Fringe 2.08: "August"

“She crossed my mind. Somehow, she never left it. I think it’s what they call feelings. I think I love her.”

-August

For a more mythology-centered episode, “August” didn’t resonate with me as much as I expected. I did find it more fulfilling on rewatch, however, since I actually was able to figure out what happened at the end. The way it was shot, it was kind of difficult to figure out all the details at first. People were shot from far away or in too much darkness. Most importantly, we learned some more information about the Observers, the bald guys in vintage suits and hats who are on hand for all of the world’s big events. Oh yeah, that’s right. I said Observers. Plural. Spoiler alert…I guess.

The freaky happening of the week is the kidnapping of a grad student, Christine Hollis, as she was about to leave for a semester abroad in Italy. The thing about the kidnapping that gets the Fringe team involved is that the kidnapper appears to be The Observer. He had quite the futuristic weapon, too- it just sort of knocked people back. The Observer gets Christine in a car and drives off (starting the car by touching his thumb to a scanner) before anyone can stop him. This event also has the unfortunate side effect of interrupting the fun day at the amusement park Olivia had planned with her niece, Ella. Ella is understanding, but Olivia is still upset about it.

The mystery gets interesting when the Fringe team analyzes the surveillance video of the kidnapping and sees that yes, an Observer is the one responsible, but not the Observer they’ve dealt with in the past. The fact that there are multiple Observers is pretty interesting to me. I guess it makes sense. It would be difficult for one person to make it to so many big historical events. The other important thing laid out on the table right away is that other than the time an Observer saved Walter and Peter after a car accident that happened when Peter was a little kid, there is no record of an Observer actually getting involved in history. Usually they just stand by, watch it unfold, and take notes.

Walter is being extra-shifty, but nobody around him seems to notice. Are they so used to Walter being crazy that extra craziness doesn’t really register? He’s being more evasive than usual, and he’s constantly pouring over a notebook. The rest of the Fringe team finds another notebook especially interesting. This one belongs to the kidnapper Observer, who we later learn is named August. August’s notebook is filled with symbols, and according to Astrid, none of the symbols ever repeat. Language is based on repeating characters, so the contents of the notebook baffle her. Peter thinks he’s found something more useful, though- a blood stain on one of the pages. Walter notes that it looks like it has an orange tint, which could indicate hemophilia. Peter’s all gung ho about solving this mystery and wants the FBI to compose a list of all the known hemophiliacs in the area. Walter doesn’t really say much.

Peter and Olivia visit with Christine’s roommate, who tells them that Christine was on her way to Rome and gives them her flight schedule. Later in the car, Peter and Olivia are surprised to hear that the plane Christine was supposed to be on crashed in Italy, killing all passengers. At least the surprise kicks Olivia out of her broody regretting not making memories with Ella mood. Generally I like Olivia/Peter bonding scenes, but the scene in the car when she’s telling him about early memories with her mother and Peter reassures her that she still has time to make memories with Ella just didn’t work for me. It felt like the episode was trying too hard to make Olivia soft. Plus it was an excuse to do major product placement for the car they were driving- they were showing off all the fancy features like this screen that could act as a phone and a radio, and a button on the driver’s side door that could control radio volume.

Peter and Olivia also pay a visit to the Massive Dynamics tech guy (the one from the episode where Charlie was revealed as the agent from the Other side), because he’s been researching the Observer code, too. I think this guy is going to become one of my favorite recurring characters on the show. He’s goofy and nerdy, and is always so enthusiastic about whatever he’s working on. He hasn’t had any luck cracking the code either, but he does have some interesting information. He has photographic evidence of the wide variety of historical events Observers have overseen. He figures to cover that huge span of time, they must not move in a linear time line like we do. They’re like the Prophets/Wormhole Aliens from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Time, as we know it, has no meaning to them.

When Olivia and Peter get back to the lab, Walter has some new, interesting information. The red stain on the notebook wasn’t blood, it was hot sauce. And not just any hot sauce. It’s made from one of the hottest peppers out there, most commonly grown in India. The team gets to figuring out who in Boston has imported these peppers. Turns out it’s three Indian restaurants and one individual.

