"After some of the things I've seen in the last three months,Walter strikes me as being one of the sanest people I know."
-- Peter (Joshua Jackson)
On the one hand, "The Equation" was different enough from the established Fringe story-template to hold your attention. One the other hand, this is still a show with great ideas, delivered in a faltering way. As usual, it begins with a puzzling teaser; where a father (Adam Grupper) driving home with his son Ben (Charlie Tahan) stops to help a woman whose car has broken down. After popping the hood, he's put into a trance by strange green and red flashing lights nestled in the engine, awakening minutes later to discover his son has been kidnapped...
Inevitably, Walter (John Noble) immediately realizes the flashings lights induces a hypnagogic state in Mr. Stockton, while a home video of Ben playing the piano reveals he's a musical prodigy, whose compositions mathematically correspond with an unsolved equation Walter's friend Dashiell "Dasher" Kim (The Matrix Reloaded's Randall Duk Kim) also obsessed over. In fact, Walter remembers Dasher telling him about his own kidnapping experience, so Olivia (Anna Torv) and Peter (Joshua Jackson) ask Walter to gleam more information from Dasher that could help find the boy. Trouble is, Dasher's still a resident of the mental asylum Walter was released from...
"The Equation" is helped immensely by the focus on Walter, who grudgingly returns to the asylum to meet with Dasher, where an outburst of violence over his old friend's unhelpfulness forces Dr. Sumner (William Sadler) to lock Walter up again, until Olivia can get a court order to re-release him. This all gives Noble the chance to shine as the caged genius, unable to indulge his passion for fringe science in this quiet, depressing place. A touching moment when Walter realizes how difficult it must be for Peter to speak to him, after having similar problems conversing with crazy Dasher, ranks as one of the better character moments on Fringe, too.
Hate to be saying it, but this episode moves better without Olivia's heavy involvement, as she's pushed into the background, and only really becomes noticeable when the story requires her to unholster her gun and capture the week's villain -- as she does every episode, to varying degrees of success. Yes, still not a fan of Anna Torv, who has failed to spark. It will be interesting to see if the writers plan to tackle the "Torv Issue" -- by just giving the actress an ultimatum to get better, decreasing her role, killing her off as a big surprise, or casting a more focal member of the "fringe team" to share the burden and distract us from her. Okay, she's not terrible, but she's so vapid I wish Walter would electrocute some zest into her!
The mystery behind why Ben has been kidnapped by Joanne Ostler (Gillian Jacobs), and the meaning behind the complex equation Ben and Dasher both found by coincidence, is drip-fed very nicely. It doesn't really make a lot of sense, and the reveal about how the equation can be applied wasn't that exciting or convincing, but it was good to see a different formula applied to a storyline. It wasn't as easy to predict what was going on, why, and how it would be resolved. There were a few coincidences and awkward ways to keep the investigation ticking along, but most people aren't watching Fringe for a slick, realistic FBI procedural. Even though it would help if it were one.
Overall, I still can't get excited about Fringe, but this episode's subtle performance from John Noble, a lack of Olivia, another inference that Peter has a surprising history (it had better live up to the hype), the return of "mole" Agent Loeb (Chance Kelly), and a fairly original way to tackle the story, all helped sustain my interest. It was just a shame "The Equation" ultimately didn't add up to much.
23 November 2008
Sky1, 9pm
Writers: David H. Goodman & J.R Orci
Director: Gwyneth Horder-Payton
Cast: Anna Torv (Olivia), Joshua Jackson (Peter), John Noble (Walter), Lance Reddick (Broyles), Kirk Acevedo (Charlie Francis), Jasika Nicole (Astrid), William Sadler (Dr. Sumner), Randall Duk Kim (Dashiell Kim), Gillian Jacobs (Joanne Ostler), Charlie Tahan (Ben Stockton), Adam Grupper (Mr. Stockton), Chance Kelly (Mitchell Loeb), Kate Hodge (Amy Stockton), Nance Williamson (Maureen Stockton), Kevin Carolan (Frank The Orderly), Christopher Sapienza (Tow Truck Driver), Constance Boardman (Woman At Door), Jabari Gray (ND Agent #1), Darby Totten (ND Agent #2) & Avis Boone (ND Agent #3)
