With three episodes under it’s belt “The Recordist” continues Fringe’s steady improvement. Though I am still prickling from the drastic change to the status quo I greatly enjoyed this episode. It played to Fringe’s strengths, by using a sci-fi story to frame a narrative about the human condition. The subject explored was about heroism, courage, and cowardice, a very fitting plot for a world where ruled by dictators.
While continuing the “fetch quest” to rebuild Walter’s plan to eradicate the Observers, the Fringe team is taken to the woods in rural Pennsylvania where they must find a type of mineral which they will refine into an energy source. There they meet a group of isolated refuges who have taken up residence in the forest. They have made it their mission to record history as accurately as possible lest the Observers rewrite it. On top of that the people are suffering from a strange skin ailment which causes them to grow bark like rashes. They must find what they need before the Observers catch up to them, and they become infected with the same rash.
The stand out one shot characters of Edwin and his son River added so much to this episode. River idolizes the Fringe Team and has drawn several comic books about them saving the world from the Observers. Edwin is the titular record keeper who is reluctant to help the Fringe team. The conflict between them parallels the idolization that Etta has for Olivia. It creates a strong emotional center for the episode. the family moments between River and Edwin, Olivia and Peter, and Olivia and Etta are touching. As alien and grim as this future is it grounds the adventure. More than investigations, or science fiction, Fringe is a show about family. I as I’ve complained before I feel the Observers as a big bad take us too far from away from what we know about Fringe. This brings us back.
On a Scale of 1 to Epic (Epic = 10): 
“The Recordist” Gets a 8.5
