Fringe 5x04: The Bullet that Saved the World

Peter goes into town to find some gas and get a replacement for the necklace they borrowed from Etta to melt down for solder. He finds both things, but when an Observer tries to read his mind, things go to hell really fast. He loses the gas, has to hid in the sewer, and nearly gets blown up by a grenade.

Plus, when he regains consciousness, some weird kid keeps poking him with a stick.

Back at the lab, Astrid and Walter are digging out the latest tape when a battered Peter stumbles in. He's not badly hurt, but Olivia shows some pretty deep concern for him. However, he's more concerned with the fact that his mind was read. The Observer didn't get much out of him, but he found it exhausting to fight off the mind probe, even for a brief moment. Etta promises to teach him and the rest of the team how to resist more effectively.

Then her daddy gives her a present.

At the shop where Peter bought the necklace, Broyles finds Windmark rocking out at Simon. One of Broyles' men failed a security check, and Windmark thinks the man may be helping the team avoid capture. Phillip says he'll look into it.

Unfortunately for the team, the latest tape turns out to be severely garbled, and Past Walter's directions are practically useless. However, Present Walter knows what he was talking about: He's hidden part of the plan in a train station. But, all the entrances to the station are guarded by both Observers and the Future Gestapo, so it'll be nearly impossible to get in. They need a diversion, and luckily, Walter just might have one. He's been hiding samples of every Fringe case they dealt with in a storage room under the lab.

Along with a jelly doughnut hole.

At NeoFringe HQ, an Observer interrogates the agent who failed the check. He's a member of the resistance, and he's had assistance from someone who's been using the codename "The Dove". He also knows where the team is hiding. Phillip is obviously The Dove, and he tips off the team. They re-amber the lab and hide in the vents, so no one knows they were ever there.

Then, it's time to catch a train. The family rolls up to a checkpoint in the Family Truckster, and after Walter is briefly electrocuted by an Observer, they use the toxin from the Season 1 episode 'Ability' that seals up all a person's orifices to create the necessary diversion. Walter's managed to aerosolize it, and it, and it's remarkably effective. They kill two Observers and ten or so Gestapo guys, and make their escape.

Killing a man by sealing up his face holes is barbaric, but effective.

The team heads off to an underpass to check out their newfound bounty; it's a bunch of physics equations that not even Walter can understand. They pack up to leave, but Etta gets them to linger for a while because an old friend wants to see them. Broyles arrives to give Olivia a hug and to deliver guns and anti-matter explosives to help them. The reunion is short-lived, however, as one of the guards had managed to attach a tracking device to their car. Observers start popping out of the ether, and everyone has to book it. Etta gives Broyles the equations, and everyone else runs off towards some abandoned warehouses.

Windmark and the goons arrive quickly, and the shooting begins. The team is separated, and he manages to get the drop on Etta. She tries to stab him while he's reading her mind, but he's just a little too fast for her. After finding out why Peter bought the necklace, he shoots her in the gut and leaves her to bleed out.

The rest of the family comes back for her, but they're too late. She's dying, and to make sure that her father leaves her, she arms an anti-matter charge. Realizing that love would make them go back for her, Windmark takes two other Observers and a squad of Loyalists to check out Etta's body. At the last moment, he sees the bomb and phases out of the building. He is the only survivor.

He doesn't seem terribly happy about it, though.

As they watch the building disintegrate, taking Etta with it, Walter is pragmatic and says they should leave, Olivia goes blank again, and Peter gives in to despair. War is hell.

What I Liked
-It's taking so long to get the tapes out that it could be another 21 years before they get them all out. And it'll make Walter so old that he doesn't want to do the math. Getting old while saving the world is a rough gig because you don't get a lot of time to enjoy it when you're done.
-"Astriff: Prepare the laser." They didn't get to say stuff like that often enough on this show.
-Anna Torv makes some good faces. Olivia's emotions really run the gamut, and Anna puts a lot of that on her face. It's only worth mentioning because most of the time she's very stolid, and Ms. Torv doesn't get to show too much range.
-Walter smokes a little bit after he gets electrocuted, but doesn't really seem to mind. A lifetime of drugs will do that to you, I guess.

Walter's had smoke coming out of his head since the 1960s.

