BuzzSugar

Fringe Rundown: Episode Six, "The Cure"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:32:45 -0700

On this week's Fringe, we finally learn a little more about Olivia, whose private life has been mostly a big void until now. Also, a lot of living things explode, so if you haven't watched yet, I recommend you don't do so with food. Overall, I thought this was one of the stronger episodes of the series. Do you agree? To talk about it, just read more.

Ohmigosh, exploding heads. Fringe has done gross before (the giant baby episode, in particular), but this was on another, bloodier level. If I think too hard about the rat, I get squirmy.
That said, this case has a lot of good things going for it: One, it's fascinating - and a pretty sad commentary on the state of healthcare - that a couple of patients fooling around with drugs could find a cure for an incurable disease. Two, the patients' ties to the greater medical/scientific world, and the idea that a doctor could experiment on unsuspecting patients, are creepy. And three, it allowed Walter to use his scientific knowledge - but not his specific recollection of a crazy case he worked on in the '70s - to understand what was going on.
It's been bugging me that all these incidents keep happening in Boston when presumably there's a Pattern presence worldwide, but something Peter says in this episode made me see it in a different way. He points out the weirdness of all these human experiments happening in one place and suggests that maybe someone has a plan for something greater. So, in essence, maybe there's a mini-Pattern in Boston that's just one portion of the worldwide Pattern.

Meanwhile, it's Olivia's birthday, and we learn that Olivia has an abusive stepfather whom she once shot. He survived but fled out into the world, never to be seen by her again - but every year on her birthday, he sends her a card, just to let her know he's out there somewhere. No wonder she doesn't like to celebrate (or even think about it - did anyone else catch the pain in her eyes when one of her suspects started to speculate about her age?).
That makes the scene at the end all the more curious. I take it her father usually mails her the card rather than slipping it under her door. Is it from him? Agent Scott? Someone else?
It's also refreshing to see Olivia get angry at Peter for his constant wisecracking: "Any more jokes?" I'm assuming it's a feeling of helplessness that drives Peter to Massive Dynamic, where he makes some sort of deal-with-the-devil with Nina in exchange for the location of the secret experimentation site for the FBI to raid.
Speaking of angry, Broyles flips out over Olivia's indiscreet behavior in this episode. Which is odd, because at first, nothing she did seemed unlike the way these cases have been handled from the start. (Granted, calling in the media at the end may have been a little much . . . )
I couldn't even breathe during the scene where Olivia hands the antidote to the poor radioactive girl and begs her to stab herself with the syringe before her brain boils. Yeesh.
On a lighter note, Walter's calling Astrid "Asterisk" now. Hey, it's closer.
Poor Mr. Papaya, the friendliest of fruits. Jean mooing at the explosion was hilarious.

What did you all think? Do you like the new mysteries that are being raised each week? And can you believe we now have to go three weeks without the show?

Photos courtesy of Fox

Fringe Rundown: Episode Five, "Power Hungry"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:33:30 -0700

After a debate-related break, Fringe returned with an episode that falls somewhere between the first three installments and the especially eerie fourth episode. We're back to a mystery Walter can solve and a case with obvious implications - but there's enough creepy stuff going on with Olivia and Agent Scott, and enough hints about the greater story of the show, that it kept my interest. If nothing else, Fringe certainly seems to have its mood down pat. Want to talk about it? Just read more.

One thing Fringe hasn't had for me so far is a lot of truly paranoia-inducing moments, so I was pleasantly surprised by how caught up I was in Olivia's flashlight-lit walk down the deserted hallway toward the elevator where John would ultimately appear. And by "pleasantly surprised," I mean I was excited even while holding my breath and trying to calm my shaking hands. I'm a wimp sometimes.
In fact, the scenes with Olivia and John were the most captivating overall for me in this episode. I still don't quite understand the mechanics of how he's appearing to her, but it's an utterly fascinating notion that his thoughts somehow remain tied into her brain. So far he seems to be trying to help - leading her to his files, telling her she's on the right path, etc. - but I'm still not convinced he's acting entirely on the side of good. And where is he now, anyway? Is he still hooked up to a bunch of nodules over at Massive Dynamic?
Meanwhile, I got surprisingly attached to our poor electrically charged experiment who just wants to listen to some REO Speedwagon and get the girl. Meegar actually reminded me of last week's walking-disaster Grey's Anatomy patient, except this time, he actually was a harbinger of doom.
Also, now we know that the scientists working on technologies popping up in The Pattern are wooing people to be experimented on through self-help seminars and other things advertised on late-night infomercials. That actually seems plausible these days.

