Saturday, April 16, 2011

Fringe: Season 3 Episode 19 - Lysergic Acid Diethylamide



Hello FRINGE Fanatics!  We're back after a 3 week hiatus and it feels good!  The first of the 4 final episodes of season 3.  Not sure what the masses will make of this episode, but man did I absolutely LOVE it!  The Fringe producers had promised us an episode similar to the likes of last season's offbeat noir/musical episode "Brown Betty".  And they certainly delivered some unique and groundbreaking television (and perhaps paying homage to some predecessors in the process).  It was a nice change of pace episode to help reflect and set the stage for the final 3 episodes of the season (which I have read all follow the same storyline and act as a 3 part finale).  So, what are you waiting for?  Grab your LSD and let's trip out into the recap!

Operation: Rescue Olivia's Consciousness

When we last joined our BLUE WORLD Fringe Team, Dr. William Bell's life force was still captured inside Olivia's body.  Olivia's consciousness was struggling to come forth.  We join Walter and William as they try to transfer him out of Olivia and into some corpse they picked up from Harvard's medical department, I would presume.  Long story short, it didn't work.   And Olivia's time is running short.  Bell realizes only one consciousness can survive and they have about a day to get Olivia back or she'll be gone forever.   Olivia does resurface for a second when there is an electric shock in Walter's lab, and they rush her to the hospital.  Right before they give her the paddles to resuscitate, William showed back up to stop them.   This was all one intense intro to get to the meat of this episode's story.





Olivia's consciousness is hiding deep within her mind.  So Walter and William devise a plan to enter her mind and find her.  And Peter will be their only hope to find her.  They called back to season 1 (which I'm thoroughly enjoying my rewatch by the way.  It holds up and ties into everything that is going on now) with Walter indicating that they had previously done this before when they synched up Olivia and John Scott's minds.  So, this isn't without precedent.  Peter also recalls that there was lots of LSD involved.  Cue Walter's EUREEKA!  "that is BRILLIANT son!"   Yes, these kids be trippin!  Or at least will be.  Their plan is a variation of John and Olivia's shared dream state.  They are going to single out Olivia's electro-magnetic signal so that they can all share HER mind.   And then what of Dr. Bell?  Well, Walter is very excited about one of Bell's other research projects: Whole Brain Emulation (I laughed a lot at that one).  They think they have found a way to deliver an organic substance (Walter's Mind) into an inorganic substance (A Computer).   Not to get ahead of ourselves, but it would have been pretty cool to have a William Bell version of Max Headroom for the end of this season and for season 4!


While Peter has his suspicions that Bell has selfish motives in mind to sustain his existence, Peter agrees to the plan and is a bit nervous to take his sugar cube dosed with crazy drug.  Cue Broyles's entrance to the lab as he is very concerned with getting his agent back.  And it isn't long before he sees that Peter is totally tripping!   Peter notices how BALD Broyles is and assumes he is an observer.  (I never really thought of that as a possibility, and I'm hoping the producers didn't drop that as a hint of things to come!  I'm going to go with it was just a joke, and a humorous one at that!)



Astrid announces that Peter is ready, they all hook up to the machine and off they go into a world of crazy possibilities!


"You're...living in a dream world Neo" 
What's to follow was some crazy combination of The Matrix, Inception, The Walking Dead, a smidge of LOST and a whole lot of Fringe:

  • Peter arrives into what appears to be Manahatan (The OVER THERE version, not Manhattan) in his Matrix Finest, sunglasses and all.  He finds Walter on top of a bus which leads to another hysterical moment where the bus pulls away with him on it.  



  • Like Inception, everything they find in there is a part of Olivia's subconsciousness including the people who are a bit of a defense mechanism.  Loved Peter's line when he said they all look like they raided Olivia's closet.  They're all wearing shades of black and grey and lots of pony tailed women roaming around.   Walter blames himself and Bellie as cortexiphan patients tend to try to blend in and stay in the background.  But, they have to find her somewhere and guide her out. 


  • Our first indication that we're in the OVER THERE world is that the Twin Towers are there.  And they see an SOS signal coming from the top of the tower in morse code.  Walter acts quickly and responds with a pudding lid.  The mores code message states that it's Olivia and they head on their way.  However, they run into an issue when they begin to walk towards the towers and they don't get any closer.  Olivia's mind is reflecting the emotional importance of everything.


  • But their delay is enough time for them to run into Olivia's Step Father who seems to recognize them.  Ironically, where Walter cannot remember much of his days in Jacksonville, he can remember Olivia's stepfather quite clearly.  When they run for shelter, everything in Manahatan seems to come to a halt and they all start staring at Walter and Peter.  They catch the vibe and make a run for it.   They find a cab and hop in and Walter hysterically volunteers to drive.   Of course, there are some cars ready for a car chase as well!    Anyway, Dream Walter has some mad skills with a cab in the streets of New York as he makes a few cuts and turns and evades their chasers!   And I'm sure you won't mind me getting to one of his quotes of the night early by stating it here.   "Peter, I made a skid!"  The delight on his face was half of the pricelessness of the quote!