What I Hated
-Weird, harmonica-playing kid. That whole scene was some kind of strange non sequitur.
-There's a high-pitched whine when the Observer interrogates the resistance agent. I understand that it's supposed to be uncomfortable for the person being read, it doesn't need to be uncomfortable for the home viewer as well.

Final Thoughts
The word of the day is Wound and I can understand why.

This episode was all over the place. It had action, it had comedy, it had drama; it's a lot to process. Overall, I'd say it really bummed me out. Rather than criss-crossing the country in the Family Truckster, the Bishop clan wound up right back at the lab. Now Etta's dead and they've lost the car. Olivia finally got to have some mother-daughter time and the two of them were actually starting to bond, and Peter was getting to be the doting dad he always wanted to be. Losing a child twice is the kind of thing this version of Walter has experience with, but Olivia and Peter certainly aren't emotionally equipped for it.

Where they're going to go from here isn't exactly clear. They still have to save the world, but Peter's probably beyond the point of giving a damn. Olivia was finally starting to open up emotionally, however, I'd expect her to shut right back up again. Walter is still Walter; he's a genius, but he's a mad genius. This is not a trio that can save the world. They're the broken husk of the old Fringe team. They're the post-John Scott betrayal pilot team. The fate of the world may very well lie with Astrid, now.

TBBT 6x05: The Holographic Excitation

Now that he's back, Wolowitz is taking every opportunity to interject the fact that he went to space into conversations. He connects it to every topic of discussion, regardless of how far he has to reach and how tenuous that connection is. The gang gets sick of it, and when Howard brings up space as they're about to get it on, Bernadette finally tells him that he's annoying everyone.

Bad news is always easier to take when it's delivered by a busty blonde girl.

Elsewhere, Amy and Bernadette tell Penny that it might be a good idea to take an interest in Leonard's work, so she goes to visit him in the lab. At first, she doesn't understand anything, but he shows off some neat magic science stuff and she's reminded that she's dating a genius. Apparently, she finds that super hot now, because it leads to sexytimes in the lab... on more than one occasion.

The levitating ball is a metaphor.

In an episode-encompassing plot, Stuart is having his annual Halloween party, and Raj offers to plan it for him. Amy and Sheldon try to find a couple's costume they can agree on, but have a lot of difficulty since they don't actually like many of the same things. In the end, Amy offers him a choice of matching costumes, giving her a hickey, or making a sex tape. He agrees to compromise, and they go to the party as Raggedy Ann and Raggedy C-3PO.

I would've liked to see the Dharma & Greg costume.

At the party, Bernadette consoles Howard by telling him that even though he can't tell everyone he went to space, he's still a pretty great guy, Raj's preparations are so good that Stuart almost has the confidence to hit on a girl, Amy proves to everyone that her boyfriend is real, and Penny and Leonard have sex in a TARDIS photo booth.

The Doctor would not approve.

What I Liked
-Sheldon shakes Leonard's outstretched fist rather than bumping it. They can do more than just fart jokes on this show.
-Penny does a good "Lovely assistant" bit while she's visiting Leonard's lab. I wish I had a lovely assistant to tell me why my pencils are sharp.
-Two weeks ago, Howard was an astronaut, and now he's a Smurf. Oh, how the mighty are fallen.
-Bernadette's voice after Howard impersonates her. Melissa Rauch should do more voices on the show. Her "I don't sound like that" voice and her version of Howard's mother are both very good.
-Buzz Aldrin tells all the trick-or-treaters that come to his house that he's been to space. I want to believe he does this in real life, I really do.

Candy is twice as delicious in space. It's science!

What I Hated
-They made Penny into kind of an annoying bitch at the start of the episode. She's not the smartest character, but thinking that her job as Leonard's girlfriend is to let him do things to make her happy seems a little too stereotypical blonde airhead-esque.
-Howard was building a sex robot. Because that's a thing that nerds do. They go a little far sometimes, but lately it's been rare for them descend into ridiculous stereotypes.
-Amy drinks from her tea cup about two seconds after Sheldon pours the water in. Now, I'm not a tea drinker, but I think it's fairly safe to say that the stuff in that cup hadn't had time to become tea.
-Captain Sweatpants wasn't at the party. Now, more than ever, the world needs Captain Sweatpants!

Final Thoughts
I didn't list it in the previous section because it seems kind of petty, but Leonard's magic hologram thing kinda bugged me. True, it wouldn't have looked as cool, but they could've shown off an actual 3D holographic laser interference thing instead of something that won't be practical for 30 years.

