Mania Grade: B-
5 Comments | Add
Rate & Share:
Related Links:
Info:
- TV Series: Fringe
- Episode: Midnight
- Starring: Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Jasika Nicole
- Written By: J.H. Wyman
- Directed By: Bobby Roth
- Network: Fox
- Series: Fringe
Fringe: Midnight
Where's the Pattern? By
Stephen Lackey
April 29, 2009
Joshua Jackson leads another episode for Fox's FRINGE: Midnight(2009).
© Mania.com/Robert Trate
We were promised last week some revelations in the previews and ads for this episode. If you sat down to watch the episode looking for those answers, you’ll be disappointed. There is one big revelation toward the end of the episode but this is definitely no LOST answers installment. It’s not a fair comparison because LOST is nearing the end of its life so that show should be giving up the answers. The point is that the ads teased big answers this week but that really didn’t happen. What did happen is the show featured another mysterious guy in an interrogation room that manipulates Olivia and the rest of the Fringe section. Seeing this formula repeated so soon in the series is disappointing especially considering that last week’s entire episode was so similar to another series currently on TV. I don’t believe these creators are running out of ideas this soon but it would be easy to make a case that they are based on these two episodes.
This week, a woman with “freakishly blue eyes” is killing men in a local nightclub and feeding on their spinal fluid. Her husband is of course part of ZFT, the terrorist organization that has become a centerpiece in Fringe. That’s where the manipulation comes into play. He promises Olivia answers if she helps him save his wife from the infection that caused her to begin feeding on spinal fluid. He’s a brilliant scientist and when he and Walter begin working on a cure for the infection together there’s a mutual respect between them. Walter’s thoughts about having a soul and redemption are on the surface about William Bell but more importantly about himself. Apparently, he’s starting to regain some of his memories other than just remembering each week that whatever case they are all working on just happens to be tied to some experiment he and William did together in their younger days. He, through William Bell, is tied to Massive Dynamics and apparently to ZFT. Last week, Bell’s voice could be heard on an old videotape that Walter dug out. Bell played by Leonard Nimoy, will soon make his appearance on the show and will probably bring with him more questions.
Things seem to suddenly be happening at home with Olivia’s sister. I had actually forgotten that she was still married. The story of her husband divorcing her and trying to take custody of her daughter felt really shoehorned into the episodes. There were two key scenes regarding that storyline in the episode, one was good and one was not. There’s a scene where Olivia asks Agent Broyles about his divorce attorney that just feels awkward and out of place. It could be that Olivia was covertly asking for some under the table help with her sister’s situation but that’s reaching. It’s more likely that the scene was just simply out of place in the episode. There’s another scene where Olivia is headed on a raid when her sister calls crying about the divorce. Olivia tells her that they’ll talk when she gets home because she is headed into a “meeting”. This new story feels a little to soap opera for this series, so hopefully as it develops, there’ll be some weird twist that makes it important and thematically fitting for the series. There is a brief mention of a special group called TwoSinglesTogether that may end up leading to some weirdness for Olivia’s sister. Her friends that met through that service are definitely not of the norm.
The patented Walter humor is in full effect this week with some funny quips about shrimp cocktail and cookies. He and Peter are back to their quirky relationship this week rather than constantly jabbing at each other which has been happening over the last few episodes. Some jokes don’t work. The clapper joke is overdone but still somehow fitting to Walter’s personality.
The episode honestly felt just a little flat for most of its running time. Walter and Peter were the bright spots. The case of the week never seems to matter and the manipulative scientist is too familiar to this series although he does provide a couple of answers which isn’t that common. Olivia’s sister’s story is irritating too. As I said it could turn into something more but the way it’s portrayed in this episode is filler melodrama. The show has veered to far from the pattern too. The idea that there’s some mysterious entity that is able to manipulate the pattern and control the future was what made the show so fascinating in the early episodes. The idea that it’s tied to some terrorist organization actually ground the pattern too much and takes the wind from its sails. Hopefully there will be some larger power or being or alien or something that is truly behind the pattern and all of this Massive Dynamics, William Bell, and ZFT stuff will only be a small part of the real story. The pattern seemed to matter a lot more in early episodes than it does now though. Every case of the week was part of the pattern but now that doesn’t seem to be the case. The idea of a ripple effect with every new weirdness playing into the next one and the next one was really exciting and would be an interesting way to give monster of the week episodes of the show more weight.
I say this over and over but it’s true from week to week; the little character moments in this series are what make even a less than stellar episode still fun. Other than the scenes with Peter and Walter, there’s a really nice scene with Olivia and Peter in the car when Peter wants to turn on the siren. Olivia’s subtle smile out the window is just priceless. Of course then she’s attacked by the woman who is supposed to be sedated and things go haywire. This episode doesn’t live up to the promise the marketing for it made but there’s still a good bit to enjoy in it. Hopefully, we have seen the last of a creepy dude running the show from an agency interrogation room for a while though.
LOGIN
REGISTER
RSS
HOME
"This episode doesn’t live up to the promise the marketing for it made ..."
Oh come now. Since when has a television show EVER lived up to the marketing that the commercials make? I'm reminded of three examples off the top of my head. One was for 24 a couple years back, where the commercials proclaimed "THE MOST SHOCKING MOMENT IN 24 HISTORY!" and all it turned out to be was President Slimeball's (I forget his name- the Nixon clone who came between the two Palmers) psychologically unstable wife stabbing him in the shoulder with a knife.
The second was a commercial touting the death of Jack Bauer, complete with scenes of a firefight and Jack falling over in the street, which was in a midseason episode.
The third was from The Office and had Kelly Kapoor telling Ryan she was pregnant. The commercials made it seem like this was going to be a big huge twist in the series, except not so much.
I say all that to say that I never pay attention to anything the commercials say, because it's all hype to get you to watch. I quite enjoyed this week's episode, though, and I think my favorite part was at the very beginning where Smooth-Soon-To-Be-Dead guy first enters the club. He's looking around, and then, for just a split second, The Observer walks past behind him. If you blink, you'll miss him, but I saw him, and I thought, Oh My God! We're in for some serious happenings now! I personally was not disappointed.
-Rifty