There’s no doubt that Fringe is building toward something huge, though it’s tough to guess where the series is headed this early in its run. Nearly every episode ends with the investigative team solving the mystery of the week, but it’s obvious that the strange events they encounter are far from random. Last night’s installment, “Power Hungry,” introduced us to a mysterious man known as Dr. Fisher. Agent Broyles revealed that there are numerous shady doctors in the world who have been illegally experimenting on human subjects, with Fisher possibly being the worst of them. What’s the ultimate goal of these doctors, and why are they trying to give ordinary people special abilities?
Whenever I watch a show that has any sort of involvement from J.J. Abrams, I’m always left with the comforting feeling that the writers know exactly where they’re taking the story. This isn’t always true, of course, but at least the talented people behind the scenes are good at making me believe they have it all planned out. Every time I watch Fringe I’m left feeling like everything we’ve seen is somehow connected to what we’ve seen before, and that it’s all building to some sort of massive reveal. I’m just waiting for an installment similar to the “Phase One” episode of Alias, which upended the show’s entire mythology and sent everything barreling in a new direction.
It remains to be seen if Fringe will experience a similar structural shake-up, but it’s obvious that The Pattern, The Observer, Massive Dynamic and William Bell are all part of something bigger. When Broyles mentioned doctors experimenting on human subjects in last night’s episode, my thoughts immediately went toward Heroes. That ridiculous mess of a show has dealt with the same thing in recent episodes, and I can’t help but wonder if Massive Dynamic is trying to create some sort of super-powered army. Whether they would use this army for good or evil remains to be seen, but my guess is they’re trying to create a legion of super-humans. Then again, that may be too simple for this show, so I’m certainly willing to entertain other theories.
Whatever it is Fringe is building toward, I feel that The Observer is the key. The mysterious bald man was seen yet again last night, this time exiting the doomed elevator just as Joseph entered it. I don’t know if he’s an alien, a time traveler or a lab experiment gone awry, but he probably knows the ultimate outcome of all these strange events. I hope he gets to be front and center again in an upcoming episode, otherwise we may be waiting a long time to have our burning questions answered.
– Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
