Fringe: Brown Betty

Fringe has been on a roll lately with several great episodes in a row, and given the circumstances this episode at first seemed like a failure. They've been advertising this episode as a musical for a long time and that certainly raised expectations, but there wasn't too much music in this episode. Brown Betty was ultimately an episode used for comic relief among the darker, more grisly terrain Fringe has been stepping through lately.

Olivia is busy trying to find Peter, and Walter and Astrid have to take care of Ella. Walter, while under the influence of a potent drug, tells Ella a detective story featuring the same characters from the show, but in a slightly exagerated light.

Olivia is a hard-boiled 40's-era detective, Peter is as ambiguous as he's ever been, and Walter is just as evil as he percieves himself to be, which is pretty damn evil. They're all tangled in this musical noir style adventure that may be familiar, but isn't any less good.

I was at first a little disappointed by the minimal amount of music in the episode, but after watching it through a second time I was able to move past it and enjoy the episode for what it was. Jeff Pinkner, J.H. Wyman, and Akiva Goldsman delivered their funniest script yet, while still retaining an emotionally touching quality to it.

The musical score was much better than usual, leading me to believe it was done primarily by Michael Giacchino, and not Chris Tilton who has taken over most of the score duties. The episode also does a great job at incorporating several aspects of the show into it, including Rachel, the vessel from The Arrival, the Observers, John Scott, Brandon, and Leonard Nimoy's William Bell, who inhabits an alternate reality in which he is computer generated. Overall this was a hugely enjoyable episode, and I hope that next season they try their hand at a similar episode.

The Final Touch: As Walter and Astrid go home, The Observer calls someone up, telling him that due to Walter's memory loss, he doesn't remember his warning. Hopefully we find out more about this moment in the future.

8.7 out of 10