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| Friday, February 13, 2009 12:41 AM |
| On the Viewer - Fringe (Episode 14 - "Ability") |
 by Fëanor |
Ah, we get to see Mr. Jones get beamed out of prison again! Man, I love that scene. Ah, and this time we're getting to see the reaction from inside the prison. I'm kind of surprised it took this long for this to come up again. It's pretty convenient for Mr. Jones that the prison didn't think to contact Olivia's office until two weeks had passed and he was safely out of his hyperbaric chamber. But I'll buy it.
I love that Walter's device does not provide simple, carefree teleportation - once you get where you're going, there are horrible, horrible side effects, and a large price to be paid.
Okay, the scene where the newspaper guy's face seals up is very possibly the most disturbing thing I've ever seen on this show, and that's saying something. It's too bad because it sounded like the guy had good taste in movies.
Woah, woah. We're talking prophecies now? I don't know about this. I'm not a big fan of prophecies.
Oh, but I do like this: a "bible" called Destruction by Advancement of Technology (initials ZFT in German). I'll let them have their prophecies if they're coming from a crazy mysterious book like that!
What is with Walter's weird food obsessions? This episode it's coffee cake.
Ha! Pete takes Olivia to meet his creepy, underhanded book dealer friend. Awesome. I love weird little people who are experts in rare books!
Oh, frak me. Jones came right to them! He is one arrogant little bastard.
Great, that prick Harris is back. And getting in the way again, as usual. Lovely.
Heh heh. Olivia just used "Star Trek" as a verb. I love her.
Ooh, Pete's got his hands on the ZFT manifesto. I really hope he makes about a million photocopies, because you know somebody's gonna show up to take that away or burn it or something. (This prediction did not come true, to my surprise; in fact, Jones seemed flattered that they'd found and read the manifesto.)
I'm guessing it's pretty creepy finding a drawing of yourself in a big warehouse you just raided.
Uh oh, Jones is requesting a random collection of items again. This never ends well.
I hope Jones doesn't die soon. It seems like that would kind of negate the purpose of his going to all that trouble to escape prison.
Oh, dumbass agent is going to take that $2 bill and get his face sealed up, I just know it.
Yep! And they managed to up the creep factor a bit that time around, too, with the flesh creeping up around the tracheotomy hole.
What happened to "we don't negotiate with terrorists?" Harris is such a pussy. And seriously, why did they give Jones everything he asked for and then sit there and watch him construct and activate a mysterious device, knowing what they know he and his people are capable of? Not a good idea.
Man, Jones is so completely in control of this situation. Also: "Don't worry, Miss Dunham. If I wanted to harm you, I would have. Long ago." That "long ago" is really, really disturbing. Just how long has he had his eye on her?
I'm pretty surprised Harris just let Olivia wander off like that, without any explanation of where she was going.
Woah! The text of the ZFT manifesto is putting a whole new spin on the entire show. We're talking a war between parallel universes! Holy crap.
Oh, this is cool. Olivia has to pass the first of ten weird little recruiting tests. And Jones claims she was treated with some weird drug (cortexiphan), and the reason they kidnapped her was to test her to make sure the treatment took. Okay, that's very intriguing.
Jones keels over and the EMTs wheel him into Walter's lab, where they're disturbed to find Walter walking a cow. Freaked out EMT: "What is this place?" Ha!
Nina at Massive Dynamic sure has a snazzy PDA. Is it... from a parallel universe, perhaps?? And, uh oh, her arm is acting up! It'll probably start killing people while she's asleep.
I like the concept behind the drug, cortexiphan - a substance that limits the mind's inclination to become limited.
Oh no! Olivia passed the test by cheating, but now she has to do it for real to stop the bomb.
Okay, the scene with the lights going out was really, really cool. I love also that it was done in complete silence, and that the camera didn't pan back up to the bomb timer until it was over. Excellent.
And now, right before the end, Walter says, oh no, using the teleporter doesn't kill you, it does something unthinkable. What does it do, Walter? What does it do??? I love the way they throw the curve balls at you and build the suspense in this show. (Although I'm a little disappointed that you don't really find out what happened to Jones. Did he just... blow up? Turn into a giant monkey and escape? What?)
Oh, I just saw the word "multiverse" in the text of the ZFT! This is getting more like the DCU all the time.
And then of course Olivia gets the expected call revealing that yes indeed she almost certainly was treated with cortexiphan as a child. A predictable moment, but still an effective one.
And a final shocker at the end: Walter types the title of the episode on his typewriter, and the telltale higher than average "y" at the end reveals that the ZFT manifesto was typed on Walter's typewriter!! That rules.
After the first couple of episodes, I decided Fringe was a pretty ridiculous show, but that it was worth watching anyway for the cool ideas, and for Walter. But I have to say, lately I'm loving everything about it - the writing, the performances, the characters, the story. This particular episode is just brilliant. Smart, fast-paced, surprising, inventive, funny. I'm dying to see what the other ZFT tests are; I'm dying to know what Walter's connection is to the ZFT; I'm dying to see what Olivia can do with her ability. Then there's Peter's mysterious past, the multiverse, the Observer - so many fascinating mysteries. They've got me good and hooked now. |
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