Fringe - "The Cure" (1.06)

“The Cure” is a pretty decent episode, and the primary reason why I really like it is that it relates directly to something that Broyles says in the pilot episode of the series. He says that it is like someone out there is experimenting; only, the whole world is a lab, and that is something that we see time and time again on Fringe. This episode is no exception, and one reason that I am, so far, thinking that I like season 1 better than season 2 is that season 1 makes a better effort to connect these “experiments” together, since we eventually learn that someone is indeed behind them, that there is a very strong possibility that they are attacks carried out by ZFT. Why? Well, we don't have much of an idea yet. The closest that we have to an idea is what Gordon says at the end of episode 2.03, “Fracture.” He tells Broyles that there is an enemy and that their goal is to use our science and technology against us. We then learn that he is talking about the Observers, that he was trying to wipe them out because they are anything but our friends. Could that be what ZFT's goal has been from the start, to take out the Observers? Perhaps, if that is the case, then a lot of the deaths that we have seen throughout the series, such as the people encased in a translucent substance in episode 1.03, “The Ghost Network,” are regarded as casualties in a war and that that is why September is frequently seen at the crime scenes.

Anyway, the opening scene is probably the grossest opening scene that I have seen yet (even though the opening of “Snakehead" comes close). In fact, if there are any Fringe fans who remember Adele, who used to host the Fringe Dwellers podcast, then you may know that she once said that this scene was edited for television in Australia. I love how Walter is humming near the beginning of the episode for no apparent reason, something that is clearly annoying Olivia. When asked to stop, he goes on to say that he didn't realize that he was doing it out loud, that he thought that it was in his head. He once again has thoughts or questions unrelated to the case (something that we see again and again throughout season 1 and also something that clearly annoys Olivia). This time, after saying that he has three questions and voicing only two, he says, “Oh, the third question. Could I get some of this onion soup? It looks delicious.” I love how the team is at such a horrifically gruesome scene, and he has food on his mind, and of all things, a liquid-like food. You have to love Walter and his Walterisms. Fringe simply wouldn't be Fringe without him or them.

When I first watched this episode, I could immediately tell that Claire's husband is lying when shown a photograph of Emily and asked if he knew her. It's evidently clear in the way that he responds that he is hiding something, but obviously, we don't know what right away. Later, of course, we learn that his deception is because they were making their own cure, and he didn't want to tell a federal agent because he didn't want their research to be shut down. I am really happy that Olivia is at least somewhat conscious of animal cruelty, since after Walter kills Mr. Papaya using the same method that he thinks was used to kill the people in the diner (which is that Emily was basically programmed to cook the people in the diner alive), he suggests using “some expendable gerbils in the back,” to which Olivia vehemently exclaims, “No!” Of course, later in the episode, we see what appears to be a rat being placed inside Claire's confinement, where the same thing happens to it as what happened to the people in the diner and to Mr. Papaya. That is so cruel. Whatever the reason behind these attacks may be, do these people have any regard for innocent life whatsoever? Obviously, they don't. Their goal is to accomplish their missions and nothing else; lives lost in the process, even if it is just the life of a defenseless animal, mean nothing.

Returning to what I was saying about the world being a lab for a series of experiments, however, Peter nails that with more precision than a dart hitting the direct center of the board. He says to Olivia, “If this is part of The Pattern, what if these people aren't just experiments? What if somebody is preparing for something?” This is exactly what I am saying; season 1 makes these conscious efforts to tie the stories together, whereas season 2 does not. No one questions the significance of the mole-baby (“Night of Desirable Objects”), the doctor addicted to dreams (“Dream Logic”), the cosmonaut whose body is bound with that of an unidentified foreign creature (“Earthling”), the Chinese Snakehead infecting people with worms (“Snakehead”) or the disfigured community of Edina, New York (“Johari Window”). In this episode, however, as well as many episodes of season 1, connections are made, and in addition to what Peter says to Olivia, I definitely think that ZFT is behind this attack. Why? Again, we don't really know, but when confronted by Olivia about the case, Dr. Patel reveals to her that David Esterbrook is responsible and then kills himself, something that we have seen ZFT members do again and again throughout season 1, and speaking of David Esterbrook, when Olivia confronts him and pretends to be a woman named Amanda Bennett who is an admirer and follower of his work, it is clear how ambitious of an agent she is, pretending (which is extravagantly convincing, I might add) to be this woman until she gets Esterbrook to say what she needs him to say, and when Broyles reprimands her for doing this, it is easy to see that there is still a great deal of tension between her and Broyles, something that is so wildly different at this point in the series.

I love the story that Olivia tells Peter about her birthday. There is something about it that is really poetic, and throughout season 1 and even in some episodes of season 2, Olivia keeps mentioning her stepfather, which suggests to me that he will eventually be a key figure in the series. She says that the situation involving the shooting of her stepfather happened when she was nine years old, and in an earlier episode (I believe that it was “The Ghost Network”), she says that she pretty much had always known that she wanted to go into Law Enforcement ever since she was nine years old, which suggests a connection between the age and the situation. Another highlight of this episode is the meeting between Peter and Nina. She says to him, “I doubt you'll remember, but you and I spent a good deal of time together.” At the time, we obviously didn't realize it, but this is a hint toward Peter being from the other side, because that is precisely why Nina “doubts” that he will remember it. The scene originally caused me to speculate that Nina was Peter's mother, and I'm sure that I am not the only one. However, if you've seen the first sneak peek of the upcoming episode “Peter” (2.15) that was released, then you know exactly why she said that, but for those who prefer to stay completely spoiler-free, I won't say anything more than that. She makes an exchange with Peter, and although I do have an idea as to what that might be, sharing it would share those aforementioned spoilers, so I will save everything until after “Peter” is aired next week. All that I will say, however, is that despite what you tell Olivia at the end of this episode, Peter, don't be so sure that you're a big boy and that you can take care of yourself.

