Fringe
Episode 10: Anomoly
XB-6783746
By: Carlos Uribe
Fringe
is a show about a small team of people who are trying to save our
world from the Observers.
Spoilers
Ahoy!
I'm
going to keep this brief because I'm enjoying my Christmas holiday.
The
team spent an entire episode getting the Observer boy and now they
spend an entire episode trying to communicate with him. He has lost
his ability to empathetically connect with Olivia which means that he
has no way of telling them any information. He can't reveal who
Donald is or his own role in the plan. The team is forced to go to
Nina Sharp in an attempt to see if there's a magical piece of
technology that allows them to read the boy's mind. It turns out that
there is but the boy's mind is more complex which involves having to
steal more technology in order to have the boy read human minds. At
the end, they finally are able to communicate with the boy and a
major plot twist is revealed. This was an episode that largely seemed
to follow the Fringe path of having only one or two major
developments per episode even as the series finale draws near. The
first development was talking with the boy observer and the second
development is that Nina's role in helping the team is uncovered by
the Observers. It isn't until the end of the episode where the plot
really starts to pick up momentum towards a shocking cliff-hanger
that makes me want to see the next episode immediately. The final
season is heading towards it's finish but it really isn't until the
end that the series finally seems to actually realize it. The
narrative momentum has been sufficient to keep the interest because
of the great writing but it really did seem like the plot was moving
at a snail's speed when it should have been speeding up over the last
few weeks.
This
season has already featured a death with Etta. The ramifications of
her death were serious as they caused Peter to temporarily become an
Observer and emotionally devastated Olivia. The two parents are still
grieving but they are more determined than ever to implement Walter's
plan to defeat the Observers. This was an episode that featured a
second death and it's one that lands a bigger emotional punch. It's
all because of the second development: the Observers discover that
Nina is actually with the resistance. They don't immediately capture
her because she's been called by the team to try and read the
Observer boy's mind. She's underground and nobody who works for the
Ministry of Science knows where she is. This keeps her relatively
safe but she doesn't know that she's been discovered until later in
the episode. That is when Peter and Olivia go to a Ministry warehouse
to steal some technology needed and they realize that Nina's
inside-man is being questioned. The two are able to warn Nina but
it's too late. The Observers were able to track her because Nina went
aboveground and her signal was discovered. Nina sacrificed her life
so that they wouldn't be able to read her mind and to keep the
Observer boy from being found. This was a shocking moment on Fringe
that made perfect sense within the context of the episode. Nina is
just the person who would blow her brains out in order to advance a
cause she believes in. Her sacrifice does mean something in that
she's not only keeping the resistance safe but she's allowing them to
achieve their current goal. Her death is significant and it seriously
helps to keep the idea that the Observers are actually formidable
opponents. They didn't just kill a character whose been important
this season but someone whose been in the show since the very
beginning. Nina's loss was more emotionally felt then Etta's and it
made the episode really resonate because of that. It also helped to
shift the episode's feeling from only being somewhat important to
being a completely valuable contribution to the season. That this
death arose from the two developments simply made it work so much
better.
It's
not just her death that helps mark this episode as special. That is
also the final twist. The observer boy is able to communicate with
Walter at the end of the episode as he reveals some important
information. He doesn't reveal what the plan is exactly but he does
tell him who Donald is. Donald's identity is such a large part of the
season as he was the scientist who had helped Walter come up with the
plan. He's the one who took the boy Observer away from the pocket
universe and into the home of the couple taking care of him. Donald's
presence has been felt throughout the season. It turns out that
Donald is actually September! This is a large twist that helps to act
as the season's cliff-hanger. It's not just interesting to learn what
role September will be playing for the rest of the season but it's a
brilliant move. Whose the Observer that warned Walter of the
invasion? It was September. Whose the scientist who helped Walter
prepare the plan to halt the Observers? It was Donald. There is a
certain kind of symmetry that really seems to fit. Donald's shadowy
presence on the season and September's background prominence on the
show have directly impacted the series plots and character actions.
That the two are the same makes perfect sense. Having them be the
same not only creates questions but it also helps to end the episode
on a significant plot point. It really does feel like something is
actually happening as we're heading towards the end: even if the two
significant actions that will define this episode (Nina's death and
the Donald twist) don't happen until the very end.
Anomaly
XB-6783746 is a wonderful and brilliant episode of Fringe that simply
seems to show that the writers do have a plan on where they're taking
us, even if they're going at a snail's pace towards the finish line.
The ending of the episode significantly picks up as the narrative
machinations start to speed up. There's only one episode left before
the two-hour series finale so there's no reason to expect the show to
slow back down.
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