Fringe: Of Human Action

By Rhea Dee
Of all the mysteries on Fringe, there is one that seems to slip by unnoticed: Massive Dynamic.

But there’s no mystery there, right? Olivia confronted Nina Sharp about how all their cases lead back to MD. Olivia even told William Bell straight up that she didn’t trust him when she visited him in the alternate universe. With all that, Massive Dynamic has the ability to look just as suspicious and sinister as the secret government behind Cigarette Smoking Man in The X-Files.

And yet…is Massive Dynamic truly that bad? Nina always volunteers information to aid Team Fringe with their cases. She also recommended Sam Weiss to Olivia, and has a romantic relationship with Broyles. Even Bell, who Olivia does not trust, offered up some helpful info when Olivia crossed over to the alternate universe to meet him.

It’s hard to think of Massive Dynamic being this evil mastermind of a company when they’re so helpful. But this episode was a nice reminder that despite Massive Dynamic’s helpfulness, there’s still a lot of evil going on behind those doors.

For the first time this season, the case of the week leads directly back to Massive Dynamic. Tyler, son of a top MD scientist, has been kidnapped by two men who appear to have mind control abilities. Team Fringe investigates the scientist at Massive Dynamic, and everyone comes to the conclusion that the two men are super secret agents that want MD secrets in exchange for Tyler.

However, when the captors make a phone call with their demands, they only ask for money in exchange for Tyler. Team Fringe and MD set a trap for the captors in an attempt to rescue the kid, which reveals the kid as the mind controller, not the two men. While the rest of team is distracted trying to apprehend the “captors”, Tyler kidnaps Peter and gets away.

Tyler and Peter have a few kidnapper/kidnappee heart to hearts about Tyler’s motives for killing people and stealing money. Turns out Tyler’s father lied to him for most of his life, telling him that his mother died in a car crash when she’s actually alive and well. So Peter’s forced to drive Tyler around so that he can reunite with his mother.

Tyler’s story about being lied to and betrayed by his father is an eerie parallel to Peter’s situation with his father (even though he’s not aware of it yet). Tyler killed people when he discovered his truth; what will Peter do when he discovers his?

Speaking of Tyler, I hated him. I have no sympathy for a boy who kills people because he’s mad at his dad (and is that annoying and emo about it, to boot). Also, he looked like an evil Howdy Doody doll.
Back at Massive Dynamic, Team Fringe figures out that Tyler accidently stole some drugs related to a study Doctor Dad was doing, which is why Tyler has the mind control abilities now. Walter develops a device that confounds Tyler’s mind, allowing Peter ten seconds of mental freedom to make the best decision ever: crashing into a telephone pole. I do not feel sorry for you, Evil Howdy Doody doll. I do not feel sorry for you.

Everything seems well. But then it’s revealed that Massive Dynamic are actually very good liars: Tyler didn’t steal drugs that gifted him with mind control, he’s a clone whose whole purpose is to be mind control-y. And he’s not even the first clone. We see Doctor Dad wheeling the injured Tyler past rooms that are filled with Tyler clones in waiting, waiting to be awaken and tested for mind control abilities.

So there’s the real sinister nature of Massive Dynamic. They’re willing to help when one of their experiments turns out to be a massive screw-up, yes, but their “Of course we’ll help you!” attitude distracts Team Fringe from MD’s true intentions, which are out of this world bad. I mean, clones? Clones! I was not expecting clones at all. And with Team Fringe running around trying to fix Massive Dynamic’s mistakes, they don’t really have any time to ponder what they’re really up to in that shiny, mod building.

Next Time on Fringe: Hey! Baldo stuff!

Last Thoughts: Walter in Massive Dynamic. He revealed that he met his wife through Bell, and shed a tiny light on his complex friendship/partnership with Bell. Also, he wore a tin foil hat. And Astrid joined him, because Astrid is the best.

Rhea Dee spends her time collecting vintage junk, daydreaming about Eli Roth, and pondering the genius of John Carpenter soundtracks. She really likes horror films.