This episode features Walter getting Astrid's name wrong once again, calling her “Asterisk,” to which Peter says, “Astrid. Her name is Astrid,” and although this isn't very important, I wonder if Olivia wears contact lenses. My brother Cody has pointed this out before, but I kind of just noticed it in this episode (near the end of the episode when Olivia tells Broyles that she is indeed emotional but that emotion is what drives her); Olivia's eyes do seem to change color every now and then. They seem to alternate between a hazel-like color and bluish-green. It is very likely, though, that she wears contact lenses, since she is sometimes seen wearing glasses when she reads. Now, about the ending of the episode, I already briefly referred to Olivia's stepfather and how that might come into play later in the series (I almost want to say that I have heard word of the producers say that, indeed, it will), but Olivia does end up receiving the birthday card, unsigned, simply saying, “thinking of you.” Obviously, I am aware that this is consistent with the story that Olivia tells Peter of her stepfather sending her a birthday card every year on her birthday, but I am wondering if it relates to this particular episode at all. Olivia says that she knows that her stepfather isn't responsible for everything bad in the world but that he is responsible for some of it, something that drives her to catch “bad guys.” Between that line and the card at the end of the episode, I can't help but think that maybe he was involved in this particular event. Anyway, I am sure that in the future, we will learn more regarding Olivia's stepfather, something to which I am looking forward. As I said, this is a pretty good episode, and I think that I'd give it seven expendable gerbils.

Fringe - "Power Hungry" (1.05)

I would actually like to kick this entry off by mentioning the Observer. Obviously, this episode is by no means an Observer-centric episode, but September does make a rather obvious appearance when he walks out of the elevator at Joseph Meegar's worksite. I also initially said that it was probably my favorite episode out of the series so far, and I'm not sure why I said that. At that point, the pilot episode had definitely been the best one. “Power Hungry” is a decent episode, but it's not so phenomenal as to be called the best episode out of the first five. Indirectly, it is related to the show's mythology, which definitely causes it to earn some points in my book (seven epic pacemaker fails). How the episode plays into the show's mythology is something that will be discussed in this entry, but please be aware that this entry will contain spoilers that pertain to Fringe, so if you've never seen the show but would like to, then please, don't read any further.

This episode begins with a man named Joseph Meegar who is involved in an elevator drop that kills everyone in the elevator besides him, and this leads us to a fringe science that involves a human with a much higher than normal level of electromagnetism surrounding his body, something that was caused by a group of people who promised Joseph that they would help him “unlock his hidden potential.” It's definitely an interesting fringe science, and it's one that doesn't seem all that far-fetched to me. What if a human could possibly have elevated levels of electromagnetism and could therefore cause electric equipment to malfunction? Something that I really like about this episode is that it doesn't just entirely abandon last week's premise, as Olivia and Charlie discuss Olivia having seen John the night before, and Peter and Walter discuss his torture, and speaking of Peter, the look on his face when he comes to the door after Olivia knocks on it is simply priceless. He is completely annoyed that he has been awakened at such an early hour, which he doesn't hide.

I suppose that in opposition to what was just said about the episode basically picking up where the last episode left off, I do recall Courtney from The Fringe Podcast saying that she was annoyed by the fact that Astrid suddenly seems not to have any ill feelings toward Walter, despite the fact that he injects her with a syringe in the previous episode. However, this is not the impression that I have during this episode. For example, when Walter confesses his regrets for having to let the pigeons go due to his belief that they are “such majestic creatures,” she says to him, “They're rats with wings. You'll get over it.” For Astrid, the look on her face and her tone of voice were very sarcastic, even directed toward Walter, so I think that she is, in fact, still harboring ill feelings toward Walter, and Walter looks so defeated when she says this. Then, there's the scene in which Walter says to her, “That one can go out the back. Thank you, my dear.” Astrid replies, “What's my name?” Walter has trouble remembering but does recall that it “starts with A.” When Astrid asks him what her name is, I sensed some tension in that scene, too. However, they do not mention what Walter did at all, and that is most likely what Courtney was talking about. We do see near the end of “The Arrival” that Astrid is angry with Walter, and he does apologize to her, so perhaps she simply thought about it and decided to, more or less, accept his apology.

Something that I wonder about Joseph Meegar is whether or not he is a Cortexiphan subject. We do know from the episode that he was having illegal experiments performed on him and that the experiments were what caused his ability, but we also know that he was being injected with something, and we don't know with what he was being injected. Additionally, we know that Cortexiphan initiates very dramatic abilities, and is Cortexiphan what caused Meegar's ability? Is Jacob Fischer possibly a member of ZFT or even an employee of Massive Dynamic, and if either is true, then, as I'm sure has been discussed before in the Fringe community, what's the difference between the two? Are ZFT and Massive Dynamic possibly partners in “crime?” Perhaps ZFT is actually committing the “crimes,” and Massive Dynamic is supplying it with the means to do so?

