Watch me and Roth discuss the latest Fringe episode “What Lies Below”. Let us know what you thought of the episode and our review.
- Dennis
17 Responses to “Fringe “What Lies Below” S2 EP13 Blog Review (VIDEO)”
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Another stand alone . . . with a minor character tidbit about letting "Peter die again".
I just hope we don't lose this show because the authors ended up having only a limited overall story and that's the purpose of all these filler stand alones.
But I still love Fringe.
Hopefully JJ Abrams and FOX get together and set an end date for this series so they can concentrate on how to properly deliver the main story arc.
Dennis
I agree – all in all it's still a good show. Not sure why they are doing this – perhaps the network thinks it will draw in new viewers – who know….
Thanks for commenting!
Roth
I, like I think everyone else, am really frustrated by the "monster of the week" episodes of Fringe. Do the producers not know why people like this show?
I think it was the commercials for this episode that caused me to be really disappointed. From the ads it looked to me that the virus was going to be the "blight" that is killing everything in the other universe and I assumed Peter was affected since he is originally from that universe. But that was not the case and I was let sorely disappointed.
I find myself looking forward less and less each week to Fringe, and I hate that because when Fringe is good, it's great. But when I watch the stand alone episodes I feel kinda cheated. Here's to hoping next week's episode is more focused.
As soon as I saw that it didn't look like it was connected to the main story arc I already had low expectations. Also this week's looks to be another stand alone as well.
I read that the one next week goes back to the main storyline. So hopefully that will jump start all of our interest back for the show.
Dennis
Yeah – you know I think they might be under the impression that this is going to increase viewership somehow…
Thanks!
Roth
about Broyles, i think with the shadow man episode earlier this season, we were supposed to feel like the FBI is his only family left. Work is his life, and saving the world is his work.
over time we've been given a lot of clues that make it seem like he and Olivia are close. with the fatherly advice, and what not, and I admit the line was cheesy, but i think they have to be building towards something here. or maybe its just me really liking the actor Lance Reddick.
i think we are supposed to assume they have built a relationship behind the scenes of the show. It would be nice though if we saw more of that, and less squid like parasites, elephant projects, and shadow killers from outer space.
I really like Lance Reddick as well (especially because of his work on The Wire, his role in LOST was limited) but I feel like his character is pretty thin, and even the episode that focused on him still didn't really sell me on his character. Other than his relationship with Olivia, I don't feel that he has any connection with the other members of the team, and therefore that line rang hollow for me.
Dennis
Hi snowren24!
Yes I really like him as an actor as well. I feel like the show perhaps needs to develop his Character a bit more – but it can get difficult I am sure with multiple characters and complex plotlines.
Thanks for commenting!
Roth
I was pretty disappointed with “What Lies Beneath” too. I didn’t even think it was a good one off episode. I’m much less frustrated by those then ya’ll are but this one didn’t even measure up the to the usual stand alone standards. Maybe I had just anticipated too much after a long absence followed by two so- so episodes, my expectations were really high. The science seemed especially bad – it always is but for some reason Walter usually sells it to me no matter how bad but not this episode. I agree that the Broyles line was cheesy, unprofessional, and insensitive. Think about it – everyone in that building is someone’s family. They are talking about murdering them in cold blood but the reason they shouldn’t is because Broyles is attached to some of them?
Yeah, if you think about the context of the story, by not eliminating the building you are potentially risking the entire world? I know it's cold but that's something you can't risk on a "maybe".
Dennis
Peter getting infected was not only completely predictable but it ruined all tension there might have been in the episode. Once he was infected you knew they were going to find a cure and everyone who hadn’t already died would be fine. The only redeeming thing about the episode was Walter/Astrid. We’ve been seeing a growing relationship for some time but without any overt gestures or talking about it, it was clear in this episode that Astrid is completely in love with Walter! I did not see that coming. I might be wrong but I really think that is how the actress was playing it.
You know I didn't look at it that way – but now that you mention it…she does seem to be playing it that way a bit – though I saw them going more overtly in that direction in the Peter and Olivia storyline – thoughts?
Roth
Certainly in the latest episode Walter is pushing Peter and Olivia but I think the actors playing Peter and Olivia have no sexual chemistry at all. I think the writers would like to have a Peter/Olivia romance but I hope they don't go there. They seem to have a great brother/sister relationship. They play being close and having affection for each other really well but nothing sexual there. Until What Lies Beneath I thought of Wlalter/Astrid as kind of a non sexual affectionate relationship as well but that seemed to change in this one episode. Who knows, actors ofter have their own take on characters that may never be justified in the script.
I agree with both of you on this one. Roth makes a great point about the relationships being advanced while Dennis sums up my feelings about the episode in its entirety, "it didn't do anything new for me".
Sounds a little contradictory at first, but I feel all the info we got regarding the state of their 'family' could have been plunked down in any episode. Nothing about what was going on was specific to those revelations. Before you say it, honestly, when has Peter, or any character for that matter, NOT been in danger? It is one of the cool things about Fringe, the characters are the main players in the story and not solving cases that do not effect their lives directly (e.g. any procedural and a lot of X-files).
Without those conversations, we are left with a mediocre episode. There was no suspense regarding Peter contracting the virus, no 'oh crap what are we going to do now?' feeling, there was just one less person that needed lines. We knew everything was going to be alright so the suspense was sucked out of the room and we were left watching everyone zombie through the steps to cure the infected and avoid the building being imploded, or whatever containment was supposed to happen.
I liked the episode, it just didn't live up to the Fringe potential.
BTW: looking forward to your take on the latest episode "Bishop Revival"
is this the first episode Walter gets Astrid's name right?
Broyle's comment was great I thought, it really showed a side of him we never get to see, something someone might not say but says it when it needs to be said.
I actually liked this episode. I know it's one of those episodes that don't really move the main story forward but, like you guys said, does move the story further along which deals with their complicated relationships. I thought the episode was very interesting but will say the whole sulfur horse radish cure was a bit much. Still a great show and worth watching if the stand alone episodes are as good as "What Lies Below".