It turns out this information is relevant in two ways. One is that all the Observers there are at least four or five of them) use one of the Indian restaurants as their regular meeting place. They discuss the problem of August, and they decide that Christine being saved must be “corrected.” They send a kind of scary assassin guy after her. August manages to keep Christine safe from her for a while, and he eventually is able to gain Christine’s trust. I think showing her the news report of the plane crash did the trick!

It also turns out that the individual who had been importing the peppers was August. Olivia and Peter arrive at August’s apartment just as the assassin is on his way out. All three have figured out that August has Christine at a nearby motel, and that’s where the final standoff happens. Peter ends up killing the assassin with August’s crazy gun, but not before August himself was shot several times by the assassin. Olivia manages to rescue Christine. As August is being driven away in a car by another Observer, he asks if Christine will be safe and lies back in his seat. The driver replies that she will be. She’s important now, because she caused the death of an Observer.

FlashForward 1.09: "Believe"

“Come home, Bryce.”

-Nicole

So I kind of loved this episode the first time I saw it, but it didn’t hold up as well on rewatch as I might have hoped. I did appreciate that this episode was, for the most part, focused on Bryce’s story. Of course, since it’s FlashForward, there were still other stories kicking around- just three instead of the usual five or six! I think the episode relied too much on punch-to-the-gut moments for its emotional resonance, however, which I why I think I wasn’t quite as enthusiastic about it after the second go ‘round. All in all, it was a more solid entry in the series than last week’s laughable episode, though.

The first emotional punch-to-the-gut happens right at the beginning of the episode. Bryce is looking at some images in a hospital office- either a CT or MRI- I’m not a doctor, so I don’t know which. The twist is that the images are Bryce’s. He has stage four cancer, specifically renal cell carcinoma. The cancer isn’t responding well to treatment, and although we don’t hear the doctor give a specific prognosis, it’s presumed that Bryce isn’t long for this world. Bryce doesn’t want any aggressive treatment. His family had just been through an ordeal when Bryce’s father died of lung cancer, and he doesn’t want them to go through that again. He’s not dealing with his prognosis well, though. He repeatedly smashes his car in the parking garage, and after a conversation with his therapist, ends up on the pier with a gun, right where we saw him when the blackout hit.

In the present, the flash forward has inspired Bryce to continue with cancer treatment so he has a shot at living to see his future. The treatments are taking their toll, though, and people at work are beginning to notice. Olivia discovers the truth when she examines Bryce following an almost-fainting spell and notices he has a central line. Olivia pulls a few strings and gets Bryce enrolled in a clinical trial with a med school friend of hers in Texas. Instead of flying to Texas, however, Bryce flies to Japan. Because, you see, that’s what was in Bryce’s flash forward. Meeting an Asian woman in a sushi restaurant. Bryce showed one of his drawings of the woman to a patient of his who is a Japanese native, and the patient recognized the logo on the t-shirt of the woman in the drawing. It’s the logo for a sushi restaurant just outside of Tokyo.

“Believe” also introduces the story of Keiko, the woman from Bryce’s vision. She’s a robotics nerd who secretly just wants to break free and play awesome guitar like Jimi Hendrix. She spent most of her life working towards a career in robotics, but when she finally lands a job at Japan’s best robotics firm, it isn’t all she hoped. She doesn’t like being cooped up at a desk all day, and the fact that, at home, her mom is trying to push her into what amounts to an arranged marriage, doesn’t help make her life any more tolerable. The final straw is when she gets called into a meeting of the higher-ups in her company. She is excited at first, thinking her opinion will be valued. It turns out they just wanted her to serve tea. Since they hired her, they didn’t think it was worth it to hire a second woman just to serve tea. Now I know next to nothing about Japanese culture, but some of this feels too broadly drawn to be realistic. The CEO of the company is almost like a cartoon.