The main reason why I say that Meegar could be a Cortexiphan subject is that we don't know anything whatsoever about his childhood, so the possibility that he could have been given the drug when he was a child can therefore not be ruled out. Also, we can assume that the reason why children are being given Cortexiphan is to create soldiers in the upcoming war, and as we know based on what Jones says to Olivia in episode 1.14, “Ability,” soldiers are expected to be unwilling, which Meegar most definitely is. Additionally, Fischer says to him, “Look what science has made you, Joseph. You are special.” I am therefore left to wonder how he is special. Obviously, he can harness electricity, which is undoubtedly “special,” but for what purpose can he harness electricity?

After all, it doesn't seem realistic to me that the experiment would have been conducted merely for the fun of it, especially since Fischer tells the man with whom he is working that “he's [Meegar] the priority.” That strongly suggests to me that even Fischer is taking orders from someone, someone who has expressed that Meegar is so important that if Fischer needs to surrender his life in order to preserve Meegar and his ability, then so be it, and I can't decide if that sounds more like ZFT or Massive Dynamic. In other episodes, we have seen ZFT members surrender their lives for a higher cause (i.e., 1.07, “In Which We Meet Mr. Jones”), but we have also seen Massive Dynamic perform experiments on humans (i.e., 2.07, “Of Human Action”), which serves as good support for the theory that ZFT and Massive Dynamic could be working together. After all, in episode 1.18, “Midnight,” we find out that William Bell could possibly be funding ZFT, something that he does not deny during his meeting with Olivia in the alternate reality.

I feel really terrible for Joseph Meegar whenever I watch this episode, because obviously, none of what happens is his fault. He doesn't understand his ability, and he is confused. I mean, near the end of the episode, Olivia makes the mistake of shouting “Freeze!” when she apprehends Meegar, and I call it a mistake because how can you expect someone to comply when you shout at them like that, especially when it's someone who you should be trying to get to see you as a friend. When she shouts like that, he automatically sees her as an enemy. She should have said something like, “Joseph, listen to me. I know that you probably see me as your enemy right now, but I assure you that I am not. I'm FBI, and I'm here to help you.” Of course, there are two issues at hand as far as that is concerned. Firstly, she most likely didn't know at that point whether or not he was in control of his “ability.” Secondly, he most likely still would have ran, because he didn't trust anyone, but she still could have tried. What she does do just about guarantees that he is going to run.

Additionally, I don't really think that it was necessary for Peter to hit him so hard, especially not with whatever it was that he struck him with (it looked like a crowbar). He could have jumped on him or put his arm out to stop him or something like that. This poor guy is running because he is scared to death, so you hit him over the head with a crowbar? Then, when he begs to go home, Olivia treats him like he's a bad guy and behaves so coldly to him. It really makes me feel so sorry for him. This episode as a whole, anyway, is decent and, to me, earns those seven malfunctioned pacemakers. It has one of the top Fringe quotes to date, which is the scene in which Charlie says to Olivia, “Saying someone's doing all this, you know that's crazy right?” Her response is, “If it weren't, we wouldn't be looking for him.” Of course, we also discover in this episode why Olivia is seeing John Scott despite the fact that he is supposed to be dead, which is because when she was in the tank from the pilot episode, part of Scott's consciousness crossed over into hers, and since it's not supposed to be there, seeing him in front of her is her mind's way of coping with the issue of there being an extra voice in her head. “There's only room for one voice in your head, not two,” as Walter says. Anyway, until next time, stay on the fringe.

Fringe - "The Arrival" (1.04)

It is actually perfect timing to be reviewing this episode, since “August” (2.08) will be airing tonight, and if I were to review this episode afterward, there may not be as much to talk about, since I think that we're going to get quite a few answers regarding the Observer(s) within that episode, an episode for which I am very excited. “The Arrival” is definitely one of the better first season episodes, since it is the first Observer-centric episode and also really introduces a great deal of mythology to the show (I would ultimately have to give this episode eight Root Beer Floats). However, even this episode does not have the exciting and blood-boiling pace that the season does later in its life, which it doesn't seem to adopt, for me, anyway, until "In Which We Meet Mr. Jones" (1.07). That is when the mythology of the show really picks up its pace and starts to get interesting, and Jones is such a cool bad guy. Anyway, before I get into heavy discussion about this episode, be forewarned that this entry does contain spoilers, so if you have not yet seen Fringe but would like to see it, then please, do not read any further.

The episode starts with the audience being formally introduced to the Observer, or as we know him, September. He is sitting at a diner, using what appears to be highly technological binoculars (ones that vehemently remind me of Star Wars) to observe construction workers, and oddly enough, he orders a “roast beef sandwich on a roll, meat raw as possible, room temperature water, no ice,” and after he asks the waitress if she has jalapeños, which she does, he asks for “eleven of those, please, on the side.” I wonder why he wants eleven; it seems like such a random number. Maybe he has learned from past experience that that is what he needs in order to taste it. On top of that, he loads the sandwich with pepper and Tabasco sauce, which calls for one scalding hot sandwich. Directly before the crane incident occurs (it is worth pointing out, by the way, that “oddly” enough, the Massive Dynamic logo can be seen on the crane), he checks his clock, and I can only wonder if perhaps this is because he is making sure that the event happens when it's supposed to happen. I also wonder what the odd code is that he writes in and what he is writing. All of these questions, however, are why I am so excited for tonight's episode, “August.” I think that a lot of these questions are going to be answered.

