Fortitude: Episode 11
April 9, 2015 8:41 PM - Season 1, Episode 11 - Subscribe
We started with ice, we end with fire. The chilling thriller concludes with a dramatic and emotional finale. Vincent faces a life-threatening situation, while Dan must make a devastating decision.
Loose threads are sewn up, and our tale comes to an end. Who is left standing? Who will be back for the next series?
We learn more about our little friends the ichneumon wasps. We learn if Markus makes it out of the room filled with flies. We learn if Ronnie makes it out of the closet. We see whom else may be affected by the bugs. We see a Russian go down a hole. We learn if the drill makes it back home.
The AV Club says, in their episode review: "... the wasps are a consequence. They’re a consequence of the way we live off the land, taking more than we give back. Of the disregard we pay to the well-being of the planet and the slow (but picking up speed) destruction of the arctic through global warming. And though the people of Fortitude may not be solely responsible for the ultimate fate of the world, they are culpable in their sins against their own little world, debts that must be paid in full, one way or another. "
It'll be interesting to see where the second series goes next year, but I for one have enjoyed the wild ride Fortitude has brought this year.
We learn more about our little friends the ichneumon wasps. We learn if Markus makes it out of the room filled with flies. We learn if Ronnie makes it out of the closet. We see whom else may be affected by the bugs. We see a Russian go down a hole. We learn if the drill makes it back home.
The AV Club says, in their episode review: "... the wasps are a consequence. They’re a consequence of the way we live off the land, taking more than we give back. Of the disregard we pay to the well-being of the planet and the slow (but picking up speed) destruction of the arctic through global warming. And though the people of Fortitude may not be solely responsible for the ultimate fate of the world, they are culpable in their sins against their own little world, debts that must be paid in full, one way or another. "
It'll be interesting to see where the second series goes next year, but I for one have enjoyed the wild ride Fortitude has brought this year.
Maybe I was just grumpy when I watched this, or maybe I'm bummed about Tucci's character being killed, but this episode seemed like it went completely off the rails to me.
Why didn't Young Frankenstein cover up his body with clothing or something to protect himself from the wasps and later, the fire? And really, they couldn't figure out any way to kill a bunch of bugs than blowing up the whole hospital room? And what was the urgency in doing it right now when they thought they were going to kill the doctor anyways?
If the wasps can lay their eggs just by stinging somebody, why would they evolve the whole "control someone's brain and make them cut somebody else open and barf larvae into them" mechanism?
We've already been told that there are no doctors left on Fortitude, so who has been treating one burn victim, a patient with a gunshot wound, and a girl with a major head injury plus stab wounds?
A lot of things didn't really work for me here, like Yuri's bizarre scheme to steal the ice drill in search of he knows not what with no way to haul away whatever "treasure" he found, and then Beard Cop's decision to go after them alone in a snowmobile instead of a helicopter. I think a lot of stuff that was meant to be kind of stylized and cool just wound up being odd, like the weird slapstick brawl set to "Crazy," or Elena and Frank talking to each other through a plate glass window instead of walking around to the door, or the Governor's Dukes of Hazzard kiss out of the car window, or the whole "let's drag the pallet full of deadly bugs from the closed environment it's in out into the open air really fast by attaching it to a car and then blasting it with the flamethrowers our police department inexplicably has" thing.
I dunno. I generally liked this series, but without Tucci on it (or Michael Gambon, though I generally disliked his character) I'm not sure I'll stick around for long in season 2.
posted by whir at 9:53 AM on April 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Why didn't Young Frankenstein cover up his body with clothing or something to protect himself from the wasps and later, the fire? And really, they couldn't figure out any way to kill a bunch of bugs than blowing up the whole hospital room? And what was the urgency in doing it right now when they thought they were going to kill the doctor anyways?
If the wasps can lay their eggs just by stinging somebody, why would they evolve the whole "control someone's brain and make them cut somebody else open and barf larvae into them" mechanism?
We've already been told that there are no doctors left on Fortitude, so who has been treating one burn victim, a patient with a gunshot wound, and a girl with a major head injury plus stab wounds?
A lot of things didn't really work for me here, like Yuri's bizarre scheme to steal the ice drill in search of he knows not what with no way to haul away whatever "treasure" he found, and then Beard Cop's decision to go after them alone in a snowmobile instead of a helicopter. I think a lot of stuff that was meant to be kind of stylized and cool just wound up being odd, like the weird slapstick brawl set to "Crazy," or Elena and Frank talking to each other through a plate glass window instead of walking around to the door, or the Governor's Dukes of Hazzard kiss out of the car window, or the whole "let's drag the pallet full of deadly bugs from the closed environment it's in out into the open air really fast by attaching it to a car and then blasting it with the flamethrowers our police department inexplicably has" thing.
I dunno. I generally liked this series, but without Tucci on it (or Michael Gambon, though I generally disliked his character) I'm not sure I'll stick around for long in season 2.
posted by whir at 9:53 AM on April 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
The more I think about it the more I think the ending needed one more hour to wrap things up. I wanted to see the boat with the tusks just floating off-shore, with the pilot is the same zombie-state as Ronnie. Since mammoth-runoff was in the water, I wanted to see more people affected like Elena. I wanted to see the mainland sending in a swarm of hazmat doctors to deal with the wasps and the infected. I want to know if Carrie is all right.
VOX interviewed series creator Simon Donald on seven "most shocking" scenes, so we get a little insight to things, including the pig.