Also, I think technically it's engineering and not experimental physics.

Despite the fact that I only got twenty laughs out of this episode, and thus didn't find it as funny as some of the earlier episodes this season, I still appreciated the fact that they managed to work in all their credited characters, and they wrapped everything up in a plot mechanism that gave a little cohesion to all the disparate plot threads. Jamming eight characters into twenty minutes isn't easy, but they managed to make it work, and that deserves some recognition.

TBBT 6x04: The Re-Entry Minimization

Wolowitz returns from space. He manages to survive the descent with a moderate amount of screaming, and they don't explicitly say that he pooped himself, so I'm going to assume that he didn't. When he arrives at the airport, Bernadette's the only one there to greet him because he left right after their wedding, and they didn't have any time for matrimonial sexing.

Aw, yeah.

Unfortunately, Bernie is sick, and the antihistamine she takes makes her fall asleep. With no wife to give him a proper welcome, he heads over to his mother's place. She wasn't expecting to see him until the next day, though, and she is otherwise occupied, having relations with Howard's dentist. Unable to clear that image from his mind, Wolowitz heads over to Raj's place, where he finds that Stuart has horned in on his best friend. In fact, Stuart is now living with Raj, and they're going to the Sound of Music Sing Along. Not wanting to be a third wheel, Howard then heads over to Sheldon and Leonard's place, where the B-plot has been taking place. Everyone there is otherwise occupied, so he heads out to a diner where he at last receives a little recognition.

And a free piece of cheesecake.

Over in B-plot land, it's the sitcom standard Boys vs. Girls game night. It begins with Pictionary, and when the boys lose due to Sheldon's inability to draw a decent picture or make a rational guess, game night gets rough. There's glasses-free Where's Waldo, dizzy math, and wrestling, all of which the guys lose because this is a standard sitcom trope. The boys don't always have to get skunked, but that seems to be the way it's written most often. They pretty much always lose, though. In any male vs. female competition, the females have about a 90% chance of victory, regardless of matter under contention. It can be sports, board games, trivia, cooking, or even arm wrestling, and the guys will lose. On the off-chance that the guys win, the women get super pissy about it, and it's up to the guys to apologize for being chauvinists or whatever. It's been happening since at least the 1980s, and quite frankly it's gotten a bit dull. Anyway, it all ends with a pie-eating contest.

Which actually seemed to be more of a pie face-rubbing contest.

What I Liked
-They found a realistic way to keep Stuart around. Sheldon's on his side because he gets a discount at the comic book shop, and he's basically Raj's live-in boyfriend. I'm 50-50 on whether or not they'll add in a little gayness for shock value.

I'm tempted to make a Coffee and Cream joke, but I won't.

What I Hated
-People are waiting for Howie Mandel at the airport. I know America's Got Talent is a big deal, but does he really get mobbed everywhere? If this is true to life, I hate it even more.
-The whole B-plot has been done dozens of times before. The guys lose and get a bit upset. Ha.
-The A-plot wasn't exactly new stuff, either. The sad sack expects a warm welcome, but instead gets nothing. I can't even count the number of times I've seen that one before.

Final Thoughts
They must be running short on ideas if they're going to the standard sitcom trope well with such regularity.

I must be getting easier to please as I get older, because I still somehow managed to get 21 laughs out of this despite it falling back on overdone plots. What I said before about this show seems to be true: It's a pretty standard multi-camera sitcom, and it does a lot of standard sitcom stuff, but it does it very, very well.

Hawaii Five-0 3x04: Popilikia

A professional polo player (which is apparently a thing a person can be) loses his head on the practice field. Literally. Well, I suppose he didn't lose it. He knew exactly where it was right up until it fell off... and maybe a few seconds afterwards.

It's on the ground, right where he left it.

Elsewhere, a noise in the kitchen awakens McGarrett and Catherine. Mama McGarrett (who should be under witness protection) has broken in, and is downstairs making breakfast. Since it's weird to have breakfast with your boyfriend's mother when you're not wearing any pants, Cat excuses herself. The conversation's not terribly comfortable, but fortunately there's a dead guy for Steve to deal with, so he gets to leave. Out at the polo field, Max discovers the murder weapon: Someone strung garrote wire across the goal posts. To demonstrate its effectiveness, Max murders his cane.

