It’s tough following up the best Fringe episode of all time, but tonight’s episode of the series did quite well. It was one of those episodes, like “Jacksonville,” that managed to blend the mythology of the show with a weekly case. Having said that, it wasn’t quite on par with “Jacksonville,” and even seemed to drag slightly in areas. Overall, though, it was one of the many strong episodes that have made up season two.
The case revolved around a man who gave people terrible cancer just by touching them — in order to heal himself. Of course, they weren’t just any people — they were the Cortexiophan subjects that Walter and William Bell experimented upon in Jacksonville. This, of course, placed Olivia in the line of fire. But first, it put Diane Kruger there.
Yes, that was Diane Kruger (of National Treasure and Troy). Her guest appearance on the show probably had something to do with the fact that she’s Joshua Jackson’s girlfriend. However, her brief role as Victim of the Week was interestingly minor. It was the little things about her role that made her brief scenes so rewarding. The standout moment of the night was when she dropped the name Gorlami. In Inglourious Basterds, Kruger’s character assigns Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) an alias to sneak him into a German premiere. His alias’s name? Gorlami (which he hideously mispronounces). Coincidence? Maybe, but it made me chuckle.
Meanwhile, Olivia was having trouble sleeping, so she dropped a visit to old Sam Weiss, who we hadn’t seen since episode five of the season, “Dream Logic.” She goes to him for advice about her trouble sleeping, and he astutely points out that she’s made a decision that is troubling her (which she realizes is her keeping the secret from Peter).
But it’s Weiss’s later visit to Olivia, in which they play the board game Clue (from which the title of the episode is based), is the most interesting. He is able to tell various details about her, and then he interestingly describes her as a soldier. Why is that significant? Well, what did the Z.F.T. manual say we needed for the upcoming war? Soldiers, of course.
Weiss also makes several remarks about himself that could be taken as interesting — he mentions that he’s older than he looks. Of course, the question here is how much older, but this could definitely be taken as a clue for something much more significant regarding the nature of this character, especially when you take into consideration the writers’ tendency to bring back tiny facts for big reveals later.
While hunting down the killer, however, Walter is obviously not his same happy self. Just like Olivia, the secret-keeping he is doing is wearing him down emotionally. He still maintains his weird side-project of the week (making taffy), but he does it with less enthusiasm than he normally does. After all, it’s hard to make good taffy when you’re afraid Olivia is going to ruin your son’s life with a secret.
Olivia does come close, however, going so far as to reveal that she knows about Peter to Nina Sharp (whose shocked reaction is one of the most satisfying character moments of the episode). However, Nina doesn’t go down easily, and she quickly retaliates that Olivia is actually looking for a reason not to tell Peter, which she obviously gives her.
The case itself was interesting, but not as interesting as the contagion-based episodes earlier in the season, “What Lies Below,” and “The Bishop Revival.” Is anyone sensing a pattern here? Could this all be foreshadowing to the blight that is afflicting the alternate universe?
Another great part of the episode was the reinvolvement of Nick Lane, who was the antagonist of the episode “Bad Dreams.” Lane, still under hold at Massive Dynamic, was a target of the antagonist of this episode, James Heath, though Heath wasn’t able to find him. However, he did secure Olivia’s address from Heath’s aunt, who the Fringe team visited back in that season one episode.
When he assaulted Olivia in her apartment, I also found it fun to note that she clubbed him over the head with a candlestick, which is one of the weapons in the game Clue.
At the end of the episode, Heath was simply put away into storage at Massive Dynamic. This begs the question: where do all these people go? Christopher Penrose, Nick Lane, James Heath, Tyler 03 — are they all just kept in a big comatose ward where no one will ever find them? Is that even legal? And more importantly — will we ever see them again?
In the end, after the case is closed, Olivia visits Walter at his home. Perhaps convinced by Nina — or perhaps because of her feelings for Peter — Olivia reveals to Walter that she has decided not to tell Peter. Walter thanks her, but wistfully says he needs to make amends for his past wrongs — and that means telling Peter…in next week’s episode.
This episode was indeed a good one, though it, like all entries following brilliant episodes, was slightly disappointing. However, strong story and character development (as well as great mythological ties) proved to be the saving graces of this episode, making it worthy of a B+.
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