1x18: Midnight

[wendelah1]

"Midnight" has one of the best teasers of the series. The sleazy cheater you assume is the predator turns out to be the prey. Just when you think you have it all figured out, you don't. This episode has plenty of surprisingly little twists, plus lots of Charlie Francis and another mad scientist story. Rachel's appearances get ever more annoying. Seriously, why do the writers think anyone cares about this character? Her divorce is boring and her friends are ridiculous. Go home to Chicago already. The ending is great. Finally, we get some real dirt on William Bell.


Writer: Andrew Kreisberg, J. H. Wyman
Director: Bobby Roth
Originally aired: 28 Apr 2009

Synopsis:
Two bodies have been found with their spinal columns exposed and drained of spinal fluid. The bite marks are human. The Fringe Team is called in to investigate. The perpetrator is the wife of a scientist who was working for ZFT. When he tries to leave their employ, to punish him they infected his wife with a strain of syphilis the scientist had engineered into a bio-weapon. Before the scientist dies of complications from his attempt to create an antidote to save her life, he records a video that ties William Bell to the activities of ZFT.

Most Memorable Quote:
PETER: Great, well, maybe we're looking for Dracula.
WALTER: (hardy laugh) Finally, son, you're opening your mind to new possibilities. But, no, there are no vampires, sadly. But it'll be something exciting, I'm sure.

Oh, how the Fringe writers loved The X-Files.

WALTER: If indeed there is a soul, we must consider then that there is still time for redemption. We're not being hauled off to be judged yet, Nicholas.

Links:
Transcript
Polite Dissent: "They almost made it for a complete episode without screwing up the science…almost."
Popular Mechanics: "Fringe Takes on Spinal Fluid: The Science Misses the Mark."

Fanfiction:
If you know of any good post-eps, let us know in comments. Special Request: I need an AU where Olivia gets to raise Ella. Maybe her parents both die in a murder-suicide?

EDIT: Here's that Rachel character study I wanted. It's set during "Unleashed," but I'm putting it here in light of all of the Rachel discussion.

Spiderwebs by rainer76.
I'd forgotten about it until casually_cruel mentioned it in comments, but I liked it enough to rec it at crack_van a few years back.

image from screencapped.net

Comments

[elfin]

I always liked Rachel. :(

For me, she added a lot of humanity to Olivia, especially at the beginning of the series.

[wendelah1]

Sorry. Maybe she was just miscast for me. I like the idea of her much better than the reality. And honestly, what were the writers thinking when they took up valuable story-telling minutes with the "Two Singles Together" couple? Everything about Rachel in this episode felt like filler to me.

[wikiaddicted723]

I would agree with Elf. I always enjoyed their interactions on screen, and mourned the fact that we didn't see her or Ella after season 2.

I always saw Rachel as the foil to Olivia's stoicism and professional demeanour. Between the two of them, Rachel would be the "normal" one. And with Rachel also comes Ella, with whom she has done a pretty good job as a mom (also something Olivia doesn't have). I think the "Two singles together" thing was meant to give insight into both the ideological differences between the sisters and Olivia's lack of a personal life beyond her job.

All of the close relationships that she has are somehow job related, which aside from not being the healthiest of things also highlights Olivia's solitude and difficulty establishing personal relationships. A couple of traits that we later see are a left over from the Cortexiphan trials, as evidences by all the other subjects for whom these difficulties also exist.

IMO, the relationship with Rachel also gives depth to Olivia's motivations as an investigator and a fringe agent, beyond her caring for people in general and wanting to first avenge John, and then make up for what she perceives to be his treason to their goals. She has a family to protect, something personal that she cherishes and that fuels her search for justice for the random and gruesome acts that make a part of the pattern.

[wendelah1]

Look, I don't mean to offend the Rachel lovers. I don't question her use as a story-telling device or a way to reveal more about Olivia.

In this episode, for example, I really hated the way she interrupted Olivia while she was at work--she doesn't stop to think--hey, my sister might have something important she's doing. I mean surely Olivia has given her the work phone number to use for an emergency. Being emotionally overwrought isn't an emergency. She's impulsive and self-centered. I just dislike the way the character is written.

I think she's supposed to be "the normal one," to contrast with Olivia's specialness. But she isn't shown to have a life outside of being Ella's mother and a soon-to-be ex-wife, and a reason for Olivia to be jealous--that she's friends with Peter. I mean, really? What would Peter see in her, other than the obvious? I think she could have been an interesting character in her own right. She just--isn't--not to me.

Eh. She needs a character study fix-it fic, complete with an interesting backstory. Then I'd probably like her better.

I think a better actor might have helped, too.

I love Ella. The little girl who plays her is wonderful in the role.

[wikiaddicted723]

Oh, I took no offence. I was simply explaining why I always liked Rachel as a character. You don't share those opinions, and that's fine. Characters can and will mean different things to different people.