In this episode, we discover that staying in Boston is driving Peter insane because as he tells Olivia, “I don't do well staying in one place; you know that.” I find this interesting because I am wondering if this will come into play eventually. Will he ever want to leave? He hasn't really shown any interest in leaving since. Of course, that's partly because as he tells Olivia at the end of the episode, he plans to stay until the strange phenomenon that surrounds him can be explained, and obviously, it really hasn't yet. It is also interesting that Walter says that he will only cooperate if Peter stays because, according to Olivia, “He would rather go back to St. Claire's than work here without you. He's said that more than once.”As much as he may love Peter, you would think that he would want to avoid him so that his secret (pertaining to “stealing” Peter from the alternate reality) would have a much less chance of being revealed, but then again, maybe his hopes are to establish a relationship with Peter so that he won't be as angry just in case he finds out anyway. Again, I have a feeling that Walter's secret will also be touched upon during tonight's episode, if not completely revealed to Peter.

The two of them do have a very comical moment in this episode. Walter says to Peter, “Open your mind, son, or someone may open it for you,” to which Peter replies, “Even that doesn't make any sense.” I had to laugh at that line, not only at Peter's obvious irritation but also at the truthfulness behind his words. That doesn't make any sense, and you're left to wonder what Walter could possibly mean by that. How does one go about opening someone's mind? Maybe the line was used as foreshadowing, since Mosley seems to have read Peter's mind during his interrogation. Speaking of Mosley, not very many questions regarding his character are answered in this episode. In fact, this episode really follows the typical LOST format in that not very many questions are answered at all. We don't know what the beacon is, why it has been twenty or so years since it last surfaced, where it goes when it explodes downward or what it even is. Why does it vibrate? Is it from the alternate reality? Does it perhaps mark teleportation spots or soft spots in between dimensions? Returning to Mosley, however, I am wondering where he got that gun that he was using on people, which does not appear to kill people but instead appears to “force push” them. Based on the promo for tonight's episode, it would appear that August uses the same, or at least a similar, gun on a man who tries to stop him from kidnapping a girl. In addition, Mosley's hat has red and green dots on it, and, as we know, red and green are recurring colors that we see in Fringe.

A line that really sticks out for me is when Walter is being held, and Olivia and Peter come to talk to him, and to defend his actions (drugging Astrid and then hiding the Beacon), he says to Peter, “Have you ever taken anything that didn't belong to you because you knew it was the right thing to do?” Peter then says, “This isn't about me,” to which Walter replies, “Maybe it is, Peter.” I was having a thought cross my mind before Walter even said, “Maybe it is, Peter,” because what if it really is? What if Walter, in his mind, was talking about Peter? Alter-Peter did not belong to him, and he “stole” him, and yet, he may have felt somehow that that was the right thing to do. I am just considering the possibility that that is what Walter had on his mind when he said that. Then, when he and Peter get into an argument since Peter does not believe that Walter met with the Observer, Walter says, “Must you always be so small-minded?” This is one of my favorite Walter quotes to date, and he then boldly asserts himself by saying, “I am not a child! I will not be babied!” When he says this, he looks like he is seriously going to cry any second, and as I have said before, John Noble is simply brilliant.

At the same time, however, Walter actually behaves like a father in the episode. Typically, we see Peter taking on the fatherly role while Walter takes on the role of the child. A good example of this is in “A New Day in the Old Town” (2.01) when Walter says to Peter, “They said that I can ride in the back with the body. Can I?” Yet another example is in “Momentum Deferred” (2.04), when he asks Peter if it's okay if he goes with Rebecca to her house. We frequently see a role reversal take place between the two of them, but in this episode, we have a scene in which Walter tells Peter that he needs aluminum foil, and Peter objects. Walter says that he needs Peter to trust him, and Peter replies, “No, thank you.” Walter loses his temper and replies, “Damn it! Must you always be such a smart-ass?” Walter proceeds to tell him that if he doesn't get the aluminum foil, his life as well as everyone else's could be jeopardized and to “go now!” Of course, I love how he then asks Peter to pick him up a root beer float while he is out, yet the look on his face and his tone of voice are still very stern and angry.

This episode, like the previous (“The Ghost Network”) demonstrates Olivia's gift of focus and observation. She notices something that no one else did for quite some time, which is the Observer frequently showing up in photos. Broyles even tells her, “It took us a year to spot him. You did it in three weeks.” Something that I am wondering is why it is that it always appears to be this Observer that is spotted. We now know that there is more than one Observer (as September tells Walter in the first season finale, “There is more than one of everything”), so why is it that, again, in all of the photos, it appears to be September? We know that not all of them look exactly the same because August does not look like September. Why can't September taste much of anything? He tells Walter that he can't, and I'm assuming that that is why he loads his food with spices (as we see in both this episode and in “Fracture”). Additionally, what does September shoot Peter with near the end of the episode and why? We learn at the end of “Fracture” that there is a possibility that the Observers are enemies, that they are here to destroy us, and is this true? If it is, then why would it appear as if they are doing nothing but observing? Is it as Gordon says, that they are collecting data pertaining to our technology in order to use it against us? Their technology seems to be much more advanced than ours, so that doesn't really make sense to me.

