Well, as readers might have guessed, there was yet again no Fringe episode this weeks due to the baseball season on TV in america, some other shows have had to skip an episode as well but Fringe has to skip two. Fringe will be back next friday on November the fourth.
The episode is entitled ‘Novation’ and deals with the return of Peter Bishop. With his return our gang is once again complete and I hope that the season will kick into a higher gear otherwise it won’t be back for a fifth season.
After watching the sixth episode of Person of Interest I was once again amazed at how different the setting and feeling of the story was from earlier episodes. This shows seems to be able to renew itself over and over again. There are a small number of downsides to this continuous change such as a mythology which as of yet has an unspecified direction, for the moment I am not too bothered about that.
However that said, this episode, though spectacular, was perhaps the lesser of the five that went before it.
As for the story…
Reese takes the case of Zoe, a professional fixer, who uses her influence and her connections to powerful people to perform favours for her own clients. Zoe has been enlisted to retrieve an incriminating recording of a pharmaceutical executive from a rival company, but comes under threat when she hears the contents of the recording itself and realises that her employer is just as corrupt as his rival. Finch is almost overcome with emotion when he realises that Zoe’s case is connected to that of Dana Miller, a person of interest whom he was unable to save. Meanwhile, Carter takes a homicide case when the murder weapon is proven to be the same one that was used in the “Elias M.” case and begins to suspect that John Reese is more than just a vigilante.
Conclusions…
The storyline of this episode has unfortunately not the same depth as previous episodes. The main story arc of Reese and Finch going after the corrupt pharmaceutical company is only interesting because Finch seems to take a more active involvement that really once again revealed what a brilliant actor Micheal Emerson is. Sure the story arc is delivered well, but some of the plot twists were a little too predictable and the situation during which Reese was held captive was resolved too easily. During the previous episodes we learned that Reese was not superman and this story arc went into the grain too much.
The side story this week was about detective Carter trying to solve the homocide of a mobster that had a connection to the stolen evidence of episode 3. Carter’s lead seem to take a curious twist that has the viewer baffled but more would undoubtedly be revealed in future episodes.
Person of interest continues to introduce more secondary characters every episode but soo far none have returned to the show. This is not uncommon during the first season of a tv-show but I would like to see this weeks character of Zoe back to help Reese out when he needs it.
Score; 8 / 10.
Viewer rating; N/A.
Next weeks episode is entitled ‘Witness’ and below is the preview…
I am sorry that I have been away from my website for a while, its been hell with my education. Luckily there was a two week period of non-activity for most series, tonight Person of Interest is the first back on TV and the synopsis seems promising.
The last two episode of Person of Interest were very good though Cura Te Ipsum ended on an unresolved cliff-hanger that has been bugging me alot.
As for ‘The Fix’…
Reese takes the case of a professional fixer, a woman who uses her influence and her connections to powerful people to perform favours for her own clients
This weeks episode of Person of Interest is entitled ‘Cura Te Ipsum’, which is latin for ‘Cure your self’, which you will find out watching this episode has a double meaning. The episode is remarkedly different from the last one, suddenly characters like detective Fusco and Carter are back and are more important. The writing teams has managed to keep an unusual rough edge to the story ever since the pilot that really makes this tv-series stand apart, in part they push the backstory of Finch building ‘The Machine’ even further back for future episodes and focus on the here and now!.
Like previous episodes of Person of interest the story takes many twists and turns and as such is quite a write. I will reveal only the broad strokes of the story here. In some sense I can really see the writer’s of Lost at work here because some characters disapear for an episode or two and suddenly are back in the forefront while trivial but omnious happenings from before are later revealed to be important plot points.
If you count the pilot as one episode then ‘What remains’ is the third episode of fox’s Terra Nova. The premise of this series is that in the future mankind has completely depleted earths resources and have poisoned the atmosphere. However, they have found a way to travel back in time (85 million years). This past if of course filled with Steven Spielberg’s CGI dino’s and is filled with kids with all sorts of teen angst.