Dr. House would not approve.

The dead guy's girlfriend points the team to a psychic who said that she'd be touched by death. Since Danny is a believer, he takes Kono to question her. The psychic's not actually psychic, but she's a practised con artist, so she's very observant. And, when the dead guy came in, she observed him getting a phone call from someone named 'Al' who he didn't want to talk to. A call that made him very nervous.

Coincidentally, Al is the name of the man who owns the polo team the dead guy used to play for before he switched clubs mid-season. And, Al was still paying the guy for some reason. Danny and McGarrett go to have a talk with Al, and like a good 25% of the people they question, he makes them chase him down.

Making a cop chase you across a polo field is a one-way ticket to a butt-whooping.

But, Al has an alibi, and the payoffs were just to keep the dead guy's mouth shut about horse doping. So, the team has no suspect, and Steve and Danny nearly got trampled by horses. The day's not going well. They have a chat with the owner of the dead guy's team, and his son walks in and tells him that he switched practice times with the dead guy. So, maybe he was the target.

As it turns out, the son was kidnapped ten years ago and held for ransom. However, he escaped and testified against his kidnappers, one of whom has just been released and is AWOL from his halfway house. Steve sends Kono to protect the kid, but he gets there just in time to watch his car explode and injure the kid and his mom.

It was actually a bomb, and not just a defect in the air bags.

Danny tracks down the suspect, and when they go to get him, he makes them chase him down. So few people go quietly. He's not a much better runner than the first guy, though, and McGarrett tackles him into a polluted river. Tetanus shots for all! Steve plays bad cop and finds out the guy planted the bomb, but that he was paid 50 grand to do it. He says he would've done it for free, because he was still ticked at the kid for testifying. McGarrett's not exactly happy with that answer, so he clocks the guy and has Danno book him for attempted murder.

At the hospital, the mom dies after someone asphyxiates her. The security cameras show that it was the son. He was angry with her for having an affair with the now-dead polo player, so he killed them both. When McGarrett and Danny go to arrest him, he doesn't run, he just tries to ride over them with his horse. It doesn't work, and he gets a bullet in the shoulder. The case is closed. Which is good, because it's beer o'clock.

The ladies love Chin.

There's still one question that needs answering: Why did Doris let Wo Fat go? Steve finally asks her, and she says that her shots were wild, and she didn't mean to let him get away. He doesn't buy it. Which is understandable because he's a notorious cheapskate, and doesn't buy anything.

What I Liked
-Danny has to pay the psychic because his salary's higher than Kono's. Also he believes her crap, so he deserves to pay. He doesn't believe in ghosts, though, which is weird because he saw one once when he was trying to find an apartment to rent.
-Steve gets to tackle some guys.
-They bust out the catchphrase. Danno hasn't been doing nearly enough booking lately. In the previous three episodes, most of the criminals either wound up dead, or got caught by Kono and Chin.

What I Hated
-Cat goes to investigate the sounds in the kitchen even though it would be much safer for her to stay upstairs. I know empowering women is a big deal, but that doesn't mean they have to be idiots. Steve is a former Navy SEAL and he has a gun; he can probably handle whatever it is, and running around with a bat is just going to get you killed. Or you'll have an awkward conversation with his mother. One or the other.
-McGarrett doesn't call his mother out on the fact that she lied. She has to know that he didn't believe her, and he knows she knows that. So, why delay the inevitable conversation about how Wo Fat is her secret love child or whatever?
-When the kid gets shot in the shoulder, the stunt is fairly obvious. The obvious stunt man quite obviously jumps off the horse.

At least he doesn't have a beard.

Final Thoughts
The last time I saw Bai Ling in anything, she was telling the story of Jack's tattoos on Lost. Does she always play mystical fortune telling ladies, or does she only do those parts when she's in Hawaii?

I wasn't feeling this one. There was more focus on Steve and Catherine's relationship, which I think is important for growth and to cement Cat's character as an integral part of his life and thus explain why she's always helping out even though she's not technically part of the team. However, there wasn't nearly enough banter. It was replaced with mama drama and a bunch of whining from the killer's father.

