REVIEW: Fringe “”Lysergic Acid Diethylamide”

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It is indeed a rare thing when a network television show shocks me into silence. Such was the case with last night’s episode of Fringe which I watched during one of Georgia’s typical spring thunderstorms. The storm did pose some problems though. I missed the pre-title sequence due to a sketchy satellite signal and had to listen to the tornado sirens outside during most of it. Thankfully the power stayed on and I was able to see this wonderful hour of television. I get a bit spoilery and fanboyish and long winded here so don’t hit the cut if you prefer your TV viewing to be a virginal experience.

The pressing issue this week is the declining condition of Bellivia. Walter and Team Fringe are in a race against time to get William Bell’s consciousness out of Olivia (Anna Torv) before one or both of them go insane. The first attempt doesn’t go well at all so Walter (John Noble) and Bellivia come up with the next logical course of action…drugs, or more specifically LSD as indicated by the wordy and hard to pronounce title of this episode. We know this works because they used this method to let Olivia see inside her ex-partner/lover’s mind back in season one. This time Peter (Joshua Jackson) gets to go in and run around inside his girlfriend’s mind which looks a lot like New York during a Comme des Garçons convention.

The scene inside Olivia’s mind quickly turns into a deleted scene from Inception where the people who represent her subconscious suddenly become aware of Walter and Peter’s presence and attack them. Olivia’s stepfather joins in the chase as well but Peter and Walter are quickly able to lose them in the maze of streets and mournfully dressed extras. They track Olivia to the World Trade Center towers, which still exist in the other universe and where Olivia first met William Bell in the final scene of the season 1 finale. After dodging a murderous Robo-Nina who tries to kill them using the oldest trick in the soap opera handbook they make their way to Bell’s office and this is where the episode steps into a boiling pot of awesome.

Speaking of Inception, there was a moment it looked like this episode was going to turn into a Matrix/Inception thing…an Intrixception if you will…and that would have been bad with lame sauce. Fringe did do something similar back in season one so it could be argued that they did it first…but I typically don’t have those arguments. And this was probably by design since they turned the tables into something amazing pretty fast…think Inception if the dream world were architected by Richard Linklater. I’m assuming if you read this far you already know what I’m talking about.

Yes. Animation. I couldn’t believe it either.

I read recently that the WB/CW hunkfest Supernatural was being turned into an animated franchise and found it very hard to care. Supernatural jumped the shark a long long time ago for me so part of my indifference and disdain for the idea stems from my complete lack of interest in it. Further proof that Dean and Sam’s Big Adventure needs to die is their recent Titanic episode “My Heart Will Go On” which I didn’t see but the synopsis was enough to nearly cause me to have an aneurism. But after watching a few minutes of Fringe in this medium I found myself completely immersed in the world. The possibilities that it presents are infinite and I can totally see the show having a life long after it ends its initial network run.

It was a risk though, and a big one at that. For a show that is teetering on the brink of serious ratings problems it was a brave move by the writers and I applaud them for it. Reminds me of that expression about boring women rarely making history. Or something. You get my drift. Not that I’m implying history was made here, but I think that it was a significant point in the evolution of this franchise and I hope they take advantage of it. Now, where were we?

After Walter and Peter get over the initial shock of becoming animated characters they ask William Bell (voiced by Leonard Nimoy) what the frack is going on. Always full of answers, Bell explains that Olivia is scared and that what they are experiencing is the manifestation of that fear. Peter speculates that Olivia is in hiding, which is what she does when she’s scared. To me that seemed a little out of character for Olivia based on what we know about her. Insecure? Yes. Uncomfortable with conflict? Definitely. But fear never seemed to be her gut reaction to the unknown. Regardless, because Olivia is afraid Peter deduces she will go to someplace she feels is safe…Jacksonville.

After a harrowing escape in a zeppelin from the top of the World Trade Center amid a sea of zombies that look a lot like Massive Dynamic’s chief scientist Brandon, Team Fringe finds themselves in quite a pickle when a strange stowaway with an X on his shirt and a large gun cuts the fuel line and rips a hole in the skin of the blimp, sucking himself and Walter out. Mr X has a chute, but Walter falls to his “death” and awakens in the lab. Were the zombies a nod to The Walking Dead or perhaps Olivia’s perception that the men who work for Massive Dynamic are brain-munching zombies? I suspect the latter.

Peter and Bell land in Jacksonville and discuss their next move. Bell thinks that Olivia will head for the day care center where Walter did his experiments on her, but Peter has other ideas. He leads them to the military base where Olivia grew up and the last place she told him she ever felt safe. The writers really missed a chance here to take this already amazing episode over the top by making Olivia’s safe place the field of tulips where she and Peter shared a tender moment during childhood. She said then that the field made her feel safe. Makes sense she’d go there again and it would bring her and Peter full circle. The reasons why she ended up at her old house are explained well enough and they are acceptable, just not amazing and this really could have been something special.

Peter is able to find her house thanks to the red door, something her father did to make the house stand out. Inside eveyrone is human again and he finds Olivia who is all smiles and hugs. Behind her a young Olivia dines with her family and watches the events unfold curiously but something isn’t right. Peter realizes pretty quick that the beaming vision of beauty and poise before him isn’t the real Olivia.

“I can see it in your eyes” he says, redeeming himself a bit for mistaking Fauxlivia for Olivia earlier this season and making an evil demon baby with her.

Turns out Olivia was hiding in her eight year-old body making sure that Peter was real and not sent to kill her. When the army and her stepfather show up again Peter grabs her and they race out the door to where Bell is waiting, but in attempting to save her Peter is ripped out of her mind and back into the lab. Now Olivia is alone with Bell and her angry subconscious. It is up to him to get her out before she is trapped forever. Only one can survive.

Back in reality Walter and Astrid are working feverishly to get a computer ready to receive Bell’s consciousness based on a plan from his own files. Agent Broyles (Lance Reddick) has been lingering in the background for a while tripping on LSD which provided some of the episodes more amusing and memorable moments. Astrid (Jasika Nicole) had some great moments as well but it was Peter’s drug fueled reaction to Agent Broyles lack of hair that provided the best moment of the episode.

In the end Olivia survives, but we don’t know exactly how Bell got her out. What is known is that he sacrificed himself to do so which was apparently his plan all along. “That dog won’t hunt” he tells Walter by way of Olivia. Walter doesn’t take the news well and it remains to be seen how this affects his frequent struggles with his faith in his own abilities.

The big surprise was Olivia’s thoughts about who the mysterious Mr. X might be. After offering Peter some toast she nonchalantly mentions that he might be the man who is going to kill her. Excuse me, what? I guess more went on while Olivia was trapped in her own mind than we were allowed to see. Either that or Bell had some news for her before he led her to safety. Either way, I suspect we’ll be seeing more of this Mr. X in the final three episodes of the season.

Fringe returns next week Friday with the first of the final three hours of the season.