Fringe: The Transformation Rewatch
August 6, 2014 5:25 PM - Season 1, Episode 13 - Subscribe
Exact change - seatbelts - guts - one-half nipple rule - good news or bad? - "close with care" - black ops - one ninety six - Peter's M.O. - The White Horse - dock
"Being fearless doesn't mean you're being safe."
The rocking camera motion in the conversation between John and Olivia makes the whole scene feel off-kilter.
"Being fearless doesn't mean you're being safe."
The rocking camera motion in the conversation between John and Olivia makes the whole scene feel off-kilter.
Oh and Peter wields bullshit like a knife in the sting scene. Super slick.
posted by carsonb at 11:10 PM on August 6, 2014
posted by carsonb at 11:10 PM on August 6, 2014
Shit, sorry for the hat trick here but I forgot Blanka, jus' sayin'.
posted by carsonb at 11:13 PM on August 6, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by carsonb at 11:13 PM on August 6, 2014 [2 favorites]
> Shit, sorry for the hat trick here but I forgot Blanka, jus' sayin'
That is awesome! Please post more such hat tricks. Thx.
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 1:20 AM on August 7, 2014
That is awesome! Please post more such hat tricks. Thx.
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 1:20 AM on August 7, 2014
OK. Here we go: The Transformation. Pumped.
The following is a REAL Fringe argument involving a REAL couple: Me: "porcupine." BAKERSFIELD!: "hedgehog." Me: "porcupine." BAKERSFIELD!: "hedgehog!!" Me: "porcupine!" BAKERSFIELD!: [withering stare]. Me: "OK, hedgehog."
3:54. Ugh. Dental trauma. I can never watch this scene, due to a recurring dream I have where I reach into my mouth and pull out a succession of loose teeth and eventually, if I don't wake up screaming early enough, large pieces of my upper jaw. I know, common dream type, but that shared experience is what makes this so excruciating. And that's Fringe at its best; it's way of accessing our shared nightmares and personal anxieties and refashioning them as entertainment.
19:00 Potentially unethical use of watermelon as a "control group"(?) there. Did Walter get informed consent? I don't think so. Poor, defenceless watermelon. Won't someone help?
22:00 Broyles: "It gets worse." No, Agent Broyles! You're supposed to say it gets BETTER! Don't get involved in any internet campaigns, dude.
31:00 By this point, with all the isolation tank action going on, you'd think Olivia would've started bringing a hair dryer to the Lab.
32:00 Is this the first (and only?) reference to Astrid's mother?
36:00 I love how Conrad's shady Eurotrash associate looks like some second-rate EDM DJ whose Ibiza stint has fallen through. Probably quite authentic.
39:30 Oh, big wow, Peter can name check a tourist pub in Oxford. I think this shady deal would've been more believable taking place in the tattier vibe of the King's Arms across the road, but I guess Mr EDM wouldn't know that.
So, in summary: PORCUPINE!
posted by Sonny Jim at 1:02 PM on August 7, 2014
The following is a REAL Fringe argument involving a REAL couple: Me: "porcupine." BAKERSFIELD!: "hedgehog." Me: "porcupine." BAKERSFIELD!: "hedgehog!!" Me: "porcupine!" BAKERSFIELD!: [withering stare]. Me: "OK, hedgehog."
3:54. Ugh. Dental trauma. I can never watch this scene, due to a recurring dream I have where I reach into my mouth and pull out a succession of loose teeth and eventually, if I don't wake up screaming early enough, large pieces of my upper jaw. I know, common dream type, but that shared experience is what makes this so excruciating. And that's Fringe at its best; it's way of accessing our shared nightmares and personal anxieties and refashioning them as entertainment.
19:00 Potentially unethical use of watermelon as a "control group"(?) there. Did Walter get informed consent? I don't think so. Poor, defenceless watermelon. Won't someone help?
22:00 Broyles: "It gets worse." No, Agent Broyles! You're supposed to say it gets BETTER! Don't get involved in any internet campaigns, dude.
31:00 By this point, with all the isolation tank action going on, you'd think Olivia would've started bringing a hair dryer to the Lab.
32:00 Is this the first (and only?) reference to Astrid's mother?
36:00 I love how Conrad's shady Eurotrash associate looks like some second-rate EDM DJ whose Ibiza stint has fallen through. Probably quite authentic.
39:30 Oh, big wow, Peter can name check a tourist pub in Oxford. I think this shady deal would've been more believable taking place in the tattier vibe of the King's Arms across the road, but I guess Mr EDM wouldn't know that.
