Fringe: August 

Tagged with: Fringe

By Rhea Dee
I hate episodes that revolve around a premise of “All will be revealed tonight.” I think it’s bad form to do something like that. It also builds up expectations for answers and usually fails to give them. Or if the episode does provide answers, it’s usually delivered in such a clunky way that it kind of removes you from the whole narrative.

So I was totally worried about this episode. All the promos were focused on the Observers and Baldo and all their mysteries being revealed. Um, I don’t want to know all their mysteries. They’re mysterious, that’s part of their effing appeal. There is nothing truly appealing about clearing up mysteries about characters that thrive on being mysterious.

Thankfully the promo was totally off-base. Yes, this episode was about the Observers. But it didn’t reveal all their secrets. Instead, this episode did something entirely more wonderful: it built up an emotional narrative for minor (yet important) characters.

The episode kicks off with an Observer (not our Observer, the one that’s BFF’s with Walter. I shall refer to that Observer as Baldo) kidnapping a girl in broad daylight. A group of Observers (including our beloved Baldo) meet in a restaurant to discuss the kidnapper Observer’s–August’s–actions. Apparently August has messed up the natural cause of events. The girl he kidnapped, Christine Hollis, was supposed to die in a plane crash. The Observer prevented her death by kidnapping her.

And what dastardly purpose did August have for messing up the natural order of things? Well…he loves Christine. He first saw her as a young child when she survived an earthquake that killed her parents. He’s been watching her ever since. But in order for her to live, he has to make Christine significant. It’s the only way her life will be spared.

The Observers don’t know of August’s feelings however. To cover for August’s mistake (which they are pretty forgiving about) the Observers call upon the creepily average looking Donald Long, who just happens to be an assassin for them. One of the things I really like about Fringe is that the killers, the villains, the poor people being experimented on or hunted, all looking refreshingly average. It makes the wholes series a lot more real to me. And really, I get so sick of the same old Hollywood extra types.

August calls upon Walter for help, and we find out that Walter made a deal with Baldo when he kidnapped Peter from the alternate universe. Walter thinks that August has come to take back Peter, but August assures him that this is not the case–he just needs help to figure out how to save Christine. Walter tells August that he will have to prove Christine’s importance to the other Observers since they cannot be persuaded and that August must be prepared to accept the consequences of those actions.

So August comes up with a plan to save Christine. And it works; Donald the hitman dies and Christine is saved, but at the expense of August’s own life. Baldo picks up August from the scene and as he drives off August reveals to Baldo that he fell in love with Christine. Baldo assures that Christine will be safe, since she is now of great significance: she caused the death of an Observer.

This episode didn’t provide fact to fact information about the mysterious Observers. But by providing a moving (I dunno about you, but I cried) emotional narrative, they shed some light on what the Observers are capable of. And that is way better than a quick rundown of answers any day.

Next Time On Fringe: Fringe is taking a Turkey Day break.

Last Thoughts: Okay so, they are really building up this Walter/Peter business. I’m pretty sure by the end of the season Peter will find out his true origins. The question is…well, there are a lot of questions. What will Peter do? Is there an alt Walter that is super pissed that his Peter was taken from him? Is Baldo also capable of compassion since he cut a deal with Walter when Walter stole alt Peter?

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.