takes are a few failed gunshots to his heart and then one fatal one to his head in just one scene.
It is really nice to see Broyles act as a fatherly figure for Olivia at a point that she really needs it and comforts her, assuring her that Charlie's death is not her fault. He really seems to be undergoing some type of change; in "Fracture," he actually smiles near the end of the episode when they effectively prevent Burgess from crystallizing and exploding, and now, in a vehemently caring and gentle manner (for him), he comforts Olivia; it's a bit odd, but anyway, my point here is that I really would have liked to have seen the "evil Charlie" mythology pan out throughout more of the season than merely the first four episodes, and even that only consisted of three, since Charlie was not in last week's episode. He had better get some sort of ceremony to commemorate him; if John Scott was given one back in episode 1.03, then seriously, Charlie had better get one. Perhaps then we could see Olivia grieve with a bit more intensity. Granted, they don't have a body since it's by now burned to ashes, but they didn't have Scott's body either; Nina did at Massive Dynamic.
Speaking of Charlie not being in last week's episode, by the way, this week marked the second week in a row that Jessup was not on the show, and in the second episode ("Night of Desirable Objects"), the most recent episode in which she was featured, she didn't even have a speaking part if I am remembering correctly. Don't assume that I'm complaining, of course, because trust me, I'm not. I really do not like Jessup from the small amount of time we have seen her in action. As has been previously mentioned on The Fringe Podcast, if you notice, like Olivia, Jessup seems to stick to dark colors such as grey and black. Olivia will occasionally wear something like pale blue, but you'll never see her in pink or yellow or orange or even green if I am correct; it's always dull colors. My point, therefore, is that I am being left to wonder if perhaps Jessup is a Cortexiphan child as well, and if so, what the writers' feel they are achieving by adding another Olivia to the show. She is not needed, and I read somewhere (I believe it was Entertainment Weekly) that Jessup's purpose is to add a spiritual element to the show's mythology, but as most of us in the Fringe community seemed to agree last season, fans don't really want this; leave religion out of Fringe. I am assuming, based on the scene near the end of 2.01, that she is looking for ways to tie Fringe Division cases to the Bible, and again, based on the aforementioned scene, she is seemingly managing to do so successfully. I honestly just don't feel that adding this component to the show is going to do anything constructive for it. Forgive me for the comparison (even though I'm sure the writers would eat it up), but we really don't need a Scully on the show either.
As I said before, we receive a great multitude of answers from this episode, too many to list off, so I'll just try to hit the key points here. Previously, we wondered what happened between Bell and Olivia at the conclusion of the first season when we see that Olivia is standing inside the World Trade Center, which, in this reality, was never struck down, and now, we know what happened, and we know what was said. That actually leads me directly into a theory that I want to share, and that is that I think that William Bell may be Olivia's father, and I say that because as far as I know, Olivia has never mentioned her father before. In "The Ghost Network," she mentions her stepfather, but not once does she mention her father if I'm correct, which leads me to believe that there's a chance that she doesn't remember him, and the kind of warmth that he shows her seems to be incredibly fatherly which I interpret as meaning more than just having conducted the Cortexiphan trials on her when she was a child. Based on this episode, he really seems to love her, as in compassionately love her like a father would love his child. Here, another question is answered because we find out why Olivia speaks in Greek to Peter when she wakes from her "coma." William Bell tells Olivia to say that to Peter to help get him on her side and that he would know what it meant. We, of course, know that it means "be a better man than your father," which leads me to my next theory. As I said last season, I think that Bell is actually Walter, and Walter is actually Bell since they at one point in time switched consciousnesses; why else would Bell want Olivia to say this to Peter?
Another question that is answered for us in this episode is why "Charlie" had seemed to be in severe pain, and kudos to Courtney of The Fringe Podcast for calling it almost entirely. "Charlie" had been in pain because he had been taking on his appearance for too long, and he can't shapeshift because his device is broken. Therefore, he was beginning to permanently become Charlie because you're only supposed to take on an alternate appearance for a certain amount of time. We also now know where the shapeshifters are from and what they want; they are from the alternate reality, and they are taking part in a war against this reality; we just don't quite know why yet. Their purpose, based on what Nina says to Olivia about Bell believing that no two objects could occupy the same space simultaneously and that therefore, if the two realities were to collide, only one would survive, is to eliminate our reality, but the question as to why still remains. Speaking of Nina's demonstration involving the two snow globes, I found it to be quite odd that (a) she conveniently happens to have two identical snow globes on hand at the time (I mean, they couldn't have meant much to her since she, with no hesitation, slammed them into each other), and that (b) conveniently, only one of them breaks when she forces them to collide so that her analogy would make sense. I suppose that I just found it be somewhat funny by all senses of the word.
