Book Review: Ghost Hand, by Ripley Patton

Author Ripley Patton’s debut novel, Ghost Hand, is the first installment of the PSS Chronicles, which captured me from the first page and was very hard to put down, even briefly. A fast-paced young adult paranormal thriller, it managed to pack together tense moments, action packed sequences, the sweet beginnings of a romance, and an exploration of the important social issue of accepting differences. The wry humour sprinkled throughout the book was just the cherry on top.

PSS stands for “Psyche Sans Soma”, which can be described as the psychic presence of an otherwise missing body part. In lieu of a hand made out of flesh and bone, seventeen-year old Olivia Black was born with a hand made of luminous, delicate, yet strong filaments of blue energy. I would think that such an appendage would be something worth celebrating. Just think of the applications! Need a flashlight? No worries, Olivia can just take off her glove and voilà! Dropped something in the fire? No worries, she can pick it right out of there!

Quite unfortunately however, differences are not always a cause for celebration. In the case of PSS, this fear seems to have led to the formation of a shady organization known as “Citizens Against Minus Flesh”, or CAMF, which wreaks havoc on Olivia’s life and turns her from being a (mostly) normal high school student into a fugitive.

As if having a ghost hand wasn’t trouble enough, Olivia soon discovers it gives her another ability: she can reach inside someone with it and take things out of them. Thankfully, the charismatic and mysterious Marcus enters her life in a very timely manner, and introduces her to a group of teenage runaways that can help her get away from CAMF’s nefarious schemes.

Teenagers are a lot stronger and smarter than they are given credit for, and, most importantly, a lot more self-reliant. One of the reasons I liked this book is that these qualities shine brightly in this group of teenagers led by Marcus. I also like that Olivia makes for a strong female lead. The loss of her father to cancer and the absence of a psychologist mother more intent on diagnosing her daughter than grieving the husband she lost have clearly made their mark on her, yet she still balances out understandable confusion and hesitation with inner strength and poise.

I very much liked that the author never went on a three page long scientific essay explaining PSS, but rather, the syndrome was a known, accepted fact, the details of which we discovered in bits and pieces. This helps create certain empathy for Olivia when her familiar hand is acting in very strange ways.

I see great potential for Ghost Hand to be book club material, as the topic of “the other” delineated in this book by superficial differences, such as a PSS hand, would resonate very well with teenagers struggling to fit in. While the author never adopts an authoritative or preaching voice, the message about accepting differences and the terrible consequences of prejudice and discrimination shone through this book, and I look forward to how this exploration of such an important topic continues in the second and third book of the series.

Amongst the sea of self-published books out there are gems. I feel lucky that, out of the last two self-published books I have read, both of them turned out to be amazing. Just like Sieni A.M.’s Illumine Her, Ghost Hand was clearly written by someone who has poured time, energy and resources into their book. Both authors clearly want to contribute quality material to a YA audience that very much needs it to help them navigate through these sensitive years. In Ripley Patton’s case, she made sure she had the resources available through a Kickstarter fundraising campaign. I am sure that every single one of her investors are certain that their funding was very well spent!

First published on Blogcritics.

Book Review: Illumine Her, by Sieni A.M.

Every once in a while, I read a book that, when finished, leaves me content, happy and wrapped in a warm cocoon of happiness. Sieni A.M.’s debut novel, Illumine Her, was just this kind of book. Capturing me from the very first pages, it took me on a wonderful journey to Samoa, where Alana Vilo has returned to after studying abroad for three years. Armed with a brand new nursing degree, she starts working at the local hospital, the recipient of a large donation from one Chase Malek. While away for college, Alana’s beloved father passed away; she was able to tuck the pain away until Chase entered her life. Captivated by this man who is clearly hiding something, Alana has to break down the various walls her father’s death prompted her to put up.

Illumine Her is categorised as a paranormal romance; however, it is much more than that. Just like with another book I just finished reading (Ripley Patton’s Ghost Hand), the paranormal aspect of the story was one of the many accessories that served to convey Alana’s very human story.

I have never been to Samoa, nor do I know much, quite unfortunately, about this island nation; however, Sieni’s deft storytelling ensured that this lack of knowledge did in no wise impair my ability to appreciate the story. From the detailed descriptions of breathtaking vistas to the gentle pointers explaining the context within which characters were acting in certain ways, the author made sure to immerse her readers in the story. I must say that I felt like I gained a lot of weight just reading the descriptions of Samoan food!

The strength of the author in describing so vividly a place I have never been before is also reflected in the pace of the story and the way she immerses us in Alana’s life. Sieni takes the time to set the story from the very first pages, beginning with Alana packing up her college life to return home. It might seem like boring, unnecessary fluff; I must confess, sometimes, it is, as these scenes often make the beginning of a story long and tedious. But in the case of Illumine Her, it was so well written that the pages easily turned. Furthermore, the story is greatly enriched through the descriptions the author includes throughout, making every page well worth reading.

But the one thing that really made me love this book the most is the care given to developing the concepts at its core. Illumine Her is a love story, but not only one between a man and a woman. It is also a love story between a daughter and her father, between a girl and her family, both immediate and extended, and, most importantly, between a woman and her brothers and sisters around the world. Sieni deftly uses conversations between Alana and various supporting characters to delve into these topics in a way that intrigued me rather than feel like I was being lectured. These conversations stayed with me long after I finished, allowing me to reflect on the topics of love and grief, and family and community life.

This book was both a lovely escape into the beautiful island of Samoa, as well as a story that made me reflect on relationships, grief, family and our responsibilities towards ourselves, our families and our communities. This also contributed to making Alana and Chase’s love story not just beautifully sweet, but also satisfyingly rich. The two make a strong, beautiful couple, the kind of long-term relationship one wants to be in. That the weight of the concepts did not burden Sieni’s storytelling demonstrated the capacity of this author.

