'The Transformation' - Fringe, Season One

Fringe

Season One

Episode Thirteen

'The Transformation' -9.0

I've grown weary of the blue tinge. MY KINGDOM FOR SOME WARM COLOURS!

I do slightly remember watching this episode from the first time, and I remember thinking how stupid the idea of a man turning into the porcupine thing was. How then was I so impressed this time around? My best guess is that I didn't actually remember how I really felt about 'the Transformation', since the start of the episode bears so little resemblance to how it goes out.

It is always logical to start a review with the start of the movie, or episode. Whatever. In this case, the cold open was... interesting. Some guy for some reason or another, decides to freak out an airplane of crew and passengers by asking for weapons and sedatives, you know, pretty standard airplane protocol. Next thing you know, he's a giant porcupine.

What did I think? Well, as I said in the introduction, it's a bit stupid. Nonetheless, the creature's reveal was very well handled - a brief lull in the hushed conversation between two stewards heralds his eruption from the lavatory, followed by a hazy rampage through the passengers. It was a bit like something out of a creature feature, the old cheap ones that couldn't afford to show us the beast because he looked like a man in a costume. The last three or so seconds of the opener are what make it worthwhile, as well as the short scene after the title sequence which shows the plane careening down over a soccer pitch and landing in a fiery explosion behind a nearby forest. For a brief moment, all we could see was the reflection of the doomed jet in the tinted glass of some soccer mum's SUV, and it was terrific.

Somehow, this plane crash turns into a bioweapons sale in Chicago; something about the man's transformation being caused by a synthetic compound which has been weaponised. Maybe? Anyway, that doesn't really matter, what matters is that by some weird John Scott-related means they discover another man who is on the cusp of his own crazy metamorphosis and Walter is able to slow the transition down. But who cares about that?

John Scott? Yes, his memories are still stuck in Olivia's pretty head, and they mean she knows that John knew the man who transformed on the plane, and thus so does she. Being Olivia and completely selfless, she goes back into the tank she enters in the Pilot and 'the Dreamscape', endangering herself to the horrible side effects associated. So far all these sequences have been fantastic, very atmospheric and foreign, and at first this one seems comparatively more rushed and erratic. By its end, however, things get weirder than they have in the others. John Scott full on talks to Olivia while Peter and Walter start to worry about her signs. Before we now it, John Scott is actually aiding his former partner in finding 'Conrad', the mastermind looking to see the porcupine-serum. Turns out Scott isn't as evil as we thought, and that in reality he is an undercover NSA agent who's task was to take out Conrad while infiltrating the FBI for some reason. Who knows, right?

With the help of some other NSA guy John Scott's memories led them to, we find out where the sale of the weapon is going down, and we are presented with one of the finest pieces of television I have watched; Olivia and Peter head in on a sting operation to find the weapon and apprehend all involved, perhaps even Conrad. It is so well written and so well acted, one of the tensest and most captivating things I've seen in a long time, and credit should be given to the writing staff and to Anna Torv and Joshua Jackson. Everyone did an amazing job crafting one sequence that makes the entire episode worth watching. I can't stress enough how perfect it was.

I enjoyed the ending as well, since it seemed to be built as the final time we will see John Scott, which is a great thought. Walter revealed to Olivia that her brain was ridding itself of Scott, and that soon her mind will purge itself completely of him. Olivia being Olivia, she turns it into a reason to go back in the tank. I think it's her favourite place now, she always ends up there somehow. The location for their final meeting was well scouted, it was truly a beautiful stagnant lake - and no, that isn't sarcasm, it was really pretty. As much as I hate Mark Valley, the scene - which was essentially a marriage proposal - was heartbreaking for Olivia, as the second he said those clichéd words he vanished, and she was free of him forever, even though that's not what she wanted anymore. Ah, I thought it was well done, despite it being about Scott.

'The Smile' - Homeland, Season Two

Homeland

Season Two

Episode One

'The Smile' - 8.0

By the way, this is my tenth review. Double digits! 

I wrote the review for the first season finale of this fantastic series only a couple of hours ago, and here I am pounding out the entry for the second season opener. This whole blog thing is making me wish I had this kind of commitment to my school studies, you know? Yeah, admittedly these aren't my best work, but my process is simply watch-write-post, with only about an hour or two spent looking at the recap. I don't call them reviews because when I started, that was what they were, but by switching to recaps I was able to make them longer and they were significantly easier to write. Why is longer important? I don't know, just a long inbuilt assumption that a longer essay was far superior to a brief one, irrespective of quality. One day perhaps I will become more adept at writing in general and will muster the courage to return to reviewing rather than recapping. For now though... ok, let's give reviewing a go.

'The Smile' was a terrific way to start a new season, but I have to posit that perhaps a show like Homeland could have pulled it off better. To me it seemed... more thrilling? But in a bad way? I'm trying to get across that the show kind of sold out without saying it with that excessive a connotation, but there appeared to be a conscious decision to pick up the action. Maybe it was just me. 

The one thing that was definitely bad about the episode was a character; Roya Hammad. She was a journalist/member of Abu Nazir's group and contacted Brody early in the episode in order to get him to pull some info out of Estes' special safe of mysteries. There was something confident and sassy about her, but when you boil it down she's a quick attempt to make a plot device/villain trope into a likeable and interesting character. She's that amoral and fast talking bad guy that always emerges at some point, who always talks with a flirtatious smirk on her face and is able to confound the men with her feminine wiles. You know what, miss? You can take your 'wiles' and collapse into them like the failed concept that you are. I don't despise you, but I can never respect you as a character or a story arc, so I hope your hinted future dealings with Estes turn out dead, or you turn out dead. 