Returning to Charlie once again, Kirk Acevedo's acting in this episode is incredibly exquisite. We have never seen him like this before, and between "Night of Desirable Objects" and this episode, I have been extremely impressed, especially by the scene in this episode in which he empties thermometers he just bought of their mercury and pours it into a Slusho container to drink; that scene is, to say the least, creepy! Even my brother, Cody, said that it made him shiver. We have never seen Acevedo take on that kind of persona, and he really pulls it off, and it's sad that he's no longer on the show now, minus the scenes that we will hopefully see of him in the alternate reality. Last season, when Acevedo apparently posted something on his Facebook about having been fired from the show, the writers' response was that it was absolutely not true and that, if anything, we would literally be seeing a lot more of him in the second season, so what I'm thinking is that he somehow found out about Charlie being killed off in the premiere episode and then reacted by assuming that he was off the show, which I think is what most people would assume in that situation.
This story involving Rebecca surprised me because I didn't think that we'd be seeing any more of her; I figured that the small amount of time in which we see her in the premiere episode when Walter shows the team the video of her talking about the shapeshifters was all we were going to see of her, but no, we get to meet her in present day time, and she has a strikingly odd resemblance to Lena Olin, who played Irina Derevko on Alias. Speaking of Alias, our "forty-seven" shoutout this week is Walter saying that he found that 47% of the shapeshifters' blood is mercury. I don't think that there is a reference every single week, but there is quite often. For example, in episode 1.14, "Ability," the device that Jones arms is located on a 47th floor. In the premiere episode, the camera very quickly shows a yellow sign that says "47" on the street during the scene near the beginning in which Jessup is questioning Peter and giving him a hard time. Last week, on "Fracture," Walter says that he stopped counting the needlemarks in Gillespie's feet after forty-seven. I'm always listening for it, and I know that it's been on the show more than in just these instances. Yet another example is when Broyles tells Olivia in the pilot episode about forty-seven children having gone missing for years and then suddenly showing up not having aged at all.
Anyway, allow me to return to my point. I like Rebecca's character because she gives Walter a love interest, but at the same time, if Walter needs a love interest, then why can't we just find out who Peter's mother is already? At first, I wondered if Rebecca is possibly Peter's mother, since she says that she saw him somewhere before right before the drugs kick in and she comically says, "Whoa, here we go!" Also, she gives him an odd look near the end of the episode and then brushes it off, but that doesn't make sense because you would think that Peter would remember her, so that was when I dismissed that theory. I suppose that it's possible that in this reality, Rebecca is his mother, and in another reality, someone else is; therefore, in this reality, he wouldn't recognize Rebecca as his mother because he's not originally from this reality. However, Rebecca saying that she has seen Peter somewhere before doesn't fit in that case because you would think that she should most definitely know where.
The episode initially kind of frustrated me because I thought that we were supposed to know whose head it is at the end of the episode, and I had no idea whose it is; it wasn't anyone I recognize. Throughout the episode, when the shapeshifters are discussing the head that they need, they describe the head as belonging to someone who tried to cross over into the alternate reality, and since the keyword there is tried, my assumption was that they are talking about Jones, but that definitely isn't Jones at the end of the episode, which is disappointing because first of all, since we have no idea who that is, it made for somewhat of a lousy cliffhanger, and second of all, I want Jones back so badly; he is one of the coolest villains ever, and we had better at least get to see, like Charlie, alter-Jones. Before that, however, the next episode is titled "Dream Logic," and it apparently involves a man who is convinced that his boss is a horned demon, and I am incredibly skeptical about this episode because, again, I really don't mean to draw this comparison, but there is an X-Files episode with an almost identical plot, so they had better do something with this to set it apart and make it unique. Also, I just recently found out that after "Dream Logic," the show is going on a hiatus for at least two weeks, possibly more, due to the World Series. The week after "Dream Logic," FOX will air the second season premiere, "A New Day in the Old Town," but then, the week after that, it won't be on at all. This is disappointing news, but hopefully, episode 2.06 will be worth the wait. I thought that it was odd that Fringe Bloggers didn't have any promo pics for anything past "Dream Logic," and now, I know why. Well, until then, stay on the fringe!
