'Grey's' Isn't Going Anywhere
'Red Widow' Gets The Axe
Review: Fringe - What Lies Below
by Jane Boursaw, posted Jan 22nd 2010 4:00AM
(S02E13) "Quickly, get your pajamas off and let's go!" - Walter to hazmat guy escorting him back to the lab
Ok, I know Walter Bishop is brilliant, but coming up with a cure for a 75,000-year-old virus? A little far-fetched, but hey, we'll go with it. Geez, put Walter on the cure for the common cold or cancer. Just put him in a room with Astrid and a refrigerator, and who knows what awesome scientific wonders he might come up with. He's the new MacGyver.
Well, it didn't take long for things to kick into high gear in this episode of Fringe. Within seconds of the first floating letters, we had a mysterious guy wandering into a petroleum company, bleeding from the nose and turning into The Thing from Fantastic Four. And was that some awesome blood spewing or what? Props to the behind-the-scenes crew who put that together.
Walter may be a brilliant scientist, but his kid skills leave something to be desired. "Children should know the truth," he said, after telling a group of museum kids a creepy story about finding monsters under the bed, being eaten and digested in the stomach of the monster, etc. "When you open new doors, there is a price to pay," said Walter. Ok, we get it. Stay in your house and never venture into alternate universes. Ever!
So let's take stock here. Without Walter's awesome science skills, people plagued with an ancient virus would have died, thanks to the CDC and other clueless government agencies. "I was chairman of biochemistry at Harvard and have little patience for small minded bureaucrats." You go, Walter!
So in addition to putting Walter in charge of curing cancer and the common cold, we'd do well to put him in charge of national security, too. Because the people currently in charge there are really stupid.
I liked seeing a little more of Agent Broyles, but what a waste of talent for the former Cedric Daniels. He needs more to do, other than clue Walter into the ways of bureaucracy and keep him from getting arrested. We need another Broyles-centric episode.
And hey, next time you get a cold, remember that viruses have feelings, too. No wonder we get a little crazy hacking up lungs and blowing our noses until the skin comes off. It's the virus talking. And if you feel like jumping out of a window, it's the zombie virus talking.
For a minute there, I thought Peter was going to lay a big wet one on Olivia, during their little talk about her not telling her sister what was going on: "I thought that was the point of having people who care about you in your life," he said. "To have someone to talk to when you're scared." In my head, they kissed at that point.
Peter's mad espionage skills came into play, too, with his theory that you never take any leverage into a deal -- you leave it in neutral territory. Like the trunk of your car.
And Walter and Astrid's interesting relationship took a new turn. She knows something is up with Peter dying ... at some point in the past. "Some things are meant to be left alone," Walter told Astrid. I'm guessing this won't be one of them.
Pop Quiz: What was the classic sci-fi film Peter was watching on the computer?
11 Comments