Castle 5x04: Murder, He Wrote

Castle and Beckett (who the internet apparently call 'Caskett') are going away for the weekend as couples are wont to do. Since dating is still a violation of the NYPD anti-fraternization whatever, they have to lie about what they're doing. Castle says he's going to the Hamptons to write, while Beckett gets her metaphorical balls busted because she's going away with her secret boyfriend for the weekend. They don't have a case, so Ryan and Esposito decide to spend the weekend tracking down Beckett's new man. Because they're her partners, and it's important for them to make sure she's not dating a scumbag.

As it turns out, Beckett was actually more or less telling the truth. She is going away for the weekend with her secret boyfriend. Her rich secret boyfriend, who has a big-ass house in the Hamptons.

Having Castle own a literal castle would've been a bit too on the nose, so he just has this place.

But, before the sexytimes can begin, a dead guy falls in Castle's pool. That's always the way these sorts of things go. You're about to have a weekend of pantsless fun, and a guy just flops down dead in front of you. It totally kills the mood. Anyway, the local constabulary is on the case, so Castle and Beckett can get back to being bottomless. She makes a valiant effort, but his inquisitive mind just won't let it go. Personally, I think naked times with a pretty lady are more fun than investigating a murder, but maybe that's why I'm not a best-selling author.

Sure, he looks happy, but he's really thinking about solving a murder.

The dead guy is a local rich dude who nearly lost it all in the crash, and avoided jail time by ratting out his co-workers. While the Mayberry PD think it was a local meth head, Castle goes poking around and accuses the dead guy's mistress. It's a small town, though, and she's good friends with the police chief, so Caskett are quickly arrested for interfering with a police investigation.

My vacations have fewer meth addicts.

Fortunately, a quick internet search determines just who exactly the two of them are, and since the chief's never worked a murder investigation before, he asks Castle and Beckett to work as consultants. And so, the dance begins. It's not the mistress, the guy's ex-co-worker, or the local mafioso who was ticked at him for buzzing his house with a helicopter.

Vinnie the Scar is *not* the killer.

Back in New York, Esposito and Ryan check out the dead guy's real estate holdings. He's been buying up distressed properties, but not renovating them, and not renting them out. It doesn't add up, so it's time to pay a visit to one. They find a fully-loaded meth lab down in the basement, along with some dudes who say the ex-co-worker was in on it. Ryan interrogates him, but he doesn't know who killed the guy. However, he lets it slip that Castle and his girlfriend brunette girlfriend named Kate interrogated him up in the Hamptons, and Ryan finds that just as interesting.

Kevin Ryan: Smug bastard.

They now know that the dead guy was killed over meth, and the local meth addict tells the cops that he buys his stuff from the dock master. Case closed... or is it? Castle notices that the dock master's boat is tied up with perfect knots, whereas the boat where the guy was killed was tied quite sloppily. The real killer was whoever got the info from the meth addict: Deputy Jones. A quick standoff ensues, and the chief shoots his deputy. Case closed... for real.

Then, at long last, it's sexytime.

What I Liked
-They managed to work in Martha and Alexis. It was right at the beginning of the episode and only for about 45 seconds, but they were there. I hope this means the writers like that part of the show as much as I do.
-Beckett forgot her bathing suit. Women who do that are awesome.
-In exchange for their help, Castle has to let Ryan and Esposito borrow his Ferrari. That's not technically a bribe.
-Ryan's interrogation. Getting the guy to describe Beckett is actually kinda pervy when I think about it.

I don't make this face when I think about it.

What I Hated
-Esposito says "Yeah, this is definitely a meth lab" in what is quite obviously a meth lab. I think it must've been for the audience's benefit because otherwise it's like walking into McDonald's and saying "Yeah, this is definitely a fast food joint" which would be a really weird thing for a person to say.
-The killer was sort of random. I know that's sometimes how it has to be, but I don't care for it. We barely caught a glimpse of Deputy Jones before he was outed as the killer.

Final Thoughts
This episode did not, in any way, take itself seriously. That's good. Castle is not a serious business cop show. It's a goofy guy investigating murders with the help of his sassy partner and interracial buddy cop chums. There's no need for seriousness.

I'm left wondering if Castle's wealth will become an issue in the Caskett relationship. Sure, it's nice to date a rich guy, but do you wind up resenting his wealth or getting accustomed to it? The fact that he's loaded doesn't come up that often, but they've gone two straight episodes with Castle showing off his wad. Last week it was a literal wad of cash, and this week it's his big-ass house. Will he buy her an exceedingly expensive bracelet only to have her go "Whoa, hey, slow down cowboy. We've only been dating for a few months"? I hope not. This show avoids cliches most -but not all- of the time.