"Fracture" is definitely a step-up from the last episode, "Night of Desirable Objects."As I said in my entry regarding that episode, I'm not really sure why it was decided to jump into such a "stand-alone," "monster of the week"-like story so early into the season, the second episode, in fact, but I could go on for quite a while about that, and I won't. This episode, though, took not only listening to the latest episode of the Fringe Podcast but also a re-watch of the episode itself in order for me to fully understand it. I usually do watch each episode at least a couple of times before writing an entry, anyway, but this time, I was incredibly confused by this episode, but now, not only do I fully understand the episode but I also very much appreciate it a lot more. It's definitely not on my Top 5, but it's a decent episode, and I give it seven and a half crystallized ears. I warn you before I begin my analysis of this episode, however, that it will contain spoilers, so if you haven't seen the episode yet but would like to, then please don't read any further.
This episode, unlike "Night of Desirable Objects," sticks to the mythology of Fringe, which I am very happy about. I recall last fall when I saw episode 1.04, "The Arrival," that I initially thought that the Observer is a "bad guy," because it seems as if he orchestrates the crane collision at the beginning of the episode; however, throughout the season, we are led to believe differently, such as when we find out that he saved Walter and Peter's lives and also at the finale when he and Walter have that conversation on the beach. Now, it's once again being called into question that he is indeed a villain, that he, as well as all of the other Observers, are here to collect data in regards to our technology and then use it against us, which is interesting to think about. Why? For what purpose would they want to harm us with our own technology?
There are a couple of things that I find really interesting about this episode. Once again, Broyles is not handed a case to give to Fringe Division. It finds a case on its own and then handles it seemingly without having to go through any channels; if I recall correctly, we don't even see Olivia or Peter discussing anything with Broyles before they initiate their investigation. Perhaps, we are just supposed to infer that they have already been granted permission, but anyway, my point is that it's really interesting how Astrid randomly pulls up this case out of thin air, and then, it ends up having such a close tie to Fringe Division; it is directly related to the Observers. Is this a coincidence, or can this be taken as a sign that Astrid is possibly a mole? Was she aware of the case already and for some reason, wanted Fringe Division involved, so she pretended like she just happened to stumble across it? I'm just throwing ideas out there.
Up until the final scene of this episode, I thought that we were getting yet another standalone episode, and that was a major part of the reason why. Since Astrid just randomly pulls up the case file on the computer, I didn't think that it was related to the mythology, which is also due to there seemingly being nothing to give you the impression that it's headed in a mythological direction throughout the episode up until the ending. Of course, I never put two and two together, because right in the first scene of the episode, Gillespie is told on the phone by the colonel that he is to apprehend a man with a trenchcoat and a briefcase, and I never thought of the Observer. So, I'm guessing that the Observers have people that are working for them and helping them collect this data? That is, of course, if Gordon is to be believed, which, of course, is unclear at this point. We don't even know yet whether or not Boone was lying when he implicated William Bell funds ZFT at the end of episode 1.18, "Midnight."
The ending of this episode is fantastic; it is, by far, one of the absolute best cliffhangers we have gotten so far. As soon as I saw all of the pepper that was being poured onto the food, I knew who Gordon was talking about, and I knew that we were about to see the Observer, which we did, and that itself was a pretty killer ending, but then, it gets even better when we see that this "data," this data that is apparently a danger to us all, is, in this case (no pun intended), Walter. Is this why the Observer saved Walter and Peter when they drove into the ice? Obviously, he is incredibly crucial to a larger picture, and the Observers know this, or at least, our Observer does, who is apparently called September. If I recall correctly, J.J. did say something about the second season answering some questions about the Observer, so I guess that this episode was used as a method to help kick this part of the mythology back into effect.
The scene prior to the very final scene is amazing, as well, and, of course, I am referring to Olivia's scene with Sam Weiss at the bowling alley. She begins to feel incredibly frustrated with him, because he isn't giving her any answers, or at least, he is giving them to her very slowly and in "Yoda crap," so she pulls her gun on him and demands that since she was told he could help her, she wants him to stop playing games and to do just that, to help her. However, what she doesn't realize at first is that she walks over to him with her gun pulled out with no hesitation, and she leaves her walker (which she has been using since her "accident" to help her get around) behind; I just love that scene so much, because obviously, he did help her, and she just needed to be in a heightened state of emotion (anger, in this case) to realize.