A deep, reflective, well-paced love story, Illumine Her is a strong beginning for debut author Sieni A.M., and I really looking forward to reading more from her.

First Published here on Blogcritics.

TV Review: Fringe, Season 5, Episode 8: The Human Kind

It is becoming harder and harder for me to review episodes of Fringe, knowing that the end is nigh. I realise that the writers are doing a good job with the time limit they have. But I worry that I will be so disappointed by the finale, scheduled to air on 18 January, that it will ruin the entire series. It seems that I am not the only one, as more and more Fringies are voicing their discontent on Twitter, one even posting an interesting commentary about sexism on the show as a comment to my last review.

But there are signs that perhaps my pessimism is not warranted, such as the glimpses of the Dunhaminator, in the shape of the pneumatic gun Olivia fashioned while being held prisoner. Although it’s still a far cry from what one would have expected from her after the experiences of the last four years, I can’t help but hope that it implies that Olivia will very soon be back full force to save the world.

Olivia’s speech to Peter at the end of the episode is another reason why I struggled for so long with this review. On the one hand, of course it would be his love for Olivia, for Etta, for Walter and even for Astrid that saved Peter. I also know and love the fact that Fringe is not only about the science; what it means to be a human has been a constant exploration, particularly through Walter’s struggle with the consequences of his decision in 1985 to cross universes. But, with this less than impressive finish, I find that the Peter as an Observer storyline fell a little short. How can Olivia convince Peter to take this drastic change after only one conversation? I realise that the limit of thirteen episode for this season set by the network is not working in the favour of the writers, who have to squeeze everything in, but the excuse is getting a little old. Fringe writers are known for some amazing writing; this scene was not one of their best attempts at surpassing themselves.

As it so often does, the science in this episode of Fringe both impressed me and made my skin crawl. To be able to enhance our brains by creating new ridges in it would be incredible – I personally would not have minded a couple of extra ridges during college finals. However, it also underlines the danger of science becoming an ends rather than a means. Humans – I am assuming here that Observers are humans – should not become machines, by erasing the very thing that makes them human – in this case, the part of the brain that deals with emotions. The fight to save humanity seems to have much higher stakes; the Fringe team is not only fighting to liberate earth of 2036 from the Observers, but is also fighting to save humanity from becoming Observers, i.e. a people that would willingly inject itself with technology that robs it from what makes it human in the first place.

This struggle between humans and machine-dependent humans is one of the many things in this episode that reflected The Matrix moments. Of particular note were both Windmark’s appearance in Etta’s apartment building, and his fight with Peter. This resemblances served to draw the parallels between Neo’s quest to find his true self with Peter’s quest to do the same, by ridding himself of the tech and to regain his humanity.

But before broaching the topic of Peter’s journey into Observerdom and back, I have to give yet another thumbs up to Joshua Jackson’s acting skill. As the tech changed Peter’s brain, shrinking the part that deals with emotions, Jackson delivered a rendition of his character that was very different from the ones we have seen up to now: a Peter removed, detached, with an almost disturbingly clinical point of view shared in a robotic kind of way. Jackson has been a consistently good actor in this show, and I feel that he really went beyond the level of excellence that he himself had set.

Peter’s manipulation of events through the smallest of adjustments at the beginning of the episode was the second time Fringe fans were made to think about the butterfly effect. Season 3’s third episode “The Plateau” had Milo Stanfield manipulating the timeline with similarly small adjustments. Remembering how Milo was treating the injustices he was subjected to like a giant puzzle made me reflect about how Peter, too, was treating the injustice he was subjected to like an intellectual problem, taking fewer and fewer emotional factors into consideration. In short, Peter was becoming an intellectual scientist solely focused on achieving his objective of killing Windmark, whatever the price might be: hurting Olivia, Walter and Astrid and settling permanently into the land of the Observers. And this just might be the sole weakness of the Observers that hopefully the Fringe team might be able to use to its benefit. Thankfully, Peter did not have to pay the ultimate price, i.e. his humanity, but he will probably have paid the steep price of his relationship with Olivia. Who knows if she will ever be able to trust him again after this!

But because he is of the human kind, and because of the depth of his feelings for her, for Etta, for Walter and even for Astrid, Olivia’s words reached Peter. And so, the bullet that saved the world because of last season’s high stake risk taken by Walter, the same bullet which gave Etta hope all these years that she would be reunited with her parents, the very bullet that got Olivia out of a very dangerous situation mere hours ago, snapped Peter out of it. Replacing the Observer tech he had just removed from his own brain with the bullet was symbolic of the choice Peter had made. Because of this, this bullet might yet again save the world by bringing Peter’s much needed wits, brains and emotional stability back to the Fringe team.

In sharp contrast to Peter’s withdrawal from his human side is Simone’s complete acceptance of who she is and her reliance on her emotions to enhance her understanding of life: “The heart will make sense of what the mind cannot,” she tells Olivia. The recurring theme of hope and faith in Fringe meets the concept of faith yet again, a connection made in previous episode such as season two’s “White Tulip”. Without faith, one can only cling to hope for a limited amount of time. Olivia seems to be at that point; having seen all the things she has seen in the last five years, she can’t have the same faith that Simone has. It’s to the point that Olivia believe the reason why the Observers are in power is that in a world where “it’s all just numbers”, they are “better at math.”