I also wanted to point out that maybe you were a little harsh by making your opinion on Rachel's character a general thing, but these things can't really be 100% unbiased /o\

[wendelah1]

Oh good. I'm glad you aren't offended. I appreciate your willingness to debate the issue. Yes, I am way harsh toward the character. No question about it. My husband thinks she's just fine. He thinks Rachel seems like a normal, if somewhat unreflective person.

Maybe I really am the only person in the fandom to feel like this about her.

[estella_c]

I'm with you. "Two Singles Together" is the kind of nutty do-it-yourself institution that's always showing up on the net. It was okay satire, but...point?

The idea of Rachel is fine; the acting too smarmy for me. It's a reservation I've frequently had about Renee Zellweger. I believe she was brought in to mix up the Olivia/Peter situation, but that petered out. (My puns are subconscious. No applause.)

[wendelah1]

Smarmy! That's the word I was looking for! Well, I for one liked Renee Zellweger in Jerry Maguire way more than I liked the actor playing Rachel in Fringe. "I've listened to you all tell a thousand sob stories, and I have been very judgmental. Frankly, I think you've all been way too comfortable with your pain. I've not been fair to you. Women need to stick together, and not depend on the affections of a man to "fix" their lives. Maybe you're all correct. Men are the enemy... But I still love the enemy." A great performance, plus she can play funny and poignant. Gosh, I love that movie. She was great in Chicago, too. She can act, and sing and dance!

[corwinofamber]

The worst episode of season 1 directly follows the best.

And really, overall it's not that bad. Once again, character interaction saves the show. Walter/Nicholas, Olivia/Peter interactions were great.

I sort of see Rachel as the spoiled younger sister - with Olivia doing some of the spoiling. Really, Rachel and Ella are all Olivia has outside of the job.

I know there are some fic out there where Olivia ended up raising Ella. And in the "greyverse" at the end of Season 3, it's entirely possible Peter and Olivia did so.

[wendelah1]

Oh yes, the poor little neglected gray verse. Ella's parents died in it? I didn't remember that.

[estella_c]

I think my main problem with this ep, emotionally rather than rationally speaking, is that we never get any sense of the stricken Valerie Boone. The film clip is poignant and gives us a sympathy for her self-sacrificing husband, but does losing spinal fluid automatically turn you from a happy wife to a brazen, seductive killer? There's a question for Mr. Science. The psychological attributes of spinal fluid: it doesn't just keep you alive and standing up. I guess it gave Fringe a chance to visit an edgy dance club, as did "Genderbender" in The X-Files. But it didn't help the poignance thing that the final scene replicated in passing that in Young Frankenstein.

[wendelah1]

I think my main problem with this ep, emotionally rather than rationally speaking, is that we never get any sense of the stricken Valerie Boone.

That's a problem I'm noticing with many episodes of Fringe. It's like the writers only have so much empathy to spare and not much is shown toward the victims. The last episode was different, but that's only because of the direct and personal connection that they all had with Olivia.

The writers have no clue how the human body actually works. They don't even try. I'm pretty sure that if Valerie Boone no longer had the mental capacity to recognize her husband, getting dressed up and cruising dance clubs for her victims would probably be way over her head in terms of social skills, too.

[kerithwyn]

Bonus points that the episode starts with "Bela Lugosi's Dead." Love that song.

BROYLES: I can just about remember when a suspect being human was a given, not an option.
--ahahaha. You so funny. (He is, dryly.)

ASTRID: When you finally meet a nice girl, I would avoid bringing her home for as long as possible.
-- *snerk*

I actually really like the structure here, where finding the author of the trouble happens fairly early in the episode.

Charlie briefing the team in the van: his alternate does the same in Red'verse later.

Astrid recognizes the club stamp. I use this throwaway as the entire basis for a rich personal life behind the scenes.

Peter and the siren! Cute.

I always sort of wondered what would've happened if Valerie got a mouthful of Olivia's super-blood.

I wanted more background on Rachel. In my headcanon Olivia was pretty much surrogate mom from the time their mother died when Olivia was 14, so it's not surprising Rachel's a bit clingy in her time of need. All they had growing up was each other, and I wish that relationship had been given more attention.

[casually_cruel]

I've got more to say about this episode but I just wanted to pop in and leave a link to a great fic, in light of all the Rachel discussion that's happening (though it's set during 'Unleashed').

Spiderwebs. by rainer76

http://archiveofourown.org/works/228350

(I don't know if there's a specific way we're supposed to post links to fic? I'm not on my laptop and I can't figure out how to post it as a hyperlink so I hope this works)

[wendelah1]

Thank you. I can't believe I forgot about this story. I liked it enough that it was my third rec at crack_van a few years ago. It turned into a hyperlink, but I'll edit the post for you. Rereading it at AO3 reminded of two things: (1.) Why I'd never attempted a Rachel story, and (2.) My ideas about punctuation are really at odds with rainer76's. Still, this is far and away my favorite story about Rachel. And I did like her better after rereading it.