Quick Take: Fringe, “Alone in the World”
“But it’s not real. It’s something that’s invaded your mind. It’s hurting you. You matter to me. I care. And I don’t want to lose you. I can’t lose you... not again.” – Walter
Review: Fringe: “Alone in the World”
(S0403) It is a grim reality without Peter Bishop. Granted, it wasn’t in the greatest of states prior to his sacrifice, but his absence is certainly noticeable to us – and it’s becoming more apparent to certain members of Fringe Division. The impact Peter had on his father’s life is becoming increasingly noticeable as we spend more time in the new “amberverse.” Without his son, Walter is forced to undergo regular mental evaluations from his doctor at St. Clair’s mental institution; he spends his time entirely in the lab, taking up residence in his office; and most recently, he has taken to covering up all reflective surfaces to avoid the visions of Peter that are tempting his sanity.
Despite the increasing insistence of his hallucinations – now hearing Peter in addition to seeing him – Walter is still able to teach us a great deal more about the changed timelines. He befriends a young boy named Aaron, who reminds him enough of his son to share with him the details of his past. It seems as though the Observer September was never there the night Walter crossed over to save Walternate’s son, and instead of pulling them out of Raiden Lake, left Peter to die in 1985.
Aaron, Walter’s temporary lab-companion, is brought in when the bullies who planned on beating him up are found dead and greatly decomposed in a cave. After their corpses explode into a cloud of spores, Walter concludes that some sort of fungal organism is attempting to spread itself from its point of origin by attacking living hosts. When the Fringe team arrives at the cave armed with UV light and flamethrowers, however, Aaron suffers some sort of empathetic reaction to the attempted eradication. Affectionately named “Gus” by Walter, it soon becomes apparent that the organism’s physical development resembles that of a brain map. Though a simple creature that responds entirely through instinct, Gus’ neural pathways have developed much in the way I imagine Walter had hoped for with his Cortexiphan trials. Because Aaron had spent so much time feeling intense loneliness in that particular cave, with that particular mold, he develops a psychic connection with the organism that threatens his own life.
Now that we’re in season four, I seem to be on high-alert towards the “freak of the week” storylines that pull along the show’s deeper mythology. I haven’t been let down yet, but I can only hope that the writers are able to keep themselves eye-level with the sharks that have been closing in, threatening to be jumped over for the past three years. Not explaining where “Gus” came from was a little leap, but I really do appreciate the idea of a plant developing a neural network not unlike a brain – the same sort of similarities have been observed between pictures of human neural activity and the shape of the universe when it was still young. So there’s that.
Walter is finally able to break the psychic connection by convincing Aaron that the plant’s feelings aren’t real (I may have just killed a few hippies). Aaron felt comforted by the unknown presence in his head; Walter is the exact opposite. He fears that the voices and visions are driving him back to St. Clair’s, and so he prepares to lobotomize himself. Olivia saves the day just in time, of course, but Fringe is taking bold steps into dark territory and I like it.
things be getting fringe-y ;-)