Eludium-Q36: Yeah.

Eludium-Q36: I don't think it is possible for any show on TV to be even somewhat original. It's gotten to the point where shows are called unique and original merely because they are not cop/lawyer/doctor procedurals. But that's a load of crap. The best we can really hope for is good writing and good actors making a well-used idea seem somewhat fresh.

Something I was thinking about -- having a monster of the week on Fringe begs the question as to why the Observer is there if it has nothing to do with "the pattern"... or does any odd occurrence (random computer guy melting people's brains) qualify as part of the pattern? Obviously at this point they don't know, but I assume pattern-based situations have something to do with the ZFT group or the multidimensional "observer" beings. Some random genetics specialist making a killer monster doesn't necessarily qualify if it's an isolated occurrence. So why is the observer always there? Yes there could be, and most likely are, multiple observers - not always the same guy. But still. Is the observer there just to give us something to look for, or does it actually serve a purpose with respect to the plot?

It would be like having the cigarette smoking man show up in every episode of the X-Files, no matter how random, and no matter how irrelevant to aliens.

Walter, "Peter, a petri dish... *larvae erruption* ...make it a bucket."

Astrid, "I'm gonna be sick."

"Two buckets!"

That gave me a good laugh.

The show is not stellar, but it's watchable. I'd say more, but most has already been said above. The monster of the week is required to a certain extent -- this is their "ordinary world" but in these Monster Of The Week shows are often written independent of the story arcs, and are basically filler. LOST had this problem for a while. It can drive away an audience, yet serve as a throwdown episode that can actually attract new viewers. Sticking with JUST a story arc can drive away new people just joining in.

A standalone ep of the XFiles wouldn't be one with the mega story arc, it would be a standard Monster. If you're interested, you'll watch more. Then you stick around for the story arc that spans multiple eps. LOST standalones were terrible. Yet if someone were to watch LOST today, half of the drama is gone because you have to know what happened before to get it.

It's a very flawed system, but that's what we get. Part filler, part mega story.

Okay, I'm a wuss and I don't watch horror movies.

This episode scared me so bad that after Walter locked himself away from Peter and Olivia and it got really tense and I knew a monster was going to jump out at him--I had to turn the channel. It was freakin' me out.

I turned back to see the very end, but I never saw what happened when it attacked Walter. What happened? Did you ever see the whole creature? Thanks in advance to anyone willing to fill in the blanks!

And, again, the fact that I'm a wuss is uncontested, but kudos to Fringe. That's the first time in my life that something on broadcast television scared me enough to change the channel!

Eludium-Q36: Yeah in fact I do agree with everything you said. Very well put. I hate "monster of the week" episodes that don't advance the plot-arc. I hated them in X-Files and I don't like them here. There have not been too many here, and sometimes we find that some episodes fit in somewhere in the arc later on. Bankrobbers stealing something... turns out to be transporter. But yes, enough with the sister and her daughter in "cute mode" - it's gotten nauseating. You'd think she would have had them move out after the little girl almost got killed by the brain-melting computer program, but no. Two episosed ago the sister had something important (bad, it seemed) to tell Olivia, she started but Olivia's phone rang and she had to leave. So far nothing about that, unless she was going to simply tell Olivia that she and Peter talked to each other. But I don't think that's what it was, plus the sister seemed quite nonchalant about the fact that Peter called her in this episode. So I'm still waiting to hear what serious/bad news the sister has for Olivia.

I still enjoyed watching the episode but we're only 16 eps into the series, and there was nothing else on TV last night... in retrospect you're right, it actually sucked for an episode of Fringe, compared to what we know the show has to offer. I was expecting at least one little twist at the end, but nope - nada. I really hope that we get more than 2 more interesting episodes this season... i know the last 2 deal with William Bell and MD. I can't tell if next week's episode will be another monster of the week ep or not. I hope it has something to do with Olivia and that drug tested on her as a child. We'll see. I'm already bored of "the tank" though. There's nothing interesting about that anymore.

And how come the FBI has not changed its interrogation practices now that they know that they can interrogate dead people (and apparently they'll always give you the answer to your questions)? Surely Broyles, at the very least, knows what Olivia and the Bishops are doing down there.

Anyway, yeah, I do indeed agree with everything you said about this ep and the show in general. Though if "it's been done already" is your litmus test for whether you'll watch a TV show, I assure you that you'll never be turning your TV on again....

OK am I missing something here? Charlie is STRAIGHT? During the 1st couple of episodes Olivia & he were discussing the fact that the guy she was secretly seeing (the one that became translucent and is now housed at Massive Dynamics) said "I love you" Charlie replied, "yes he told me that too...."

Is there some official FOX site/link/email where we can complain about AI going over? Just plain inexcusable. Only sports should run long. And you're right. The few singers I've been forced to hear do to the show running past 9PM have truly been awful. Each time I think, "They're down to the final bunch. All those auditions in all of those cities and *this* is the best talent they found?!" :0

I really enjoyed this episode (I even, ahem, found an additional copy so I could find out what happened after my TiVo cut off the last 60 seconds. Damn you, American Idol!). Some good scares, good laughs and a lot of cringes, and also some surprisingly strong CGI work. I'm a lifelong Doctor Who fan so it's not in my nature to fault an otherwise strong show for weak effects, but Fringe generally sets a high bar.

I'm starting to feel bad for Peter, though, as it seems that he's only around to (a) chide Walter for saying/doing inappropriate things, and (b) deliver lines that begin with "Are you seriously suggesting that..." My wife has started saying "Drink!" each time he rolls out one of those lines.

if you guys remember the story about the "fringe code" (the symbols that appear at the end of each block correspond to letters), the code spelled out peter this week. since it wasn't really a peter episode i wonder if it could imply something about him being genetically modified or something. they've hinted that not all is kosher with him in the past.