Fringe usually doesn’t invest in characters or their personal lives. Olivia aside, everyone else serve their place on the show and move the plot forward. This is why ‘Earthling’ is a rare case for the show, one where the episode revolves around one character in particular, Phillip Broyles.
The Cosmonaut and the…?
First of all, this week’s case is particularly interesting. Sure, there’s little explanation to the ’shadow figure’ and its cosmological origin, but there’s still enough scientific flash to make it somewhat believable. I can’t recall another story involving a shadow figure who steals radioactivity, so kudos for illustrating something original.
The Life of Phillip Broyles
The episode also pleases the character-centric fan inside of me (I blame Lost for this). The episode successfully integrates a snapshot of Broyles’ life and the sci-fi elements of the show. It explains his apathetic personality and also creates sympathy, not only for him but for others in his field (in other words, the other characters on the show). Nothing felt forced or contrived. Finally, I have a few new adjectives for the guy.
Although it seems unlikely this case is related to the Pattern or the bigger picture, it is an important piece to the show on a emotional and character level. While I can’t wait for more Leonard Nimoy, ‘Earthling’ is a nice comeback for Fringe after a hiatus.
Rating: 9.2/10
Popularity: 2% [?]
A shadow stealing radiation might be slightly new, but the basic concept here isn’t. Astronauts (or cosmonauts) invested with strange powers is the basis for the Fantastic Four, and even more similar than that, a black, parasitic organism that melds with the host and feeds off of people (though emotions, not radiation) is the 101 on the Spider-man villain Venom.
That said, the episode, for a standalone Fringe episode, was very, very good. It focused on their most underused and underappreciated actor by far (I honestly still don’t know why they’d go out and get an actor that good and then have him do nothing every single week), which also let them flesh out his so far sorely two-dimensional character. The plot, while as mentioned not exactly stunningly original, was still freshly enough executed I didn’t mind. This was in huge part carried by the great performance of the Russian brother and, of course, of Broyles. I also got some awesome Walter-scenes, which is the whole reason I watch the show to begin with, so an extra yay for that.
I also like the inter-agency competition and intrigue going on, and I like how that, if nothing else, made the episode relevant for the show as a whole in ways the case of the week didn’t. Also refreshing was a case of the week based not on human technology gone awry in either this or parallel dimensions, but on an alien organism no less. Daring choice for the show, but I think a healthy one. The “human fringe science gone bad”-plot device got old sometime in the third episode of season 1.
All in all, a promising episode. If the show was always like this, I might start look forward to the episodes instead of half-heartedly tuning in out of habit and loyalty to hours already invested.
Haha, if you’re going to quote comic books then nothing this show does will seem original
I forgot to mention this, but the restaurant scene between Broyles and the boy is by far my favorite scene they’ve done so far.
Of course I’m going to quote comic books. Nothing the show does seeming original has been one of my main problems with it from the get-go.
As for the restaurant scene – it might not be my favourite, that’s bound to be something with Peter and Walter, but it is definitely my favourite scene with Broyles. Very charming indeed.