It has to be argued that there is definitely a line between having hope born out of faith and being just plain stupid. Perhaps this is what Olivia is keeping herself from. However, real faith is about intelligent devotion, because while, as Simone puts it, “you can’t know everything”, you can carefully investigate the truth, leaving a wisely chosen section chalked up to the mysterious. This intelligent devotion is also what keeps us from believing in false idols, as people do “make explanations, assign meaning to things without knowing, because it’s reassuring, it’s comforting.” It does make it difficult at times to see the difference between an extraordinary gift, such as Simone’s, and something fake. And I can’t help but wonder how much of Olivia’s gift is actually an inherent capacity that she had that was brought out full force by the Cortexiphan.

Although she might not believe in them, Olivia did rely on Simone’s words and faith heavily to plead with Peter (hence the glyphs spelling P-L-E-A-D), explaining to him that their daughter was still with them, thus inspiring him, through the power of the love he has for her, for Olivia, for Walter and for Astrid, to take out the Observer tech. She asks Peter to rely on what he is feeling only, to go beyond the physical reality Etta’s death: “[Etta] saved my life today, with the bullet she brought to us. She is alive, inside us, and there is nothing that Windmark can do about it, because the love that we can share with her now is invulnerable to space and time, even to them. And I know that our hearts are broken, and that is hurts, but that’s what makes us human.”

Although there was not as much character development as their usually is in a season of Fringe, I did like the premise of this plotline. And I do think that unchecked by the rational, emotions are humans’ weakness. But balanced out with wisdom, there is no doubt in my mind that emotions are our strength, because it opens us up to things the rational mind cannot comprehend. In this case, as Olivia explains, it is also the strength of the Fringe team because emotions are “the one thing that [the Observers] don’t have.” She might have told Simone that she doesn’t believe, but Olivia believes enough to use whatever she has left of her faith to convince Peter to remove the tech.

Olivia’s rather lifeless presence in the last couple of episodes becomes a little more understandable after her conversation with Simone. The fighter is in hiding; she is broken, having lost her faith. Perhaps more than anything, Etta’s death was the feather that broke the camel’s back. Whatever the case might be, I don’t think that Olivia and the Fringe team can win against the Observers without faith. What they are required to do as part of this war is to basically go places that no one else ever has, and that takes faith in much more than Walter’s math skills. As one of my favourite poems, “This is Faith” by Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhiyyih Khánum describes: “To walk where there is no path/To breathe where there is no air/To see where there is not light/This is Faith.” And while I loved the spark of the old Olivia, putting together a pneumatic gun of sorts to thwart her kidnappers, I still feel like it is too little too late. I am trying to be kind to the writers, who only have 13 episodes to wrap up a story that is complex at many levels, and I think that is the only reason that I am still accepting a lot of what is happening on screen as the logical conclusion of what probably happened off screen.

While we are on the subject of things that bug me, I am disappointed that we don’t have time to explore the Resistance more. I would have loved it to be more involved; why isn’t Anel more involved with the team, for example seeing how close he was to Etta and how much he must know about the Observers? You would think that of all people, Etta’s parents and grandfather would get all the support they could get from the Resistance that is plastering her face all over the city, and not have to go on errands on their own. It would have made for some interesting story telling, if only to find out more about what has been going on since the Fringe team was ambered.

But more than anything else, Walter makes it yet again about himself. I know that he is appealing to Peter’s emotions so as to convince him to return to the lab and run tests on him,  but Walter’s self-absorption in the midst of a situation that could be potentially fatal to Peter really bugged me. After all, he could have easily used a much more powerful argument by reminding his son that this was probably not what Etta would have wanted.

This self-absorption also robbed us, I feel, of a great conversation about the limits of science that one must not cross, and the role of the ego in cases where the limits of science are pushed to an unhealthy limit. To Walter’s credit, Peter’s siren call only appealed to him for a second: “If you could see what I see, Walter. If you could experience what it feels like to fully harness the untapped potential of the human brain. You of all people should know that there is no reason to be afraid.” This relates back to what Nina was saying previously regarding Bell not being able to choose her over science because his ego craved the omniscience it had tasted. Assuming again that they were at some point humans by nature, this could also explain the question as to how the Observers could have sacrificed their humanity.

This does touch upon another potential weakness of the Observers: the taste of omniscience that their technology is no doubt giving them. This certainly is reflected in Windmark’s narrow minded, focused hunt of Peter. Of course, of a hunter becomes obsessed by hunting a particular prey, it might itself eventually fall orey to another hunter. Could it perhaps be that Windmark’s demise will be of his own doing?

And now come the questions. I have a great many of them, which I hope Fringies will take it upon themselves to help me figure out:

• Why did Peter want Windmark to cross the square at the set time? And did it work out?
• Why don’t Observers just teleport everywhere?
• What is a Truth Church, and why can’t Observers read people there?
• Why did Peter not kill Windmark in the apartment, since he knew he was going to be there at 5h42?
• Why didn’t Peter lose more of his hair before removing the tech?
• Simone said she doesn’t remember the name of the person who dropped off the truck and the magnet. I first was sure it must be Walter, but what if it was Donald, or even Bell?
• Why do the Observers love the 50s so much?
• How did Olivia know where Peter was?
• Now that Windmark has an origin point and a probable future for Peter, will be continue to calculate probable futures and trace the Fringe team? Why has he not done so in the first place?

While I am disappointed with the way the last episodes of Fringe have been shaping up, I have to admit that the writers are doing a good job with the little time they have to wrap up what is a complicated story, both because of the mythology and the complex relationships between its central characters. There are also still enough awesome moments as well, such as the “You are Here” left by Peter for Windmark to find. I feel like one has to suspend belief even more than usual because of the speed with which such things as Olivia convincing Peter to remove the Observer tech happen. But if Fringe ends well, then the ride will have been worth it. I await 18 January before rendering judgement on Season 5. If the finale is amazing, I will be able to overlook a lot of the little things that have been bothering me about the show in the last couple of months. If not, I will just have to indulge in some writing-therapy!

