Comments on: Fringe Watch: I Stand Corrected

By: sulliclm

sulliclm — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:06:38 +0000

@James: I have to agree with you, that moment between Walter and Peter was probably one of, if not the best scenes of the entire series so far. This episode was one of the first times I found myself comparing the show to Lost, in terms of we finally saw some backstory/character development. The episode followed sort of a Lost template in that there was a self-contained plot line (the kidnapping) which forced an event that developed one of the characters, and then just to keep things moving we had the apple scene at the end to contribute to the overall serial plot. After he got that apple I half expected him to turn to her and tell her that the Godfather thanks her for her contributions hoo-ra!

Also Kemper's comment above got me thinking, because I'm the same way, I don't skip commercials as much with this show b/c I know its only 60 seconds...I'm wondering if Fringe will be starting a trend here...

By: James Poniewozik

James Poniewozik — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:49:37 +0000

@dante: The X-Files ratio was something like 2/3 self-contained episodes to 1/3 "mythology" episodes. Fringe has clearly decided for now that that would be too much mythology for this show—probably for commercial reasons but maybe for others. Now I was always personally a mythology geek, so that may be my bias, but I suppose the lesson to be drawn from this episode is that if you're going to do procedural, then each installment really needs to be distinctive, without the kind of repetition you had in some of the earlier Fringe episodes.

In one way, doing a good procedural/anthology is tougher than a good serial, because story-wise, you're starting from zero every time. In any case, what worked for me here is that this week showed you can do a self-contained episode without sacrificing character development over time. (Which was for me why The X-Files worked, not because any individual monster plot really blew my mind.)

By: danteshepherd

danteshepherd — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:15:25 +0000

I think your point about the procedural doesn't exactly fit, James. Didn't X-Files have a similar set-up most of the time, what with each individual episode dealing with one singular phenomenon that usually gets left unexplained in the end or unproven? And yet that show really worked - so I you might be basing your critique subconsciously to LOST or other JJ Abrams serials that do continuously develop and aren't procedurals. I'm not saying Fringe doesn't have flaws, because it does - but it's still a really good show that I love watching week after week, and for a new show, it doesn't have anywhere near the weaknesses Heroes had in its first year.

By: bzdesk

bzdesk — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:09:29 +0000

James, I agree- way to flesh out Walter!
.
About the apple--maybe a winking 'eating the forbidden fruit' moment? But yeah, lobster guy did reach in to the safe-like thingy through its solid wall side.
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Also, IMO the Fringe casting director (or the person making the recent guest casting decisions) definitely deserves a Christmas/Hannukah etc. bonus bcse 'Mr Dashiell this week and Mr Jones last week were absolutely brilliant. dhanks.

By: Kemper

Kemper — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:10:30 +0000

I agree with the 'more Walter' rule. Also nice to see Peter actually coming up with some ideas himself instead of just being a smart-a** Igor to Walter's mad scientist. On a unrelated note, was Walter's story about being hired by ad firms to put blinking lights into commercials a warning? I think those little odd pictures with the "Fringe will return in 60 seconds." are loaded with their own green and red lights because I rarely bother to fast forward the DVR during this show. Unless it's the Saved by Zero Toyota ad...

By: James Poniewozik

James Poniewozik — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:57:20 +0000

The apple he put into the safe was a Stayman Winesap. But when he pulled it out, it was... a Jonagold!

No, having rewound the scene a couple times, I concluded that (1) the equation did something that enabled him to reach through a solid safe wall (either what Yogi describes, or some kind of wormhole, or sci-fi effect TBD) and that (2) we probably weren't supposed to know exactly what it did yet, so I decided not to worry about it.

By: yogi

yogi — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:53:14 +0000

@Chaddogg, it was eaten...sorry, couldn't help myself. I think they were trying to find a frequency that would turn solids into a liquid like state in that he could easily move through, ie "walk through walls", I guess to steal stuff from safes or something more sinister to be seen.

By: Chaddogg

Chaddogg — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:12:04 +0000

Can anyone explain to me what exactly happened with the apple? I'm so confused.