This episode started out good but the whole cartoon thing fell flat to me. I think the big problem is that the animation just wasn’t that good. All the characters were just lifeless. Add that to the fact that it was mainly an excuse to get Nimoy on the show one last time without him actually being there. Also, I wish they got the girl who played Olivia back in that Jacksonville episode. Yeah, it would have ruined the “surprise” but she was a good actress.
Now on to the good:
Broyles on LCD. Excellent. Not only was it hilarious, but they even went the serious route by having him talk about the fact that he’s basically seen himself dead. (Bad trip!)
“I think he’s the man who’s going to kill me.” It looks like Peter indeed knocked something loose. The way Olivia was so casual about saying that gave me chills.
I think Fringe is the only show that can get away with a scene where the main characters are chased by zombie scientists on the top of the WTC and escape by jumping on a zeppelin.
That was definitely one of the weirdest hours I’ve ever seen of a regular TV show. I was literally laughing out loud when they were getting attacked by zombies on the roof.
“Belly, why are you a cartoon?” There’s a line you won’t here often.
I thought it was just flat-out awesome. I mean, escaping from a horde of zombies (zombie Brandons, at that!) from the roof of the WTC in a Zeppelin while in another person’s mind? That’s just one of those things that divide TV history clearly into a before and after, and I believe the after is all the better for it.
From the very first moments, when Astrid retorted Walter’s ‘Astro, are we ready?’ with a cool ‘just about, Wally’, I don’t think the grin ever left my face, and there were more than a few laugh-out-loud moments for me.
Yet despite all this silliness and fun, they managed to pull off a serious story underneath it all, which just isn’t something you see that often. ‘I think it’s the man who’s going to kill me’, yeah, that was definitely a chilling line, and the delivery hints that there’s more than just a bit more openness and less fear of herself to this new Olivia…
The one bit of criticism is that they’re starting to rely on the ‘Walter + drugs = awesome’ formula a bit too much. It’s working for now, but it’s already becoming a bit of a surefire repertoire comic relief, and it might get a little too in your face if overdone. There’s a fine line to be walked; this really shouldn’t deteriorate into ‘Harold and Kumar go to the Other Universe’.
Having said that, stoned Broyles was awesome. ‘Hiii…’ waves to little red cartoon bird on Walter’s shoulder
I thought it was pretty good. The animation wasn’t that great, but other than that I liked it. I guess if that was the only way to get Nimoy for one last episode, then that’s OK with me.
The zombie scene made me think of AMC’s “The Walking Dead”.
And I’m glad that Olivia being possessed by William only lasted two episodes. Anna channeling Leonard was funny, but only in a small dose.
It wouldn’t have made any sense. The place was only safe because it was back before the trials, which began when she was only three. By the time she was seven her evil stepdad had moved in so nowhere that age would have struck her as safe place to hide out.
I too loved stoned Broyles
Do you think they got permission for the Inception plot borrowing?
…the animation was perfect, IMHO. Think “A Scanner Darkly” or “Waking Life”: it was a homage to that style of rotoscoped animation, and considering the LSD undertones of the episode was the perfect style to go with. As soon as I saw Nimoy I couldn’t contain myself: pitch perfect.
Totally agree about the animation style. A Scanner Darkly and Waking Life were the films I first thought of when the Fringe cast turned into cartoons. The zombies were just icing on the cake!
Loved the Zoom reference too. Zoomazoomazoomazoom!
Fringe is pretty much the only scifi show I’ve ever really watched, and the last few weeks have had me thinking “wtf?” Olivia’s William Bell imitation was great, but it was so comical I had trouble paying attention to the storyline. I was reeeally glad they got him out of her last night, even if they had to go into a crazy story to do it. She needs to say, “Enough! Get out of my brain and stay out!” But she just casually wakes up and wonders what’s been going on. Surely she’d be at least a little squicked out to know that Bell inhabited her body. You know he, ahem, explored her while he was there.
My disbelief can only be suspended so far, and Fringe pushes it. I’m guessing that’s what a lot of people love about the show, but it gets crazy confusing for me to remember the minute details that are required for the plot to make any sense at all. I can usually figure out what’s going on, but sometimes I’m completely lost.
If this is how all science fiction is, I can see why it has a specialized fan base. I’m not hatin’, I’m just sayin’.
Yeah, I’m a big fan of rotoscoping, but it just wasn’t done well enough for this episode. The faces weren’t animated enough and the mouths barely moved. It was like watching Speed Racer.
I’m a huge fan of science fiction in all forms, and I think “Fringe” is very special. This episode was indeed groundbreaking - let’s all trip on acid and have adventures in Olivia’s mind! With zombies! Sure, why not?
I loved the part where Walter was booted out of Olivia’s mind, and he wakes up and they’re having a big serious discussion, and the camera pans over to Broyles who is sitting there, stoned out of his gourd. So perfect.
I thought it was “The Matrix” meets “A Scanner Darkly” with a heavy dash of “Inception.” The only thing missing was Keanu Reeves in some form.
Usually, a stunt like that would pull me too far out of the story, but I couldn’t help but to really have fun with this one. Definitely one of the lighter episodes, but had some nice dashes of poignance to it.
I loved when Peter dropped the LSD sugar cube, his intense suspicion of Broyles being an Other because he was bald. Then that dead stare of suspicion toward him as he meandered away… perfect!
Broyles tripping was awesome. It just filled me with glee.
Jumping off a World Trade Center tower to a zeppelin ladder is the kind of thing that would only work as a cartoon, so that was cool.
As far as the actual animation goes, I too thought of “A Scanner Darkly” and “Waking Life”, only in those films the rotoscoped people looked like the actors. These didn’t really look very much like them.
Hey Astrid, where can I download “Zoom”? I’ve looked everywhere.
I think the only reason they had a cartoon sequence was because Nimoy is retired and refused to come in for filming. He nipped out to a local studio for a day and did some voice work, but wouldn’t commit to being on set for the whole week.
Like I say, just a guess.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the story of the episode, loved Olivia’s little stinger at the end, and I wish the action sequence on the blimp had been “real” rather than a cartoon. Probably too expensive to stage, I guess.
The animation didn’t work for me. If I hadn’t already known that it was supposed to be Nimoy, I never would have guessed that it was supposed to be him.
I was amused by the idea of going into an electronics store, staring up at the shelves and wondering which brand of computer was the best for storing someone’s consciousness. I think it would be one of the most lively Mac vs. PC debates ever!
Yeah, I think you’re right. When Walter said, “Belly, why are you a cartoon,” I answered, “Because he’s “retired” and not coming to the set.” I didn’t care for the animated part.
I love Fringe and liked this episode, but it does feel a little desperate when a show tries like this to bring back a character without having access to the actor who played that character. I hope they leave Bell dead and gone.
What this show does have the ability to do, which strikes me as a lot more fun, is kill off a character without having to fire the actor. Like:
Frannie on Alias
Fred on Angel
Locke on Lost
It would be very interesting if Olivia dies, and Anna Torv goes on to play Fauxlivia full time.