  • Who is waiting for them at the Tower but Nina Sharp complete (or should I say incomplete) with uncovered bionic hand!  She welcomes them and takes them to an express elevator to the top but it really was just a pathway to their demise!  Should this indicate to us that Olivia still does not trust Nina Sharp?  Perhaps!   I'm still trying to figure out why her dream world is OVER THERE and not her own world!  Of course, Bell's explanation in a bit may provide clarity over why everything is a little OFF in her dream world. 


  • Walter and Peter manage to escape the evil clutches of Nina and send her falling to her dreamy demise. 

  • They take the elevator up to top of the building and find a white hallway and a door with Dr. Bell's name on it.  If you recall, Bell's office WAS in the towers OVER THERE.  They prepare for whatever Olivia has placed on the other side of the door after they knock.   But to their surprise it's William Bell!   But not your ordinary version of the Spock look-a-like.   In the great words of Walter Bishop he asks, "Bellie, why are you a cartoon?"  the re-"animated" Bell responds "I'd ask yourselves the same question."   And before we know it, we are in FRINGE: The Animated Series and it's GLOOORIOUS!!!  



  • Anyway, Bell said he had to trick them or else Peter never would have let them come rescue Bell. Too true Bellie, Too true!    
And just in the great tradition of Saturday Morning Cartoons, sing along with me "After these messages...we'll be riiiiiight back!"

Back at the Lab
So, while these kids are in a dream state, Astrid is monitoring their status.  But, little did she know, she'd have some additional baby sitting duties to tend to.  It seems Broyles tried to help out by cleaning up and touched the tray of sugar cubes with LSD.  Broyles was all spaced out for the entire episode and it was hysterical!!!

  • First he comments on the licorice and shares Walter's amazement at the endless spiral.  

  • They he just stares at everything with big eyes of amazement.  It's a whole new world he is experiencing.  

  • Things get a little grimmer when he starts talking about how he's faced death.  I assume he was speaking about when he faced the murdered and mutilated body of his alternate self.  

  • Things get a little awkward when he asks Astrid to hold his hand.  Sure boss no problem! 




Meanwhile back in Toon Town

  • The 3 cartoon Fringers discuss their plans over a glass of whiskey?  What kind of Whiskey?  Oh just humor me and tune into the Observe'er'ations where we will reveal the best homage of the night!

  • Peter is confused why everyone is attacking them in Olivia's mind.   Bell thinks that when his mind entered hers, Olivia's ego became confused, her sense of self.  Walter realizes this probably initiated the darker parts of her consciousness to surface.  Her innermost fears.  She doesn't realize Bell has entered her mind.  One moment she was fine, and the next moment she was set adrift into her innermost fears.  Peter realizes this means that she must be hiding somewhere.  When she is afraid, she retreats.   Bell and Walter think there's no hope because Olivia doesn't want to be found.  There will be no trail.  But Peter is thinking on his toes and says she'll do the same thing Bell did and find a place that she considers to be safe and hide there. 
  • There is an entire world with no rhyme or reason out there but Peter decided on the same exact location I had in mind as well.  Jacksonville, Florida!  Of course, I assumed they'd be going to the field of White Tulips, but that is not exactly what the writers had in mind.  
  • As a side note, I think another reason they went into CARTOON mode, besides it being totally cool, was for budgetary reasons.  There is no way they could have afforded what was to come next in special effects costs!  But it also made sense that William Bell would not be able to appear in his physical form since it didn't exist anymore.  So, I really thought this was a stroke of genius on the writer's part.  End side note. 
  • The trio arrive to the top of the tower where there is a zeppelin anchored.   Peter convinces them that they need to go to Jacksonville as this would be the last place anyone would look for her.   Of course, this wouldn't be without issues.  A horde of zombies have just arrived at the tower and are coming up to get these guys.  Yep, ZOMBIES!   Zombies in lab-coats no less!   Bellie and Walter make for the Zeppelin as Peter fends off some walkers, loosens the rope anchoring the zeppelin down, and of course, makes a last minute jump to grab onto the ladder.   Ahhh the beauty of animation! 








  • Enroute to Jacksonville, Walter and Bell have a conversation which will turn out to be very meaningful and final.  Walter said he should have known the day OVER THERE when they crossed over that it wouldn't be the end of William Bell.  As long as he had known Bellie, the man had always HATED goodbyes.  Walter expresses his fears of going on alone without Bell and that he can't do it by himself.  He doesn't know what to do with Peter, the Machine, the world because of what they have done.  William explains that Walter now possesses the one thing that neither of them ever had.  The wisdom of humility.   Back when they were young and too powerful they needed each other to keep themselves grounded.  But now, Walter is fully prepared to make the right decisions.  I guess that's as close to a "GOODBYE" as you can get without actually saying it! 


  • While this is going on, it appears they have a stowaway who has cut the fuel line. Peter heads to the back to see what the disturbance is.  He unlocks a chained door and a man with a strange symbol on his shirt comes out.   The man aimed a flare gun at Peter.  The man asks for Peter's name which he gives in full: Peter Bishop.  He also says nice to meet you, which doesn't mean anything at the time.  But considering what happens at the end of the episode, it might be very important!   