After skipping the first two episodes I thought it might be high time to offer my two cents on this scifi-period drama. The first two episodes established the mythology of Terra Nova. The place is run by Commander Nathaniel Taylor and his second Alicia Washington. The Shannon family whose father is in jail manage to get selected to travel to Terra Nova (Seats are few). Daddy Shannon manage to get himself out of a high security prison into a high security time travel machine along with his third illicit child and succesfully travel along mommy Shannon and the other two kids to Terra Nova. Once there Daddy Shannon gets to be sherrif and Mommy Shannon the doctor. so far so good… Right?
The premise is a bit too hollywood prefab for me but its the hand we have been dealt with. Once there the mythology states that the sixth group of people coming to Terra Nova (Sixers) have split up and are hiding in the jungle. The son of commander Taylor has also disapeared but writes down all sorts of strange graffiti that is alluded to as a great secret.
so far for the mythology, but what about the third episode.
While investigating radio silence at a nearby outpost, Elisabeth, Jim, Malcolm, and Commander Taylor discover an outbreak of a mysterious and fatal virus that first causes severe memory loss. More is learned about Commander Taylor’s past, and Skye introduces Josh to someone who may be able to bring Josh’s girlfriend to Terra Nova with the next pilgrimage, but for a high price.
Conclusion….
The episode is fun, I’ll grant it that, but also predictable, its like I have seen these episodes before on Stargate, Star Trek and other series. The episode is a well executed bottle show and lays a lot of groundwork for future episode. The character od commander Taylor kind of has his entire past revealed which I think is a bit early in the show. The love triangle between Elisabeth, Jim and Malcolm is ended with a knock out punch for Malcolm. Though we haven’t heard the last of it… and Shannon’s son of the house Josh gets himself a job at a bar in return for more information on the strange graffiti found in the jungle. Though what he doesn’t know is that the bartender has ratted him out to the ‘sixers’.
To add to the conclusion I will say this, the Shannon kids are boring as hell. they are all thick and their teen angst thingy is starting to get on my nerves, so far we are limbered with three ‘Jar jar’ bink’s.
Score; 7.5/10.
Viewer rating; 7.0 million which is a almost two million decrease over last week. is the magic already over?
Next weeks episode is entitled ‘The Runaway’…
When an orphaned “Sixer” girl seeks asylum in Terra Nova, Jim and Taylor are at odds over whether she can be trusted. Taylor also suspects there is a traitor in his midst. Meanwhile, Mira plots to regain a valued possession, while Reynolds admits he has feelings for Maddy.
This week’s episode of Fringe is a bit of a mixed bag, it is essentially a ‘monster-of-the-week episode’ but it also moves the storyline of Peter’s disapearance further in a proper way.
As for the plot…
It begins by showing two boys chasing another even younger boy, evidently one of the boys was slighted and seeks revenge. The younger boy hides out in a abandoned sewer drain and the two other young boys chase after him. Just as one of the boy is set to beat up the boy the they were chasing both of the bullies are grabbed by a strange creature which paralyses them which gives the younger boy time to escape.
Doctor Sumner played by William Sadler
In the next scene we see Walter being questioned by the Doctor Sumner (William Sadler), he interviews Walter on a monthly basis and now confronts him with the reports that people have noticed Walter having hallucinations. Walter dismisses the reports and states nothing is wrong with him, despite seeing Peter again in a reflective surface.
Olivia meanwhile suggest to agent Lee that he can always talk with her if the Fringe subject material would freak him out. During the conversation agent Broyles calls to inform them two bodies have been found.
One of the dead teens
The bodies belong to two 12 year olds that have been missing since the day before, the mystery lies in the fact that they are already in a advance state if decomposition. Personally I find the lack of drama surrounding the death of children a little cold even if they were bullies, the family of the kids are also not mentioned. Walter while back at the lab dares not to speculate as to cause of death or the decomposition but a third track of sneakers leads Olivia and Lincoln to believe that another child may have been involved. Quickly they find out the tracks belong to Aaron Snathon (I hope i got the name right) a 10 year old boy, Olivia and Lee take him to Walter’s lab to find out of he has been infected by something, we see the boy make drawings in a clipboard that a little later becomes a big spoiler.