So, in summary: PORCUPINE!
posted by Sonny Jim at 1:02 PM on August 7, 2014
I think I've been to The White Horse in Oxford (Tudor frontage right?) and it just does standard pub fare. There is a half decent Thai place at the coach station if a little down at heel. I, of course, would have pointed all of this out to Peter were I a character in the show and in this scene.
So, a few notes,
2:00 I didn't take this too seriously because I've had friends say stuff like that to me at the beginning of a big night, "whatever I end up as by the end of the night - you won't want to know". Admittedly none of them turned into giant porcupines, but it was equally as messy.
10:00 Time for an extensive nipple discussion, thanks to the fpp which in turn sent me down the "weirdness of marsupial anatomy" wormhole. Like female kangaroos have almost as many vaginas as they have nipples.
By 24:00 I am thoroughly confused about this tank which last I heard was OMG dangerous and bad and wrong. Except for this episode. Because we need to rehabilitate John Scott. Why, so we can dispense with him and move on to Pacey?
I think this is one of the more successful "monster of the week" episodes. Not so sure I'm convinced by the convenient "NSA black ops so it's not written down but trust me I'm a good guy anyway" plot twist but I think it was necessary because the audience needs to trust Olivia's judgement. We just can't have her make such a huge oversight.
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 1:31 PM on August 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
So, a few notes,
2:00 I didn't take this too seriously because I've had friends say stuff like that to me at the beginning of a big night, "whatever I end up as by the end of the night - you won't want to know". Admittedly none of them turned into giant porcupines, but it was equally as messy.
10:00 Time for an extensive nipple discussion, thanks to the fpp which in turn sent me down the "weirdness of marsupial anatomy" wormhole. Like female kangaroos have almost as many vaginas as they have nipples.
By 24:00 I am thoroughly confused about this tank which last I heard was OMG dangerous and bad and wrong. Except for this episode. Because we need to rehabilitate John Scott. Why, so we can dispense with him and move on to Pacey?
I think this is one of the more successful "monster of the week" episodes. Not so sure I'm convinced by the convenient "NSA black ops so it's not written down but trust me I'm a good guy anyway" plot twist but I think it was necessary because the audience needs to trust Olivia's judgement. We just can't have her make such a huge oversight.
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 1:31 PM on August 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh just noticed the link to the White Horse on the FPP, no actually the pub I went to was across the road from Blackwells. Sorry everyone.
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 1:41 PM on August 7, 2014
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 1:41 PM on August 7, 2014
So John Scott is part of a bioterrorist organization that not only do the members shoot each other for tremendously oblique reasons, but they're also busy dosing themselves with Wereporc Juice...
???
posted by P.o.B. at 9:10 PM on August 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
???
posted by P.o.B. at 9:10 PM on August 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
When I st
posted by Athanassiel at 2:02 AM on October 13, 2014
posted by Athanassiel at 2:02 AM on October 13, 2014
I'm not sure clumsy phone fingers count as a reason to edit so I'll just try again.
When I started the re-watch, I got the first episode confused with this one. I kept waiting for the love child of Blanka and a porcupine to show up and was disappointed.
I really don't understand what happened to all Walter's strenuous objections about Olivia going back into the tank. Twice.
And I can't believe none of you has mentioned Conrad's full name. Dr Moreau? Mind you, the original did the opposite - making animals humanoid - but I'm pretty sure that was deliberate.
posted by Athanassiel at 2:10 AM on October 13, 2014
When I started the re-watch, I got the first episode confused with this one. I kept waiting for the love child of Blanka and a porcupine to show up and was disappointed.
I really don't understand what happened to all Walter's strenuous objections about Olivia going back into the tank. Twice.
And I can't believe none of you has mentioned Conrad's full name. Dr Moreau? Mind you, the original did the opposite - making animals humanoid - but I'm pretty sure that was deliberate.
posted by Athanassiel at 2:10 AM on October 13, 2014
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I thought that was Walter's concoction!
No erections this time, but Olivia gets in her hyperbaric chamber twice before the episode's over.
Nina Sharp uses her robotic arm to pass the bio-lock and open the door to the room where John's body is being kept on ice.
Broyles' acknowledgement leading into his briefing before they go in for Conrad, "I know we say this about pretty much everything this office handles, but this is top priority," is flippin' hilarious.
posted by carsonb at 11:02 PM on August 6, 2014 [2 favorites]