Loaded Couch Potatoes

This was not exactly what I’d call a great episode of television, but it was good enough that I can now say I am officially onboard the Fringe season two bandwagon.  While not qualifying as great, this episode nonetheless has enough spark and vitality to it — elements that were, more often than not, missing during first-season episodes — that I’m starting to feel pretty good about saying that Fringe, in its sophomore season, has turned a corner.

This episode, “Night of Desirable Objects,” picks up roughly where the last one left off, and we see Olivia being discharged from the hospital.  She’s not 100%, though, not by any means: she’s walking with a cane, has nasty bruises all over her back and shoulder, still has a bit of the shakes in her hands, and … what else? … oh yeah, she’s got superhearing.  That’s right, if you ever wanted to know what a fly’s footsteps sound like, you might want to have a talk with Olivia Dunham; she’s got the scoop.

I’m already seeing reviews that are expressing disappointment with the lack of development in the alternate-universe storyline, but as with last week, I found this week’s episode to be a perfectly satisfactory example of making Olivia’s amnesia, and her confusion over it, a vital enough part of the story that I’m okay with not knowing more for now.

This episode isn’t as good as the season premiere, but it’s certainly got its moments, and it’s grounded enough in character that it easily sails over the more problematic elements.

Those problematic elements?  Well, it’s hard to care about the monster of the week very much.  There are some wonderfully creepy moments, some of which rival vintage X-Files monster-moments; however, as was the case with many a lesser X-Files episode, the monster plotline just never manages to amount to much of anything on the whole.

The opening sequence is great, though, featuring a creepy cornfield and a creepy scarecrow and a frightening Carrie-esque moment.  Later, there is a spooky shot of a monster bounding into partial view in an underground cave, and toward the end of the episode, there is a genuinely frightening moment in which the same monster suddenly appears behind one of the main characters.

But the mumbo-jumbo about the monster being a genetic experiment using scorpion DNA to allow a baby to gestate inside a lupus-stricken mother is of almost no interest at all.  I’m thnkful that it didn’t turn out to be yet another former experiment of one Walter Bishop, though; maybe that too-frequently-used plot device has seen its last days.

What we’re left with is the story of Olivia continuing to deal with her amnesia, and now with her ability to hear all sorts of things she shouldn’t be able to hear.  To me, that’s what this episode is really about, and it mostly succeeds on that level; the monster stuff is just window dressing.

Olivia’s enhanced hearing first manifests itself when she suddenly begins hearing a fly as its feet make noise while it walks.  Later, she hears somebody moving around in a house she and Peter are investigating, and she is so much on edge as a result that she very nearly puts a bullet in Peter’s skull.  Even later, while she’s in the tub — oooh, Anna Torv plus bubbles – she begins hearing all sorts of things all at once, and then abruptly stops hearing them again.

She’s also been visited by Nina, who gives her the contact information for one Sam Weiss, a fellow who helped put Nina “back together again” at one point, whatever that means.  Olivia goes to see Weiss, who apparently works at a bowling alley; he asks her if the headaches have begun yet, and when she says no, he says that they will.  Who is this Weiss?  I’m sure we’ll find out; as far as information goes, we’re just along for the ride with Olivia on this one, for now.

Olivia has also confided in Charlie, who, as you might recall from last week, is no longer Charlie at all.  No, he’s just a soldier from another dimension wearing a copy of Charlie’s body, and he gets to sit for another session at the interdimensional typewriter.  Whoever is on the other end isn’t happy to find out that Olivia doesn’t remember anything, and orders “Charlie” to help her remember … presumably by any means necessary.

Another element running through the episode is a theme involving Walter and Peter, father and son.  Just as Dr. Hughes has gone to great lengths to create a son for himself, Walter has … well, we still don’t know what he’s done, but we know by now that he’s surely done something.  Walter just has too knowing a look in his eye after it is discovered that the grave of Baby Boy Hughes is empty; “The grave of a boy who is not in his grave,” Walter says to himself, significantly not specifiying who he’s talking about.  John Noble, as always, is great this week.

He’s also got a fine scene in which Peter makes a date with him to go fishing.  While investigating this new case, Peter has seen a fishing lure on a wall; it’s called a “Night of Desirable Objects” lure, and Peter once bought a similar one to take on a fishing trip with his dad.  That trip never came off, but years later, they’ve got a second chance.

Joshua Jackson is good in this scene, and in the episode as a whole.  Anna Torv is very good this week, also, and the chemistry between her and Jackson — practically nonexistant during much of the first seaon — is finally starting to click.

And Kirk Acevedo makes for a great creepy faux-Charlie; he was underused during the first season, and it’s gonna be a shame to see him leave the show, but at least he’s getting to go out playing something interesting.

The guest cast is pretty good this week, too, with Charles Martin Smith playing a thankless role as a police officer; it’s always nice to see him, though, even if he’s wasted, as he is here. 

Also popping up is John Savage, who you might remember from The Deer Hunter, and — in the role of Sam Weiss, who is sure to be a recurring character — Kevin Corrigan, from The Departed amongst many other roles.

All three of those actors have more gravity and weight than is typically the case for guest stars on Fringe; it tends to be workmanlike in many of its smaller roles, and having people a bit further up the talent scale makes the whole endeavor seem a bit more worthy this week.

Not a perfect episode, by any means, but good enough for me to heartily endorse it.