Regarding the scene in which the Observer says what Peter says at the exact same time and then eventually even says things that Peter is thinking before he says them himself, at the time, we couldn't really make anything out of that, but after seeing episode “Inner Child” (1.15), it would appear as if this is something that all Observers have the ability to do, that is, if we are to assume that the Child is an Observer, which I think we are supposed to assume. The Child can read thoughts and can understand emotions without anyone even saying anything, and it would appear as if this is what September can do. There isn't really much about the ending itself to discuss, because not very much happens to which we don't now have an answer. We know why Olivia sees John Scott in her kitchen, which is due to the fact that she had part of his consciousness inside of hers. The only question pertaining to that that I do have is that would that situation manifest itself with such power that it would cause her to hear her phone ring even when it didn't? Walter's line near the end of the episode is really funny, however. When he makes an attempt to apologize to Astrid, he tells her, “If it would help you feel a sense of retribution, I would tell you to inject me, too, but I'd most likely enjoy it.” Lines like that are always worth mentioning. Anyway, this entry will hopefully serve as an effective prelude to tonight's episode, since it would appear as if a good portion of the questions that this episode asks will be answered tonight, so be sure to watch “August" tonight at 8/7c on FOX.

Fringe - "The Ghost Network" (1.03)

“The Ghost Network” is admittedly not one of my favorite episodes of Fringe. I am sure that I have said before, to people such as my friend Fady, for example, that the series (after the mind-blowing pilot episode, that is) starts off somewhat slow, and this is one of those early slow episodes. “The Arrival” (1.04) is a step up from this one, but even though I do really like "The Cure" (1.06), the season, as, again, I have told people, really picks up its pace and becomes the amazing season that it is at “In Which We Meet Mr. Jones” (1.07), which is probably because that is when a great deal of the mythology of the first season comes directly into play. Well, as always, I am forewarning you that this entry will pertain to “The Ghost Network” episode of Fringe and quite possibly many episodes that follow, as well, so if you do not want to be spoiled in the event that, for some reason, you haven't started watching this show yet, then do not read any further.

I can't and am not griping that this episode isn't mythology-oriented because it definitely is. Roy McComb has not returned to the series yet, and I don't suspect that he will, but his story has a great deal to do with the show's mythology, since first of all, he is representative of one of the many immoral activities that Walter's past involves, and second of all, what he sees and hears prior to and throughout this episode ties very heavily into ZFT activity. I really like how the tie-in to the pilot episode was made, since McComb saw Flight 627 before it happened and therefore both drew a picture of it and built a model of the plane. That alone goes to prove that this episode is heavy in mythology because it is directly related to the pilot episode. However, I, again, just feel that the episode is very slow and that there isn't a lot of excitement until the last few minutes, and the episode therefore isn't really one of my favorites.

I also like how it is kind of established in this episode that Olivia and Charlie have a history, most likely just one of friendship, and that he cares about her a lot. I say that because he can see that she is in pain in regards to John Scott betraying her and the entire force and then dying, and so he therefore does what he can to cheer her up. In this episode, he has what is probably his greatest line in his entire time in the series. Olivia tells Charlie that “he told me he loved me,” to which Charlie says, “I wasn't going to tell you this, but he said he loved me too.” At first, it is quite clear that Olivia is struggling to maintain her angst, but she simply can't do it and therefore laughs, and one thing that I have noticed is that on the rare occasions that Olivia does laugh or smile throughout the series, it's very frequently because of Charlie, which, of course, now stands as a very sentimental observation to make.

This episode also does quite a bit to illustrate Olivia's abilities, which, of course, we now have to wonder whether they are natural or Cortexiphan-induced. In this episode, for example, she notices what no one else did, something rather obscure, which is that the woman on the bus, Evelina Mendoza, is missing a backpack, and she notices this while she is comparing videos of the passengers. Again, this is something very obscure that I don't think very many people would normally notice, but she does because her powers of observation are very elevated, something that we see repeatedly throughout the series. She pays very close attention to everything, and she makes note of everything, no matter how seemingly irrelevant or obscure. In this case, for example, her observation is a major step in breaking open the case.

Something about this episode that now doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me is that McComb says that he has been experiencing visions for approximately nine months, and then Broyles says that that is about how long the government has been aware of The Pattern. However, we now know from the most recent episode that was aired, “Earthling” (2.06), that Broyles has been investigating strange cases for at least four years, since the case that Fringe Division is trying to solve is something that Broyles recalls working on four years ago since it is the case that ended his marriage with his wife, so if the government had only been aware of The Pattern for nine months prior to “The Ghost Network,” then how could Broyles have been investigating such a strange occurrence four years ago prior to “Eathling”? The only solution that I can come up with is that at the time, it was merely one strange case and that that is why Broyles became so obsessed with it. In other words, there hadn't been a “pattern” yet. After all, one fact that we do learn in the first season is that as time went on, strange occurrences began to happen more and more frequently, so actually, I guess that it does make sense.

"The Ghost Network" also marks the second episode in a row in which the case ties back to something that Walter was working on back in the day, and that is not in any way unusual for Fringe; however, what is unusual is that it is the second episode in a row in which what Walter had been working on was related to the military. In “The Same Old Story” (1.02), the rapidly aging practice had been being put into action to “create” soldiers, and now, in this episode, the project that he was working on to send messages to people through their minds was a military project. I'm not really sure what to make of it or why, for that matter, I am even bringing it up, but I do think it's at least interesting and worth bringing up because, for me, it begs the question as to why Walter would have been doing work for the military, or if not doing work for the military, aiding the military. I can only hope that this is something that we're going to see more of throughout the series.