First published here on Blogcritis.

TV Review: Fringe, Season 5, Episode 7: Five-Twenty-Ten

Only in Fringe would two beacons, a silent bald kid, a toxin that hideously melts flesh, and another one that horrifically closes all orifices all have in common the future of humanity. In this, the seventh episode of the fifth and final season of the award-winning show, we continue following Walter, Olivia, Peter and Astrid as they search for the missing pieces to Walter’s plan for defeating the Observers.

Our dream team is still following Walter’s clues, recorded on video cassettes, retrieving parts needed to assemble yet another machine. And while the basic plot is simple, countless layers are added in the development of two of the show’s characters: Peter and Walter. This character development has been fascinating, leaving me disheartened only because of the lack of time and attention given to Olivia.

The return of both characters and technology from the first season has not only served to propel the plot forward and tie some loose ends, but also underlines the fact that this is, indeed, the show’s final season. The nostalgic moments in the last couple of episodes were surpassed by what was, in my opinion, the strongest return to Season 1 yet.

In “The Bullet that Saved the World”, the team used the toxin from Season 1’s fourteenth episode “Ability”. In “The Looking Glass, and What Walter Found There”, the team found the silent bald kid it has saved back in the first season’s fifteenth episode, “Inner Child”; and this week, on top of the return of the famous lock combination “5-20-10” in the plot and the title of the episode, we are back to the event that started it all: the flesh eating contagion that killed all the passengers aboard Flight 627.

And so, I still believe that Fringe can still end on a high note, if and only if the writers urgently address one major point: Olivia. She has been relegated, throughout this season, to a secondary role. It is the most frustrating experience, as a fan and as a woman, to see her becoming, in my friend Allan’s words, a wallflower. Olivia from the first through the fourth season, the Olivia that crossed universes for Peter, would not have taken his change in character without doing something other than asking a few tentative questions. I do not expect her to remain untouched by the latest in the series of unfortunate events, namely, Etta’s death. But to portray her as broken and passive implies that she was never much more than that in the first place, that her strength was an exterior veneer hiding her inner weakness.

There is, thankfully, an indication that the old Olivia just might be back as soon as next episode. Near the end of “Five-Twenty-Ten”, right after Peter hands her one of the retrieved beacons and tells her that it is only logical that they take separate cars, her face noticeably tightens, and one can see clearly shining through the old Olivia. Could Peter’s confession regarding the implant be the trigger that will finally shake her back to her real self? Whatever happens, the trust between Peter and Olivia is broken, one of the meanings behind the glyphs spelling T-R-U-S-T.

What would give Fringe extra props would be Astrid finally being given the space to step up to the plate. She is, after all, Olivia’s friend; the latter’s candid openness about her marriage indicates that Astrid is anything but just a lab tech. In a way, she is Walter’s niece, at the very least, if not the under-appreciated, dependable daughter. Despite this, even Hasting does not respect her!

But let not let this airing of my frustrations undermine my appreciation for the many great things in this episode. Peter’s continuing transformation, reflected in his mannerisms, his actions and in his opinions, is fantastic. The disturbing poetic justice of his creepy statement that “our first Fringe experience was their last” gave me chills both the first time around and the second time I watched it. Joshua Jackson was incredible in this episode; the attention to detail he put into his character gave the scene when Peter is telling Olivia the truth, so simple in its setting and its dialog, the extra punch that drew the oxygen out of the room.

Who is this Peter currently gracing our screens? Because of the implant, he is cut off from his emotions, and working only on the basis of his intellect, which we know is keen (to say the least). We are witnessing the imbalance created by the use of intellect without the help of a moral compass, the extremes to which science, unbalanced by spirituality, can take us. Through Peter’s transformation, we also can see how the Observers’ society is governed in a way we have not seen before. More terrifying perhaps is that we now know how decent humans like Peter can so easily go down the same road. The supreme irony of him becoming the very thing Etta died fighting against makes his transformation from human to intellect-without-moral-compass all the more poignant.

The implant does not seem to have detached Peter from all of his feelings and emotions; rather, it seems like it has made him determined to stay in his current course of action, however illogical it might be. Using pure logic, is Peter doing the right thing for the resistance movement? Are his actions logical, really? Resorting to acts of terror out of a desire to hurt the Observers is ultimately not going to solve anything.

Peter is wasting time and energy treating the symptoms, and not the cause. He might have killed the top lieutenants and might succeed in killing Windmark, but others will no doubt rise up in their stead. In his drive to win the war against the Observers, Peter is acting like a rogue agent, wasting time, energy and resources without addressing the root cause. Even worse, because all Peter wants is revenge, his actions can be equated to what the Observers are doing, again highly ironic as it is to revenge Etta, who died fighting the Observers because of what they were doing.

Which leads me to wonder, is this what the Observer was warning Peter about in “Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There”? Because he has been implanted with the tech without any form of supervision or preparation, or perhaps even at this advanced an age, could it be that Peter has become, in a way, a super villain, controlled by his base impulses but convinced that he is controlled only by logic? This is an even more terrifying thought than Peter becoming “just” an Observer.

Similarities with The Matrix abound; in sharp contrast to the care with which Neo was prepared and trained to use his never-before-used body in the real world, Peter is being thrown into a new world without any sort of preparation. What are the effects of this tech, inserted without any other consideration or training or preparation, on Peter’s brain? We are already seeing some consequences: Peter’s bleeding ear and the “episode’” in the car; is there going to be an overload of his brain? Will it alter and become like an Observers’? Furthermore, what mistakes is Peter going to make? Not having been trained to use this technology, he is a like a little boy, playing with adult toys; what mess is he going to create?

