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Date Posted: Saturday, December 08, 07:56:56am
Author: Chani
Author Host/IP: 87-231-7-227.rev.numericable.fr / 87.231.7.227
Subject: I have mixed feelings about "The Human Kind" (but you could guess that, couldn't you?)
In reply to: Lij 's message, "Father in Parallel: Choice for the Better" on Saturday, December 08, 04:11:21am

On the one hand I enjoy the callbacks to the "Plateau" (Peter using that drink the same way Milo used a pen!), the winks at The Matrix (the observers' tech kinda looks like the tracker Smith put into Neo at the beginning of the film; Peter seeing the matrix of time as he looks at the world around him; the fight with Widmark; Olivia visiting a black oracle...) and above all I love the parallels between father and son – including how past-Walter is manipulating things with his video tapes which echoes how Peter manipulated time to put Windmark on a certain trajectory! And Olivia in McGyver mode was super cool!
I also enjoyed Noble's performance and how he subtly kept bouncing from ambitious/cold Walter to emotional/scared Walter back and forth during the episode. And I'm intrigued by the concept of "Truth Church".

On the other hand, some things make me cringe: the possibility that they go all mystical on us, LOST-style, eventually, which the character of Simone seemed to be hinting at (the episode obviously stressed out that Olivia had to be wrong about her view of things), or the dialogues that make the "love is the key of our humanity and stronger than anything" even more schmaltzy when said than as a concept on paper. Besides it's an overused trope, and it tends to make me roll my eyes instead of being touched, especially if it's used too explicitly.

That said, the last shot of Peter falling in Olivia's arms and her hand petting his back was a beautiful one. It was simple and filmed from afar. Well done!

The thing is, I could bear the message/trope (it's FRINGE I don't expect the show to give up on its Power of Love mantra and there's a certain audience that craves that stuff)if only the writers handled it more subtlely and didn't feel that they have to write those heavy dialogues that voice out loud what should be only suggested (although I admit that Olviai's speech to Peter could have been worse).

In other words: show not tell – the golden rule of good television (which they actually followed with Olivia's adventure with the highway men or with the exchange tech/bullet during the Peter/Olivia scene)!– and trust the audience, damnit!

But I'm used now to have FRINGE give me great moments and nice little touches but also bad dialogues, contrived stuff and corny messages.

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Replies:

[> Fathers in Parallel: Choice for the Better -- Lij, Saturday, December 08, 06:40:46pm (adsl-99-42-49-218.dsl.bltnin.sbcglobal.net/99.42.49.218)

Well, I've never minded a little mysticism in my Sci-Fi. The human factor of emotions and irrationality is always a part of any story. Expanding the human mind in some way has always been a segment of sci-fi.

Indeed if Simone is just an anomoly as suggested by Olivia, perhaps she is the daughter of a former cortexikid. Then the mysticism, you deride, may have a scientific background.

As to the dialogue. With Peter in Observer-mode, I doubt that without a persuasive verbal argument Olivia could have elicited the latent 'human' memories that caused Peter to "self-lobotomize." In such a manner the dialogue was quite scientifically necessary.


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[> [> Re: Fathers in Parallel: Choice for the Better -- Chani, Sunday, December 09, 05:00:17am (87-231-7-227.rev.numericable.fr/87.231.7.227)

I didn't mean that Olivia shouldn't have talk to him, and as I said her speech could have been much worse, but that dialogues in FRINGE tend to be endless exposition and "on the nose" and this episode was another case of that. Dilaogues are just not their strongest suit.

One could say that Peter gave in a bit too easily too while he seemed already so Observer-like in his behaviour...

You really should watch BSG!


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[> [> [> If some channel ever replays it (some channel I get, that is). -- Lij, Sunday, December 09, 05:56:15am (adsl-108-67-95-113.dsl.bltnin.sbcglobal.net/108.67.95.113)


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