'In Which We Meet Mr. Jones' - Fringe, Season One

Fringe

Season One

Episode Seven

'In Which We Meet Mr. Jones' - 8.0

With Astrid standing where she is, this looks like a horrible porn scene. *Shudders*

The seventh episode of Fringe gives us a satisfying advance in the series' overarching plot line, even if the case-of-the-week is a bit too far-fetched to be at all believable.

It is always a positive thing when a show is able to introduce a beguiling villain who can stand toe-to-toe with our intelligent and articulate good-guys. David Robert Jones is just that villain. Not only does his name roll absurdly well on one's tongue, but his actor, Jared Harris, is truly fantastic as the accented genius. His interrogation scene with Olivia is absolutely mesmerising to watch, the exchange being so deftly written and spoken, it is almost like a dance or fight scene.

There are also two other evildoers introduced - Mitchell Loeb and his wife. Mr. Loeb is the unfortunate fringe-event this week, suffering from a severe case of heart-being-clamped-by-spiky-worm-thing-itis. We only get a couple lines from either Loeb during the episode, none of which are particularly character-building. For a while all we know is that Mitchell was some sort of FBI agent and that theirs is a loving marriage. Aw, cute. Nonetheless the final minute-long scene subverts the personas we assumed on them by implicating them as the orchestrators of the entire parasite fiasco, although it doesn't explain if their relationship was staged or real. Either way I honestly don't care, we barely meet the two of them, let alone conclude they are completely good. It was not particularly shocking or inspiring that they are terrorists. Perhaps better actors or more time spent developing their unblemished facade would have benefitted the final twist.

Aside from the overall progress this episode brought to the show, it also provided quite a few excellent scenes. On top of Jones' interrogation, there was anything involving the death and subsequent questioning of Joseph Smith as well as the simple look on Agent Broyles face as Walter explained his memory of a cocktail he missed - all the while Broyles' friend lay dying only a few metres away. Hilarious job by both actors, by the way.

Joseph Smith, though he doesn't actually get any real lines, had a real and noticeable presence in 'In Which we Meet Mr. Jones'. His bullet to the brain became an important and original plot point - forcing Walter to hook him up to his son and shoot him up with electricity. The fast paced electro-shock therapy was interspersed with Jones' interrogation to create an incredibly unnerving and nearly disturbing sequence. I absolutely loved them both, even more so combined.

So what is the verdict? Well overall I really enjoyed the episode, and I believe that it will be an incredibly integral point for the rest of the season; we meet three new mysterious villains, as well as the parent company they may all work for, ZFT. I am really looking forward to the show digging deeper into the history and the goals of the terrorism-by-science group.