Written on May 1, 2009 at 9:52 am by Rhea Dee

Fringe: Midnight 

Filed under Fringe {no comments}

By Rhea Dee
I love shows that play songs I love. Which is why I got ridiculously excited when this episode kicked off by playing “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”, Goth anthem. Uh…major win! The last time I was this excited over song usage in TV was when Kate from Lost played “Walkin’ After Midnight.” Good going Fringe, you have hipster music cred.

Now that I’ve got my dorky gushing out of the way, I found this episode very similar to “Bad Dreams“–we start off with what seems like a standard Monster of the Week (MOTW) storyline that then branches into the big ZFT arc of the series. Fringe manages to do this very fluidly and it enhances the whole mystery of the major arc when all these minor MOTW stories tie into the big picture.

Anyway, the MOTW is a woman prowling on men, breaking their necks and sucking out their spinal fluid, using their spinal cord as a really big straw. Team Fringe discovers that this is ZFT related, and they hunt down Nicholas Boone, the scientist they believe is responsible for the Monster Lady. And while he is responsible, it’s a bit more complicated than that–Boone tried to leave ZFT and his punishment was the infection of his wife, aka Monster Lady. He offers Olivia information about ZFT if they can capture his wife so that he can give her an antidote.

After much hunting on Team Fringe’s part, they deliver on their end of the deal, but Boone ends up sacrificing his life to save his wife’s at the end. But all is not lost–Boone recorded a tape for Olivia giving her the information she needed. And at the end of the episode Fringe reveals what I’ve (and probably you’ve) always suspected: that William Spock Bell is funding the ZFT experiments. Biggest secret of the season…revealed! Even though it was kind of obvious from the get go.

That said, I really cannot wait until William Spock Bell shows up. I want to see him interact with Walter–I want to see if he manipulates Walter in any way. Lately I’ve been thinking that William Spock Bell is to blame for Walter’s mental state, that he effed with Walter’s memories and sanity for his own selfish reasons. Will Bell sell Walter out, telling Team Fringe nasty secrets to try and stick wedge between the group? Will he tell Olivia that Walter was part of the experiments on her as a child? Will Olivia be revealed as the savior of the universe(s)? I feel like a lot is going to be revealed when Bell shows up and I cannot wait.

Other stuff I got excited about:

-How cute was it when Walter was showing Boone around his lab? “I also have a cow!” I totally awww-ed at that. Also, Walter has installed clap on lights in his lab. Clap on lights, people. Win.

-Olivia can multitask like no other. Proof? Consoling her sister about her bastard husband while she’s en route to find the Monster Lady. The fact that she does it in front of the whole combat team without lowering her voice, or shooing her sister off the phone makes her even more awesome. Every week, Olivia defies some tiny stereotype. It makes me love her all the more.

-I also find that, with each passing episode, I love Astrid more. Her blacklight revelation was fantastic (“F-Yeah” may have been shouted at my TV. I get into it). I also like the teasing friendship she’s struck up with Peter recently (like last episode recently). Jasika Nicole is completely captivating whenever she’s on screen and I want her to have her own little back story episode next season. You know it’d be badass.

-I liked how both Boyle and Olivia are secretly keeping tabs on each other. It could be creepy, but it’s just cute. Again, it’s probably the respect that keeps the relationship awesome.

-Peter driving the car with the siren blaring, exposing his dorkiness. There needs to be more dork!Peter moments on this show.

Lastly, I thought I’d end with some exciting news: the sneak peak pic of William Spock Bell. I mean, it’s totally standard, and it doesn’t really reveal anything, and really, if you know what Leonard Nimoy looks like there isn’t any surprise, but I can’t just explain it–this jolt of pure awesomeness went through me when I saw it (that probably had something to do with the major reveal of Bell as ZFT benefactor).

nimoy-fringe

Two episodes left, people.

(Also, I totally missed Baldo this time. I think as a whole I’ve failed in spotting Baldo this season. I’m gonna be better next season, promise.)

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Rhea Dee teeters between hipster and geek (at least that’s what that one quiz said). She spends her time collecting vintage junk, daydreaming about Eli Roth, and pondering the genius of John Carpenter soundtracks. She really likes horror films.