Reddit: Unanswered questions/plot holes in Season 1
posted by jazon at 10:19 AM on April 10, 2015
VOX interviewed series creator Simon Donald on seven "most shocking" scenes, so we get a little insight to things, including the pig.
Reddit: Unanswered questions/plot holes in Season 1
posted by jazon at 10:19 AM on April 10, 2015
Loved this series. Addictive. Sort of nightmare fuel.
But man, I wish someone had gone off on Markus at some point, either verbally or slapped him around a little bit. He's the creepiest dude on the show and no one ever really called him out for it. Yeah, his 'girlfriend' got infected, but it was a heart attack that killed her, a heart attack Markus was directly responsible for.
posted by el io at 12:57 PM on April 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
But man, I wish someone had gone off on Markus at some point, either verbally or slapped him around a little bit. He's the creepiest dude on the show and no one ever really called him out for it. Yeah, his 'girlfriend' got infected, but it was a heart attack that killed her, a heart attack Markus was directly responsible for.
posted by el io at 12:57 PM on April 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
It never drifted too far into the Murder Mystery, or the Horror genre, or into the Supernatural.
ITA. I was worried when the Pettigrew murder wrapped up last week that the rest of the story would end up as zombie material but thankfully there was a conceivable scientific explanation.
The ending left a LOT of loose ends though, why wasn't Carrie affected??, but now I see that there will be another series. One point I was worried about... the drill hole in the glacier letting the parasitic wasps out but I read in one of the links that they wouldn't be able to survive in the cold. I guess it's possible for the tusks to be harvested at a later date, ie next season?
I enjoyed the show for the visuals and the atmosphere of dread but at times it was a bit too clever. No one want to be force-fed plot points but needless obscuration was frustrating. Like Shirley going into the shed: turns out it was cold storage for the supermarket, not Ronnie and Jason's private property, and if it did belong to the supermarket, why didn't the owner ever venture into it and get contaminated?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:14 AM on April 11, 2015
ITA. I was worried when the Pettigrew murder wrapped up last week that the rest of the story would end up as zombie material but thankfully there was a conceivable scientific explanation.
The ending left a LOT of loose ends though, why wasn't Carrie affected??, but now I see that there will be another series. One point I was worried about... the drill hole in the glacier letting the parasitic wasps out but I read in one of the links that they wouldn't be able to survive in the cold. I guess it's possible for the tusks to be harvested at a later date, ie next season?
I enjoyed the show for the visuals and the atmosphere of dread but at times it was a bit too clever. No one want to be force-fed plot points but needless obscuration was frustrating. Like Shirley going into the shed: turns out it was cold storage for the supermarket, not Ronnie and Jason's private property, and if it did belong to the supermarket, why didn't the owner ever venture into it and get contaminated?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:14 AM on April 11, 2015
Also, from the Radio Times article about the next series:
Beyond that, those still puzzling over the details of the bizarre and eerie events that unfolded in the isolated Svalbard town may be relieved to hear him say "We haven’t yet understood completely the whole story of what has happened... There is another ingredient we’ve already seen which is going to feature in the second series."
So a second series was planned all along. I'd be overjoyed but I watched the second "planned" series of Broadchurch and it was f*cking awful.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:07 AM on April 11, 2015
Beyond that, those still puzzling over the details of the bizarre and eerie events that unfolded in the isolated Svalbard town may be relieved to hear him say "We haven’t yet understood completely the whole story of what has happened... There is another ingredient we’ve already seen which is going to feature in the second series."
So a second series was planned all along. I'd be overjoyed but I watched the second "planned" series of Broadchurch and it was f*cking awful.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:07 AM on April 11, 2015
im not going to watch another season of this. I'm glad this show is over.
posted by rebent at 6:49 PM on April 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by rebent at 6:49 PM on April 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Just finished today... I'm so-so on it. I sort of liked the setting, didn't like any of the characters except for the dear departed inspector Tucci, and was profoundly dissatisfied with the wasp reveal. I also agree that to make everything come together they had to make a lot of characters stupider. It was exceptionally well shot for a TV show, however. I think that's what kept me going even as I began to lose interest.
posted by codacorolla at 8:51 PM on May 28, 2015
posted by codacorolla at 8:51 PM on May 28, 2015
it was awesome and I loved it and I want more (although I share the trepidations about a next season)
in no particular order:
WHAT ABOUT THE BUNNY???
is Carrie ok?
I was really glad someone! finally pointed out the problem of building structures on/in a glacier!!!
why was Carrie never affected?
posted by supermedusa at 8:53 AM on January 9, 2017
in no particular order:
WHAT ABOUT THE BUNNY???
is Carrie ok?
I was really glad someone! finally pointed out the problem of building structures on/in a glacier!!!
why was Carrie never affected?
posted by supermedusa at 8:53 AM on January 9, 2017
1) The were worried about a standoff with the citizens when the cops had a fucking flamethrower.
2) I don't think I saw one wind chime.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:23 PM on May 3, 2017
2) I don't think I saw one wind chime.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:23 PM on May 3, 2017
So I just watched this at the urging of a friend. While I enjoyed it, the thing that annoyed me the most is there is no real discussion or analysis of HOW the initial stage of the "infection" is spread. So many people came into contact with the infected and didn't get it. So it can't be highly communicable then because otherwise the town would have been toast before they knew what hit it. Even if they didn't figure it out, it seemed odd to me that no one was that interested in figuring that part out.
posted by miss-lapin at 11:10 PM on August 18, 2017
posted by miss-lapin at 11:10 PM on August 18, 2017
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by jazon at 8:45 PM on April 9, 2015