Examining one of the bodies of the teens Walter notices a foul stench coming from the body which he can’t identify, Walter also demands to inspect the other body but agent Broyles first confronts him with the report that he is having hallucinations. Walter tries to deny this but then Peter starts to talk to him leading to very erratic behaviour on Walter’s part.
Walter examining Aaron
Aaron meanwhile peruses around Walter’s lab, after finding a toy Walter gets very angry and states it belongs to his dead son Peter. Walter quickly enough calms down and tells Aaron the story of how his son died of a disease, how he went to the other universe and took Peter from Walternate but that upon their return Peter died when they fell though the ice. Aaron then asks surly why Walter doesn’t think he should be in a mental institute.
Astrid finds out that the body is sucking oxygen towards it, Walter notices a fungus growing on the body and quickly states that the body should be placed in a confined glass box. After which in yet again grizzly detail it explodes and we see a cloud of fungus spores float in the box.
Exploding corpse
Walter realizes the same will happen to the other body which is still at the morgue, he contacts Olivia and Lee and suggest they evacuate the morgue as quickly as possible. They are however too late and the body explodes and infects the medical examiners working there.
Agent Broyles realizes that the fungus must be eradicated and sets out to do just that. Aaron meanwhile stays at Walter’s lab as his mother and father are out of the country and the people he is staying with don’t talk to him. Walter sees a lot of Peter in him and slowly begins to wonder whether there is a connection between the fungus and Aaron.
Walter now makes a number of erratic rants against Olivia and Broyles during which he confuses Peter’s name with Aaron’s. Walter states that by killing rh fungus htye are killing Peter.
Olivia and Lee with night vision
When Olivia and Lee re-enter the storm drain they use UV lights to fight the fungus, however this has an adverse effect on Aaron and situation quickly becomes an emergency. Broyles is reluctant to stop fighting the fungus not in the least as it is spreading. Walter sees more apparitions of Peter and people wonder if he is going insane. Finally Broyles orders Olivia and Lee to attack the fungus with a chemical agent. Walter urges Aaron to let go of the bond with the fungus as he duduces it is a mental bond. Aaron is reluctant as he states he has no one in the world and the fungus protects him. Finally Walter manages to convice him and Aaron terminates the mental bond, leading Olivia and Lee being successful in fighting the fungus.
Walter with the nail in his head
That said, the last quarter of the episode was very predictable, after Olivia and Lee found a drawing similar to the one Aaron made in the cave/drain things were pretty much spoilered and I was just watching the characters going through their paces.
What follows next is as far as I know the only reason to watch the episode intently. Walter has decided that he is going insane and with precision instruments hopes to destroy a part of his brain in order to stop seeing apparitions of Peter. Olivia was earlier in the episode seen with a drawing of Peter and seemed to use facial recognition software to find out who it is. As Olivia enters Walter’s lab in order to congratulate Walter on fighting the fungus we hear a number of soft blows, as Olivia enters Walters office we see Walter with an instrument struck into his eye that has pierced his brain, in the other hand he is the small hammer. Quickly Olivia extracts the tool from Walter’s brain, as Walter tells in an erratic tone that he is seeing a face of a man and hearing his voices something seems to click with Olivia. Olivia holds up the drawing of the face and says the man appeared in her dreams. Walter knows he isn’t mad and together they vow to find out who the man is…..
Olivia with a drawing of Peter
Conclusion…
The episode very much functions as a introduction to next’s weeks episode, the plot of Peter’s disapearance is the real draw while the plot of the man eating fungus is unbelieveble not in the least because off-screen a lot seems to be happening that would make the show almost jump the shark. Suggesting that the fungus was spreading all over the city was from that point a mistake, and yet we have no real idea how the fungus came to be. Suggesting it was a mutation of the fungus that feeds on ants was just a little too convenient. The episode had in my mind a fair amount of sloppy writing.
The character of Lincoln Lee seems to be growing in this series, as of yet no reappearance of agent Francis and it wasn’t mentioned whether he was rock climbing or taking up stamp collecting. Let’s just hope he will be back next episode because otherwise he might as well not come back.
