Fringe: August Review - Mania.com



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Info:

  • TV Series: Fringe
  • Episode: August
  • Starring: Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Jasika Nicole
  • Written By: JH Wyman, Jeff Pinkner
  • Directed By: Brad Anderson
  • Network: Fox
  • Series:

Fringe: August Review

Fringe is brought to you by Ford this week

By Stephen Lackey     November 20, 2009


Fringe Review
© Fox/Bob Trate

 

Ok, we’re back to some of the things that make Fringe great, most importantly the mythology of the show. Every time the “Observers” are on screen, I am always reminded of “The Watcher” from Marvel Comics. The Watcher is supposed to be just an observer in the Marvel Universe, but he mixed it up plenty in the old What if? books. At the beginning of this episode, one of the Observers, a different one than we’ve seen in the past, is watching a girl going about her day. When the time is right he kidnaps her and changes everything.
 
This episode is overflowing with new information about the Observer(s) that it’s almost overwhelming. Now we know there are many Observers, rather than just the one that we have seen so far. They have an appreciation for super hot foods too. At first it seems like their affinity for chili peppers is unimportant, but the Fringe team was able to use that bit of information to track our bald friends down. Their love of spicy foods is a metaphor for these characters and what they’ve lost or maybe never had. Is it possible that the work of time travel that these odd men do desensitizes them emotionally and physically? I heard once that if you constantly brush your tongue when you brush your teeth that you’ll desensitize your taste buds. I’ve also been told that people with desensitized taste buds tend to eat spicier foods. You see what I’m getting at? All the time jumping that the Observers do could be doing something to them physically outside of the obvious that softens their taste buds and maybe even their emotional capabilities. They adapt to that situation by eating the hottest chilies they can get and possibly once in a while, one of them discovers emotions and reacts to them regardless the cost.
 
Most of what we learned in this episode about the Observers is more of a personal nature. Their connection to the pattern and specifically who they are remain mysteries. We’ve known for a while that Walter and Peter were rescued from certain death, according to Walter, by an Observer. I’ve commented here recently that Walter seems to be getting more coherent. Well this week he uses his generally accepted odd personality to manipulate others in the Fringe team while he actually helps August, the new Observer. Walter is getting more and more mysterious and Peter finally confronts Walter a little at the end of the episode when he reveals he has been in contact with August only after the case is over. There was one funny scene between Walter and Astrid, but I could easily see situations with Walter evolve from funny to darker and more challenging. When Walter is lucid, he keeps many secrets and only reveals them when he has too or when revealing them suits his agenda.
 
Fringe has a real problem with deviating from the core mysteries to long of stretches. Every series needs monster of the week types of episodes to stretch the bigger mystery out across multiple seasons, but the trick is to spread the mystery episodes out through seasons evenly. The only real references to the pattern this season have been in previous episode recaps. The pattern started all of this but it has barely been mentioned since early in season one. Another minor complaint has to be the heavy Ford Sync product placement. I like my television shows free, so if a little product placement helps keep them that way I’m all for it, but it should be executed cleverly and subtly. When Olivia uses Sync to make a phone call, I was ok with it but when the call was over we had to get a shot of the screen with her switching to some generic music. Add to that some centerfold quality shots of Ford cars and the whole thing feels too aggressive. Complaints aside this is the type of episode I’ve been waiting for since the first couple of episodes of the seasons and it was worth the wait. The Observers are fascinating and so is Walter and the bevy of secrets that he still keeps. Welcome back Fringe, I’ve missed you!

COMMENTS AND RESPONSES

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MrJawbreakingEquilibrium 11/20/2009 6:54:00 PM

It's funny I didn't notice the Ford Sync thing at all.  And well, even if it was "blatant" it doesn't bother me.  Hell, I didn't even give a second thought to it.  The way I see it is that it keeps them funded and they can use that additional money to rely less on the network to give them money and possibly have more money for things like better FX.  It wasn't like Olivia turned around and went - "Man, I can't believe how well this Ford Sync works!"  You know what mean?  It only showed what you would have seen if you had used the product yourself.

As for the show itself, though, I think it was great and I find it kind of strange that a lot of people keep on saying that it strays too far from the mythology but to me even in the "monster of the week" episodes it shows bits and pieces of the mythology; it just doesn't give it to you in big, heaping shovelfuls all the time, if at all.

I wonder, though, if this season we will find Peter discovering about his "origins" because I have sly feeling that he kind of knows something is up.  Too bad Thanksgiving is on Thursday this week - the next episode looks awesome as hell.

MrJawbreakingEquilibrium 11/20/2009 9:21:28 PM

Do you people actually think people pay attention to your stupid little spamming?  Go jump in front of a bus or something.  A moving one...thought I'd have to tell you that - you already seem a little dim.

ThemanG01 11/20/2009 10:26:32 PM

Fringe is awesome.  I love this show.  This episode was great, as are the vast majority of them.  This series is one of the reasons I haven't given up on network television altogether.

MrJawbreakingEquilibrium 11/21/2009 12:49:55 AM

Now - I sound crazy.

archbeam 11/21/2009 6:16:57 AM

I'll be short and simple. I liked this episode a lot.

Next - maybe someone else has mentioned this in previous posts - so I apologize if I'm being repetitive...

I think that when Walter and Peter were in that accident, Peter acctually died. One of the Observers were involved somehow, but it was actually to get another Peter from an alternate reality so that Walter could have his son back. I'm not sure how Walter got them to do that for him, but there it is.

jfdavis 11/21/2009 6:47:56 AM

I thought the Sync thing was blatant as well but that classic Abrams.  I still remember when Sydney yelled "Let's take the F150!"  There was also the Ford Focus chase...This show is great nonetheless.

MrJawbreakingEquilibrium 11/21/2009 7:10:58 AM

I dunno, Archbeam, that is a possibility but I remember also in the first season where Walter said Peter had a sickness - so he might have died from that as well.  But then it makes you wonder what the submerged car part is all about and if it was the car, vice versa.  I want to know what the deal was and also what the Watchers were talking about interfering because of a mistake they had made.  Was the interference they were talking about Peter or something totally different?  That's the question of the day.

ponyboy76 11/21/2009 8:01:56 AM

It is funny how much influence comics have on shows like this. I mean its no coincidence that "the observers" are white and bald like "The Watchers" Also the one that seems to be around a lot does remind me of Uatu the Watcher who can't seem to not get involved. The same theme comes up too, with them not being to interfere but because of  their feeling towards humanity, still doing something.

I also want to know what deal was struck between them and Walter. It was obviously a deal that was kept secret to even the other observers because that guy had no idea what Walter was talking about when they met in the diner.

djcgmcse 11/21/2009 8:31:27 AM

Great Episode.

I really like that shows are now using hands-free devices, since many states have laws against them, or atleast everyone knows it's less safe.  It bothers me more now when a show has someone talking on a phone that's up their ear.

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