That being said, I really enjoyed this episode. It was fun, not too grisly, and it even had a little bit of action.

HIMYM 8x04: Who Wants to Be a Godparent?

Lily and Marshall have a nanny, but now they need a godparent for baby Marvin. Strangely enough, while they're comfortable with leaving their baby alone for several hours with Chris Elliott, they're not comfortable with having him completely in charge of the child's upbringing. Not that I can blame them. They argue over which of their various family members would be best before settling on Marshall's older brother Marcus. Unfortunately, Marcus and his wife have split up, and his new job has taken him out of the country.

I don't care what Marshall and Lily say. Carnalism 2 is a fine place to raise a child.

So, with no family available (why Marshall's eldest brother Marvin Jr. wouldn't work isn't touched on), Marshall and Lily are forced to choose between their best friends. The three amigos attempt to curry favour with gifts and demonstrations of their parenting skills, it gets pretty tiresome, and Marshall decides that the best way to choose a godparent is via game show.

Which gets started right after a word from their sponsors.

The game show goes on for a while, but eventually it turns into a big argument. Lily and Marshall aren't sure any of their friends are ready to be parents, and Barney, Robin, and Ted are ticked at them for being completely unavailable since the baby was born. While one can see the parents' point that the baby trumps all, they recognize that they've been a bit extreme about it. Thus, they decide to revoke the rule that says their friends can only talk about their problems if they're at an 8 or higher on the 1-10 scale, and they decide to make all three of their best friends Marvin's godparents.

Which is apparently somehow legal in New York.

What I Liked
-Barney's mental self-five. After seven years, they're still coming up with innovative ways to high-five.
-The bro-based children's songs. I'd like to think NPH sings them to his kids in real life.

I'd also like to think he wears the costumes.

What I Hated
-Lily keeps breaking down when she and Marshall are talking about death. Even about simple things like not getting mail ever again. It was incredibly unrealistic, even for this show.
-Professor Infosaurus. It's becoming harder and harder to make Ted seem like more of a douche, but the writers keep making it happen. The most unbelievable thing on this show is now the fact that Future Ted's kids listen to him at all.

Final Thoughts
They used the death angle several seasons ago when Marshall and Lily had to write goodbye letters to each other. She seemed pretty nonchalant about it at the time, but I guess having a baby has made her more emotional.

Why does Robin even want to be a godparent? She doesn't want kids. She doesn't want kids so badly that it caused her to break up with a man who asked her to marry him. I'm pretty sure she also broke up with Ted because he wanted kids and she didn't. Now she wants one so badly that she's willing to fight Barney and Ted. That makes no sense at all.

Also, I'm fairly certain there's only one spot for a name on the guardianship form because only one person should be a child's guardian. This isn't Issue #1 of Radioactive Man, it's a kid. Moving him around from house to house seems like it would really mess him up.

Fifteen laughs, but I think the show is starting to fall back on standard sitcom cliches this season. I fully expect Ted to accidentally schedule dates with two women at the same time and run back and forth between them Jack Tripper style.

Fringe 5x03: The Recordist

Astrid and Walter recover the first tape detailing Walter's plan to defeat the Observers. Although, it turns out to be the third tape, as past-Walter's brain was somewhat addled, and he stored them out of order. I like that they've always been at least somewhat realistic with their depiction of drug use on Fringe. Smoking pot won't stop you from becoming a brilliant scientist, but it will make you forget where you left things.

You'll always remember where you hid your weed, though.

Despite Walter's protestations that he needs to stay behind to spend some quality time with his bong, the team (minus Astrid) is off to beautiful Northern Pennsylvania, which I'm sure looks nothing like the woodland near Vancouver. There they find a small village of people with a disfiguring skin condition, one of whom is the titular Recordist. When the invasion happened, his father started an archive to document the history of humanity, so it would survive without being edited by its conquerors.

I think I would've enjoyed history class more if the text books were in 3D

In what may be a bit of cross-promotion for a thing I don't know about, the Recordist's son is a big fan of the Fringe Division and all their adventures, and has illustrated several comic books about them. Since his idols have actually come to town, he gets them to autograph his work. Which is probably something Anna Torv and Joshua Jackson have done on more occasions than they'd care to count. I pity poor Josh and all the Dawson/Pacey slash comics he has to sign.