  • Walter arrives as the man grabs a parachute and shoots a hole into the zeppelin to escape out of.   This sucks Walter right out with him.  They fight for the chute but the man wins out when he pulls the cord.  Walter goes plunging to his cartoonish demise and once he meets the ground he wakes up in the lab knowing it's fully up to Peter and Bell to find Olivia now. 



  • Bell and Peter anchor down in downtown Jacksonville.  Peter wants to find Walter, but Bell knows it's only them now.  And he's more excited about getting on a motorcycle!  Bell wants to go to the old lab, but Peter knows that Olivia would be in another direction.  Bell finally agrees to go with Peter, but they do take the bike!

Lab Time! 

  • We see Walter and Astrid working on the computer that is to capture Bell's consciousness once they find Olivia. 
  • But really the only reason I broke out this section was because Broyles saw a cartoon bird flying around and perched on Walter's shoulder.  His wave was hysterical and Walter's reaction priceless as well!  This also leads to Walter breaking a piece of the computer but finding a different solution in the process. 



Animation Domination!
  • Bell and Peter arrive at the Military base, where Olivia used to live.   She once told Peter she always thinks about what her life might have been like if she was normal.  If it hadn't taken the turn the way it did.  She said that the last time she remembered feeling that way was the day before she met Bell and Walter at the cortexiphan trials.  And that's where they find themselves now.  In Olivia's memory. 


  • Peter knew that they could find her because, against regulations, her real father painted the door of the house red because it was good luck.  They begin their search of all the similar houses and were running out of houses to check.  Wouldn't you know it, it's the last one?! 

  • Peter enters the door and returns to his non-animated self.  He sees Olivia and they embrace.  Her memory of her parents and her younger self watch behind them.  Olivia claims to be afraid and she doesn't know why these people are after her.  Peter says it's safe and it's okay for her to trust him.  The younger Olivia watches with a keen eye.  Peter then realizes based on Olivia's eyes that it's not really her.  The little Olivia then gets up and comes to Peter and says, "I just needed to know it was you."  awwwww  People had been tricking her but she knew the REAL Peter would recognize her.  All of a sudden the scene changed to Christmas time, and the stepfather arrives to give little Olivia a beating.  Peter and Olivia run off into animation land!








  • Military vehicles and all sorts of people are heading towards them.  Peter commands William to run.   They chase them down and are almost about to hit Olivia when Peter pushes her out of the way.  Peter gets slammed and is returned to his awakened state.  He screams to Walter that he has to go back.  He found her!  But Walter knows that it's all up to Bellie now. 





  • Bell and little Olivia continue to run.  And they are getting chased down by the hoards.  William falls but then Olivia suddenly is not afraid anymore.  She screams "no" and stops them!  All of a sudden she's older animated Olivia.  



  • Bell thinks he knows what happened.  Olivia should have been safe inside of her mind except that she has NEVER felt safe, due to her stepfather's abuse.  She is her own worst enemy and took the opportunity to let her fears overwhelm her.  But now she fought back and is just as strong as he and Walter always felt she was.  Now she knows it too.   It's now time to go back.  But William tells her that this is the end of the road for him.  He only requests one thing.  To tell Walter than he knew the dog wouldn't hunt.  


  • The sky begins to storm, and Bell realizes that Walter is right on schedule to extract Olivia's consciousness.  All of the people and William are gone.  RIP for real this time William Bell.  You went out in style and unlike any other icon on television! 


Conclusion 

And then the totally awesome nightmare is over.  Olivia wakes up surrounded by her friends.  "I did leave Uncle Henry and I tried to get back for days and days!  It wasn't a dream, it was a place!  And you and you...and YOU were there!"
  • Everyone is happy to see she is okay and then there is only one line of activity in her consciousness.  


  • Broyles blows bubbles in celebration!  LOL  He was fantastic this episode. 

  • Olivia doesn't remember much but she remembers Peter.  awwww so sweet. 
  • She also remembered William Bell.  And it's at this precise moment that they realize his soul was not captured into the ancient macintosh computer.  Olivia then remembers she had a message to deliver to Walter.  Walter realizes that this meant William always knew the experiment was not going to work.  So this mission was a sacrificial one right from the start. (Bell always hated goodbyes)  But it might not have been without motive.  We'll get to that in a second. 




  • First, we see Walter's grieving process at work as he wants to be left to his own thoughts of what's to come.   He didn't even want to view one of his favorite movies, ZOOM, downloaded right to a Sprint Tablet! 

  • At the end of the episode we join Peter visiting Olivia at her apartment.  Olivia is writing something but we can't make it out just yet.  Olivia is all smiles when she sees Peter and she is making herself some toast.  



  • Olivia thanks Peter for coming to get her just like she crossed worlds to get him.  (well not JUST like!)  They wonder what will be next, and Olivia says she doesn't know but she knows that she is not afraid to move forward anymore.   And she's all smiles and even in just the couple minutes we see her she seems like a different Olivia than we've known all season and even previous seasons. 
  • Then we see what she was drawing.  It's a sketch of the man with the creepy symbol on his shirt.  Peter wonders who the man is that was locked up in a zeppelin in her mind.  Olivia, non-chalantly says, "I don't know I haven't seen him before.  But, I think he's the man who is going to kill me." as she matter of factly bites into her toast.  Olivia Dunham, you've just been INCEPTED!!! 