What a parallel to what Walter is going through! Based on a plethora of false premises, the son is consciously losing his humanity, while the father is struggling to keep his. How sad that Peter forgot about being “a better man than [his] father”! How sad that Walter was not able to turn his mistake into a learning moment for Peter! What will the consequences on the timeline be, if the boy who should not have lived becomes an Observer?

I can’t help but wonder if the reason why Walter was unable to help Peter is because ultimately, he himself hasn’t really changed. Sure, his actions are different, but what about his intentions?

Let it not be thought that I am heartless! I was touched by Walter’s terror at the thoughts of becoming the man he used to be. The struggle was heartbreaking at times, enhanced by John Noble’s acting skills. The choices that Walter is currently making are very different now. This was underlined in this episode when, after finding her picture in Bell’s safe, Walter insisted on returning to see Nina to apologize for his harsh words. I highly doubt the old Walter would have ever admitted being sorry, let alone scared.

In this episode however, it hit me that while Walter’s outer personality has changed significantly, he is, on some level, exactly the man he used to be. One would think that the experience of the son, losing his own child, would propel the father to think solely about Peter for once, letting go of himself and his own needs. Unfortunately, Walter is too busy with his own self to see anything. The focus of his attention should be Peter; instead, it is his own fear. Seeing as how Walter also lost a child, why is he not thinking more about Peter? Because he is too busy thinking about Peter in relation to his own self.

So although Walter is not as arrogant as he was before, he is still just as self-consumed. He was previously consumed, in his own words, by ambition and by hubris, and only cared about walking with the gods. Walter is still just as self-consumed, and as such, is still in his own world. The guiding factor of Walter’s decisions in 1985 was himself; the guiding factor of Walter’s current obsession is, again, himself.

What is the solution? Well on the one hand, it really seems like a good, old friend such as Nina has a huge role to play, which she does magnificently. Her balancing act between emotions and logic when talking to Walter about not being enough to keep Bell out of trouble was one of those conversations that differentiates a real friendship from a superficial one. It also says a lot about the woman she is. On a side note, another sad by product of having a shortened fifth season is that we do not have the time to explore the healthy influence Nina could have had on not only Walter, but also on Peter and Olivia. Alas, alas.

Nina’s reflection regarding not being enough for Bell identifies pretty much what else is needed for Walter to, well, get over himself. In short, although Bell clearly loved Nina, he did not love her enough for him to be able to resist a feeling of omnipotence that satiated his ego. Nothing could have changed Bell but himself. Outer forces shape us while we are children, but usually, after adolescence, as many a worried parent can tell you, the volition to change has to come from the person themselves. Walter seems to have that volition; perhaps Nina, Olivia and Astrid can help bolster him into action without removing the much-needed pieces of his brain.

Which interestingly enough, implies that although he is still as self-consumed as before, he also has changed enough that he now just might have what it takes to not become the man he was before again. The glyphs spell T-R-U-S-T, an indication that Walter needs to trust his inner, noble self (pun oh so intended) to control his arrogant, intellectual self. Like the Cherokee story goes, a fight is going on inside Walter at the moment: “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too. Which wolf will win? The one you feed.”

Some miscellaneous thoughts on the episode: how awesome Nina looks with white hair, and how nice her earrings are. I found it amusing that the assistant she called on was named Hastings, and would like to think that it is after Hercule Poirot’s best friend. Her emotional reunion with her foster daughter was touching. It’s sad that both Blair Brown and Lance Reddick are no longer credited as being season regulars.

There were more Walter moments in this episode than there have been in the last few, including the hilarious moment in Bell’s safe room (I am tempted to call it Bell’s House of Horrors) when Walter figured out that his former colleague had pilfered his record collection. Another great Walter moment was the irony of his comment, directed at Bell: “He had a terrible memory. The LSD, I suppose.”

I am concerned about the fact that Walter, whom a guard at a checkpoint listed as to apprehend in the episode “The Bullet that Saved the World”, is walking the streets so freely. While the Observers are not superhuman, fact is, they are humanoids enhanced by tech, one of which is, well, technology to observe. I don’t think Fringe writers would have been so sloppy as to leave such an obvious plot line open; it leads me to believe that Walter has not been apprehended purposefully, and that he is being watched. For what reason, I don’t know.

It is hard to say what is in store. At the centre of Fringe is the relationship between three people: Olivia, Peter and Walter. While one has, for all intents and purposes, been cast aside (which I hope will be remedied shortly), the relationship between the father and the son is being explored to new levels. It is interesting to see the experience of the son, losing his own child, through the eyes of the father, and sad that the latter is too busy with his own self to see anything. As discussed above, this implies that although he is not as arrogant as before, he is still as self-consumed. Despite a rocky beginning, Peter became a favourite of fans and of Olivia because of his humanity. How much of it will be left, either with or without the implant? He has also been the center of big moments in Fringe, and has managed to survive them all. But ultimately, he was not meant to live; does it make his death inevitable?

This review was first published here on Blogcritics.

 

TV Review: Fringe, Season 5, Episode 6: Through The Looking Glass And What Walter Found There

The sixth episode of the fifth and last season of Fringe seems to mark a return to the show’s roots. We were treated to an episode that seemed to finish only mere minutes after it began, a distinct sign of a great hour of storytelling. In sharp contrast to the previous episodes, there was not much action in this one; however, the hand-to-hand combat scene between Peter and the Observer, while short, was very telling. Another return to Fringe’s roots was seen in the “weird factor” of the pocket universe created by Walter and the return of a character from Season 1 I was hoping to find out more about: the quiet, bald kid from Season 1’s episode “Inner Child”.