On the "meh" side, this was yet another case that could be tied to - and solved directly by - Walter's old work. This time, all he needed was a cassette tape, a couple dozen pigeons, and GPS. (Wasn't it nice of the birds to more or less follow streets on their way to find Meegar?)
Amusingly, Fringe does seem to be making fun of its own predictability a little bit. A couple of examples from last night: Broyles saying "And I suppose the good doctor has a theory for how this is possible," and, later, having Walter proclaim "This is the sort of work I was born for!" to Peter's annoyance ("you were hoping for something more specific, maybe?").
Am I crazy, or was that The Observer we saw getting out of the elevator right before its calamitous collapse?
Always nice to have an appearance from Jean the cow, though her role in research seems greatly diminished.
My favorite Walter moment: watching him shuffle around his room, gathering up enough of a charge to shock Peter and then explaining it with a simple "wool socks."
I laughed out loud at Olivia's droll "Yup. That's me." So sue me, I like her!

What did you all think? Was anyone else a little wary of getting into an elevator this morning? And how insanely creepy/cool was that beating heart?

Photos courtesy of Fox

Fringe Rundown: Episode Four, "The Arrival"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:30:37 -0700

Just when I was afraid Fringe was getting too formulaic - already - the show delivered an episode that broke the mold. The mystery isn't tidily wrapped up at the end, the good vs. evil of Massive Dynamic isn't even a subplot, and Peter Bishop's actually given a reason to stick around! I wonder if the powers that be just wanted to give us a few episodes to get used to everything, because this is what I was expecting when I heard about Fringe. Did anyone else enjoy it? Just read more.

First of all, I had to laugh when within the first 10 minutes, Peter's talking about one of the things that's been driving me crazy: He really doesn't have a reason to be on the show. He tells Olivia he's just Walter's babysitter, he can't do anything to solve cases, blah blah blah - basically what we've all been saying. But by the end of the episode, that's all irrelevant, cause there are creepy things going on with Peter now, too.
Let's talk about The Observer for a second. Lame name, cool character. Sure, he's sort of an X-Files-style quirk-basket (11 jalapenos!), but I want to know more about him. He might have replaced Nina Sharp as the supporting character I most enjoy.
I guess we sort of know what "the cylinder" was (and isn't that a geometrically inaccurate description?) - or, at least, I assume it's related to the project to make a missile that could shoot through the Earth's core. But we still don't know what it was doing at the construction site or where it went later, which at least is a little more mysterious than the other Fringe cases have been so far.
I want to believe Walter is a good guy, but after he shoots Astrid up with whatever it was that makes her pass out, I'm less sure. His attempt at apologizing is hilarious, though, as he offers to let her inject him as retribution but adds that he would probably enjoy it.

So, Peter has a purpose, though we're not sure what it is. Someone knows, though, or has a good enough idea to kidnap him, shove wires up his nose, and extract a bunch of information he didn't know he knew. His scene with The Observer, where he seemed to be talking to himself, was pretty creepy. But I listened to Walter's monologue at the end no less than three times, and I still don't understand how that information made its way into Peter's brain.
Even though I like the global conspiracy stuff, it was nice to have a break from Massive Dynamic. I kept expecting them to have a magical cylinder extractor that would pull out all the information embedded within the object - but no dice. Whew.
Annnnd Agent Scott's back! I'm not as surprised as Olivia was, but still, I'd tune in again just to see what happens now that he's in her apartment.
Speaking of Olivia, I'm really starting to like her. She's been criticized for being dull, but she's really just the girl next door who gets too wrapped up in her work to eat anything but cereal for dinner.

Did you like this slight departure from the Fringe formula? Do you have theories about what's up with Peter? And did you gasp when Agent Scott came back - or shrug?

Photos courtesy of Fox

Fringe Rundown: Episode 3, "The Ghost Network"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:30:54 -0700

The third episode of Fringe delivered a new mystery while nudging the overall story arc forward just a bit. I'm starting to get a handle on the basic structure of the show, and I'm not sure it's going to work for me long-term - it seems like in their efforts to deliver a less-confusing show, JJ Abrams and company might have made things too simple. Then again, maybe I'm just being lulled into a false sense of understanding so that three episodes from now, some major world-changing event can come along and shake things up. Who knows?

