4x13: A Better Human Being

[wendelah1]

"How about a non-mad scientist who was trying to do good and had something go wrong?" - Wendelah complaining about the plethora of episodes about mad scientists on Fringe.

The moral is clear: be careful what you wish for. This week's episode is a creepy take on that theme featuring a scientist whose attempt at creating a better human being results in a brood of hive-minded murderers. I'd say something went wrong all right. Very wrong.



Writer: Robert Chiappetta (story), Glen Whitman (story), Monica Owusu-Breen (teleplay), Alison Schapker (teleplay)
Director: Joe Chappelle
Originally aired: 17 February 2012

Synopsis: When an institutionalized schizophrenic patient describes a recent murder in detail, the Fringe team investigates. Olivia now remembers her three year relationship with Peter in vivid detail—except she's really only known him three months, so what's up with that, Fringe writers? Peter now believes she's his Olivia, too, which is convenient for all. Meanwhile, Walter and Agent Lee discover that the Cortexiphan stored at Massive Dynamic is missing—and that Olivia has recently been dosed with the drug.

Most Memorable Quote:
OWEN FRANK: (regarding his attempt to create a better human being) Can you imagine that? The hubris of trying to improve upon God?

Well, yeah, because it's a major theme of the series. This episode foreshadows the upcoming William Bell arc.

Links:
Transcript
A.V. Club
EW Recap
Polite Dissent

Fanfiction:
Worlds on Fire by kerithwyn

Comments

[sprocket]

A "meh" Fringe episode still has its moments, but not many in "A Better Human Being". Olivia and Peter's will-they-won't-they dance is just... not my thing. In some ways, the Hive Boys are thematically in line with "Nothing As It Seems", since both episodes feature cases where attempts to improve "the species" go about as well as human experimentation generally works on Fringe. It's a weak connection, which I mostly put in as a languid handwave to the end of season Brave New World reveal(s), backing up wendelah1's observation about the Owen Frank quote.

Structurally, this feels like a fairly complicated episode for Fringe. (Or maybe it feels that way because it's so obvious the writers are trying.) While Peter and Olivia hash out their issues with Olivia's memories, Astrid is hanging out with Hive Boy, while Walter spearheads a cortexiphan investigation, bringing Lincoln along as muscle, and presumably driver. The complexity comes across as diffusion, without a strong thematic or plot unification. Once the story is in motion, the characters don't talk to each other across the separate strands.

That's a shame, as Astrid got what could have been a winning thematic counterpoint: But I can understand why silence would scare you. You're not used to being by yourself. But this is normal. It was so loud for you that you couldn't even hear yourself think.

So, alone is normal, except the Peter-and-Olivia plot is all about the right-ness of being together. And meanwhile the team is spread across non-unifying objectives.

Sounds like the writers missed a chance at coherence, there. The ep fizzles like the case.

Other observations:
I give Peter points for learning from the alt!Liv debacle...

...well, a little bit. Enough to name-check it in the scene with Olivia at the gas station, even if it doesn't seem to stick.

So Nina's chilling at the Bridge these days. Awesome. Plot possibilities abound.

And there are now officially two Ninas running around one universe! Even more possibilities abound. My first reaction to the Nina reveal was relief, since I really didn't want the messy fallout from the earlier implications that Olivia's foster mother had been drugging her. However, it's not 100% clear which Nina drugged Olivia. There's several Byzantine possibilities for which Nina did what, and why.

"In my experience, security can be breached." Hah. We all remember your last attempt at infiltration didn't go so well, Agent Lee.

Speaking of, half a season in Lincoln hasn’t figured out how to take the wacky caseload in stride, or noticed Olivia isn’t the person to take these observations to. "Weird? This isn't weird. Boyfriends from the same universe, who don't write themselves out of existence, or die from flesh-eating biochemistry mishaps, that's freaky and unnatural."