To be honest, when she strutted into Brody's new congressman's office and asked if there were cameras or recording devices, I thought she was going to take her top off and slut it up. I thought maybe he was cheating on Jess again, but no. She's just a messenger, and despite what they say the messengers always get shot. I wouldn't get too close to this one ladies and gents, some way or another she'll take her spinning path down the drain. Hopefully.

Something I've been incredibly anxious about was exactly how the writers were going to bring Carrie back into the middle of things following her very clear-cut dismissal from the CIA at the end of the first season. You simply can't picture how delighted I was by the process that sends her back in, it just made sense. See, some chick - a former asset of Carrie's and the wife of a Hezbollah district commander - approaches the embassy in Beirut looking for her with information about a coming attack and refuses to speak to anyone else. Carrie is whisked to Nicosia where she prepares to take on a temporary new identity; a Canadian. THE HORROR!!! 

It made sense, and it wasn't just like she’s had a single short beat off the job. She's been gone for months and has settled into a life without the CIA. In fact, you could literally see her tone and posture change the second she spied Agent Galvez waiting outside her classroom. Just so you know, she's now an English teacher, which is a perfect fit for her in my opinion. Also on a side note, has anyone ever seen Claire Danes as herself, as in like on talk shows or on the red carpet? She LOOKS different to Carrie, she lacks the crazy-intense eyes and jerky, flightiness that prevails the character. Weird. 

Off topic, yeah, but the point is that Carrie was calm and happy, then suddenly her world is fucked with by the CIA and she's asked to fly out of the country, threatening to unbalance her fragile state of sanity. I found her reluctance and clear annoyance refreshing, though I agree with Maggie who believes that deep down she really does want to go and be a part of it all again.

For Brody the episode concerned the sudden likelihood of him becoming the running mate for the Vice President's campaign for the top job. I don't know how often inexperienced and unproven politicians are randomly picked as possible Vice Presidents but it... was... Ok, Sarah Palin, you win this round. I won't complain any more. 

DANA. She's someone to talk about! All she did was piss off some school kids and openly and loudly admit her father had converted to Islam to a whole bunch of Quakers. You know what? Fuck you Quakers, from what I saw tonight yous people be crazy. So orderly and polite, until bitches be gettin' all islamic in ya faces. SUCK MY QU'RAN QUACKERS. 

Luckily the Quaker retards don't take her admission too seriously, but Jess does get a call from the school's - yes, it was a Quaker school - dean because she'd spoken out of turn doing the... what was it? Some sort of horrible, one-person-at-a-time debate that was very, very anti-Islam and anti-Iran. I just shudder at the thought of all this 'MY RELIGION'S SO MUCH MORE RELIGIOUS THAN YOURS. IPSO FATSO I FUCKING RULE YO' garbage, so I just adored the treatment of Jess' outrage at her daughter for implying Brody was Muslim. She went off her rocker yelling at poor Dana who just keeps looking at her father for guidance, before good ole Brody comes to her defense by admitting the horrible truth; he's converted to a different faith! THAT FAITH! MORE HORROR!!! 

Except this time there was actual mortification, with Jess wigging out like a chemotherapy patient in a hairdresser's, storming into the garage and pulling her husband's Qur’an from the cupboard and hurling it at the ground, much to Brody's disgust. Did you know that Qur’ans aren't supposed to touch the ground? I didn't. Makes sense though, they don't like feet, which is why throwing shoes is such an insult. Anyway, both sides had merit, even though Jess was somewhat narrow minded she did have a fantastic speech about 'these people', who she says had held Brody captive for eight years and would stone Dana if they knew she was sexually active. When Brody is disturbed by the book hitting the deck, she gets even more distraught, mentioning Carrie's accusations on their lawn a few months prior. Little does she know that her husband had illegally acquired classified intelligence for his terrorist group only that day... 

Shortly after arriving in Beirut, Carrie attempts to rendezvous with Saul, only to be forced off the meeting place by a man on her tail. Rather than turn herself in like Saul suggests, she decides she'd rather just escape him, and they go on a big long chase that's as thrilling as they normally are. I somewhat wanted her to be apprehended, if only to see where the show would take it. Alas, she gets away with a well placed knee to her pursuer's groin. Damn Canadians and their knees. 

I did appreciate her smile - possibly the titular one? I wasn't sure - as she walked away from the pained man, and I think it will possibly be the beginning of a decent into more and more dangerous situations, maybe. Danger is always good, I guess, but I don't want this to turn into a full on action drama. A political thriller was satisfying enough.

'The Smile' focused entirely on Carrie and Brody, and rightfully so. They are both intriguing characters who represent two misplaced facets of a similar coin, with both almost in better places following the dramas of the last season, only to be thrust back into lives that they don't want to live anymore. I can already see how this season will differentiate itself from the last, though I can't help but notice the differences; different music, for example. Abu Nazir is now kind of sloppy in his methods of communicating with his operatives - Damned Roya - and it is considerably faster and more edge-of-your-seat, a quality that is generally good, but perhaps a betrayal of the show's original restrained, documentary-style feel. Yes, I liked it, of course I liked it, but it was not Homeland's finest hour, though I'd certainly continue to tune in if this level of quality is held, because when compared to all shows it is still fucking great.