The episode like the ones before it from season 4 seems hellbent on making it more accessible to new viewers and as such appears to be a little bit dumbed down. I also wonder if the budget for the series has been slashed for just like the last two episodes the amount of special effects seems less.
Score; 7.5/10.
Rating; 3.24 million. that is a slight bump over last week but then again the episode had a good promo trailer.
Next week’s episode is entitled ‘Subject 9′.
Fringe Subject 9 will see the return of characters such as Nina Sharp (Blair Brown) and is written by Jeff Pinker (Lost and Profiler) and J.h Wyman.
‘Mission Creep’ is the third episode of Person of Interest and is for that matter it’s first ‘social-security-number-of-the-week’ episode. Meaning that the writer’s did not want to advance the mythology any further but instead wanted to concentrate on making an episode with the things that are already in its universe. Usually these episodes make up the bulk of a tv-series and as such are of a little lower quality than the mythology episodes. That is certainly the case with this episode but the quality is only a little less than the previous episode and that makes me anxious for a lot more ‘social-security-number-of-the-week’ episode. That said, at the end of the episode there was a small matter concerning an unknown adversary for Reese and Finch which hints at a series antagonist. Up to this point I wasn’t really in the mood for one but the little spoiler piqued my curiosity.
As for the story…
Reese looks up Mr Finch at his secret lair in what I remember was a library, after being woken up by a cup of coffee finch announces that ‘The Machine’ has come up with a new social secruity number of someone who is either a victim or perpetrated of a murder. The man they are looking for is Joey Durban, a retired soldier who now works as a doorman. Reese at first can’t figure out how the man is involved with any kind of criminal activity until Reese follows him into a bank where Durban with three other men suddenly rob the place.
Durban & Reese
For Finch it seems like a done deal. Durban is clearly a perpetrator and the easiest thing to do is in his own words ‘gift wrap the evidence’ so Durban would have to go to jail and not be able to murder anyone. Reese disagrees and questions why a man such as Durban would be involved in a crime spree as he has a fiance and possibly a child from an earlier marriage. Finch agrees Reese should do more and find out more and thus Reese joins the gang. This he does by contacting the ring leader who is a retired officer and present owner of a bar.
Finch makes a vacancy within the gang possibly by first taking a ride in a cab who is driven by a gang member and leaving a bunch of guns about in the boot before calling the police.
Reese is informed about the trap
To the viewer it just seems a little easy for Reese to just walk up to a bartender and being allowed to join the gang even if his cover story is good. That is until we find out the bartender Sam Latimer doesn’t intend for Reese to get away from his first task unscaved.
After a difficult meeting with the rest of the gang, who consists of not so memorable members we see Reese making careful approaches to Durban. Slowly the details around the gang start to emerge. It appears that the ring leader Latimer makes a clean sweep through the gang once every year or so and that is what ‘The Machine’ picked up. Reese and Durban questions each other as to why they joined the gang, Durban speaks of a debt and Reese understands he doesn’t owe anyone any money but that something else is going on.
In the meantime one gang member called ‘Straw’ needs money quickly, Latimer showes some sympathy and says a big score is going down soon.
Latimer under fire
After a filed shakedown of a casino they are finally sent onto their final target, the evidence locker’s of a police station. The gang members are pressed by Straw to hand in their communicators and as such Finch can’t contact him with the news that the heist is a set up. Finch instead beats Reese to the police station and pretends to be a lawyer when the gang shows up. Reese continues with the heist anyway and makes a getaway with the gang after they have obtained the sought after evidence. Latimer is waiting for them at their getaway vehicle and after recieving the evidence promptly starts shooting the gang members. The weapons the gang is carrying don’t have live rounds but Reese has a back up and scares Latimer away leaving two gang members dead.
The next scene shows Reese asking Durban why he was in the gang, Durban reveales that a buddy in Iraq took a position on a patrol from him and got killed, he needs the money to pay for the education of his friends daughter. Reese warns him that the police would soon know his involvement in the gang and that he needs to skip town with his fiance, this Durban does.