 

Even though we were obviously unaware at the time, the “glass disk” returns in “The Transformation” (1.13), when Olivia discovers that John Scott has a glass disk in his hand as well. Additionally, although unrelated, I find it interesting how the villain of this episode, Matthew Ziegler, commits suicide near the end of the episode after the disk is relinquished, and this is not the last time we see something like this happen. In “In Which We Meet Mr. Jones” (1.07), Smith makes an “attempt” to flee the scene but in the process of doing so, takes a gun out and aims it at an agent, and what I find interesting about that is that you don't have to be much of a genius to know that that is going to get you killed, and I therefore think that he does it on purpose. I am wondering if ZFT members work somewhat like the Japanese samurai, in that they believe that failure is shameful and should be punishable by death. It's most likely either that, or failure results in a severe inflicted punishment that those who fail fear so much that death is a more comfortable option. Whatever the reason may be, we frequently see ZFT members commit suicide to avoid some sort of consequence, either shame or an even worse inflicted action.

The ending of the episode is something that I definitely want to talk about because I remember first seeing it on TV and having my jaw drop because I thought that Broyles was a “bad guy” and that he and Nina had some “evil” plan schemed. The reason that I say that is because at the time, I thought that Nina was a villain, and so to see Broyles hand the disk over to her was a shocker to me. I thought that it was a confirmation that Broyles was a mole, and to be honest, I still don't know what to think about that scene, since it has not really been expounded upon since. I still think that Broyles and Nina have deeply-rooted knowledge that only the two of them are aware of, especially since (even though I can't recall exactly what was said) they mention Olivia and what is in store for her and her future. It's definitely very mysterious, and, of course, the kiss in the second season premiere really adds yet another layer of mystery to whatever Nina and Broyles share. Ultimately, anyway, even though this episode does have a few perks, and I do, again, like how it is rooted in the show's mythology, I think that it is a rather slow-paced episode with not a lot of thrill to offer, and I therefore give this episode seven creepy stigmata drawings.

Fringe - "The Same Old Story" (1.02)

Definitely a very interesting episode, “The Same Old Story” temporarily lays to rest the John Scott story that dominates the pilot episode (even though there are a few references to him throughout the episode) and jumps into a story about a woman who conceives a child within minutes and then has the baby, dying in the process, which ages eighty years within three hours, ultimately dying of old age. There are a few questions raised in this episode, ones that, at the time, really had no answers, but now, I really do think that there are a few ways to answer them, especially after these first few episodes of the new season. As I always say, but I don't ever want to to forget, because as my friend Fady always says, I shouldn't spoil people, even people that show no interest in watching this show, even though it's one of the absolute best television shows in history, this entry will contain spoilers, not only in relation to this episode but also the new season.

Firstly, I want to discuss my annoyance with this episode's stark exposition. The writers cleverly found ways to insert lines into the script so that those who missed the pilot episode could still have a slight understanding of what was going on, and I find that to be bittersweet. It's good, because indeed, I do think that it effectively caught those who had missed the pilot episode up with what was going on, but at the same time, that encourages viewers that it's okay to miss episodes, and I don't think that that is a good thing. I think that a television show should be like a very long movie, and when you're watching a movie, you shouldn't get up and leave the room for ten or twenty minutes and then return expecting to still fully understand what's going on. If you're interested in a television series, enough to watch it, then you really should be watching it every week, and if for whatever reason, you can't, then episodes are always available on FOX and HULU's websites directly the following day, as far as I know.

I'll give you some examples of this annoying exposition in this episode. Firstly, there is the scene at the “Jedi Council,” when Nina expresses her annoyance with Broyles for so readily trusting the trio with such a major task, and she expresses her annoyance by listing off the faults that she finds with each of the characters, Walter, who has been in a mental institution for seventeen years, Peter who has been up to no good overseas and Olivia, who was intimate with John Scott, a traitor to the country (not really, of course, but she presumably thought so at the time, as we all did). Then, during the scene in which Nina is discussing Olivia, we see flashbacks of John Scott breaking out of the hospital, crashing into Olivia and then dying in her arms, something that we had already seen in the pilot episode. Yet another example is when Peter finds Walter hiding in the closet, and when Walter mentions the mental institution, Peter spits out the name of the institution (St. Claire's) and then reminds him that he got him out of there. The final example that I can think of from the top of my head is when Walter says that he will need a lab, to which Broyles replies that he already has one, reminding him of where it is.

These are all lines that were clearly written into the script tactically to help catch people up, and that's good for those who do need to be caught up but annoying for those who are caught up because it seems so redundant and unnecessary. There was even a little bit of it in the most recent episode, “Dream Logic” (2.05). Walter tells Peter that he doesn't like Seattle because it reminds him of St. Claire's, and since we don't know what that is, he, of course, has to add that it's the mental institution in which he stayed. Like I said, that's just incredibly annoying for those of us who have been keeping up with the series, at least to me, anyway, because it's obvious information that I already know that I don't need to see, or hear, for that matter, rehashed. I know that J.J. said early on that this show would be a lot easier to follow than LOST, but I still don't think that as a television writer and producer, you should be encouraging your viewers that it's okay to skip episodes. There are a lot of very vital episodes in Fringe; for example, if you skip over “Momentum Deferred” (2.04), then you evidently surrendered a very vital and large piece of the puzzle.

