1x15: Inner Child

[wendelah1]

I don't have much to say about this episode except that the mysterious mute child does return, in season five, I believe. In time, all will become clear...


Writer: Brad Caleb Kane, Julie Cho
Director: Frederick E.O.Toye
Originally aired: April 7, 2009

Synopsis:
Just minutes before the building above him is going to be demolished, one of the workers takes one last look around and discovers a mysterious mute child. The child has been living alone underground; the authorities want to know when and how he got there, and how he survived. For reasons that are unclear to me, the Fringe team is called in to investigate. Olivia forms a special bound with him. Meanwhile, a gruesome serial killer resurfaces. Naturally Olivia joins this investigation, too. She's a very busy agent.

Most Memorable Quote:
"My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pies. No. That's the planets of the solar system... or at least was." - Walter (to himself, reciting a mnemonic device to remember the order of the planets from Mercury, outwards... then realizing Pluto is not considered a planet anymore.)

Links:
Transcript
A.V. Club review

Fanfiction:
No. Well, maybe. I'll look when I have a chance.

Comments

[kerithwyn]

hmm. Nice episode, but I don't have much to say about it either.

The real charm of this episode is Olivia's rapport with the Observer Kid--her empathy on display, as much as his. The bit with the M&Ms is great.

WALTER: Unless you have an IQ higher than mine, I'm not interested in what you think.
-- Walter at his most delightful.

Amused/appalled that Walter's like, sure, we can alter the neural stimulator to be non-invasive...and it never occurred to him before. Poor Roy.

OTOH, Walter's dancing to calm the kid down is adorable.

PETER: You wanna take a look at this? His name is Roadblock. He's not really one of your top-tier G.I. Joes, but it is the best we had. Huh. It's funny, I always remember the scar being on the other side.
-- THIS IS A CLUE.

Not sure how Olivia knew that the doctor had an underground railroad for orphaned kids, but okay. Better than sending him off with the CIA, anyway.

[wendelah1]

I felt like this was two episodes with very unrelated elements squished together to make one, a standard find-the-serial killer plus the introduction of the Mystery Child. It's not a comfortable fit, not for me. Plus it brings up all of my negative emotions about season five. All in all, I never plan to watch it again.

Olivia has rapport with anyone who is vulnerable, but especially children.

Huh. It's funny, I always remember the scar being on the other side. -- THIS IS A CLUE.

Although given how little Peter claims to remember about his childhood, why would he recall that detail?

[corwinofamber]

Finally had the time to watch...

I liked the child actor in this episode more than the one they used in season 5.
They really should have spent the whole episode exploring the Child Observer and Olivia's relationship, rather than mashing three different stories together.

I do love the way Walter constantly veers from hypercompetant and arrogant to oblivious and childlike.

"We found another one." How many kids did the Observer have?

I really wish we got more backstory on Broyles. Other government officials defer to him constantly.

That's all I really have to say - not one of my favorite episodes, but once again the relationships keep it from being totally forgettable.