The title of this episode, of course, refers to the sequel to the book Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll published in 1871, “Wonderland” being the pocket episode that Walter created, in which up is down, and left is right. I do hope this is the only similarity between the book and Fringe, as the book ended with the realization that Alice’s adventures were all but a dream. Maybe it means that this Etta-less, Peter-Observer future will not come to be, quite the twist befitting a show by the creator of Lost.

After last episode’s shocking ending, the tech’s influence on Peter appeared in the emergence of Observer-like abilities, and we got the slow surfacing I was expecting. I felt like a voyeur at times, both horrified and fascinated, watching for signs of their appearance. At the beginning of the episode, there seemed to be nothing different in Peter, and I have to confess, I was both relieved and disappointed. And at every moment of the last quarter of the episode when an ability would pop up, I would, again, be both fascinated and horrified; it felt like I was watching a horrible but visually amazing crash and not being able to look away.

It has been confirmed that the Observer abilities are slowly coming to Peter. It not only made more sense than a sudden appearance, but also made for great storytelling. For example, the moment when he could see the doorway to the pocket universe although at first, he didn’t see it, was a great first step followed by a stride when Peter, at the end of the episode, was seeing everything as a blue matrix of sorts. Speaking of which, is this a Fringe homage to The Matrix movie? It feels like Olivia shooting the Observer through the doorway might have been, reminding me of Trinity’s crash through a window and down a flight of stairs, ending with her guns drawn and waiting for one of the agents to come crashing after her.

I can’t help but wonder yet again about the consequences of Peter’s decision. In the short term, however it pains me to admit it, the enhancement of his natural abilities with the tech will probably help the resistance. But what if they win, what happens next? In an Observer-less world, what price will Peter have paid to exact revenge on them for Etta’s death? His decision seems to be even more rash, if we are to believe the rather ominous statements by the Observer that “you have no idea what you have done to yourself”, as well as his reiteration that “you have made a grave mistake. You do not know what is happening to you”. This might be one of the few times I am grateful we have a set number of episodes left, at the end of which we will hopefully have answers.

One thing I do wonder about is the nature of the changes in Peter. Will the tech change him into someone completely different from the Peter we know? Or will it only strip Peter of his emotions, leaving behind the shell of the Peter we once knew? Although it is still early to tell what the final result will be, it seems like this is what is happening – for now. Peter is watching the holographic message left by Etta, which shows that he still has an emotional attachment to her – but he is more angry than sad. It reminded me so much of the Peter from the beginning of the show, the angry man that Olivia found in Iraq. Another interesting moment was when Peter called Walter “dad”. At first, I found this to be quite a touching moment. Then I started wondering: what if it the Observer-tech allowed him to let go of his emotions, and to call Walter by his “title”: his dad.

Just like Peter seems to be going back to the person he was at the beginning of the series, Walter’s domineering and arrogant personality seems to be returning and he himself is scared of the implications. Particularly, his callous way of considering Cecil a collateral damage came as a shock. But in sharp contrast to the man he was before, he is now able to reflect back on what he did: “I’m not safe. It’s my mind. Ever since the pieces of my brain were implanted, it’s been changing me back into the man I was before. Bit by bit… I’m losing myself, Peter. I’m losing the man that you helped me become.” What will the implication of Peter’s decision to implant the Observer-tech be on Walter? Will Peter be able to continue keeping Walter on the straight path simply because of his logic? Or will the lack of emotion in his son unleash in Walter the person he used to be? Will Olivia and Astrid be able to step in and help keep Walter on track, seeing as he is now, at least, aware that he does not want to be the person he was before?

These conundrums of the Bishop men seem to be the reason why the glyphs in this episode spell S-P-L-I-T. Walter’s personality seems split between what it used to be before the pieces of his brain were removed by Bell and what it has become thanks to his life experiences. And it seems that Peter’s personality is becoming split as the tech continues acting on him, separating his emotions from his logic.

We are left with quite a few questions. I have not touched upon the scientific aspects of Fringe episodes in quite some time, but one in this episode I feel is worth mentioning. If time inside the pocket universe is slower, at a ratio of the five days that Cecil thinks he was in there to the twenty years he was actually there, should Astrid not have been waiting for them for a couple of days, at the very least?

“Through the Looking Glass” is yet another Bishop-centric episode in which Olivia is again swept to the side, and we are left wondering what is going on in her mind. I still want to know what is going on with her abilities. They cannot have completely disappeared, even if the Cortexiphan has completely been burnt off. After all, Olivia has always displayed some form of ability; shouldn’t they still be present, perhaps to a more limited extent, even if the drug has completely disappeared?

While the Fringe team did not find the quiet, bald boy from Season 1 in the pocket universe where he was last left, they did find a hint as to where he is. What will they hear at the frequency the radio they found in lieu of the boy, and what will it reveal? Who is the quiet bald boy – is he, as so many people seem to think he is, September?

Once again, we are left wondering: who is Donald? What was his role in all of this?

The lab looks like a dream with all the amber and now, the various tunnels (it only needs a bit of Gene to be perfect!), but I have to admit, I do find it a little unsettling that the team is staying there so easily, what with the Observers so close by. I also find unsettling the hints that we might be headed the way of the original book that inspired the title of this episode; between it, the Observer’s comment about Peter not realizing what is going on, and the fact that because of love, Peter was brought back to this timeline although he was not meant to be, the stage seems to be set for something bigger than anything we have seen yet happen in Fringe. Perhaps the love Peter and Olivia have for Etta is going to somehow cause a ‘glitch’ in the timeline just like the love of Olivia and Walter for Peter created a ‘glitch’ that brought Peter back? And perhaps this coming ‘glitch’ is the reason why there were a couple of The Matrix moments in this episode?  We are only seven episodes away before finding out.