Anyway, I am done ranting about that for the time being. I find the “Oversight Committee” to be interesting, or, as I like to call it, the “Jedi Council,” because we have yet to learn what that is and how it functions. We also do not know how it is chosen who is on the council or, for that matter, why Nina is on it. My guess is that it's due to the fact that as “executive director” of Massive Dynamic, she has vital information regarding the technology associated with the Pattern, but initially, it didn't seem to me as if Broyles trusted her very much, and he still doesn't give me the impression that he fully does. A lot of people say that in “A New Day in the Old Town” (2.01), Broyles' reaction to Nina's kiss is rather robotic, in that he doesn't really have a reaction, but that's not the way that I see it at all. He seems, to me, to be a bit spiteful of it, almost as if he is thinking, “It's just like you to do something like that, Nina,” but that's just my opinion. He seems to be cautious of her, and I think that there's definitely a lot of tension in their relationship, whether it be professional or romantic in any way. Also, I wonder if the Jedi Council is government-oriented or more like Dumbledore's Army? That's one of the few questions that this episode asks to which there is still no answer.

The other question that comes up for me in this episode is the scene in which Olivia seemingly imagines herself having a conversation with Broyles inside Massive Dynamic. He asks her if when she and John Scott were intimate, whether or not they were “safe,” and when she doesn't respond, he says, “You weren't, were you?” Olivia then begins screaming in agony as a large bulge begins to form in her abdomen, suggesting that she is experiencing what Lorraine Daisy experiences at the beginning of the episode, but what was the purpose of that scene? Broyles obviously didn't seem to really be there with her; it seemed as if she was alone. However, this is what I'm wondering. Is it possible, as has been discussed before, that Olivia's ability to travel to the other reality without facing the unfortunate consequences a result of her Cortexiphan trials? If so, then have we been seeing that happening more than we realize, and if that's true, then perhaps that is what we saw in that scene. Perhaps in the other reality, this did happen to Olivia.

Then again, however, there is evidence to contradict this. For example, we know that, as was revealed in “The Transformation” (1.13), John Scott isn't really a “bad guy,” so he most likely wouldn't have done that to Olivia even in the alternate reality. Secondly, this did not happen to the Olivia in this reality, and so for that to have happened to her, she would have had to become the other Olivia, which we presumably know is not how dimension-hopping works. Not only that, but I think it's fair to assume that that would have killed her just the same as it did Lorraine Daisy, and we know from the scene in “The Road Not Taken” (1.19) when Olivia meets Scarlie that Olivia is not dead in the alternate reality, or at least wasn't at that point. Perhaps it was just a vision that she had, used as a red herring to get us to focus on the lie regarding John Scott being a “bad guy.”

Something else that now has me wondering about this episode is the fact that Olivia tells Peter that when she and John were investigative partners, the two of them investigated a series of five murders very similar to the ones that occur in the episode. They were essentially the same, in fact. This is something that I don't think is really resolved by the end of the episode because we still don't know who was committing those murders. I suppose that it could have been Christopher himself, but something is telling me that that is not the way to lean. It is more likely, I think, that there are other people out there like Christopher, and we actually know that, in fact, because Walter even says that the experiments were initiated in order to create soldiers, having them rapidly age to the point of young adulthood, and of course, the problem was that they hadn't thought ahead and developed a way to stop the aging process once it had gotten as far as they had wanted it to, so it's very possible that there are other people out there who kill people for their pituitary gland so that they can slow their aging process. Is it at all likely that Claus Penrose has the same condition as Christopher? We can assume that Christopher is the result of some sort of experiment and that Claus is not his biological father, especially since Christopher refers to him as the man he called his father, but I still think that it is plausible, since I don't see any evidence to fight it. Perhaps, it has to do with the three men that we see in beds at the end of the episode.

This is a relatively decent episode. Stemming from the mind-blowing pilot episode, it really can't be compared, but it's still a really good episode, and I remember being really excited to see “The Ghost Network” (1.03) after first seeing this one. The scene near the end of the episode with Christopher rapidly aging is actually very eerie, with the lights flickering above him resulting in his face being shown only once every few seconds, and the general concept behind this episode is one that I hope to see come back in this show, because the aforementioned ending doesn't have a very satisfying conclusion. Who are those three men at the very end of the episode, and are they at Massive Dynamic? Walter speaks of soldiers throughout this episode, and I wonder if this has any relation whatsoever to the super soldiers that we have been seeing in this season, such as the Charlie impostor? Walter also mentions Peter's past to Olivia near the end of the episode, and when Olivia tells him that she doesn't know what he's talking about since there was no file, he changes the subject and urges her to forget that he said anything. First of all, I find it very odd that Olivia has not mentioned this since, and second of all, was he talking about what we now know to be true, that Peter somehow died in this reality and that Walter therefore stole alter-Peter from the alternate reality? If so, then what did Walter not cover up? Obviously, there was something that he wasn't able to hide or to cover up, or else he wouldn't have been so worried about what Peter's medical history would have said. Anyway, as I said, I really like this episode, and I think I'd have to give it five shirtless and aggravated Peters and two Walters hiding in the closet.

Fringe - "Pilot" (1.01) - Series Premiere

The pilot episode of Fringe is, by far, one of the absolute best pilots I have ever seen; it instantly draws you into the world of Fringe and the mood that comes along with it. So much happens right in the first episode that leaves you desperate to watch more to find out what's going to happen next, and I think that that is a rarity in a pilot episode. In the pilot episode of The X-Files, for example, barely anything happens besides the establishment of Mulder and Scully's partnership, and it's not really until the show's third season that it becomes somewhat clear where it's going. I can, without any hesitation, give it ten cups of butterscotch pudding. The special effects are incredible, for starters, and the complexity of the characters, especially Walter, are already presented in the typical J.J. fashion; here are the characters, and along with them, here are hundreds of questions. If you have not yet seen Fringe, by the way, but would really like to see it, then please, don't read any further.

