Fringe Really Packs A Lot Of Crazy Into A Few Short Weeks!

At this admittedly still pretty early state of Fringe, I think what I like best about it is that it supplies juuuuuust enough of a scientific basis for whatever fucked-up thing is happening in the episode, but not so much that the viewer (or this viewer, at least) will be moved to think hard enough about it to unravel its logic, or lack thereof. So far, the backstory for each Horror Of The Week seems to be: William Bell And Walter Bishop Invented Some Nutty Shit When They Were Running A Lab Together On The U.S. Government's Dime, and Things Went Wrong. It's a pretty elegant premise for a show not just because of the built-in interest of one guy going on to become a rich genius industrialist while the other went to the crazy house, but because it makes just about any kind of awful calamity explicable, but locates the antidote/top secret hardware/Unobtainium somewhere near Nina Sharp's office at Massive Dynamic. Handy!

The Nina/Olivia thing is kind of a problem. It's not just that it seems like Olivia has been making the trip from Boston to New York in a couple of minutes (she makes it down to Virginia in a big fat hurry in Episode 4, too); it's that Nina is the CEO of this gigantic company but is always in her office and has tons of time to talk The Pattern talk with an FBI agent for whom she has zero respect. I guess I'm willing to grant that maybe the deal is, all Nina's interactions are part of a big game of cat and mouse she's been playing with Olivia, which is why she keeps clearing her schedule? But maybe she should spend less time smirking at Olivia about all the stuff she has clearance to know about that Olivia doesn't, and more time bleaching her teeth.

Not to be catty, but they're ALL I CAN SEE.

Walter continues to be my favourite character, not just for all the moments of pathos but the equally compelling moments of nerdy glee. In addition to everything else that sucks about being locked up in a mental institution, it's clear that Walter has been bored lo these many years; getting to call the shots in his own lab again and boss around people whose names he can't be bothered to learn (sorry, Astrid; just be happy he knew it started with an "A"!) and get a second shot at some of his weirdest experiments and theories is obviously quite satisfying. I also love that Walter's pursuit of science takes precedence over his concern for his human subjects every time. Look, he's been away for a while. He has a lot of ground to make up, and let's face it: so far these poor fools have barely been better than meat as far as Walter is concerned. He has no time for sentimentality!

So far, Olivia and Peter both seem a bit sketchy, but honestly, if they were trying to out-weird Walter or even aim for weird parity, the show would be exhausting. It's enough that they're settling into their brother-sister vibe (including amused indulgence of their oblivious dad figure) and remind us of their driving concerns: Olivia's haunted (...kind of literally) by John's treason and death -- equally on both counts, it seems -- and Peter's wary of being yoked to a man he doesn't trust or even especially like. There's room for growth for both of them, and lots of time.

Also: The Observer! Walter has a friend and he's even weirder! I'm very excited to see how this plotline plays out, and not just because The Observer looks like he could be a member of The Adjustment Bureau but that definitely doesn't hurt.

Most Horrifying Indignity Visited Upon A Human Body Part: It's not bad enough for some poor barfly to get pituitary-jacked, but then after her death, in order for some crazy Massive Dynamic camera to try to project the very last thing she saw, she's also got to have her eyeball yanked out?

Favourite Character Actor Who Went On To Fame And Glory: As much as I enjoy Michael Cerveris in general and his Observer creep in particular, I have to give it to my man Michael Kelly, who pops up in the same episode (S01E04), many years before he would rock my world as Doug Stamper on House Of Cards.

Heartbreakingest Walter Moment: "You cannot imagine what it's like for a man like me to not have access to parts of his mind!" That tied with the simple dream of a root beer float. Aw, Walter.