FRINGE: Of Human Action

Grrrrrr…this episode has completely caused me to get a song stuck in my head – Nerf Herder’s “5000 Ways to Die”. It’s not exactly a classic so I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t know the lyrics. The ones that are now on repeat-play in my brain are “get in your car and drive real fast/up in the attic with a shotgun blast/take a bath with a clock radio/vodka and valium overdose”. Great – add that to the fresh visual of death by hot coffee over the head/face through a glass door, and I should have some really great dreams tonight…

Twists and Turns
Nothing is as it first appears in this episode. Initially, we are led to believe that two used car salesmen kidnap the son of a Massive Dynamic scientist and hold him for ransom. One of these men seems to be able to hypnotize people and cause them to violently kill/harm themselves or others.

By mid-episode, it becomes clear that it is really the teenage boy, Tyler, who is the kidnapper and the one with the power of mind control. The two car salesmen are his innocent victims. Tyler stages the kidnapping to get money from his father to use to start a new life with his mother…a mother who his father had led him to believe was dead. Tyler kidnaps Peter along the way and the two compare bad daddy notes (more on that later). Peter is eventually able to stop Tyler, with the help of Walter and the rest of the gang.

The case closes with Team Fringe believing that Tyler’s ability to use mind control was purely accidental. However, the twist is that Tyler was actually part of an experiment conducted by Massive Dynamic. The experiment involved numerous “Tylers”. In a message to William Bell, Nina concludes, “…mind control is possible, given the right circumstances”.

Who’s Your Daddy?
Was I the only one waiting for the big reveal about Walter’s abduction of Peter from the other world? I felt for sure that it was going to happen during the final Peter/Walter scene (“You’ve just been abducted, of course you need crepes). I couldn’t believe it when the final scene switched to Nina. I’m not entirely complaining because I did like the twist and thought that it served as a good reminder that although Nina/Massive Dynamic may appear to be playing on team good, they are still just as likely to be the evil empire. As for Pete/Walter, I hope this episode was just setting us up for the big reveal next week, in what looks to be a must watch episode:

The plot – a boy finds out that his entire relationship with his father is a lie (actually a lie about a lie, but at least he doesn’t find out that part or the body count might have been a lot higher).
The various exchanges between Tyler and Peter – “Do you really think you’re the first kid whose father didn’t think you were good enough or smart enough? Take a number.”
Walter’s distress over Peter’s abduction and how it is Nina who steps in to soothe him.

Best Bits

• Walter and Astrid debating what human brains might taste like.

• Walter and Astrid – I love this team!!! — wearing aluminum foil hats:
  Walter: I don’t trust them here. I think they’re trying to read my thoughts.
  Astrid: Massive Dynamic gives me the creeps, too.

• Walter to Peter: Do you think the FBI will ever give me a gun?

For all you code crackers – tonight’s word was ARRIVE.

Gretchen is a stay-at-home mom of two awesome little girls who has the good fortune of being married to a husband who is completely cool with her slightly out of control television addiction. During her precious few sleeping hours, Gretchen frequently finds herself ridding the world of pesky vampires and demons, as well as taking down fake secret branches of the CIA.