 WHAAAAT!?!?!?!  So, Olivia now shows no fear and just accepts that a man she has never met but she sees in her mind is going to kill her!?   HUH?   I guess we can't really say Dr. Bell planted the "no fear" ideas into her mind, but there definitely was a switch turned on or off during that final segment of the dream state.  And how on earth can she picture this man that she has never seen before?  Is it something from someone else's shared consciousness that seeped into her memory?  Maybe Bell placed it there?  Yikes, tons of questions but what an awesome and random way to end such an awesome and random episode!!   Will we meet this guy in these final 3 episodes or is that seeds of a longer story arc that was just planted?  Who knows but I can't wait to find out!   Bring on the final 3 episodes please! 

Before we sign off, let's dive into some fun stuff. 

Observ'er'ations
  • Glyph of the Week: FEARS - Well that absolutely makes sense and requires no explanation!  Thanks as always to Fringepedia for the picture.

  • Observer Spotted! - I thought I spotted him in Olivia's mind, but it turned out to be just a random guy.  An ACTUAL observer was in the hospital at the beginning of the episode when Olivia was being rushed in.  See the right side of picture?  I don't know how people spot these things. 

  • Besides the great Walter Quote I already referenced here's a few others:

    When speaking about Whole Brain Emulation, Walter rants about a bunch of science mumbo jumbo then says it's "Very Self Explanatory."

    When Peter asks in shock "You're driving?" Walter responds in excitement "Okay!"

    When Peter is in shock of Walter going into the trash can for the pudding and says he seriously can't be thinking of eating, Walter responds "Of course not, I just had lunch!"

    When William asks where Walter keeps the neuro sensors he says "Back shelf by the fish food."  Well why wouldn't it be there!? 

  • But I loved when Walter called Astrid, Astro again but she was ready this time with a response referring to him as Wally! 
  • Foods of the week: Pudding and Red Licorice of course! 
  • But the biggest point of excitement for me this episode was seeing an animated version of my favorite bottle of whisky.  That's right folks, FRINGE pays homage to LOST by pouring from a glass of the fictional MacCutcheon Whiskey.  Very expensive stuff folks and Desmond will drink it by the bottle when given the opportunity! 


And that's all I have for this week folks.  What a fantastic episode of a fantastic season of a fantastic show.  So glad we have another season to look forward to, and I hope many more than that.  I'll be here next week to do some more recapping goodness.  Everyone, do yourselves a favor and tune into HBO this Sunday for Game of Thrones.  I have started reading the book and can say it's fabulous.  The reviews I'm reading of the show are nothing short of magnificent also.  I don't know if I'll be recapping or not, but I feel like this will be a show worth commenting on.  So, we'll see what happens!  WINTER IS COMING THIS SUNDAY! 

And with that, I bid adieu for the week.  Check out the End Credits for other shows I'm writing about or potentially may write about.  I hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week! 

End Credits

  • Follow me on Twitter for any future blog postings and any interesting news I find. @TVAddictsBlog
  • The Event has returned!  The show is entertaining (for right and wrong reasons), but I don't think it's looking good for renewal.  I'm still sticking with the blogging though.  So, if you're watching, come on and read my recaps!   
  • I'll definitely be there when The Walking Dead returns, but that's most likely in the fall! AMC has been reairing the show though so if you ever catch it, you can find my recaps at the link. DVD/Blu-Ray of the 6 episode 1st season is now available.  Check it out. You won't be disappointed! 
  • Shows I'm watching right now (and might comment on time permitting): Chuck, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, Cougar Town, Big Bang Theory, The Office, Community, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Smallville and others that I won't mention out of embarrassment!
  • I also have taken up watching THE KILLING on AMC.  Fabulous murder mystery being played out over a 13 episode season.  I highly recommend tuning in! 
  • Game of Thrones starts Sunday April 17th.  I'll be there.  You should be too! 
  • Upcoming shows I'm looking forward to:
    Terra Nova
      (FOX) - Pilot moved to air in Fall 2011 with rest of season 1
    Breaking Bad (AMC)
    Rescue Me (FX)
    Alcatraz - with Jorge Garcia in lead role
    Odd Jobs with Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn (If it ever happens.  This has been put on hold.  Both Emerson and O'Quinn have other shows this fall that I will be checking out.)  
  • I know it's sometimes looked at as a blemish based on my other recapping habits, but I am still watching American Idol.  I have recently come out of retirement to do some quick recaps on the LIVE shows.  Just can't resist.  Come check it out if you dare! 

36 comments:

lostieforever said...

Excellent Review, as always! Yesterday I tweeted the same observation that you wrote here:

@RaftReload Awesome! #Fringe 3x19 = #Inception + #Lost + #WalkingDead + #Matrix

This Epi was awesome, original, maybe too much for a TV series. I hope viewers don´t complaint It for this challenge. :)

Anonymous said...

Mike,
You really watched the details on this one. Great catch on the McCutcheon!!!

