"Fringe": Getting to the heart of things

Chalk it up to Lucky Number Seven. Tonight, after a lengthy hiatus, we all got the first truly great episode of Fringe. It's been fits and starts up until now as the show struggled to find its feet...its voice...its pattern (pun intended). But this edition provided some insight as to where the show could actually go, wisely tying this week's mystery into both the larger mythology of Fringe and the personal lives of its central characters.

First off, let's just get this out of the way up front: how many of you sat up from your couch/love seat/waterbed and screamed, "Audrey II" when you saw the parasite inside of Mitchell Loeb? I thought as much. This thing had Little Shop of Horrors written all over it, to the point where I waited for Peter to prick his finger and feed it some blood. However, this parasite didn't signal an alien invasion of Earth, but rather the most recent occurrence of The Pattern. So, instead of a lean green mutha from outer space, we had the fringe scientific experiment of ZFT. (You down with ZFT? Yea, you know me!)

What's ZFT, you ask? Glad you did. Because that very question, posed by Agent Dunham to Agent Broyles, served to lend some insight on the nature of the Pattern itself. Seems there are scientific "cells" in 83 known countries around the world conducting various forms of research based on what Walter Bishop and William Bell conducted back in the 1970's. (Think MIT meets SPECTRE.) Broyles theorizes that each mysterious occurrence documented as part of the Pattern could be a cell displaying their successful research in an open yet anonymous manner.

While we knew The Pattern was a conspiracy, we didn't know the true extent of it until tonight. And given Broyles assessment, NO ONE really knows the true extent, making everyone constantly suspicious. This level of paranoia drenched the episode, with everyone suddenly questioning their loyalty to another. Broyles no longer truly trusts his friend Loeb, thanks to the decoded message inside A Christmas Carol. Peter no longer truly trusts his father, after realizing he was but a guinea pig as a child for Walter's experiments. And Olivia? Not only does she not know whom to trust in her division, but is fairly convinced by episode's end that every man she's ever worked with wants to sleep with her. Hannibal Lecter-esque David Jones sums it up nicely for our characters: "The people I work with are loyal to the end...can you say the same?"

With so many people looking over their shoulders, no one saw the true point of the parasite: to obtain the location of the "gentleman," whom I assume to be The Observer. The phrase "Little Hill" may soon enter into the pop-culture lexicon if Fringe can pull off a satisfying search for this mysterious location. Loeb volunteered to put his life in jeopardy for that one bit of information, and his wife played her part to perfection while her main man lay dying. This tells you all you need to know about the dedication level of the cells involved in the Pattern. What seems at first glance like a worldwide scientific show-off might in fact be a high-stakes contest, with each cell pushing each other towards a finish line only they can currently see. Whether or not they seek personal glory or humanity's salvation is unclear at the moment.

As such, it's no wonder that Broyles not only allows the controversial work of the Bishops to continue, but wholeheartedly supports Olivia Dunham's approach to these cases. In a speech seemingly intended as much for the fanboys/fangirls at home as for his protege, Broyles warned Dunham against wanting every answer all at once, but to instead relish each small bit of the answer as it comes slowly into focus. That's all fine advice, so long as the show proves that the wait is actually worth it. Until this week, I wasn't convinced that it was. Now? Well, color me a heckuva lot more intrigued, and much more patient.

A few more odds and ends from this week's episode:

1. Loved Peter's torrential flood of words after Broyles informed him his father was "unfocused." In his own way, Peter was defending his father's honor as much as apologizing for his behavior, a fact I think he only realized after the fact. Nicely done by both the writers and Joshua Jackson.
2. Alias fans: did you catch the Page 47 reference? I've written about this in the past, but J.J. Abrams loves to put all his shows into the universe I call Earth-JJ. He cross-pollinates his shows with elements from the other. It's only a matter of time before Walter Bishops starts drinking some Slusho.
3. Is Peter's ability to finish the ten vertical lines into "Little Hill" merely a lucky guess, or in fact a clue that the answer to its meaning lies buried in his subconscious?
4. In terms of the use of A Christmas Carol: are Mr. and Mrs. Loeb seeking Scrooge-like redemption for themselves, or for the entire world? That is to say: is the Pattern meant to be a wake-up call for humanity's greed?
5. I enjoyed seeing Billy Burke (as Lucas Vogel) on my television again. Last time I saw him was on My Boys as PJ's potential boyfriend, which makes me think he has a knack for landing roles in which his character tries to seduce blondes not quite ready to move on.

Walterism for the Week: "I'm willing to try, but not here. My breath is atrocious." Runner-up: "This is me. Your father. Walter Bishop," in which he did a dead-on impression of every time my grandfather calls me.

As stated earlier, what made this episode so powerful was not only some insight into the mythology of the show (both in terms of scope and content), but the way in which these revelations were tied into the personal relationships of the protagonists. Worldwide conspiracies are nice and all, but relatively meaningless without some connection to those about whom we as viewers are invested. If Fringe can continue this balancing act throughout the rest of its run, it will exceed its meager beginnings and turn into something truly special.

Did you enjoy the show's return? Is the show's mythology becoming more intriguing or simply too confusing? And how many of you busted out a rendition of "Suddenly Seymour" in your living room? Leave your thoughts and comments below!

Ryan blogs downtown (that's his home address) over at Boob Tube Dude.

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