When Bryce hightails it to Japan, he doesn’t end up finding what he’s looking for. He finds the sushi restaurant, where some of the employees recognize his drawing because several members of Keiko’s family work there. They give Bryce the address to Keiko’s family home. Keiko’s mom isn’t thrilled to see Bryce, though. She’s still stinging from the fact that her daughter said there was someone else out there for her. And ran away. She doesn’t tell Bryce any of this, though, just threatens to call the police and slams the door. Bryce is devastated and calls Nicole. She advises him not to try to rush things and to just come home. It turns out that Bryce’s flash forward actually took place in a Japanese restaurant in LA, and guess who disembarks the plane a minute or so after Bryce? Why, it’s Keiko, of course.

The rest of the stories in this episode are really afterthoughts when placed next to the sweeping, multi-national story of Bryce and Keiko, but I’ll include the run-down anyway. First and foremost, Mark Benford continues to be a broody jerk who I would really rather not see on my television. This week Mark continues the “let’s see if I can alienate everybody who cares about me” tour by being accusatory towards Aaron and Wedeck after he discovers the “Mark was drinking in his flash forward” text on Olivia’s phone. Aaron tells Mark he’s not Mark’s sponsor anymore, and Wedeck tells Mark to get out of his office. Smooth moves, Benford.

Granted, Aaron has a bit of a reason to be irritable. Tracey has returned from abroad to be a raging alcoholic like her dad, and Aaron’s feeling quite a bit of guilt over it. It doesn’t help that Tracey’s alcoholism means she always has alcohol in the house, and Aaron cannot be around alcohol at all. Yeah, this story is pretty darn clichéd and going nowhere fast.

The most intriguing of the secondary stories takes place at the FBI. The NSA has arrived with enhanced baseball stadium “Suspect Zero” footage. They analyzed the ring on Suspect Zero’s finger, and it has a lower case alpha on it. Have the FlashForward writers been watching Dollhouse? Because that would be kind of cool. Anyway, the NSA rep is being especially coy an unhelpful, and when confronted about it, she says that she’s wary of revealing too much information because one of the members of the MOSAIC team has been red flagged by the NSA. That would be Demetri, and it’s because of the creepy, untraceable phone call he received about his murder. After much glaring by the FBI agents (kinda lame, if you ask me), the NSA agent agrees to give Demetri a copy of the phone call audio. Vreede comes to a very interesting conclusion after analyzing the audio- the call was placed from Hong Kong. Mark thinks it’s time for a road trip to Hong Kong, but Wedeck doesn’t think it’s a good idea. Mark tells Demetri they’re going anyway. I smell next week’s source of drama.

Community 1.10: "Environmental Science"

“Well, print five thousand more. I’m trying to save a planet here!”

-The Dean

While watching “Environmental Science,” I think I laughed out loud more than I have during an episode of Community in a while. There may have only been one other episode, I believe it was “Social Psychology,” that actually really made me laugh. I’m actually sort of surprised that I enjoyed an episode that focused so heavily on Señor Chang, since I usually find him over-the-top and ridiculous, and not in a good way. He certainly had his grating moments, but overall, he was tolerable. I liked that even though the episode used some of the more conventional character pairings instead of mixing it up, the plots were fresh, and for the most part, genuinely funny.

This episode really focused on testing the friendships of the study group and exploring how far they would go to help each other out. Jeff was given the assignment of buttering up Señor Chang because Chang has been assigning a ridiculous amount of homework lately. Troy and Abed work together on a biology experiment involving a rat even though Troy has an intense fear of rats. Pierce offers to help Shirley with public speaking so she can give a good presentation in her marketing class. Britta and Annie are kind of just there to be judgmental about Jeff, but that’s okay because you really can’t have a significant story for every character in just 22 minutes. It’s probably best that a few of the crew are put on the back burner every week.

Although Annie doesn’t have a big part in this week’s episode, Alison Brie does have several great comedic moments. One is when Señor Chang pulls her desk out of the classroom because she kept working beyond the allotted time for a test. The look on her face as she goes sliding out of the room is priceless. There’s also her declaration of “I vote we all look at Jeff at the same time” when the study group is deciding who should convince Chang to rescind his twenty page paper assignment. Last but most definitely not least, there’s her little choo-choo dance as she tells Jeff “Well guess what, Handsome Hobo, you’re gravy train’s leaving the station.”