1. I wasn't too crazy about the animation, but if it was that vs bad CGI--I'll take the animation especially given it's all in her brain anyway.
2. Why was her concious about the Over There--maybe it's because she was sharing with Bellie and/or maybe because she's beginning to be affected that the alternate universe.
3. As far as the ep, I think it set up more questions and added to the MYSTERIES of the show. For example, Olivia's would be killer. And other various questions you mention. LOL
4. Nina's mechanical arm not being covered in skin seems to indicate that Olivia may not trust her--not sure, but there's a reason that arm was exposed as being mechanical. And Olivia knows more about Nina than we know.
5. The scene where Peter could tell it wasn't the "real Olivia" was definitely in comparison to the Fauxlivia vs Olivia issues he's been dealing with--as well as her dealing wiht. Which makes me believe that her new found happiness or at ease--may be due to her being able to let down her guard with Peter.
6. Or that her new found happiness which reminds me more of Fauxlivia is due to a closeness between the world's developing somehow. It's a mystery--lol.
7. RIP--William Bell. You will be missed. I just hope not too much.

BTW, I am going to rewatch the series finale of LOST tonight.

Richard

Mike V. said...

Thanks guys!

@lostie forever - yeah, it definitely had a mix of those 4 things all in there. Great episode, and I'm sure Fringe fans appreciated what they did. Although, I'm sure there will be some naysayers too. (Thanks for the retweets too!)

@Richard - I did catch a few things here and there, and thanks for the MacCutcheon catch. My wife just rolled her eyes at me when I caught it right away. I did a rewind and showed her lol For the numbered bullets:

1.) Well, no it wasn't the greatest animation, but I'm guessing the style was intentional. I'm not an animation connoisseur, but I think I've seen the style they were going for before. It was a nice twist.

2.) Yeah, it's anyone's guess. It's possible it's because Bellie's consciousness may have been mixed in there too. I'm sure there won't really be an answer to this one. but it was interesting to speculate!

3.) That's just it, there were a couple questions raised, but really I think the only big one that comes out of it would be WHO IS THIS KILLER and WHY is he in her mind? The other ones I raised, were probably self-contained for the episode and won't mean much going forward...outside maybe Olivia having some distrust for Nina Sharp.

4.) Not sure I'm following you on this one. We have known since the pilot episode that Nina had a mechanical arm. At the time, she lied about how it happened. But we learned in season 3 that she lost it chasing down Walter who crossed worlds to get peter. Her arm got caught in the gateway when it closed.

5.) Agreed...it was all very symbolic to the themes we've been dealing with all season.

6.) Yeah, I think we're meant to see more of Fauxlivia in Olivia now...but I don't think it's necessarily because the worlds are necessarily close "just yet" ....I just think we're meant to see a difference in an Olivia who is free from the burdens of her past....a little less uptight. But yeah, I'm not ruling out a MERGING OF WORLDS in the finale. Everything seems to be pointing towards it. I just don't know what exactly that will mean for our main characters or the newer characters we became more acquainted with this season! I just think a destruction of one world over the other seems too easy a way out. So they must have something else in mind!

7.) RIP indeed!

I might be a "SMIDGE" jealous you'll be watching the LOST finale again tonight. Enjoy! I'm sure I will be indulging myself on or before or close to the 1 year anniversary of the final episode airing. I hope to post a "year in reflection" blog post on the LOST blog too. But we'll see what kind of time I'm working with!

Enjoy the rest of your weekends folks and I'll catch up with any additional comments later!

Anonymous said...

Jorge looked at it as a Flash Middle. I actually like that. This was my first rewatch. Wow, the production was great. I've got to get the series in BluRay.

Lost vs Fringe as far as mystery--I can see your point on an individual character basis--overall. There were more characters with more known unknowns for each. In the case of Fringe there are charcters with known unknowns as well, just not as many or maybe as deep--we'll see. But, there are a lot of mysteries on Fringe--ancient, current and future. For some reason I just don't think those mysteries have captivated the audience as much as Lost. Let me point out that I am not sure that we saw all the mysteries for Lost early on as well. I didn't really get into Lost until the 3rd season. But, Fringe just doesn't have the budget to develop all the variety of mysteries vs Lost--so I'm not expecting a match either.

Richard

MJ said...

Astro calling him Wally was great !

The zombie in the lab coat reminded me of the lab guy in our and their universe - can't think of the characters name.

Lost really did not invent MacCutcheon Whiskey ya know - I've seen it many times before lost even aired Mike. LOL. That was a real thin link and probably not an homage on their part.

Definitely feel that there has to be some meaning to Olivia's mind being in the other universe, just has to be. We shall see.

Have you read about the new show for next year that they are trying to say Losties will like ? Has jennifer Morrison from House in it - but from what I read I can't see how it translates to losties liking it.

Haven't checked out Game of Thrones yet - but intend to.

I sometimes still can't believe that you don't watch Supernatural - it has such a great mythology thread, and this weeks was an awesome ep. SIGH!

By the way - loved Modern Family last week too - the end of that play was to die for

Mike V. said...

@Richard, LOST is quite excellent in Blu-Ray! I recommend it. Glad the finale still held up for you. I love it too!

I really don't think developing a mythology full of mysteries has much to do with budgetary constraints. I guess indirectly it could. I really just think the bottom line is that LOST and Fringe are 2 different types of shows but with some underlying similarities in terms of certain themes and definitely fan bases! lol

@MJ - I think you're thinking of Brandon with the Zombie labcoat.

