GREAT SCOTT! Fringe is on of those show that has numerous guest stars every week. Someone has be the civilian put through the sci-fi meat grinder, and subsequently rescued by Fringe Division. This week it was none of than Emmett “Doc” Brown inventor of the flux capacitor, of Back to the Future Fame. Of course I’m talking about Christopher Lloyd, who in addition to being a good actor holds a special place in geekdom as one of the greatest mad scientist. When a guest star holds so much credential in a similar genre, his character better not disappoint.
Llyod plays Roscoe Joyce a retired keyboardist from Walter’s favorite band. In his nursing home he runs into his son who’s been dead for 25 years. Because he was sleep walking he doesn’t remember any of it. It’s up to Fringe division to help him remember through hypnosis. Llyod plays Rosco like a worn out, American, Keith Richards. Walter and Roscoe become buddies. They are share much in common. They were at the top of their respective fields but were devastated by the loss of their respective sons. Watching them pal around in the lab was really entertaining. In a nice homage to Back to the Future, this episode centers around time travel and the myriad of possible futures it enables. Roscoe’s son literally was transported from the past to meet him by none other than the Observer. This is the second Back to the Future reference, and it really unleashed my inner ten year old nerd. I like the fact the Mr. Spock, and Doc Brown have both shown up in Fringe in some capacity. I wonder what other sci-fi icons will show up? Brent Spinner, James Callis, Sigourney Weaver, one of the many Doctors Who? The sky is the limit.
Though awkwardly enigmatic, the Observer is up to something. He is manipulating events over a 25 year period, to conduct an experiment. Originally I thought the observer was akin to the Watcher in Marvel comics. They’re both bald otherworldly entities which study humanities progress, forbidden to interfere. I’m starting to think, maybe the Observer is a little more. He’s not just a person who chronicles the world, he’s a scientist. He and his colleges are studying and testing the world. He’s altered the outcome of his experiments by simply watching them. Forgive the pun, but it demonstrates an observer effect, and the Heisenberg uncertainty principles. It as a great scientific twist to the mystery and drama of the series. I love time travel stories, and so far “The Firefly”, and “White Tulip” have been among my favorites.
On the back burner we have Olivia and Peter’s relationship. Up until the previous episode their love was fair well developed. Forgive me for being a little sappy but their relationship was cute. My girlfriend recently started watching Fringe from the beginning. As of the second episode she looked at Peter and Olivia’s way of relating to each other and said “Something’s gonna happen between them.” (I didn’t spoil it for her.) I don’t blame the characters for awkwardness. I’d feel the same way as Olivia if my girlfriend ended up hooking up with my evil clone, who’s out there plotting world domination. I also think that they’re gonna straiten it out. Maybe to balance things out Gillian Anderson (Scully), and David Duchovny (Mulder) can guest star and try to motivate the characters to get over their awkwardness.
On a scale of 1 to Epic, (Epic= 10) I’d give it a 7.3 (Welcome back Fringe!)