Latimer is seen with a unknown man during which Latimer gives the man the evidence obtained during the heist. It is alluded that Latimer is killed and later on Reese finds his body. Reese and Finch now know a very dangerous man has just obtained something very important and if the man knew they were after him they would be in danger….
Durban and his fiance skipping town
Conclusion…
There is a less personal development of the characters in this episode and that was certainly missed, the character of Durban is the sole exception to that and as such is also a character that may return in the furture.
Detective Carter yet again has only a marginal role and that is a shame because the number of characters should increase if this show wants to continue being interesting.
Score; 8/10.
Viewer rating; 11.46 million (so far viewer numbers have not disapointed).
In The Gemini Agent, as first-year final exams week kicks off, several incident reports with serious allegations against James T. Kirk end up on the Commandant of Midshipmen’s desk. None of the allegations are true, of course… or are they? Kirk is being plagued by mysterious blackout periods, so he finds the allegations difficult to refute. During these blackout periods, he has no recollection of what he did, save for some very disturbing and disjointed memories. Kirk needs his friends, Bones and Uhura to help prove his innocence. Who is targeting Kirk, and why is he being targeted? And how far are they willing to go? Someone close to Kirk holds the answers to all of these questions, but can he put the pieces together before it’s too late?
Review…
This book was written by Rick Barba and is intended for young adults.
Unfortunately, this books is not as good as the first two in the Starfleet Academy series. The storyline can only be described as a mess, somehow a artificial intelligence inhabits a person and does crazy things at the Academy, but the details are so vague and contradictory that I just don’t get it. The Romulan angle can quite frankly only be understood by a Star Trek geek with years of Star Trek experience. I got it, but will others readers? Probably not.
Unlike Rudy Josephs the author of this book is also more inclined to add pieces of teen angst to the story, because it is noticeble it also distracts from the rest of the story. Furthermore the character of Kirk seems wooden, it’s like he can only do a ertain set of things in a certain way and nothing else.
There are two plusses in this book.
The first is that Spock is now officially introduced to Kirk, albeit indirectly. The second is de first occurance of Pavel Chekov. Where Doctor McCoy’s character shun in ‘The Edge’, his character is the star of this story and offers both intentional and unintentional hilarity. Especially the scene in which he almost drowns in his own dorm is very funny.
However, the book is otherwise utterly forgettable. Where ‘The Edge’ was an experience this book is a chore, and that can’t be right.
Score; 6.5/10.
So what’s next for Starfleet Academy.
Well, more books are planned for the young adult market. Sadly nothing has been announced for older more seasoned readers of Star Trek.
The next book in the Starfleet Academy series is entitled ‘The Assassination Game’ and its author is Alan Gratz. Despite its rather provocative title for a young reader book I must say I am game.
The official release date was september 2011, but that has probably slipped.
Synopsis…
The rules are simple: draw a target. Track him down and “kill” him with a spork. Take your victim’s target for your own. Oh, and make sure the player with your name doesn’t get to you first. No safe zones. No time outs. The game ends when only one player remains. James T. Kirk is playing for fun. Leonard “Bones” McCoy is playing to get closer to a girl. But when a series of explosions rocks the usually placid Starfleet Academy campus, it becomes clear that somebody is playing the game for real. Is it one of the visiting Varkolak, on Earth to attend an intergalactic medical conference? Or could it be a member of a super-secret society at the Academy dedicated to taking care of threats to the Federation, no matter what rules they have to break to do it? Find out in The Assassination Game.
Jim Kirk arrives at Starfleet Academy ready to take on whatever challenges arise. Most new beginnings mean you get to start with a clean slate, but Kirk quickly discovers that he is already infamous among his classmates. Thanks to his bravado and boasting that he’ll finish the four-year program in three, they’ve already made up their minds about kind of rival he is … and how they will beat him.
The Academy’s program is extremely rigorous and uncompromising. The students are the best and the brightest, and the school demands total commitment from them – physically and mentally. Kirk is ready for it all, but he didn’t expect that some cadets will do anything to ensure they succeed at the Academy, no matter the cost.