Anyway, to chat about the case, the revelations, and the ever-changing place of Massive Dynamic on the good vs. evil scales, just read more.

So much of this episode can be summed up by Peter's line to Olivia about who manufactures the technology they needed to crack the case: "I'll give you six guesses, and the first five don't count." The answer, of course, is Massive Dynamic, as it always has been so far on this show. And what leads them to Massive Dynamic is, once again, an experiment Walter did more than 20 years ago. Aha!
That said, I did find the whole idea of the "ghost network" compelling. It's pretty easy to believe in government conspiracy theories these days, and the concept of chatter going on across invisible frequencies isn't actually all that hard to believe.
I was also relieved to have a case that was a little less disgusting. Especially after watching an inordinate amount of blood/brain surgery on House immediately before, it was nice to deal with "mosquitos trapped in amber" rather than dissolving flesh and the miracle birth of alien babies.

I'm not surprised at all that Broyles gave the mystery chip to Nina; I'm also not surprised that Massive Dynamic is still doing something-or-other to Agent Scott's body, since that was pretty well established at the end of the pilot. And yet, I still want to know why the two of them are in cahoots and how Scott fits into all of it. I'm a sucker, I know.
I was hoping we'd get a little more action this week on the issue of Peter's medical history/possible non-human-ness, but no such luck. However, we did get a look at another side of Peter, the one that makes him a prime target for spying photographers who tell him he was supposed to "check in" before coming home. I'm hoping we can get more into his story soon, because as much as I love him being the wisecracking guy, he doesn't have much of a to be around (other than, apparently, his wide-ranging knowledge of poker psychology).
I wrote down a bunch of Walter quotes last night, and they all look ridiculous typed out, but John Noble is really selling the whole "crazy, drugged-up, brilliant, ethically questionable doctor" thing. "Am I required to keep him alive?" "That would probably be best."
But, um, for real, he can also do brain surgery?
I like that Walter's lab assistant character is getting some lines, but seriously, even I knew that was the Latin word for "hour," and I've never taken Latin!

How is this week's episode sitting with you? Do you like that most storylines are wrapped up within the hour, or do you wish the show kept you guessing? And what was your favorite Walter-ism of the week?

Photos courtesy of Fox

Fringe Rundown: Episode Two, "The Same Old Story"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:30:29 -0700

After last week's super-sized premiere of Fringe, Tuesday's episode was the first chance to see what the show might look like on a weekly basis. Well, sort of. There was a lot of clunky recap in this episode, most of it crammed into the first 10 minutes. ("And now we're working with Walter Bishop, a scientist with questionable ethics who up until recently was institutionalized in a mental facility." "Yes, and also with his son, a college dropout with an IQ of 190.") It's a problem a lot of second episodes run into, but I still did a lot of eyerolling at the beginning.

The episode picked up after that, though, moving to the next case in The Pattern and some revelations about Walter Bishop's science and Peter Bishop's very being. To see what I made of it all and add your thoughts, just read more.

So, most interesting things first: Let's talk about Peter's "medical history." Walter has altered him somehow - but how? Is he a clone? That was my guess, going off the closing image, but I'm sure we'll discover any number of weird, quasi-scientific processes that could lead to the creation of a wisecracking, gambling 20-something guy. The most interesting things to me about it right now are a) that Peter doesn't know (even the serial killer/rapidly aging guy knew what was happening to him), and b) that, because the records were gone from the file, presumably someone else does know.
Meanwhile, the actual science case wasn't quite as interesting as I wanted it to be - and I think that's because the pieces fit together too neatly. There's an obvious link to Walter's work, and then to his old partner, and then to the killer, and the actual science seemed relatively straightforward save for that one special Massive Dynamic camera. Which is just awfully convenient, no? I hope that the show has something else up its sleeve beyond a formula that's essentially "science-y thing happens; Walter Bishop solves it by drawing on his work from back in the day."
What did creep me out was the scene of Olivia screaming and hallucinating that she, too, would birth a surprise baby. I guess we know by now that Agent Scott didn't have that particular affliction, but there's obviously still something fishy in his history.

