Fringe 3.07 "The Abducted" Review

Occasionally, Fringe instills within me moments of fist-pumping glee. I’m not usually terribly excitable, strangely enough, but every once in a while, Fringe hits me with such a bout of euphoria that I simply can’t contain my childish peals of laughter. The ending of tonight’s episode was undoubtedly one of those moments. It was a moment that was borne of frustration that ended in a clear step forward, and I must say, it was fantastic. Peter’s expression was the best moment of the season so far. I’m trying to restrain my excitement, but I’m truly excited. My only regret? We have to wait two weeks for the next episode, “Entrada,” which will supposedly wrap up this storyline. Come on, FOX. You’re killing us here.

But how about that episode, folks? “The Abducted” was weak on science but heavy on character, as some of the best episodes of the series are. We’ve already seen both pituitary and spinal fluid thieves on the show before (from the season one episodes “The Same Old Story” and “Midnight,” respectively), and though the Candyman storyline this week was well-handled with a personal tie to Broyles, it wasn’t the most original the storyline has had. Unsurprisingly, that didn’t matter.

I’ve been complaining for weeks that the alternate Broyles has been criminally underused this year, and this was the episode to change all that. Broyles was at the forefront of this episode in a way he hadn’t been since last year’s “Earthling,” and it was just a lot of fun to see Lance Reddick, a fantastic actor, really have fun with his screen time as the dark and brooding Broyles. “You’re dismissed,” was one of the scariest lines of the episode.

What wasn’t scary was the preacher who ended up being the main perpetrator. The entire revelation of his involvement was a little too afterthought-ish, and his textbook catcalls of “God wants this,” were just silly. Kudos to the kid who played Broyles’ son though. He, like many of Fringe‘s younger cast, did not fall victim to bad acting. He was really good, and I kind of hope we see him again on the show.

And then there was the return of Henry, who was my favorite character from the premiere. Andre Royo did just as good of a job with the character this week as he did the last time he was with Olivia, and his reaction of Olivia’s offhand revelation that she was from another universe was underplayed and priceless. It may be the last time we see Henry, but I certainly hope not. If the story can organically bring him back, I say do it.

Overall, the episode was a little unbalanced in favor of character over case, but that’s second only to a perfect balance of the two. I’ll be waiting anxiously for “Entrada.” The wait’s already killing me. B+