Hmmm....I definitely think the whiskey was a LOST homage. Not THIN at all! Everyone else on Twitter who are hardcore LOSTIANS also came to the same conclusion, but I guess we all could be wrong :-) I've never heard of that whiskey prior to LOST but I'll have to look into that.

Game of Thrones was pretty good! I've heard it's going to get much much better than just pretty good though! Don't get turned off from it based on only the first episode. They had to do some "world building" in the first episode. It was very faithful so far to what I read in the books, but there's so much more to come. The production qualities and cast alone is worth staying for. There is some genuinely bad acting in that first hour though! lol Can't wait to read more of the book and see more of the show!

Yeah, I'm sure Supernatural is a show I'd really enjoy. When it started, it didn't seem like a show that would amass a huge following or anything, and then 4 seasons later, everyone is raving about it. At that point it was too intimidating to get involved with (especially right in the middle of my LOST obsession!) But maybe one day i'll be able to go back and watch. I still have Sons of Anarchy and The Wire on my "to do" list this summer!

Modern Family was definitely fantastic last week!

Mike V. said...

I know this would be a biased site since it's lostpedia but they are under the same assumption that this was a LOST specific whisky. If you do any googling on it, you'll be hard pressed to find anything OTHER than LOST. Considering Fringe has paid homage to LOST before, I don't think they'd go out of their way to draw an ANIMATED Version of MacCutcheon's Whisky if it wasn't an homage to another JJ Abrams creation! lol

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/MacCutcheon_whisky

MJ said...

My bad - and my apologies on the whiskey. I swore I'd seen that before. So I must be thinking of another brand then ! Again - sorry bout that !

Mike V. said...

There's never a need to apologize, MJ. The fact that i was able to spot it in a split second and know what it was speaks miles for how big of a dork I am! :-)

MJ said...

LOL on the dork comment.

I didn't get to watch the Event last night so I'm avoiding that recap for now. Chuck was a silly one, but enjoyable. Loved the touching moments for Sarah and Casey. The Killing was excellent again - Michelle Forbes has been fantastic. HIMYM: loved the crush part - and learning why Ted actually bought those horrible boots.

You should see if you can slip Justified into your catch up shows - season 2 has been great so far. Fabulous acting on this show.

Mike V. said...

I loved Chuck last night, probably because of the touching moments. Of course, who would want to pay for a wedding with loads of CON money? lol

Yeah the Killing is really good. A very slow burn, but I'm totally sucked in!

HIMYM was fantastic. The crush was great. Ted and the boots (I forget, had we seen him in those red boots BEFORE this episode?). But, I think the opening credits with them as the BAND was my favorite part lol Very subtle hint of Barney and Robin when he paired her off with Ted assuming what his father would say. And of course, he said he already might know the woman he loves (and there are 2 candidates right now)
I've heard great things about Justified. I watched the first 20 minutes of the first episode then got distracted by something else...and never went back! lol Definitely need to. Hopefully FX will stream that too like SOA. (maybe they already do) I've always been a fan of Olyphant so I'm sure he's doing great work on that show too.

No Game of Thrones yet? lol

BTW - There was a Fringe trailer released yesterday on Twitter at "6:02am" and it had to do with teasing that very time. I'm sure it will have something to do with the doomsday machine. Anyway the trailer was a tease for our 3 part finale. I'm excited!

MJ said...

I saw a trailer for Fringe - Don't know if it's the twitter one. It starts with Olivia/Peter in bed. Looks great !

Yeah - the boots have been seen/mentioned in the past with Ted thinking they were so hot and everyone else saying NOT. Just never seen where he bought them before. Also loved them doing the opening theme song. Agree that what was said about Robin/Barney could def be fortelling.

No - no King of Thrones yet. SIGH. I will probably watch tonight. Was out last night and had to get Chuck, HIMYM in - then chose Killing instead of KoT.

Funny seeeing Widmore on Killing by the way

Mike V. said...

Yep that's the Fringe trailer! I don't think it was meant for twitter, it's just that FOX released it via Twitter at 6:02am. I was awake getting ready for my morning Run...watching Fringe ironically! I'm in the last 2 episodes of season 1. Finally found some continuity mistakes. (well, I'm guessing just in hindsight it was short sighted for what they made OVER THERE). Olivia has started getting flashes of OVER THERE and she talked to broyles in the "FBI" building with lots of papers and people in suits. And nobody thought it was weird that the Olivia they were talking to had blonde hair. They really hadn't created the OVER THERE universe until the season 2 finale. They were quarantining half of Boston though. so maybe that's how they explain it. when they're OVER THERE in season 3...it's New York city. But the whole thing with PAPER. Olivia (with Fauxlivia's mind) hadn't seen a ballpoint pen since childhood because of all of the touchscreen electronic devices that replaced paper. Fauxlivia may have had blonde hair at one point. In any case...only really minor continuity issues. I prefer what they have done in season 2 and 3 anyway. It still all fits together for the most part!

Cool on the boots. They definitely looked familiar and I figured they had been in previous episodes!

