People always don't want to try (Fringe)
Tonight's episode of Fringe wasn't bad at all. The show to date hasn't been impressive, though the female protagonist is very suave. Her looks are very good, her acting isn't bad, and she has some facial expressions that are quite unique, including her look of perplexity that is mild and ambiguous in some way I cannot put into words.
In this particular episode Dunham (that's the female character) was told by a leading bad guy to pass test 1 of 10 tests designed for unwilling recruits of some cult that that our world is at war with a parallel world. The test came in the form of a wooden box with bulbs on it, and the test is for Dunham to turn off the lights, after they have been switched on, mentally. If she completes it successfully, the bad guy would reveal information pertaining to the location of a bomb that will detonate and release a deadly toxin in the city. So she cheated. With the help of her colleague who reprogrammed the bulbs discreetly she completed the task, got the location and went down to de-activate the bomb.
The twist - and I think it is a good one - is that the same setup of lit bulbs were found on the bomb, and to turn off the bulbs mentally is the only way to de-activate it without harm. So she tried to do so this time and it worked.
This whole thing might sound amateurish but the appeal lies in the ambiguity of the plot. Beneath the thread of cultish science fiction, that the writer probably anticipated it to repel many a scientific person, is the possibility that the whole thing might have been a hoax. Dunham was unsure how she could have managed the feat - and an explanation was offered by her colleague that the lights were probably pre-programmed by the bad guy himself, so as to convince her that she does have some power and therefore be still a pawn in his depravity. That is, beside incredulous science fiction is also the simpler notion of psychopathology; the whims of a a para-normal individual becomes more like the whims of a psychotic individual who just wants to play games with people. But Dunham asks how it is possible he could have known what time she would have arrived at the bomb site. Again, the focus here is the ambiguity - no clear answer is given yet, and the viewer is left curious over how the plot at large would play out.
One other interesting point of the show came up when they were reading a manifesto written many years ago presumably by a member of the cult. I can't remember the exact words, and they are definitely more poetic than my summary, but essentially the manifesto said that: all our brains have infinite power, and this power is limited by physical forces, social forces, etc.
I think it's an intriguing point, if not a particularly mature one to make given our current state of knowledge. The idea that our brains are essentially superhuman but limited immediately by the fact of being born in a social setting, by a biological mother, on this planet that exudes many physical laws and social norms, is an interesting prospect and I would definitely want to take it up in reading or in writing.
I'm looking forward to future episodes now, not least because of Olivia Dunham, who is...Oh I already mentioned. Too bad the male characters aren't very cool; a Lincoln Burrows, T-Bag (Prison Break) or Sawyer-type character (Lost) would have complemented the coolness of the female lead quite well. I think the last two would be good, add some rogue humour and it'd be interesting to see how a cool character like Dunham responds. Traditional pairings have always been physicality and intelligence, hot and cold, good leader and roguish rebel, young and old, streetwise person and savant, witty and witty. It'd be great to see cool and confident with rogue and stand-offish.
In this particular episode Dunham (that's the female character) was told by a leading bad guy to pass test 1 of 10 tests designed for unwilling recruits of some cult that that our world is at war with a parallel world. The test came in the form of a wooden box with bulbs on it, and the test is for Dunham to turn off the lights, after they have been switched on, mentally. If she completes it successfully, the bad guy would reveal information pertaining to the location of a bomb that will detonate and release a deadly toxin in the city. So she cheated. With the help of her colleague who reprogrammed the bulbs discreetly she completed the task, got the location and went down to de-activate the bomb.
The twist - and I think it is a good one - is that the same setup of lit bulbs were found on the bomb, and to turn off the bulbs mentally is the only way to de-activate it without harm. So she tried to do so this time and it worked.
This whole thing might sound amateurish but the appeal lies in the ambiguity of the plot. Beneath the thread of cultish science fiction, that the writer probably anticipated it to repel many a scientific person, is the possibility that the whole thing might have been a hoax. Dunham was unsure how she could have managed the feat - and an explanation was offered by her colleague that the lights were probably pre-programmed by the bad guy himself, so as to convince her that she does have some power and therefore be still a pawn in his depravity. That is, beside incredulous science fiction is also the simpler notion of psychopathology; the whims of a a para-normal individual becomes more like the whims of a psychotic individual who just wants to play games with people. But Dunham asks how it is possible he could have known what time she would have arrived at the bomb site. Again, the focus here is the ambiguity - no clear answer is given yet, and the viewer is left curious over how the plot at large would play out.
One other interesting point of the show came up when they were reading a manifesto written many years ago presumably by a member of the cult. I can't remember the exact words, and they are definitely more poetic than my summary, but essentially the manifesto said that: all our brains have infinite power, and this power is limited by physical forces, social forces, etc.
I think it's an intriguing point, if not a particularly mature one to make given our current state of knowledge. The idea that our brains are essentially superhuman but limited immediately by the fact of being born in a social setting, by a biological mother, on this planet that exudes many physical laws and social norms, is an interesting prospect and I would definitely want to take it up in reading or in writing.
I'm looking forward to future episodes now, not least because of Olivia Dunham, who is...Oh I already mentioned. Too bad the male characters aren't very cool; a Lincoln Burrows, T-Bag (Prison Break) or Sawyer-type character (Lost) would have complemented the coolness of the female lead quite well. I think the last two would be good, add some rogue humour and it'd be interesting to see how a cool character like Dunham responds. Traditional pairings have always been physicality and intelligence, hot and cold, good leader and roguish rebel, young and old, streetwise person and savant, witty and witty. It'd be great to see cool and confident with rogue and stand-offish.
1 Comments:
Somehow, I have the feeling that, like Walter, you would also start to eat the evidence at the scene.
yt
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