My favorite plot of the episode was Abed and Troy and their rat, Fivel. The assignment is to get the rat to respond to a song. Abed, being the lover of 80’s pop culture that he is, decides that he and Troy will sing “Somewhere out There.” Troy, even though he protests a little, goes with it. Everything falls apart when Troy is scared by another student holding an uncaged rat nearby and accidentally knocks over Fivel’s cage. Abed is very attached to Fivel, and he’s upset that Troy isn’t enthusiastic about helping him get Fivel back. Things are made worse when The Dean calls in an exterminator.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Jeff’s story in this episode. After he’s given his mission by the rest of the study group, he quickly hones in on the fact that Señor Chang is giving them crazy amounts of work because he’s upset that his wife just left him. Jeff decides to use this knowledge to his own advantage. Chang wants to go out partying with Jeff, and when Jeff conveniently mentions that he can’t because of the paper, Chang lets him off the hook. He later does the same for a quiz. When the rest of the group figures this out, they are obviously not pleased, and it leads to a temporary “break up” between Jeff and the rest of the group.

Jeff, however, has a bigger plan in mind. At the “Green Daye” concert (The Dean thought he was booking Green Day for a special eco-friendly week at Greendale aka “Envirodale”, but he got a Celtic band instead…highly amusing), he arranges for Mrs. Chang to be there. The Changs are reunited and dance (and by the way, I want Mrs. Chang’s dress, it’s very cute). While this is going on, Shirley is recovering in the middle of her marketing class speech (about selling brownies on the Internet) thanks to the techniques Pierce taught her, and Troy is getting over his fear of rats to help Abed, only to be rewarded by Fivel running up his pant leg. Señor Chang, now in a better mood, cancels the twenty page paper. He decides to give Jeff a one page paper as punishment for his emotional manipulation, though.

The rest of the study group, having just arrived in the auditorium in time to see this, offer to take Jeff back and help him with his paper. I guess the reason I’m not sure how I feel about Jeff’s plot is that I’m not sure about the motivations behind his final actions. Was he hoping that by reuniting the Changs, he would be able to help out the rest of the then-ex study group, or was he hoping to gain more rewards for himself. It’s hard to say. Jeff is incredibly self-involved, so it’s certainly possible he was only thinking of his own benefit and not the group. On the other hand, Jeff has shown moments of personal growth…occasionally.

I think this episode really brought the study group closer together. Pierce stopped being offensive for just long enough to help Shirley, and Shirley truly appreciated it. Abed definitely appreciated Troy saving Fivel from the exterminator, and I was glad to see Troy get over himself and step it up for his friend. I had been kind of annoyed at him earlier in the episode when he was refusing to help Abed. I was especially annoyed when Troy was going on about how it makes sense Abed would be willing to help Troy because Abed considers Troy a friend, but it doesn’t go both ways (implying Troy doesn’t consider Abed a friend), but he came through. And Jeff, whether he wants to admit it or not, helped out his friends as well. All in all, the group is starting to rely on one another, and they’re truly starting to become the community Jeff proclaimed them to be in the pilot.

Glee 1.10: "Ballad"

“I could totally sing this song with Finn. But screw him if he thinks he’s taking the Diana Ross part from me.”

-Kurt

I think “Ballad” is my favorite episode of “Glee” thus far, although I was quite worried going into it. I was anticipating that Rachel getting a schoolgirl crush on Will would be quite squicky, but actually, it was absolutely hilarious. It was so entertaining that it overcame any irritation I felt from the still sort-of stalled Finn, Quinn, Puck, and the baby plot. There were some important developments in that plot this week, but the most important thing, Finn finding out that he’s not the father, still hasn’t happened. I came close to feeling sympathy for Quinn because things keep getting worse for her, but it still irritates me that she’s putting Finn through so much when he’s not even the father. It’s incredibly selfish on Quinn’s part, and I hate that others (cough…Mercedes…cough) encourage it instead of being horrified.