First published here.

TV Review: Fringe, Season 5, Episode 5: An Origin Story

And voilà: Fringe seems to have bounced back. I hate to admit it, but Etta’s death last episode did seem to bring a je ne sais quoi back to the show that had been a little lacking in the last couple of episodes. My friend Monica is completely right in saying that with Etta’s death, we can look forward to a whole new gamut of emotions the writers of the show worked very well in this, the fifth episode of Fringe’s fifth and final season.

In the aftermath of this death, we find the Fringe team dealing with their emotions in very different ways. This comes as no surprise, since death has different effects on people: Walter became the shrink, Olivia’s façade cracked, Peter’s common sense was obliterated, and Astrid is still not getting nearly enough screen time for us to know how she felt about Etta or her death.

Whatever you might believe about life after death, the passing of a loved one in such circumstances has to be hard. But what to say of the pain of a mother who lost her child twice in what felt to her like a very short time? No one but a mother can understand it happening once, let alone twice, and Olivia, however strong she might be, is struggling with this pain: “Why would we get her back just to lose her again?” Just like she did after the apparent betrayal and death of John Scott all the way back in Season 1, she had been concealing the pain pretty well behind the wall she put up so many years ago, the wall that seemed to be, for a short time, coming down. Perhaps this is why, when Olivia finally gave in and watched the cassette of Etta’s birthday party, she touched her own image on the screen. Maybe she was trying remember what it felt like to live without the wall; it could be that she just wants to be that Olivia again.

Walter’s pain is sharp, but a little more removed; Etta’s grandfather has the wisdom of years and the experience of first losing two versions of his son and, subsequently, his wife. His listening in on Peter and Olivia’s conversation might have been accidental – although knowing him, it most probably was not – but it enables him to figure out with crystal clear clarity that Olivia’s worry is not about Peter, but rather, about them as a couple. Possibly it is because she knows that, without him, she will never be able to be the Olivia without the walls again.

Knowing how precious this second chance is, and realizing that they might need a bit of a push, Walter digs out a video cassette of one of Etta’s birthdays for her parents to watch. In one of the most touching exchanges between Walter and Olivia to date, he tells her: “You must face this pain together. The pain is her legacy to you both. It’s proof that she was here. And I have experience with this, this sort of pain, and you can’t escape it by building walls around your heart, or by breaking the universe, or by vengeance. You lost each other once. But you have another chance.” He might be a mad scientist, but he makes a pretty good psychologist, doesn’t he?

Unfortunately, what neither Walter nor Olivia yet know is that she has, in a way, already lost him to the deep anger roiling underneath the still calm front. It was pretty clear from the beginning, when Peter grabs Walter’s idea of turning the wormhole the Observers use for their transport into a black hole, despite how dangerous it might be; he is too attached to the idea of a tangible victory, something real he can hang onto. Most probably Peter’s action were not only motivated by anger at Etta’s death, but also at his anger at Olivia not getting the chance of once again breaking down her walls. However understandable that may be, revenge is dangerous business; as Anil puts it, “before you go on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” And when he loses that tangible victory he so desperately was looking for, Peter seems to have lost all hope, and the darkness of despair takes over. In a way, he sold his soul, choosing to use the Observers’ tech to beat them, even if the price is to become emotionless like them. The question then becomes, how could Peter have channeled his anger into actions that were healthier, albeit not with as immediate results?

The Observers are of human origin, and yet they are nothing like us, for they sold their humanity for the sake of technological advancement. Their view of one aspect of their humanity, that is, their emotions, is quite telling: “Emotions get in the way of judgment.” Without this, their higher, emotional/spiritual nature, the scientific advancement they achieved was seriously perverted, as we can see through their actions. Anil’s jeer of “That’s the cold stare that I know and love” left me particularly cold blooded after Peter’s choice at the end of the episode. Too bad the Observers did not retain their human side; imagine what kind of work they could have created had they balanced the technological advancement they achieved with an even basic code of morality.

However flawed the basis of the argument is to create a society of “numbed” humans in the name of technological and scientific advancement, we are more than aware of the dangers of emotions running amok on our ability to make well thought out decisions. And I have to agree with the Oberserver captured by the Resistance that emotions do get in the way of judgment, and create a shaky foundation upon which decision are made: “You ascribed meaning to something that was not there. You saw what you wanted to see. You believed what you wanted to believe, because that is what your emotions do. They ascribe meaning to something that’s not there. They fool your perception as to what is real.” However, rest assured: I do not think that creating or accepting to use tech such as that developed by the Observers is the solution.

Hopefully Olivia’s wall will come in handy, and will help her balance out both logic with emotions in the Resistance’s fight against the Observers. The glyphs spelled out F-I-G-H-T, which is quite à propos, seeing as how previous episodes showcased the different ways of dealing with the enemy, from collaboration to passive resistance to active resistance. And now, we have been introduced to another way of fighting, that is, by becoming like the enemy. The “Resist” posters with Etta’s face on them becomes all the more poignant as we realize her parents, whom, as mentioned by Olivia, spent so much time and energy finding them, might die, even if it is not in the physical way.

The episode did not feature particularly humorous moments, but did feature a very poignant, bittersweet moment, when Peter found Etta’s secret stash of weapons: “That’s my girl.” One particularly striking visual was Olivia’s bathroom scene in the opening portion of the episode, when the camera caught her both in the mirror and outside of it. Astrid’s brilliance is once again displayed but unfortunately, she is again relegated as the Fringe team’s underappreciated caretaker. And however much I hate that Olivia and Peter and even Walter are suffering, I do hope that finally, Astrid will be able to shine.