I'm really enjoying the wackiness of Walter Bishop. Maybe it will start to wear on me eventually, but right now, lines like "Do you have any cocaine?" and "Even condoms are not 100 percent effective; you two should be aware of this" are cracking me up. And hooray for a reappearance of the cow.
My favorite Walter line deserves its own bullet point: "I've never seen a feature like this before. It warms your ass. It's wonderful."
Massive Dynamic: Good? Evil? Somewhere in between? I'm a sucker for a conspiracy, and I want to know how much Nina Sharp knows about The Pattern. Why are she and Broyles in cahoots? Why is she offering Olivia a job? My sense is that Nina may be a double agent of sorts, working both the good and bad sides of this science.
Here's the No. 1 thing I hate: those big, place-identifying letters. I know people will disagree, but they just look silly to me. Also, I would like the opening credits a lot more if they weren't throwing all these words at us, like "Science! Cloning! Time travel! Smart-people stuff!"

What did you think? Are you hooked, or was this episode tough to get into? Are you liking the procedural elements, or do you want more of a continuing story? The show has a lot of potential, but it hasn't totally come together for me yet. You?

Photos courtesy of Fox

Fringe Rundown: Episode One, "Pilot"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:30:38 -0700

In this weird TV season, Fringe has been one of the few shows to get any buzz - partially because of the talent involved, partially because it leaked online, and partially because it's one of the only pilots critics got to see. With the 95-minute first episode out of the way, I can't wait to hear what you all made of it. Is it the next great sci-fi show - or a ripoff of The X-Files and all others that came before it?

A couple of nonspoilery thoughts first: I think Fringe would have been fine with a regular hour-long pilot. Parts of this supersized episode dragged for me - though, granted, the draggy parts were sandwiched between a strong opening and a ridiculously action-packed ending. Also, if there's a hero of the episode for me, it's Joshua Jackson. His character, Peter, is a genius with a gambling problem, daddy issues, and a sarcastic attitude. And he's also a total badass! He takes down a key suspect by punching him in the face, then elicits a confession by crushing the dude's hand with a coffee mug. He's the most fun character to watch so far.

Now, to talk about the mysteries of Fringe, just read more.

So, here's what (I think) we know so far: There's this thing called The Pattern, a bunch of incidents happening worldwide that involve various bits of fringe science: chemical compounds that dissolve flesh; people coming out of comas and suddenly writing down top-secret codes; children disappearing then reappearing years later without having aged a day. The flight from Hamburg to Boston that kicks off the episode is one of them, and that's how Olivia Dunham gets herself roped into the story - but her boyfriend and partner was already somehow involved, and that will be one of our mysteries going forward. There's also a possibly evil corporation (Massive Dynamic) that may be responsible for some of these scientific developments, and its leader once shared a lab with Dr. Bishop, providing the link that ties everyone together.

A few things that jumped out at me:

Maybe it was intentional, but Dr. Bishop seemed to veer between being harmlessly daffy and completely off his rocker. Did practicing science help restore his sanity? Because the guy who peed his pants and had a scalpel-shoving outburst seemed wildly different from the one who cheerfully watched Spongebob Squarepants while eating Chinese food with a cow.
Regardless, he's good comic relief in addition to being a mad scientist. "The only thing better than a cow is a human. Unless you need milk. Then you really need a cow."

Olivia, on the other hand, gets some really cringey lines. "I just want to go back to before"? Ugh.
After Joshua Jackson, my second-favorite actor/character so far is Blair Brown as Nina Sharp. She's completely chilling - I get shivers when I think about her saying "question him" - and she's got one of the coolest robotic arms I've seen in a while (I guess that's what a $10 million pilot budget will buy you). The Massive Dynamic plot line in general is a big draw for me; I do love a good global conspiracy.
Another breakout star: Jean the cow. Heh.
How do you think that big budget panned out special effects-wise? The translucent skin looked pretty fake to me, but the stuff on the plane was more realistically gory. On the low-tech end, I loved the old-school look of Bishop's Harvard lab. Were those Bunsen burners and beakers I spotted?
I know Fringe is a series we're not supposed to overthink, but what's with the leaf/frog/apple icons?

Did Fringe do enough to hook you? Or did it seem too much like something you'd seen before?

Photos courtesy of Fox