He soon finds that his best friend, McCoy, is one of the main suspects in an Academy misconduct investigation for crimes that could cost the lives of his classmates. Kirk is determined to clear McCoy’s name and unmask the dark side of Academy life – before it’s too late.
Review…
This is the second book in the Starfleet Academy book series that is intended for young adults. The first noticeble thing is that the writing style is significantly different. The author of the first book Rick Barba tried in my opnion a little too hard not alienating young readers away from the Star Trek Universe. Odd concepts for Star Trek such as money and street crime were really out of touch. The author of The Edge Rudy Josephs does not make this mistake and seems to have a good grasp of the Star Trek Universe without alienating newbies. In fact, this book is also enjoyable for more adult readers as Rudy goes lightly on the teen angst theme that usually occurs in these kinds of books.
Both ’The Edge’ and ’The Delta Anomaly’ do have a rather dark subject matter, in this case its drug use combined with doping that leads to a fatality at the Academy, i believe writers should not avoid these subjects and the way Rudy Josephs has threaded it into the story gives young readers a thorough review of the risks involved on both a physical and personal basis. The author also uses ying-yang as a sort of leitmotif. This is also the way in which the book ends, its a good ending but the main characters all have lessons to learn.
On the subject of the characters, it is a little odd that while Uhura interacts with both Spock and Kirk they on the other hand have yet to meet each other. At this moment I can spoiler that that will change by the third book ‘The gemini agent’.
There are a number of new characters that have been introduced in ‘The Edge’ such Monica Lynne, the girlfriend of kirk who has her own secrets. and unlike ‘the Delta Anomaly’ they don’t seem as wooden.
While the book would seem to focus on Kirk mostly I would say that doctor McCoy and Uhura are really the shining stars…
As for the negative side of this book. From certain passages it would seem that there was a subplot concerning doctor McCoy, its a shame that it has been deleted because despite the fact that the book is longer than the first one it is over all too quickly. One would think that Simon Spotlight (the publishers) would have caught on to Harry potter length novels.
What is also irksome is that certain plot twist are easily anticipated and others are deliberately altered to negate the sense of prediction, that makes the plot just a little too contrived at moments.
Score; 8.5/10.
PS, the book was first called ‘The Competitive Edge’ but has since been abreviated to ‘The Edge.
This weeks episode of Fringe can almost together with the first episode of the season be seen as one story. This time the story plays out mostly in the mirror universe though we don’t see much of the high tech gadgets….
As for the plot….
Olivia is contacted by agent Broyles about 23 unsolved homocides, as Olivia starts to question Broyles about why she has never heard of the case he reveals that it was brought forward by Fauxlivia from the mirror universe. In a strange plot twist it is revealed that although most events from season 3 occurred even after Peter fixed the timeline there are differences, for example the agent Broyles from the mirror universe did not die at the hands of Walternate but is still just the head of Fringe division.
Olivia with Fauxlivia
Fauxlivia has so far managed to identify the killer but has been unable to catch him, she suggest that the alternate man from the Prime universe be brought to the mirror universe to help in the investigation. Reluctantly she agrees and thus she contacts the man called John McClellan who works as a forensic psychologist and often makes profiles of serial killers. At this moment in the episode it is quite creepy as the you can feel that the McClellan from the Prime universe also has dark thoughts and yet seems empathic all the same.
The story briefly diverges to Walters lab at Harvard where agent Lincoln Lee seems to be taken in by Walter. Walter still has the same issues with seeing and hearing Peter without knowing anything about him, fearing he might be going insane he covers every mirrored surface. In the meantime Olivia inquires Astrid about how agent Lee is settling in, Astrid suggests Olivia should get a date with him but she rebuffs the idea, at this moment we see there might be a lingering longing for Peter even though she can’t remember him.
John McClellan and Fauxlivia
In order to hide the fact towards the Prime John McClellan that an alternate universe exists he is sedated for the journey, he has also been kept in the dark about the fact that he is trying to catch his own mirror self. He is lead into the house of his mirror self to begin profiling the killer, there is a sudden urgency as the alternate McClellan has just kidnapped another woman from a rest stop.