It is quite understandable that Olivia is very scared of losing Peter. Not only it happened before, but he has quite an effect on her: he made her abilities express themselves, he made her remember him from a whole other timeline, and he made her walls come down voluntarily. But in a way, it feels like she has already lost him, which the writers underlined by the irony of Olivia calling him right after he injects himself with the Oberver tech. However, it might be that this is what will make Olivia’s abilities return, despite all the Cortexiphan being supposedly burnt off at the end of the previous season. As discussed with Monica (seriously, follow her on Twitter and talk to her about Fringe, you’ll love it), while it might be true that the Cortexiphan is all gone, we have been told numerous times in the last couple of seasons that it has altered Olivia. Perhaps this, the shock of losing Peter to the tech, after the double loss of her daughter and the trauma of waking up in a completely different world, is what will make Olivia tap into her real powers. Perhaps the Observer’s warning, “You don’t even know what you don’t know,” is also a warning from the writers to us, the fans. And we only have eight episodes to find out what they have in store for us.

First published here on Blogcritics.

TV Review: Fringe, Season 5, Episode 4: The Bullet that Saved the World

I took a bit longer than anticipated to watch last week’s episode of Fringe, “The Bullet that Saved the World”. An avid Twitter user, I understood from the tweets of fellow Fringe fans that something bad would happen, and I wanted to delay the inevitable.

Etta’s death, while adding a layer of emotional complexity to the story, seems unnecessary to many a Fringe fan, including myself. I usually let go of my own preconceptions and expectations when I watch a show, and let the writers take me on a ride the rules of which they decide. But I find is more and more difficult to let go with Fringe. I understand that the hero’s quest is filled with pain, and I know that life often seems unfair, but Etta’s death felt like an over the top attempt at twisting the emotional knife in our collective stomachs.

It is unfortunate that her death coincides with the return of Philip Broyles, marring the pleasure of seeing him again, and discovering the nature of his relationship with her. Of course he would have her transferred into his unit once he figured out who she was! We would expect nothing less from him. Hopefully we will find out more about Etta through him, as there are a lot of unanswered questions remaining, namely, how Etta found out about her heritage.

While Broyles’ continued involvement in the Bishops’ lives did not come as much of a surprise, his sentimental moment in his office involving the well worn picture of Olivia and Peter was in my opinion another over the top moment. After all, if he took a year to learn how to hide his thoughts from the Observers to help Etta and the resistance, one would think he would be more careful in hiding his relationship with the infamous Fringe team, now more than ever. I cannot however begrudge him wanting to see Peter, Olivia and Walter again, and the reunion scene was beautiful. It is interesting to note that Olivia calls him Philip, denoting that the two became closer than when we last saw them. And of course Broyles would help by giving the team state of the art weapons. How unfortunate they were not able to keep them all.

Another thing that greatly bothers me in this season of Fringe is the mind-reading torture scenes. Rationally I know they are part of an Observer-full life, but I really dread them. Torture scenes are the reason why I stopped watching 24, and I hope that they are not going to be a reason to stop watching Fringe.

What a grim opening for the review to Season 5’s fourth episode, especially in light of my usually raving reviews of this show! But I really do not like the dark turn Fringe has taken, and it does take some resolve to continue watching, in the hopes that these moments of utter discomfort, completely nonexistent before (despite the gore), will dissipate in the next nine episodes.

Because, quite unfortunately, nine episodes are all that are left.

I must admit that I am being very hard on Fringe writers, and that happily enough, I can easily contrast the above-mentioned negative points with some of the better aspects of this episodes as thankfully, there are quite a few. The visuals were amazing, especially in the scene under the bridge and during the scene when Windmark shot Etta. I loved the gruesome albeit poetic justice of the team creating Fringe events of their own, and the moment, so brief yet so supremely ironic, when Windmark commented that the team’s tactic was “barbaric”. It is quite unfortunate however that Windmark now has a suspicion that humans might be able to shield themselves from being read, and one can’t help but wonder what measures the Observers will take to counter this. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the mind reading torture scenes are about to get much, much worse.

The glyphs spell W-O-U-N-D, which could refer to the deadly wound sustained by Etta, but of course most probably refer to the emotional wounds sustained mainly by Peter and Olivia but also by Walter, due to this second loss of Etta. Her death has probably reopened perhaps even wider the wounds sustained after the first time they lost her. While the circumstances are vastly different, Walter and Peter now have something very powerful in common, and one can’t help but wonder if and how it will bond (or break) the two. One also can’t help but wonder the effect that losing Etta a second time will do to Olivia and Peter, both as individuals and as a couple. By the look on Peter’s face in the last seconds of this episode, I would not be surprised if he went back to adopting the same, somewhat brash attitude prevalent in the first half of Season 1 of Fringe.

Amidst all that happened, we have to remember that the team is hunting down, yet again, clues to a bigger puzzle spread in and around Boston by Walter. I find it slightly ironic that Walter’s mind is both what caused all of this in the first place, and the reason why it can’t be solved. Even more ironic is the fact that Walter’s brain is both the source of the solution and the last obstacle to potential victory.

It comes as no surprise that there were very few lighthearted moments in this episode. However, the most lighthearted one more than made up for it. Who could not laugh at Walter firing from a small, hand held cannon, scaring poor Astrid. He and Peter giggling (yes, giggling) like little boys (with Peter playing the role of the innocent by-stander) was wonderful.

While the show has taken a definite turn to the dark side, and we still don’t know why that was the bullet that saved the world, I and many fans are hanging on for the next nine episodes. After all, over four years of loyalty and an epic fandom should not dissipate that easily.

First Published here.