"GAME of Thrones" got renewed for season 2! Which I guess will be called Clash of Kings since that's book 2. We'll see! But it might be worth it for you to wait until Sunday to watch episodes 1 and 2. 1 is definitely a bit slow but it's setting the stage of this brand new world that many have never read about. So it does its job. I'm excited for subsequent episodes. And the book is fantastic. I wish I could read more right now...but alas...work! lol

Ironically, when Widmore first showed up on LOST...I thought "it's funny seeing that dad from The OC on LOST!" LOL Make fun of me or not, but season 1 of The OC was a fantastic season of television. George Lucas appearance or not...season 2 and 3 were disastrous! (4 rebounded a bit) I like me high school/college dramas! lol But I was never embarassed for liking the OC. It was really a well done show. (by the one and only Josh Schwartz who moved on to do CHUCK......and gossip girl lol) Of course, now every time I see Alan Dale, I think of Charles Widmore regardless of what show he's popping up in. (Or even Indiana Jones 4!)

Anonymous said...

What about yellow on Fringe? Red and green light coming together?

Richard

Mike V. said...

Richard, sorry I'm not following the question! Is there anything in particular that is yellow on fringe that you're thinking of? Only thing that really stands out is the Amber and that's well....AMBER! lol

MJ said...

Huh - Don't remember Alan Dale in Indy 4 - but it's been awhile since I saw it.

On HIMYM - the other part I loved was the whole who's on first thing with the club names. Hysterical. I'd love to see the outtakes on that scene.

I don't have HBO so won't be able to watch on sundays. This week Fios had a free HBO weekend.

Mike V. said...

He was in a quick scene right after Indy went flying in a fridge after nuketown went...well..nuclear! lol

Oh god, the bar names were fantastic! And totally agree that the outtakes of that scene have to be hysterical! I loved that the bar they end up at was "hopeless" lol

Ahhh...message received. You'll be going with the 'Friday night Lights' treatment to watch the HBO shows. (or at least my Non-DirectTV approach to watching FNL lol)

Anonymous said...

Check out one of your screen caps with yellow, red and blue post-its. Then check these out.

http://www.fringebloggers.com/subject-13-more-than-two-realities/

http://fringe-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10098

I just started looking around for info this weekend and found these.

You know me, I think there's lots of unanswered questions and "short term mystery--LOL" on this show that can be fun to consider. But a lot of it gets answered in the next ep, so you better hurry and enjoy--lol. Since the machine can either create or destroy and particularly since I felt Olivia might be merging somewhat with fauxlivia in this ep(see my point #6 above)--I got to thinking about the color and bingo/bango, I found these links.

So, I'm very interested to know what posters think here!

Richard

Mike V. said...

Hmmm...looks like there is a segment of fans who think there are clues of a 3rd "yellow" universe that already exists. Nice catch! Of course, some of the things I saw seemed to be possible spoilers for future episodes. Some of these fans may be speculating based on other information either leaked or fabricated!
So yeah...a "yellow" universe could represent the merging of red and blue (even though primary color red and primary color blue do not make the primary color yellow! lol). Or it could represent a 3rd "additional" universe all together that already exists or that might be created at the end of this season. or it all could just be a "yellow" herring LOL
Of course, if a 3rd universe did already exist, it would explain the inconsistencies I just saw in season 1 of Fringe with what the Red-verse has become. And there is lots of talk in those season 1 episodes about multiple universes. Not just 1.
I am tending to think that these doomsday machines are somehow going to "merge" worlds though in some crazy way. I'm trying to think what would be a NEW hurdle for the Fringe writers to tackle in season 4? That seems the most intriguing instead of creating a 3rd brand new world for us to keep track of.
Whatever they do, I'm sure it will be a good time!

Just found out I'm probably going to Flyers/Sabres Game 5 on Friday, so I may not be watching Fringe until Saturday, and who knows when I'll get to the recap! Just a forwarning. Oh yeah..and GO FLYERS!!

Anonymous said...

And don't forget the white(RG&B)tulips. Red, Blue and Green are primaries of course. Red and green make the yellow. Red and blue=purple.

Which all of the above has me wondering about a Green universe.

Sometimes I think we go too deep, but this is a show with glyph codes,etc. LOL

Richard

Richard

Mike V. said...

Yeah...I always think of the primary colors as Red, Yellow and Blue. And Blue and Yellow make green lol But I know there is an RGB model too...which most TVs, PCs and whatnot use. Of course, now reading lots of wikipedia i realize the difference. RGB is the LIGHT model while RYB is the for painting and all that fun stuff lol

Yeah, it is fun to overthink things every once in a while. I've just always thought of Fringe that pretty much is a show that already shows us most of its cards, save a few twists here and there. LOST...I just don't know if anything will ever top LOST on the "overthinking it but totally love doing it" scale LOL

AUStarwars said...

The animation was reminicent of A Scanner Darkly, which was a story by Phillip K Dick, who was a noted LSD user..so I think they did it on purpose

overall the episode was excellent, even if a little unoriginal with The Matrix/Inception..i cant imagine the creative team of JJ Abrahms "borrowing" entire themes from other genre...im shocked...

Mike V. said...

@AUSW - I didn't know the Phillip Dick stuff until you mentioned it to me but I'd agree it was probably intentional. Especially since we now know that The Adjustment Bureau was based on a Phillip K. Dick story which probably inspired The Observers in Fringe. Good stuff.

