Lower Decks

The following contains spoilers through the episode “Edina County Limits,” originally broadcast 1/14/10.

Returning to the small town tactics of “Night of Desirable Objects” (the first regular episode of the season), “Edina County Limits” is probably the most enjoyable standalone episode of the series to date.

It’s not entirely standalone, actually. Much of it revolves around the aftereffects of “Grey Matters,” the last new episode, broadcast about a month ago, where Walter Bishop learned that parts of his memory were missing because they were literally removed from his brain, by William Bell, which he learned at the hands of Thomas Jerome Newton, the latest Villain From the Other Side (that’s what I’ll kill him, and them, this week, anyway). Left for dead unless Olivia Dunham let Newton get away, he was left traumatized, to the point where his son Peter this week remarks that he hasn’t been this bad since he was checked out of St. Claire’s.

So a lot of “Edina County Limits” pivots around trying to help Walter recover from that experience, from his first trip out of his house since that day to the first case he participates in, and finally getting back to normal, which a butterfly/moth certainly helps. Incidentally, I’d like to spend a few words in this review with Astrid, his faithful lab assistant (who actually started out as an FBI assistant under Olivia, believe it or not). She’s the only person who keeps up with Walter on a regular basis. Peter doesn’t. When he’s helpful in that regard, it’s a change of pace from his cynical comments that are more his routine. Olivia isn’t. None of the nitty gritty can be described as her game. Remember last season when we learned that she has latent intuitive powers for some of this stuff? Consider that a part of the larger series arc. Instead, it’s Astrid who’s always there, not just because it’s her “job,” but because, like Walter, she actually seems to enjoy it. In her quiet way, she does help Walter seem – and feel – normal. Considering that Walter was institutionalized because of the death of a previous lab assistant, Astrid’s worth cannot truly be overestimated. Olivia had Charlie, sure, but she’s also had Peter and John Scott as regular and reliable partners (to varying degrees, certainly; even though Mark Valley is now launching ‘Human Target’ and the John Scott arc was abandoned long before the first season was over, I’m still hoping for more, because John was always more than Olivia’s version of Sydney Bristow’s Danny, dead after the first episode).

Anyway, there’s nothing of significance to the series arc in the episode, which leaves the viewer to find their own level of interest in the small town where folks seem to be able to change their appearance from normal to genetically melted at the snap of a picture. As the story progresses, like a mini film, you find yourself invested in their sad little drama, how Walter again realizes he’s linked to it, and find real resolution by the end. You may still be scratching your head that the technology being described is able to switch such subtle things as the appearance of a face from normal to freakish, but there’s plenty to keep you amused, from Walter’s belief in Big Foot to the way he remembers where he hid the details of his involvement, a throwaway sequence that has him singing them.

From ‘The Twilight Zone’ to ‘The X-Files,’ there’s been a long history of television telling sideways tales of reality, but most of the time, it was all about goosing the viewer, offering a little riddle or gothic fable, but ‘Fringe’ has from the start been exceptionally good at keeping a level perspective, allowing you to feel sympathy for the victims both witting and unwitting of the plots that unfailingly kick each episode off without a lot of explanation, only for the rest of the hour to cover them as thoroughly as possible.

Surprisingly, for a man just getting back into the swing of things, but really only Peter and Olivia commenting about it, Walter ends up dominating the episode, which, frankly, isn’t really that hard for Walter or actor John Noble to do. He’s without a doubt the most unique lead character on TV today, more consistently fascinating and dynamic than House, more endearing even than the cast of ‘Lost,’ which collectively is going to end its run as the best in TV history. He’s like Gil Grissom if ‘CSI’ weren’t so dogmatically episodic. I bet I could name an actor who’d be tickled pink to play a character like Walter Bishop.