Synopsis:
The team investigates a diner full of people dead from apparent radiation poisoning. The source of the radiation was assumed to be a woman who had vanquished three weeks prior. When another woman goes missing, the team believes that some sort of experimentation is going on with these women. In the meantime, Agent Dunham has her own past family issues to deal with.
Thoughts:
Last week, the latest victim of illegal (but voluntary) experimentation of “the trend” could unintentionally manipulate electricity when he was feeling emotional. This guy could not control his “power,” so he caused death and injures to the people around him.
This week’s subject was a diner full of dead people exposed to some sort of radiation. In the opening sequence, a woman stumbles into a diner after being dumped onto the street by two unknown men, and orders some vegetable soup. Soon thereafter, everyone else in the diner begins screaming and bleeding out of their eyes, and moments later the woman’s (later discovered that her name is Emily) head completely explodes. (That must have been some pretty disgusting vegetable soup!)
After some experimentation from Walter, some investigation from Dunham and Peter’s side-deal with Nina (Blair Brown) for information, the team is able to find the facilitator of this episode’s latest problems. The man, named David Esterbrook, is the head of a huge drug company called Intrepu; he kidnapped two women (Emily and another) and injected them with something that caused them to give off a poisonous radiation and kill anyone within their vicinity. Agent Broyles lashes out on Dunham when he discovers that she confronted Esterbrook in public. Upon his detainment, Esterbrook insists he is untouchable, but this doesn’t stop Agent Dunham from arresting him which could lead to some trouble in future episodes.
“Fringe,” although entertaining, has become a formulaic and predictable series. This week, the show introduced a new storyline that hopefully will become more of a focus in future episodes. Dunham was in a very bad mood for the first half of the episode and it is later revealed that it was her birthday. As a woman, she has a hard time dealing with cases such as this one but that’s not even why she is upset. When Olivia was a kid, her father was very abusive to her mother. Out of love for him, her mother never turned him in to the police, which upset Olivia. One day, after a brutal beating that left her mother injured, her father got in his car and drove away. Shortly thereafter, her father returned and (a young) Olivia was waiting at the door, and straight shot her father. This did not kill him, but has never seen him since. So, every year on her birthday, her father sends her a birthday card reminding her he is still out there, and she thinks it is inevitable that he comes back to make her pay for what she did. This new side plot sounds like something straight out of a horror movie, which is something the show’s creators can use to their advantage.
Due to the election, “Fringe” will not be on again until November 11th.
Grade:
C+