At this moment it is worth mentioning the extraordinary effort that went into letting Olivia interact with Fauxlivia, the special effects of blending two characters played by Anna Torv into the same scenes is almost perfect. The writers have put in place subtle differnces between the characters so when Fauxlivia impersonates Olivia in order to question McClellan the audience not only sees that although they look similarly they are in fact different. Olivia is more restrained while Fauxlivia is more freewheeling and sexier. In season 3 these differences were perhaps a little forced but now Anna Torv seems to have gotten the hang of it. This kind of begs the question, if Anna Torv merely plays the part of Olivia Dunham than who is she?
Back to the story. In one unsurprising plot twist we see the Prime John McClellan figure out that he is after his own mirror self. Olivia explains to him he is in an alternate universe and inquires about why the mirror John murders. The Prime John admits to his darker side, he said he had always been different from other kids and later even alludes to torturing small animals. However, at the age of ten he met a woman called Margerie who cared for him and he learned to suppress he murderous feelings. After the Prime John agrees to help Olivia he manages to escaspe.
Mirror Broyles and Olivia
Despite the best efforts of the mirror Astrid in hunting down the mirror John McClellan she has little success, Olivia convinces Fauxlivia to track down McClellan to the farm his father once worked at.
The Prime John McClellan reaches the farm first and confronts the mirror John, trying to convince to give up his murder spree. After initially agreeing he strikes down the Prime John and straps him down to a machine that would enable him to extract the feelings from his victims, while also killing them with a cooling agent. The mirror John has been using the device to extract happy memories from his victims and now uses it to extract a memory of Margerie from the Prime John McClellan. Finally Olivia, Fauxlivia and Agent Lee reach the farm only to find it abandant. A cellar door allows them entrance to the lair the mirror John does his experiments in and they find the last victim still alive. The mirror John is eventually cornered and commits suicide, the Prime John is removed from the device with unknown side-effects.
Later in the Prime universe agent Broyles and Olivia meet the Prime John McClellan, he has been convinced that he had been injured while profiling for the FBI. He can’t remember anything of the last few weeks and crucially can’t rememberd Margerie. This troubles Olivia as that memeory was the only thing that kept John from killing like his mirror self. Agent Broyles assures Olivia the FBI will keep a close watch on him. The Prime John however alludes to a strange sensation of feeling restrained though he doesn’t know why. Agent Broyles later on says to Olivia that although memories may be erased the effects that people have on your personality and life are permanent. Then comes a second crucial moment when Olivia thinks this over, the audience understand the reference to Peter even if she doesn’t yet.
Walter can hear Peter
The final scene of the episode is back in Walter’s lab at Harvard. Walter is preparing for bed and carefully switches off the light hoping not to see another apparition of Peter. Instead he hears Peter’s voice but is convinced he is going insane and puts on Mozart loudly hoping to drown out Peter’s voice, with no effect….
Conclusion; just as the episode before this episode is good but not great, i like it a little better though the promise of a series reboot has so far not happened yet. Just like the last episode this one relies a bit more on drama, mimicking the strategy used by Warehouse 13 during its third season. I am not sure the slight change in structure will manage to attract a larger audience for the storyline only makes sense if you have seen season 3. That is not going to change for the next few episodes either I would guess.
This episodes again didn’t show the character of Charlie Francis, this time the writers decided he was sipping cocktails on a beach with his ‘bug lady’ from season 3. And that is kind of lame….
The question begs however whether Walternate and Fauxlivia are seeing apparitions of Peter. If they aren’t, does that suggest Peter is somehow able to control to whom he appears.
Score; 8/10.
Viewer rating; 3.14 million.
The rating was expected but still… nothing seems to stop Fringe going down the drink these days…. It would appear that ’Bad robot productions’ seems just a little preoccupied with Person of Interest and the Star Trek sequel…..
Update…..
The name of the actor playing John McClellan is ‘John Pyper-Ferguson’, i thought he looked familiar but I couldn’t remember the name, he has guest starred in BSG, Caprica and Lost….
Next weeks episode is entitled ‘Alone in the World’….
