(Season 1, Episode 10 – “Safe”)
So I guess you spend nine episodes gathering different ingredients, and its only in the tenth episode that you start stirring things together toward whatever it is you’re cooking. Little Hill is a destination and tonight we got some idea as to what it’s all about.
Beyond that even, we get some idea as to just how freaking brilliant and amazing Walter Bishop has been and still is. There were so many amazing moments in this episode, I think this is the episode in which I fully and completely fell in love with Fringe. I’ve been digging most of the characters and even Olivia has been growing on me. Tonight, she came fully into her own and stands proudly next to the rest of this cast as another great character with depth. Took them long enough!
What was up with Olivia showing some good detective skills there at the bar? Girl can not only hold her liquor but she totally bamboozled Drew the barkeep into revealing what he knew about Raul. In fact, she was downright impressive in that, as well as showing more diversity and personality in acting presentation than we’ve heretofore seen since the series began. There’s hope for this Torv kid yet.
And that earlier sequence with her visiting Raul’s ex-widow (is that how that works?) convinced that John Scott’s memories were her own. That was pretty damned eerie. I knew that this would come back to be significant later, but I didn’t expect it to be because Nina Sharp of Massive Dynamic may just need those memories of John’s that are trapped in Olivia’s mind.
Then in the bar, she and Peter started bonding and we actually got to learn a little bit more about her — mostly that she has some kind of weird numbers photographic memory but it’s more than we knew before. Add this to the almost-night-out she had last week and there may be a real live breathing person underneath that agent.
So do we think that Mitchell Loeb is tied in with Massive Dynamic somehow? Do we know that and I forgot? I’ve been known to do that from time to time. Just call me Walter-Lite. Not “Holy shit I built a machine that can move matter through space and time that really works” Walter, but forgetful, confused Walter. Tell me this, though — how do you build a machine like this and not test it? He must have been crazy all along.
Olivia’s abducted, Massive Dynamic may or may not be behind it, as I’m not sure if we’ve had confirmation Sharp and Jones are in cahoots (though the previews for the next episodes would seem to indicate they are). The next episodes … in January! Damn, just when it got really good, now you’re going to make me wait to see what happens. Leave ‘em wanting, I guess. Bastards!
Clacked by Jason Hughes 
on Dec 03, 2008 @ 15:30 EST5EDT
I agree with you Jason. No new episodes until January illicits the same “Bastards!” response from me.
Oh, I also pretty much agree with everything else you said in the article. A good write up for sure.
I’ve decided that Walter knowing everything is NOT a coincidence, and that he has the memories of others, ala Olivia and John. And, maybe, just maybe, that is why he went crazy!
And I thank the writers for a bit of life in an otherwise absolutely awful character. Olivia. Perhaps they can redeem her by actually breathing life into her through the memories of others. Who knows if she really counts cards; maybe it’s John’s memory! Anything, please, anything to make her interesting.
Modwild, I absolutely accept your hypothesis that Walter does, in fact, have the same “memory problem” as Olivia. That would completely demolish my one issue with the show in that Walter is never out of the friggin’ loop about anything no matter how various or strange.
Good catch. Is that your own hypothesis, or did you get it from another source?
Anyone catch the Observer on the security camera in the opening scene?