star_gazer02

5x02 - In Absentia

Wild Pikachu

Ummmm...huh.

Okay, I'm a little dubious about the idea of Fringe: Scavenger Hunt. Not that I doubt their ability to do it reasonably well...but the whole concept seems a little clunky.

Still, the episode itself was well done, if a tad unsubtle on the character development. Was interesting to see Olivia and Etta clash for the first time. I admit I was a little disappointed that the Loyalist lied to Olivia, though it worked out nicely.

The Clapper!

One little logical inconsistency: on the tape, Walter assumes that he's dead and his plan has failed. But then why would he bother to send the viewer out on The Amazing Race: Fringe Edition to hunt down all these tapes to recreate a plan that he figures has already failed once? Second time's the charm? And when did he have time to do all this, anyway? It must have been before September scrambled the plan in his brain. And most importantly, why didn't Walter just suggest going after the tapes before, instead of trying to retrieve the ridiculously-named-piece-of-tech from last week?

sofiab

^ Your first question: the plan didn't fail, he just doesn't remember because the torture scene damaged his brain even more. Second: before or after, we don't know, it was a precautionary measure, in case the initial plan didn't work. Third: he didn't remember, it was Olivia who reminded him that he always documents things. That's when they decided to go to Harvard. That's how I saw it anyway

http://www.givememyremote.com/remote...p-in-absentia/
http://www.hitfix.com/monkeys-as-cri...ge-in-absentia
http://www.avclub.com/articles/in-absentia,85970/
http://www.examiner.com/review/fring...for-the-future
http://www.rickey.org/fringe-season-...cap-and-review
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2012/10/fri...view-hardened/
http://screencrush.com/fringe-review-in-absentia/
http://www.tvequals.com/2012/10/05/f...w-in-absentia/
http://www.buddytv.com/articles/frin...hat-47825.aspx
http://www.tv.com/news/fringe-in-abs...-an-eye-29745/
http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethe...r-history.html
http://tvrecaps.ew.com/recap/fringe-season-5-episode-2/
http://spinoff.comicbookresources.co...t-in-absentia/
http://io9.com/5949517/im-calling-it...-human-decency
http://www.tvovermind.com/fringe/fri...sentia-review/
http://poptimal.com/2012/10/fringe-r.../#.UHF0cFG9oew

sofiab

Dp

Finity

I have one question left. Did he have a son or not

Wild Pikachu

It might be nit-picky, but there is a difference. If Walter makes the tape on the assumption that he'll be stopped before he can execute the plan (which is what actually happened), then it makes sense for him to tell Mr. and Mrs. Future Saviors of the World to reconstruct the plan and carry it forward. But if he makes the tape thinking that it won't be found unless he's already tried his plan and it's failed, then why tell whoever finds the tape to just try the exact same thing that he figures has already failed once?

Upon further reflection, it makes sense that September would have erased the memory of making the tapes from Walter's mind as a precaution. But they needed a line to explain that, to fend off the "Why didn't Walter think of the tapes early on, before they went after Olivia and he was caught by the Observers?" question.

The only thing that doesn't quite ring true for me about that last point is that, for some reason I can't quite put my finger on, I just don't see September liking the idea of all these tapes laying around with pieces of the plan on them. Also the timing is a little weird, as I can't see Walter ambering the lab until he was completely done with it. So it must have been right before the plan was going to happen, right?

Actually, the more I think about it, the less sense this all makes. So Walter and September work out a plan to stop the Observers. Why not just execute it right away? What's the point of scrambling it in Walter's mind and keying it for later retrieval by a thought unifier?? It's not like Walter was planning to amber himself for 20 years.

BTW, shouldn't the Observers have been a little suspicious of all these pockets of amber? It's not like amber was common Over Here, unless something happened between 2012 and 2016 to make it more common (which shouldn't be the case, since obviously there was no continued degradation of the universe that would call for more use of amber). If I were the Observers, I would have dug through any amber pocket I found to see what was in there. In fact...I don't think amber was ever used Over Here. And definitely not in public. Remember, the general public Over Here never even knew about Over There. So, while I like the idea of "amber gypsies" from a dramatic standpoint, the notion that ambering has suddenly become so common that there's a thriving black market in people who are cut out of it...a little implausible.

One last thing: it'll be interesting to see how they figure out where to go this week...since you'll notice that Walter didn't actually tell them where the first tape was. Also, hopefully they took the player with them, because I don't think they'll find another working Betamax machine in 2036...

Ten My Love

Your points are excellent, especially your remarks about all the amber over here and how it's become commonplace from 2015 to 2036. Now I'm very curious to see how the story takes us from here to there from that standpoint. It's obviously not a small issue.

Betamax player!!!

LWS53

Bringing this forward for the re-watch.

FoxPhile

I'm Excited!

LWS53

Reading the original posts about the first two episodes is very interesting. I am very interested to hear your take on it as a first time viewer. Personally I enjoyed the whole season and just went along for the ride without being judgmental - I found the acting superb and the adventure great fun and very enjoyable.

FoxPhile

I pretty much avoid reading the previous posts in order to avoid being spoiled. But I am curious about this season because it's so obvious that they intended the show to end with Season 4. So it will be interesting to see how they resurrect things and pull together additional story. Not that I don't think it's impossible - in fact, there are probably several ways they could do it. I'm just interested in seeing what they actually did.


EDIT: Starting now....

That was another really sweet Polivia scene.

EDIT 2: Trust Walter to get all excited about steam tunnels - and to know all about them!

EDIT 3: The image of Walter and William Bell in Speedos is NOT one I needed!

LWS53

Sorry I was a little late switching it on. The start is Olivia's memory of what happened on invasion day which is slightly different from Peter's. Do I need to fast forward or are we together?

FoxPhile

They just broke into Walter's lab. I'll pause so you can catch up.

LWS53

I love the idea of Walter and William Bell in Speedo's - Not! Just getting to the Lab now.

FoxPhile

Okay - I've restarted.

I know that William Bell was actually quite handsome in his day. He bore a startling resemblance to the character of Spock on Star Trek Not sure about Walter, though.

EDIT - Etta's got some serious skills!