As long as the stuff is done well, I'm perfectly fine with them "borrowing" themes from other shows. Smallville just did a "Matrix" ripoff this season and it was laughable! lol They also did a Hangover rip off like the next episode. Very strange that Smallville of all shows is just paying homage to other movies. They should just stick to their Superman homages lol

Anonymous said...

In many ways, The Matrix/Inception are like brainwashing or hypnoitizing movies of the 50s/60s. Basically a character is controlled to believe something is not true. Almost always to accomplish something for those doing the controlling.

Is anyone here thinking that any of the universes are not real?

Richard

Mike V. said...

And Fringe differed because they were just trying to free Olivia's consciousness. But it totally seemed like she was instilled with some confidence that wasn't there before. One could argue that was Bell's doing or it could have just been Olivia putting her past demons behind her.

I, for one, have not considered the possibility that either (or any) of the universes are not real. That would certainly be a weird an interesting twist, but I think it would negate a lot of things we have already seen and cause continuity issues galore! lol

MJ said...

Hey Mike - did you know that Monday was a twitter campaign to save Chuck ? Darn it I didn't know !
http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/04/20/chuck-fans-start-the-renewal-campaign-once-again-this-time-on-twitter/

Anonymous said...

This morning a friend sent this email to me on another subject as I like to study concepts such as Omega Point theory, etc. After I watched the video on this link I just had to post here. Especially since it talks about parallel universes and even has a scene from The Matrix.

http://www.wimp.com/realityexist/

This actually makes me feel better about my suspicion of Olivia being changed by getting closer to her alternative self (Fauxlivia) among other reasons possibly. But when it comes to trying to unravel mysteries and make predictions of a TV show which may or may not be based on "fringe science"--a person could be treading on thin ice.

Richard

Mike V. said...

@MJ - I did not know about the twitter campaign but that is pretty awesome! Would that have actually gotten you to sign up for Twitter? LOL The Chuck fans are very crafty with their campaigns. The first thing I thought of when I went to the article was "hmmm did they comment on the commercials to prove they watched live?" And sure enough they actually commented TO the advertiser's twitter accounts. That is pretty darn smart! Of course, it's still too tempting for me to watch everything on DVR delay so I don't know if I could help the campaign too much! lol

@Richard - It's interesting stuff either way. Thanks for the link! I'll check it out when I have more time.

Anonymous said...

Chuck won on a keep the show campaign on USA today

Richard

MJ said...

Ya know - saving Chuck just might have worked in getting me on twitter. LOL But yeah - that was just great.

Mike V. said...

Yeah TVLINE.com had a contest and it came down to Fringe vs. Chuck and Fringe was totally going to win. But then Fringe got renewed before the competition really could be fair. So everyone that was forced to pick between the 2 just went for Chuck instead so it won that one too. lol

One day you will all fall and end up on Twitter. I protested it too...but it really is a great outlet for real time updates on anything you're interested in!

MJ said...

Yeah - I know I will eventually give in. LOL

That's exactly how I voted - first I voted for each of them, then once Fringe was renewed I voted for Chuck. I feel pretty certain Chuck will be back though. I just wish they would give them the 22 eps from the start so that they can stop ending the season story-wise then having to do 6 more eps.

In case any one didn't get to see Battlestart Galactica and is interested the BBCA will be airing all 80 hours starting 6/18 - including the miniseries that started the new show.

Mike V. said...

Just sign up for Twitter and get it over with!! LOL

Ahhh, I showed where my loyalty really lied when both Fringe and Chuck were on the chopping block. I had to vote Fringe until it was renewed! But now I'll support Chuck on anything to the end. I think most fans agree that it just needs one more season to tie up any loose ends and finish strong. There isn't much more the show could do after that! A 22 episode season would be nice!

As for BSG, I read that as well. Good stuff! Also, the whole series is streaming on Netflix too!

MJ said...

OMG ! I just read an article that is a little spoilery, a little hinty about tonight's Fringe ! I can't wait ! I usually avoid reading the stuff, but I couldn't help it.

http://www.tvline.com/2011/04/john-noble-previews-fringe-season-3-finale/

Have fun at the game tonight, one of my co-workers are also going.

And Happy Easter to those who celebrate it.

Mike V. said...

Thanks MJ. I read it too and realized it was very spoilery lol Well, I guess if they didn't consider that too spoilerish there must be some crazier stuff coming our way! lol

Thanks! I will have fun. If I run into your co-worker I'll let you know. :-) lol

And Happy Easter to you too!

Anonymous said...

I saw Fringe once early on and I’m not entirely sure why, but I didn’t like it at all at the time. Maybe it was simply a timing thing or something. But I was recently just messing around on dishonline (dot) com—this awesome free streaming site set-up by me employer, DISH Network—and saw Fringe and decided to give it another try. Maybe it’s me, maybe I was just ready to watch a show like this, but it seems to have really grown. I really enjoyed this episode and now feel like I’m going to have to go back and catch up. This is one of the things I love about dishonline, I may never have given Fringe another try if I hadn’t been surfing on there. It’s also saved me a few times when I forgot to set my DVR and missed an important episode of shows that I watch regularly. I definitely recommend checking it out.