Fringe - Season 5 Episode 2 - In Absentia - Recap and Review
In the second episode of Fringe , "In Absient", Etta unveils her darker conscience which puts pressure on her relationship with her mother, Olivia (Anna Torv). Check below for a recap and review!
The same dream sequence from last week leads us into this week’s episode “In Absentia“ - this time visualized through Olivia’s experience. We still don’t know how the world came to its state, but Olivia recalls additional details than Peter, including what appears to be the mouthing of the words “There was an explosion” from a medical assistant. The dream sequence ends at roughly the same point, leaving us once again grasping at straws to piece the puzzle of the past.
“When There’s A Will, There’s A Way”
Walter (John Noble) is trying out the thought-processing device September left him, but it appears to be just causing Walter to spew out nonsense in different languages, however Walter is insistent that it will work in time. The team asks Etta about the status of Walter’s laboratory in Harvard in hopes that there may be additional clues to help Walter’s quest for information, and she informs them that it has been seized and guarded by the Observers. Walter doesn’t seem to be affected by this, as he enlightens the team about the secret underground tunnels. (He sure was super prepared! Got to give it up to Walter eh?) The process of going through the tunnels goes swiftly, but once they arrive inside the laboratory, they discover half of the resources in amber. A loyalist soldier discovers them, but he is threatened by Etta at gunpoint to surrender.
“Opening of Books”
Etta completely changes character as she starts to interrogate the loyalist. Etta doesn’t waste any time as she realizes the loyalist is reluctant to cooperate. Stating, “I’m good at opening books”, she pulls out the heavy guns as she uses a kind of torture device to convince the loyalist to talk. Not only does the device electrify him, but also he quickly ages throughout the process. Fringe open’s up Etta’s ‘book’ as it shows Etta’s innocence (arguably, her cover) being quickly eclipsed as we discover more about her deeper facets and how morbid and ruthless she can be, as her techniques mirror the torturous approach of the Observers, much to the surprise to Olivia, and Walter. Olivia tries to handle the situation more diplomatically, and empathizes with the loyalist as she tries to give him water. Etta quickly stops her from doing so, and emphasizes that “no tears should be lost” for the loyalist as he represents the type of people who would betray ones of his own kind. Underlining some provocative ethical questions, Etta continues to persuade Olivia to toughen up and familiarize herself with the new environment and the methods it takes for a resistance fighter to survive. As Etta leaves the room briefly, the loyalist plays on Olivia’s feelings of guilt and pity and pleas Olivia to deliver the news of his death to his son, in case he doesn’t survive the torture. The loyalist survives by eventually confessing the security codes required the access the Science Building that consists of a set of numbers and his eye identification. Walter somehow executes his usual genius and identifies the pattern in his eyes and tries to trace an exact replica onto a pig’s eye.
One of the questions includes whether or not is it honorable to adopt the same ways of violence of the opposing side? Is violence the only way to assert control?
Avenge VS Revenge
Olivia and the loyalist engage in an intimate conversation, as Olivia tries to find out more about the divide of resistance fighters and loyalists. We discover the vulnerable, human side of the loyalist as he describes that his choice to join the loyalist was caused by fear, a pursuit of safety and the death of his son caused by the Resistance. The loyalist challenges Olivia and her team’s persistence and their chances of winning, but Olivia collectedly responds that there is no other option but to win, so that all the people who have died, including the loyalists’ son “didn’t die for nothing.”
Meanwhile, Peter (Joshua Jackson) dresses up as the loyalist and scans the pig’s eye in attempt to access the Science building. Meanwhile, Olivia is controlling what the loyalist communicates through the walkie-talkie. Peter discovers that the original loyalist is not authorized to access this sector, but the loyalist fakes a story about a broken fuse that he must fix to get by. Now inside, they discover a chamber of horrors – patients with strange deformations, jars of brains, (the usual right?) and the worst of all, Etta’s sidekick, Simon (Henry Cusick) who previously sacrificed himself and got himself ambered, is now decapitated (and yet, still very much alive). Etta’s dark side takes over as she threatens the realization of the infiltration by pulling out her gun, but Peter convinces her that this is not the time for vengeance and she must think of the future. They finally manage to switch on a device that restores energy in Walter’s laboratory, allowing Bishop to use a laser device to retrieve his equipment stuck in the amber.
“It’s Something In Her Eyes”
Etta returns to the laboratory, and fueled by even greater fury, unties the loyalist with the plan of sedating and ‘disposing’ him to the Resistance. Olivia suspects Etta’s decisions are overly influenced by her trauma concerning Foster’s death, and tries to convince Etta that the loyalist is just another human being who has a family and deserves to live. Stating that he has no son like she knows it off the back of her hand, Etta accuses her mother for being gullible and for believing a loyalist, who is “trained to lie” in order to fulfill the basic “instinct to survive as long as possible”. Etta continues, ““You don’t know my world”, Olivia is conflicted about the drastically different values at play – a situation that could potentially revive her worst fears: a separation, both in a physical and a psychological sense, from her daughter. Eventually, Etta weeds out the truth in private, as the loyalist confirms the validity of her instincts and admits he does not have a son. However, something about his face-to-face honesty and maybe the realization of her mother’s genuine concern and love for her, changes Etta’s mind to let him go. “It’s something I saw in her eyes. Pity. Pity for all of us.”
Walter retrieves a tape from the amber that he recorded at the time the Observers took control, which provides directions on finding other tapes to uncover an ultimate plan.
Etta is becoming more magnetizing each week, and it’s only been Episode 2. I love the direction that Fringe is taking with her, and her inner dialogue of conflicts is portrayed with great subtleties and refinement. The imagery and symbolization was well crafted as Fringe finds a way to integrate a theme (in this case, the idea of ‘tunnels’, ‘eyes’, and ‘books opening’ that joins the character’s individual storylines and the episode’s greater storyline. The episode’s structure felt very whole, as it started with a Walter in the present stressing optimism in willpower, and concluded with a reassurance and reminder from the past, that that willpower is what has brought them together and what will keep them together.