Television Breakdown: Birth of a Nation

Fringe: Bloodline

The last time Fringe shamelessly played to their strengths and committed to an entirely mythology based storyline, aside from flashback episode Subject 13, was in Reciprocity. There is something so completely rewarding about this series when it's firing on all cylinders, and Bloodline was one of those episodes. It brought together so many important lingering plot strings in the show for something incredibly emotional and climactic. It kicked off very quickly, with Olivia and her mother discussing the possibility of her having the same disease that killed poor alternate Rachel and Ella during childbirth. It's one of those things you never thought would come back to bite our heroes in the vagina, but it did.

Not that she should be immediately worried about it, seeing as moments after she enters her apartment she is zapped unconscious by a team of unknown individuals. This launches us immediately into a fast-paced race against time to find Olivia before it's too late. Nothing is revealed about the group of sinister kidnappers, nor should anything be. That shroud of secrecy adds a layer of menace to all the scenes of Olivia in captivity. Well, the fact that Peter's baby boy is rapidly growing inside of her does have that covered already, so this episode was wicked freaky and intense. Brings back some touchy memories from season 1 episode The Same Old Story, doesn't it?

As insane as what's happening on the inside was, what ended up being the bread and butter of the episode was Charlie and Lincoln searching for their friend. While they're on the hunt, who do they unexpectedly run into than good old Henry Higgins, the cab driver that aided Olivia early on this season. I have to say, I was really worried for a moment that things were about to go entirely downhill for poor Henry, but thankfully it was just a followup that prompted Lincoln to pop the ultimate question to Walternate: Was our Olivia replaced with theirs? I guess it was only a matter of time before that happened, and it made for scene of intense relish between the two men. To think that alternate versions of themselves were conversing last week about "soul vampires".

It came together for a really emotional and unexpected finale to the episode. We've known that Lincoln has had feelings for Olivia, and those came to the surface as Olivia was delivering her baby in creepy as hell Chinatown. It was really frightening and emotional as we were uncertain what exactly was going to happen. They really fooled us, didn't they? I can't be the only one who thought for a moment that they had really killed off the other Olivia. I was actually starting to shout at the television when she started breathing again. Not cool Jeff Pinkner! Renew the show only to almost kill off a fan favorite character! You brilliantly cruel bastard!

The episode was able to trick us into thinking that Walternate was maybe not behind it after all. Eventually it all came to fruition as he eclipsed his last creepy smile in Immortality with an even creepier smile at the end of this one. It might have unfolded perhaps a tad bit predictably, but I suspended that for Over There, and it payed off in more than full. It's also a testament to stars of this show that they have devoted so completely to the diverse roles they have to play from week to week. Last week Anna Torv was playing William Bell, the week before she was playing our Olivia, and this week she was playing the other Olivia, and I honestly couldn't praise her enough for the unbelievable work she's done. Fringe has the best and most adept cast on television, even if you go all the way down to the actor who plays Brandon, Ryan McDonald. His acting in that final scene with John Noble just chilled me to the bone.

And then there's the baby, and I'm sure that some are going to gripe that they rushed the pregnancy arc on, but I thought that it created for an unbelievable amount of tension. Also, we're not going to have to go through a whole season of Alt-Olivia being a bitch with the hormones. That would pervade into soap opera territory. This episode was totally focused on bringing that baby to term, whether or not Olivia and the audience were ready for it. The birth scene was an emotional high for the series, and how could it not be? It was just thrust upon our characters unexpectedly, and Olivia hadn't even grown a bond to the child. Still her happy face at the close of the episode was a sweet little frame, even if it was quickly overshadowed by scheming Walternate. And this episode has changed the dynamic of the show. It's not a love triangle between Peter, Olivia, and Fauxlivia. It's Peter and Olivia, and Lincoln and Fauxlivia. So... Linclivia?

The episode did move a bit slow in middle part of the episode, but when the opening is so effective and the ending is equally effective, I can't help but applaud. On a few final notes, Walternate does NOT experiment on children! I doubt he's about to sacrifice his own infant grandchild to operate the machine and destroy our universe, so stop assuming. There's some other scheming at work, and I miss Walternate being a step ahead of our heroes and the audience. Oh, and Charlie went out with Bug Girl! Pointless fanatics of the world unite in a symphony of joy!

9.6 out of 10

Community: Critical Film Studies

I watch Community on occasion, not for any mythological relevance, but for an insane amount of comedic fun. This episode offered that in more than ample supply, as an episode that offered references to not only the previously mentioned Pulp Fiction, but to a plethora of unexpected others. The plot was simple, as can always be expected, with Jeff planning a Pulp Fiction themed birthday party for Abed. Unfortunately for Jeff, Abed had other plans, showing up at a classy restaurant acting strangely normal, and not at all like Abed. It turns out that while on the set of Cougar Town (YES!!!!!), Abed went through a transformative experience that made him want to be a normal man and indulge in a real conversation.

Then Jeff indulged in such a real conversation, and it was honestly one of the most superbly written monologues in the history of this show. It talked about the very nature of humanity and a parodying manner, and it ended only for Abed to reveal he was just doing a bit from My Dinner With Andre. This episode was packed to the brim with lunatic references, and you couldn't help but enjoy every second of it. The subplots were rather pointless. We were in it for the main conflict. It was a solid standalone effort, and I'm starting to feel like the show does better with those than their mythology episodes.

9.0 out of 10