Where I was initially drawing comparisons to Alias, I still do want to establish these comparisons because they were my initial thoughts about the show, so I still want to incorporate as much as what I was thinking at the time into the entry as I can without it being the primary focus of the entry. Olivia reminded me a lot of Sydney in the episode; she carries herself physically in a very similar fashion such as the way she crosses her arms when she's talking to someone, and there were certain scenes in which I thought she resembled her somewhat as well. In addition, the mental link that Walter makes between Olivia and John is a very similar procedure that is conducted quite frequently on Alias. The very basic plot-line is very similar as well; a highly driven and intelligent young woman who works for the government's boyfriend is killed, and as a result, she is empowered to seek for the truth behind the mysteries that are inevitably a part of her profession. I instantly fell in love with the series just from watching the pilot episode because I had drawn so many comparisons to Alias, and I'm a huge fan of Alias. You all know how much I love Fringe, I'd assume, based on my obsessive tendencies regarding the show, but Alias is the only reason I started watching Fringe to begin with; it's the only reason I started watching LOST.

Anyway, I am going to do the best that I can to talk about the episode itself; it's just a little bit difficult because it's hard to theorize because since the show is in its second season as of now, any theories I could possibly have to offer in regards to the pilot episode would quite possibly be irrelevant and non-helpful at this point. However, I know that I do have some thoughts to share, and I'll begin with the question that pressed me at the time and still presses me to this day because I haven't been able to figure out what he is talking about. Right before John dies in Olivia's arms, he says, "Ask yourself why Broyles sent you to the storage facility," and correct me if I'm wrong, but to this day, that question has not been answered unless I'm missing a key component. My guess is that he wanted Olivia to know that he was really good, but I'm not sure how what he said to her has anything to do with being on her side. The only theory I really have to offer is that Broyles knew that John was a "traitor," or at least, he thought he was, and so since he knew what was going to happen when Olivia and John went to the storage cell, he orchestrated it because he knew it would end in John's exposure. One problem with this theory is that it is drastically far-fetched, but I don't know what else to think. However, if you think about it, it could account for what Broyles tells Olivia at the end of "The Transformation" (1.13); he tells her that for all intents and purposes, John Scott was a traitor to the country and will remain so on file, which I find to be strange considering the fact that he was buried as a hero. It's possible that Broyles didn't want to be exposed.

Another possibility, of course, is that it will later be revealed in the show that Broyles is the traitor, and that that is what he didn't want exposed, but that's a flavor of Kool-Aid of which I can't really say that I'm very fond. Broyles is one of my favorite characters, so the show, for me, definitely wouldn't really be the same without him, and you know what shows typically do; they kill the bad guys off, so I don't think he'd last very long if he were revealed as a traitor. To be honest, though, I can't even really see it. Broyles has proven time and time again that he is devoted to his country and that Olivia is very important to him. At the bar in "A New Day in the Old Town" (2.01), when Peter tells him that they were too late for Olivia, the look on Broyles' face is one of pure self-loathing and pain, for example, so, unless he's an excellent actor, he can't possibly be a mole.

 

Another topic upon which I really want to touch is the "incident" that Broyles tells Olivia about right before he asks her to join Fringe Division. He tells her that forty-seven (one of the situations that I initially talked about briefly due to the number) children had gone missing for years and then later came back not having aged a day, and I'm really hoping that that is something that will be explored later in the show because it seems to be too big of an issue to just leave as it is. It seems to me that the most likely answer to the question is time-travel. The children went missing because during that time that they were gone, they didn't exist since they jumped over that time frame, but even if this is the case, I would still like for this to be revisited because that's not enough for me. I want to know why they traveled through time and what it has to do with ZFT and the rest of the Fringe mythology. The reason why that's so important to me is because first of all, as I said, to me, it's a pretty big issue to just drive by, and second of all, this is something that Broyles tells Olivia to get her to join Fringe Division, something that he hopes will motivate her to join, so it seems to me like it's pretty important, if not in general, then at least to Broyles.

The next and ultimately final topic that I want to discuss is Peter's past, which is presented in the pilot episode (yet another example of what I was previously talking about when I said that the pilot episode has so much to offer). We know that Peter has become involved with some dangerous people, but we don't know how or why. Olivia knows this too, but likewise, she doesn't know what exactly he has involved himself in. In the pilot episode, she takes a stab and uses his past to manipulate him into coming to the States with her to help her save John. He does not want to go with her; he has no interest whatsoever, but all she has to do is tell him that the FBI has a file on him, and with one phone call, she could get him into a lot of trouble. He responds by asking when they're leaving, so something scared him enough to make him do something that he had no interest in doing whatsoever, and his past comes back every now and then throughout the first season but only with more questions and no answers. I honestly have no theories, because not much is given to us to help us come up with one. I don't think that it has much to do, if anything, with Walter killing the original Peter and then replacing him with the alter-Peter, but I do think that since it is one of the major issues that are presented in the pilot episode, it is worth mentioning. Anyway, be on the lookout for more, fellow Fringies, and in the meantime, stay on the fringe.