Will, who is actually up on his Show Choir rules for once, announces that each team is required to perform a ballad in competition this year. He wants the kids to draw names to determine their pairs for ballad practice. One student is out sick, so Will decides to put his own name in the hat as well. He ends up regretting that decision, as it’s Rachel who draws his name. Rachel’s pretty gung ho about it, and she wants them to sing a ballad right then and there to show the rest of the class how it’s done. Her choice? Endless love. Yeah, bad idea, Will. He starts to go with it, but then gets a hilarious horrified look on his face when he sees Rachel start to look at him adoringly. He’s been down this road before, and it wasn’t pretty.

The wacky hijinks continue throughout the episode, and the situation just keeps getting funnier and funnier. Will goes to Emma for advice, and she suggests that if he’s afraid to tell Rachel she needs to back off, he should sing it to her. Will decides to sing a mash-up of “Young Girl” and “Don’t Stand So Close to Me,” and the result is again hilarious. Both Emma and Rachel have identical smitten looks on their faces as he performs, and they both applaud giddily at the end. The plan has backfired in a big way. This plot also is responsible for perhaps the one moment in the entirety of Glee where I actually liked Terri. We get a flash back to the most intense schoolgirl crush Will has faced- Suzy Pepper. When Suzy calls the Schuster home at 3AM, Terri angrily tells her that she needs proper sleep or else her antidepressants won’t work and she’ll kill Suzy. Way to go, Terri! Terri also has Rachel doing chores around the Schuster apartment, which is pretty funny in its own right. It’s a confrontation with Suzy Pepper, where Suzy tells Rachel that Rachel should look to her as a cautionary tale that finally gets Rachel to see the light. Rachel apologizes to Will, and Will responds by actually being human to her at once- encouraging her that she’ll find the right guy eventually.

The actual A story of the episode was lighter on humor and heavier on heart, although I couldn’t really feel the full effect of the more emotional moment due to my continuing dislike of Quinn and now Mercedes, too. Finn is feeling especially torn up about the baby- he’s devastated that he loves her already, and because she’s going to be adopted, she’ll never know. Kurt, his ballad partner, encourages him to work through his feelings in song. I love Kurt/Finn scenes, by the way. Kurt’s crush is cute, and the way Finn always makes sure to let him down gently is very sweet. Finn decides to sing “I’ll Stand By You,” and his mom catches him singing the song to the sonogram DVD playing on his computer. Finn breaks down in tears, and his mother just holds him.

Finn and Kurt then make the mistake of thinking that the same thing will make Finn feel better about Quinn’s parents being out of the loop about the baby situation. Finn has been invited to dinner at the Fabray house, and before you know it, he’s singing “(You’re) Having My Baby.” The reception of the news by the Fabray parents, especially Quinn’s dad, is not nearly as supportive, to say the least. Quinn’s dad kicks her out, but Finn’s mom lets her stay at their place for a while. I almost felt sorry for Quinn when all of this was going down, but then I remembered that she’s needlessly ruining Finn’s life, and I got over it quick.

Mercedes has taken it upon herself to try to cheer Finn and Quinn up, mostly so New Directions can move past the baby drama and get back to singing. She thinks a group song to the not-so-happy couple would be perfect, and she tells Puck, her ballad partner, her idea. Puck is irate. He doesn’t understand why Finn gets everything. Mercedes is taken aback at Pucks response, and he tells her that he’s the father of Quinn’s baby. Mercedes is taken aback for a second, but soon responds with venom. She basically tells Puck that since Quinn has chosen Finn, Puck better just suck it up so he doesn’t make Quinn’s life any worse than he already has. Just typing this out mad. “Flames on the side of my face” mad, to quote the cult classic movie “Clue.”

What’s almost worse is that Puck buys it. There’s a cutesy group sing of “Lean on Me” to Finn and Quinn, and Puck is right in the middle of it, dancing his heart out and mouthing “call me” to Quinn (which Kurt does to Finn also, which is kind of adorable). I was hoping he wouldn’t be able to take it anymore and burst out with the truth for the whole Glee Club to hear, but alas, he didn’t. I’m hoping he will soon. I’m ready for some truth!