{"id":144,"date":"2011-02-05T11:45:56","date_gmt":"2011-02-05T19:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=144"},"modified":"2011-05-05T16:44:53","modified_gmt":"2011-05-05T23:44:53","slug":"mark-watches-fringe-s03e12-concentrate-and-ask-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2011\/02\/mark-watches-fringe-s03e12-concentrate-and-ask-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Fringe’: S03E12 – Concentrate and Ask Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twelfth episode of the third season of Fringe<\/em>, the Fringe division quickly tries to find out why men are being killed by a chemical that makes their bones disappear. They utilize an unregistered Cortexiphan subject who can read minds in the process, but it creates a damning result. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Fringe<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Do you know how it feels to be burdened with something that makes it impossible for you to relate to another person, that makes you feel completely alone in the world?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a new theme for me to discuss in my reviews and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll try to avoid repeating myself here. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a reason so many of are obsessed with this show, are clinging to the hope that posting about it on Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook, trying to spread the word about how fantastic it is. We want it to stay alive so genuinely. And while people are certainly welcome and encouraged to take what they want from Fringe<\/em>, I am taking something very specific from this show.<\/p>\n

I feel that there is not a show on television that is addressing such subtle and bleak themes as Fringe <\/em>is. The opening scenes of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Concentrate and Ask Again\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are heartbreaking, as Olivia opens up to Nina Sharp about what has happened between her and Peter, and how that makes her feel as a person who is left. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not often that we see the writers of a show take risks with their main lead character, to speak openly about depression and loneliness, to take the love of their life away and not do so in a way that is overly distracting. The way Olivia has been written post-\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Entrada\u00e2\u20ac\u009d assumes an intelligence in the audience, that we can handle a difficult, disheartening situation, knowing that we prefer this over a show that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s purely sci-fi or purely soap-opera drama. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a fine line between the two and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure the writers are aware of it.<\/p>\n

I was worried from last week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s previews that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Concentrate and Ask Again\u00e2\u20ac\u009d would be a monster-of-the-week style episode, since the idea of a blue chemical and a regular investigation suggested that, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to remember that the writers of this show have been doing this since the last third of season two. The way they can still blend in weird, terrifying science with the show\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s greater mythology is impressive, even if the main plot is merely an impetus to bring up other issues.<\/p>\n

But let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about about Olivia and that loneliness she feels. By bringing in Simon Phillips, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re reminded once again of what Walter did to those Cortexiphan subjects. I was worried before that the show would never acknowledge how awful and fucked up it was what Walter and William Bell did to those children, but \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jacksonville\u00e2\u20ac\u009d provided that cathartic damnation, via Olivia. I appreciate that the writers are also not prepared to fully forgive Walter either, and I felt there was a subtext beyond the story device Simon Phillips created that the writers intended here: Walter must always<\/em> be reminded of the lives he ruined, of the burden he gave a bunch of children, in the name of science. This show is unabashedly sci-fi, but is, thankfully, unafraid to criticize what science has done to people, especially without their consent.<\/p>\n

Simon Phillips can read minds. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a trope that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unfamiliar in sci-fi, and neither is the idea that reading minds is painful and traumatic. But for Olivia, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a reminder as well, just like it is for Walter. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a reminder of her childhood, of how she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s grown to be someone who has a hard time trusting others, who feels so desperately separated from the rest of the world. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an even more horrifying parallel to what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still going through with Fauxlivia, who stole her life and reminded her that there was<\/em> a chance she could have turned out better, that she could have been quicker to smile, easier to love, more friendly, more adjusted.<\/p>\n

This show is not about me, obviously, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to make this entirely about what I feel, but, as I spoke about during my review of Doctor Who<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Doomsday,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always been a challenge of mine to articulate my relationship with loneliness and social anxiety. In that sense, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Concentrate and Ask Again\u00e2\u20ac\u009d resonated powerfully inside me. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen many examples of any mainstream television show spelling out how I feel, in so many words, about my loneliness or the separation I feel from the people around me, how my traumatic past seems inescapable and ever-present.<\/p>\n

Fringe<\/em> is not necessarily the best show I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen, and the first season has a lot of faults. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I had a hard time getting into it and I know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why there aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t more than two million people watching this every week. But the writers have crafted a delicate, heartbreaking show with a fascinating mythology, and, if anything, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Concentrate and Ask Again\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is a perfect example of while I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be in for the long run.<\/p>\n

THOUGHTS<\/strong><\/p>\n