Not pictured: Walter/Denethor slash fic

Back at the lab, Astrid does some digging and discovers that they need to visit a mine that's nearby. But, when they get there, they find that whatever's causing the skin disfigurement is deadly, and is amplified by being in the mine. Walter and Olivia begin to show signs of being affected, but after the next commercial break, Walter cuts the growths off, and it's never a problem again. More pressing is the fact that the future Gestapo are tracking them. Thanks to a double agent, the team knows they're coming, but now they're seriously pressed for time. Walter builds a suit that'll let someone go down into the mine without dying, but they need to trade for some copper so he can finish it.

The Recordist radios a local settlement. They're angry dudes, and even if they do want to trade, there's no guarantee that whoever goes out to make the deal will be coming back. He says goodbye to his son, but at the last moment says he can't go through with it and sends Olivia and Peter instead. However, when they get to the rendezvous point, no one is there. It was all a ruse. The other settlers didn't have any copper, so The Recordist went into the mine himself and retrieved the mineral they needed at the cost of his own life.

Always remember to moisturize, kids.

With his father all crusty and gross, The Recordist's son takes over the task of archiving the important moments in history. The Fringe team ditches their van and takes off for Wally World in the Family Truckster. Mom and Dad sit up front while Etta and Grandpa ride in the back. As it should be.

Road Trip!

What I Liked
-The tape shows past-Walter hiding his bong under something, so future-Walter retrieves it. When the world has gone to hell and a bunch of bald guys are trying to kill you, why wouldn't you get high?
-Again, I don't know if it was something they were doing purposely or if it was a mere coincidence, but while Peter and Olivia were talking about what happened after the invasion, they were on opposite sides of the van. So, even though they were having a deep, meaningful conversation, they're still apart. It's symbolism or a metaphor or something.
-They find what must literally be the only functional 1980s station wagon in the entire world. It's like driving a small, ugly land boat.
-Walter's sunglasses.

What I Hated
-The settlement isn't as helpful as it should be. The Fringe team is well known enough that one of the few children in your village has drawn a series of comic books about them, and four of them show up on your doorstep telling you that they have a plan to save the world. What do you do? They should've been stripping everything for parts to help Walter build his suit. Instead, most of them just seemed to sit around. If this is the kind of apathy they get from a group where one member idolizes them, I'm curious to see what they'll get from a settlement that's never heard of them. Probably shot. In the face.
-They need about 18 kilos of the mineral, but Walter lifts the bucket of rocks like it's full of styrofoam. It's not a particularly important point, but with all the emphasis they placed on the amount of the stuff they were going to need, you'd think they'd make a point of showing that the bucket was actually heavy.

Final Thoughts
The word of the day is "ANGER" I don't know why. No one seemed particularly angry.

It's all about the family on Fringe, now. Olivia's still a bit miffed at Peter for abandoning the world to search for their daughter, and she's upset at herself for giving up on Etta so easily. But, Peter sees their current predicament as a second chance for all of them to be a family. So, I suppose that's what they're going to do. I hope Etta didn't have her heart set on a little brother or sister, though, 'cause mom and dad aren't exactly in the mood for baby-making.

The group of villages out in the middle of nowhere raises an important question that probably won't get answered: How much of the world do the Observers actually control? Sure, the major cities are pacified, and you can't really fight them off if they come to your town, but why would they bother taking over some podunk town in the middle of nowhere? They conquered present-day Earth because they crapped up future Earth, so I can't see them bothering with present-day crapholes. Which means fairly large sections of the planet would be fairly autonomous. Did they invade and conquer what's left of Detroit? Would it actually have improved things if they did? These are the pressing questions of our time... that won't get answered because they're not really important to the narrative.

I actually didn't like this episode very much. Far too much time was spent on The Recordist's emotional journey, and I just didn't care. He's brave, he's a coward, he's happy, he's sad. Then he was dead, and I didn't give a crap. It's hard to care for a character who's so all over the place. Also, his job really isn't that important. Recording history is only worthwhile if there's someone left to read it, and if the regular humans don't somehow overthrow the Observers, they'll all be dead. Plus, if the Fringe team is successful, there's no need for the archive at all because history is written by the victors.

It gets an extra half star for Walter's sunglasses, though. He'd better keep wearing them for the rest of the series.