Lower Decks

The following contains spoilers through the episode “Grey Matters,” originally broadcast 12/10/09.

Okay, so this is the first time I’ve missed ‘Fringe’ completely in its first two seasons. For the record, the missing ones from these reviews are 2×8 “August” (the Observer episode) and 2×9 “Snakehead” (no idea). There was a slight uptake in the ratings after “August,” so that’s a good thing. Regardless of what “Snakehead” did, “Grey Matters” was another don’t-miss episode, dealing directly both with the season arc and long-standing character arcs.

For a few moments, I was wondering if the season villain, who now has a name (Thomas Jerome Newton) wasn’t going to pack it in early, as several (but not David Robert Jones) recurring foils did last year, but then the episode took another twist, as this season has been fond of doing, to keep viewers on their toes.

But that was the big news. The frozen head from a few episodes back is now firmly attached to a bit more substantial player from the alternate universe than the shape-shifting assassin who killed a Sylar on Charlie Francis, someone who for all intents may be more important than Mr. Jones, but not moreso than William Bell (Leonard Nimoy), whom we learn that much more about, to a far bit of horror. Among other things, it wasn’t a good episode to be Walter Bishop.

Early on, “Grey Matters” looked like it was going to be a fairly standard procedural kind of episode, featuring one of my favorite actors, Jeff Perry (seen in ‘Nash Bridges,’ ‘Lost,’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ for instance), another familiar face for the season. He was a mental patient accosted by Newton and an accomplice, who extracted a piece of his brain. We later learn the whole point is to recover memories, and it has nothing to do with Perry but rather Walter Bishop. The episode spends a little time faking out what kind of story it’s going to be, until we learn Walter has been a victim of the same mysterious Dr. Paris, who implanted and then took out memories from pysch patients.

From there, Newton is identified and Walter falls into his clutches, and we learn that it’s Walter’s creation ad therefore memories of the door between the two realities that has been the target the whole time. It serves as both a reminder of Walter’s asylum past and his intricate role in the backstory of the series, and oh, his continuing part of the series arc. The episode stirs up feeling of guilt in his son, Peter, who never went to visit him in St. Claire’s, even while Dunham tries to reassure him that he’s more than made up for it since.

Eventually, Newton puts Dunham in the position to either save Walter or keep him in her custody. It’s a common scene between hero and villain, but it works for this episode because of the way the drama is ratcheted up – you can feel how much it tortures Olivia to make the decision to let Newton escape. In fact, the episode eventually turns into a form of self-commentary, both in how the series has been handling itself and Broyles helping Dunham understand that she made the right choice. Walter was worth saving, even above the capture of someone who could potentially tell them all sorts of things (though Mr. Jones certainly proved in the past that’s easier said than done with these guys).

But because this is a season of huge twists, the mysterious Dr. Paris is in the final moment revealed to be William Bell himself, who removed the “dangerous” knowledge of the door Walter created from his mind, and has been maneuvering to get it back ever since. It’s an ominous note that casts that many more complications on things, not to mention the relationship between former colleagues Bell and Bishop.

Mostly, though, it’s another fine episode to remind the viewer just what there is to admire about ‘Fringe,’ how rewarding it is to be a fan. Part of the fun of being a fan of any TV show is tracking the elements that are repeated throughout the series, and meditations on Walter’s past, and how it’s affected Peter, and any number of other elements, has been such a constant source for material that it’s easy to see that it could either continue for years, or serve as a signature memory should the show not survive its comparatively tiny ratings. Now’s not the time to think grim thoughts, though. This is an episode to celebrate.