What happened?
An ‘invisible man’, Eugene, a product of a genetic disorder exacerbated by work done on him by Massive Dynamic, murders people to extract their pigmentation in order for him to become visible and make a connection with a woman he has a crush on. Whilst the Fringe team come close to capturing him, warning he will die if he continues, he pursues his goal. He makes conversation with the woman in the elevator and, finally happy, he dies.
Olivia frets about her mental state at having no release for these experiences she has. Taking prescription drugs for crushing headaches, she slowly begins to form a potential romance with Lincoln Lee. However, just before setting out to meet him a gas is released into her home, she is knocked unconscious and is injected by intruders, remarking that it will leave her with a terrible headache and no memory of what happened. Nina Sharp is revealed to be conducting this attack.
Thoughts
For the most part this was shaping up to be something of a weak episode, almost playing out as nothing more than a filler, monster of the week instalment. It was like the kind of episode Fringe had managed to dispense with of late (for the better) and so felt mostly underwhelming. It was rescued only by a lovely conclusion to the ‘invisible man’ plot and, of course, that bolt out of the blue final scene.
Eugene’s story was definitely a wholly unoriginal aspect. I’ve lost count of how many troubled individuals exhibiting strange phenomenon have appeared on the show and presented a threat to ordinary people. They’re invariably lonely and emotionally volatile, too, so Eugene ticked all those boxes, and having been persecuted in some fashion by Massive Dynamic was no groundbreaking notion either. Kudos to the effects work, though – Eugene’s Predator-like cloak of invisibility was brilliantly realised.
The truth of how ruthless Massive Dynamic can be (there’s not a lot morally worse than faking the death of a newborn baby to steal it away for a life of scientific research) is echoed in Nina’s actions to Olivia at the end of the episode. Her little speech to Olivia, about how choosing to care for her and her sister fundamentally changed her life, paints her in a cold light when it’s revealed how hollow that sentiment appears to be.
I don’t yet know exactly what is being done to Olivia. It would seem that she has been having these headaches for quite some time, considering she has been getting repeat prescriptions. Since we learned (through the clumsy expositional dialogue) that the injection she received will leave her with a painful headache and no memory it’s to be concluded that these gas attacks and injections have been occurring for a while.
Has she just been waking up on the floor of her apartment thinking she just fell asleep there or something? Or do they move her to her bed, or the couch?
What’s interesting here is that she had an appointed date to meet Lincoln, which may for the first time cause her to question if something peculiar occurred. The last thing she’ll remember is getting ready to go out and meet him (and, alas, it appeared she was running late for that date; if she’d been more punctual she’d have been out when the intruders arrived!) and then a blank. Possibly, with the pain of the headaches she’d conclude she’d blanked out. It’s hard to imagine she could ever conceive of the truth – that she’s been knocked unconscious and had something done to her on a serial basis.
What’s Nina doing? Surely something linked to her Cortexiphan-enhanced capabilities. My best guess would figure that Nina is injecting Olivia with Cortexiphan, or some variant, spearheading some kind of genetically-induced project using Olivia to aid the war against Over There. It’s the kind of thing they were doing with other subjects so it would fit their M.O.
It was a great final scene, no question. Completely lifted the episode from the average fodder it looked set to be defined as. And I did like the relationship development between Olivia and Lincoln, mostly because I do like Lincoln’s character in this universe. Her being late for the date and missing it entirely adds an extra layer of misery to proceedings
Peter was used in a more limited fashion here (I thought there was going to be more overt parallels drawn with Eugene’s sense of being in a world where no one made a true connection with him and Peter’s treatment as a ‘free prisoner’) and whilst I liked his clarification that the Olivia here wasn’t his Olivia that does suggest the idea of him returning to his original timeline is on the cards. What is he up to with all those blueprints? Attempting to re-build a kind of machine like the one that blasted him out of existence first time around? I suppose it’s the most logical place to start – a machine that can reverse what the first machine kickstarted.
Peter playing Cupid felt a little bit like overkill but, OK, I can live with it. He clearly saw his old self reflected in Lincoln (guy brought in from the outside and quickly handed a Fringe division badge and thrust into the madness) and wanted to give his lovelife a boost as a thanks for treating him like a human being. Fair enough.
Trouble with Peter is that he doesn’t seem to be particularly grieving the loss of his former world. Since he’s established that this Olivia isn’t his Olivia then, really, he ought to really be coping with the thought that she and everyone else he knew has been wiped out. Now, with Lincoln correcting himself for referring to Peter’s Olivia in the past tense, it’s arguable that Peter simply has not conceded defeat. He’s just apart from his world – it’s not gone. But then why care about this world?
If his plan is to go back then surely it’s occurred to him that undoing it all will mean this alternate world, and everyone in it, will be erased. So what difference does it make that Olivia and Lincoln get together to him? It should be inconsequential. On this matter, in terms of Peter’s state of mind, I think Fringe is guilty of just skimming the surface and shying away from having Peter face up to the awful dilemma of what has happened and what could happen next.
Very keenly felt, so far, is the lack of time spent Over There. Whilst clearly the issue with Peter breaking through has been the key storyline, Walternate’s lack of appearance is the elephant in the room. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t strictly consider this a criticism. If Fringe is holding back from showing us Over There, and Walternate, to deliver some serious zinging surprises further on then I’ve got patience. It’s frustrating but, so far, it’s frustration of the good kind.
What was the best part?
Has to be the scene where Eugene finally made the connection he had been seeking all his life. Just a simple conversation where the woman acknowledged she had noticed him and was worried he had got sick; he exchanged his name with her and then sunk to the floor and silently, contentedly, passed away. . . Fringe doesn’t often deliver tender moments that make you go ‘awww’ but that was one of them.
What do I think will happen next?
The plots are pulling in different directions, at present, and we’re not entirely sure what way Over There are going. Peter aims to hit reset. Nina is priming Olivia for enhanced powers (presumably against Over There). Meanwhile Over There could be looking to make themselves the dominant universe. And, amongst all this, The Observers wait on the sidelines (and we really ought to be shown what they have made of September’s actions).
Peter’s intentions to build a new machine strike me as more season-end material. I’d hope The Observer’s intentions emerge sooner but, most pressing, I’d expect the effects of whatever Nina is doing to Olivia to start to become manifest and perhaps escalate a conflict with Over There.
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