One very small aspect of the episode that I didn't like was Peter calling Olivia by her last name not once but twice. My guess is that it's just an effect of having more than one writer on the show, but I found it to be incredibly out of character for him to call her Dunham. I can perhaps understand if he was talking to Broyles or someone like that, but then again, in the premiere episode, he even called her Olivia when he was talking to Broyles ("We were too late for Olivia."), but he was first talking to Walter and Astrid, and then the second time, he was talking to Olivia herself. First, there was the scene near the beginning of the episode when Astrid, Peter and Walter take interest in the case, and Peter says, "I'll call Dunham," and then, there is the scene in which Olivia feels sick at the Gillespie home, so she goes to the bathroom, and Peter follows after her to see if she is okay, calling her Dunham. I could also understand it if we were talking about an episode early in the first season, but at this point, it is very out of character for him to be calling her by her last name.
I am disappointed that there is no "Charlie" in this episode, but at the same time, it makes me happy because the shapeshifter snatching Charlie's body in the premiere episode adds a lot to the mythology, and maybe, their plan is to prolong it for a little while, and the reason why I am hoping that this is what is planned is because I can't believe that Charlie is dead, and it's really sad how he is killed off, as I have mentioned before. He is basically dismissed, thrown into a furnace; we don't even see the scene in which he is actually killed, so I would hope that they at least prolong his story a little bit instead of immediately exposing it. It will make the scene that much more epic, as well. Like I have said already, I am bracing my heart, because the scene in which Olivia finds out is going to be very difficult to watch. Charlie is her best friend, and inside of the FBI, before she met Peter or Broyles or anyone else, he was really the only person she trusted besides John Scott. I would imagine that finding out is really going to damage her, and I'm going to be vehemently enraged if it doesn't, if the writers more or less decide to brush it off. I am, on the other hand, not the least bit disappointed that Jessup is not in the episode, because as I have said before, I am not a Jessup fan, really. We need to get to know more about her before I feel anything for her, because at this point, I'm not following her purpose.
Then, of course, there is J.J.'s usual shout-out to Alias when Walter says that he stops counting the needlemarks in Gillespie toes after forty-seven. There is also a possible Wizard of Oz reference between the last two episodes that I didn't catch at first; the credit actually goes to the Fringe Podcast. Last week, we had the scarecrow motif, and this week, we have Project: Tinman. This could be a bit of a stretch, but is it possible that Olivia is supposed to represent Dorothy in the premiere episode, since she visited an alternate world and then came back? I don't know, but I'm definitely going to be looking for a possible Cowardly Lion homage this week. Hopefully, these references are not just random and actually have an agenda, but I would probably need to talk to someone who is better at deciphering those kinds of clues than I am. I do the best that I can, but I'm not always really good at really deep analysis, so if anyone wants to offer a possible reason for including these Wizard of Oz references, that would be appreciated. Perhaps, they're just reflecting the tastes of the writers, but I feel like there is probably more to it than that.
The final aspect of this episode that I want to discuss is Olivia and Peter's trip to Iraq. I thought that it was really cool how this called for something that we saw in the pilot episode, which was Peter being in Iraq, which is where Olivia finds him and "asks" him to go back to America with her. Peter's shaky past is brought into a very dim light once again, as Ahmed is surprised that Peter would want to save these peoples' lives, because there was apparently once a time when Peter didn't have any regard for lives. Ahmed seems very bitter toward Peter to me, which makes me wonder if maybe the deformity on his face was a result of something that Peter did, maybe not something that he did directly but instead a result of a decision that he made. I found it funny when Peter clearly sees that Olivia is hiding something when he asks her about the headaches, and she says that the doctors said that she might get them but that they are normal. The look on his face displays extreme and utter frustration, but then, when she asks him about his past while they're in Iraq, he tells her that he doesn't want to talk about it. I was wondering how it was that Olivia knew even a little Arabic, of course. Maybe learning it was part of her training? Then again, if she was required to learn it as part of her training, it would seem as if she'd know more than just a little bit of it; Peter even seems really surprised that she knows any of it.
Next week's episode is called "Momentum Deferred," which was originally titled "This Is the Night Mail." I'm not sure why the title was changed, but perhaps "Momentum Deferred" will prove to be a better title; I shall find out soon enough. I honestly didn't really understand why 2.03 was called "Fracture," but maybe I should just think longer and harder on it, or maybe there is more than one meaning of the word. Additionally, for those of you who are interested, as I have said before, I think that the show's second season will focus a lot more on who the Observer(s) is/are and what his/their role(s) is/are, and I actually found out a while ago that episode 2.08, which, assuming that there are no breaks, will air on November 5th, is titled "August," and as we know, the Observer that we know (played by Michael Cerveris) is called September, so it's very likely that this episode will be dealing very heavily with the Observers, and it's possible that we will meet a new one. Until then, though, stay on the fringe.
