'Fringe': Heart of glass

I wonder what it would have been like watching “Brown Betty” with no idea what was going to happen. I, of course, have my finger on the pulse of all things “Fringe.” I knew it was the 1940s film noir musical episode. I even posted a story about show runners/episode writers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman. But I cannot help but wonder if there’s some 13-year-old kid out there who waited excitedly all day through school for the new “Fringe,” then sits down with a bag of microwave kettle corn and a liter bottle of Mr. Pibb to watch “Brown Betty.”

Did anyone watch completely unspoiled? Please leave a comment if you did. I’d love your reaction.

Even with my forward knowledge, I was shocked when the episode started with the sounds of a lighter lit followed by bubbling water. I had no idea “Brown Betty” actually referred to a hybrid marijuana Walter made combining Chronic Supernova and Afghani Kush. A strong Sativa/Indica mix. I mean, that’s what Google tells me.

Walter Bishop’s pot-fueled brain generates this story of singing detectives and stolen hearts to entertain Ella, Olivia’s niece. Walter and Astrid take over Olivia’s babysitting duties so she can continue her search for Peter (remember he ran off after finding out he was from another reality?). Who better to watch a young child than a man who gets high and decides to re-label all his candy and acids?

Walter spins a tale with surprisingly good twists and turns. Hard-boiled detective Olivia Dunham is hired by Rachel to find her missing love. When Rachel turns up dead, Olivia discovers she was an actress hired by eccentric inventor Walter Bishop to find Peter because he stole a mechanical glass heart Walter needs to live. Nina Sharp and her goons at Massive Dynamic also want the heart to power a doorway to the other reality. Olivia’s nailed in a coffin and tossed in the ocean, but Peter shows up in time to save her and explain that it was his heart all along. He only loaned it to Walter to let him make more incredible inventions, until he found out Walter got his ideas by stealing children’s dreams.

I raced through the recap because even though the story was remarkably good, the most interesting aspect of “Brown Betty” is the world “Fringe” creators managed to build.

To say it was a straight up 1940s film noir would be a lie. Along with the fedoras and cars with fins were crazy cybernetics and laser knives. Olivia called blocky land lines from what looked to be a 4G iPhone. (Watch out Liv, Steve Jobs will be coming for you) 

Plus there were the songs. Walter singing Tears for Fears. Broyles sang a jazzy piano number (who would have thought he was a baritone?). A trio of animated corpses sang “The Candy Man.” Astrid sang about needing a job, and Olivia gave a moving rendition of “For Once In My Life” by Stevie Wonder, even if her accent started to slip out. Or some accent. For a while I thought it was German.

I’m no Simon Cowell, but I was impressed by the singing chops of the “Fringe” cast. I kept expecting at least one person to stink but was happily proven wrong. And they didn’t “Glee” us out with the entirety of every song.

Since the entire episode was a story told by Walter, we got glimpses into his (and possibly the writers') perceptions of the people around him. Olivia came off fairly mannish until she was rescued by Peter and her girly side came out. Nina Sharp professed her love for William Bell over their inter-reality webchat. Jean grew polka dots. The Observers became thugs. Brandon worked at the patent office (like Einstein). Walter made himself into the inventor of all things wonderful but at the price of children’s dreams. And most interesting, Peter was a man born with incredible power that everyone wanted their hands on. 

Argh. There’s so much about “Brown Betty” I want to discuss. So many fascinating details, so little Show Tracker. But that just goes to show how well thought out, creative, and just plain fun tonight’s “Fringe” really was. A lot of people would have pegged a 1940s film noir musical episode as a big risk, but the bigger the risk, the bigger the pay out.

What was your favorite part of “Brown Betty?” 

Games people play – “Fringe” is in love with board games this season. A couple weeks ago, Clue played an important role in an episode and  Thursday night Operation wove itself into the story. Plus the whole war between realities is essentially one big game of Stratego. Man, I love Stratego, but it’s the most stressful board game I’ve ever played.

Ester Figglesworth  – Astrid played many roles tonight. First off, she was Buzz Killington talking to a very stoned Walter about Peter leaving. Then she played chaperone to Walter and Ella to make sure neither of them got into trouble. In Walter’s story, Astrid became Esther Figglesworth, supplying the comic relief as Olivia’s Moneypenny. Was it just me or was there a touch of sexual tension when she was patching up Olivia’s sliced chest? Probably just me. Usually is.

Spot the watcher – The Observers got to play the fun role of heavies for the story-world version of Massive Dynamics, but that’s not all. September, our personal Observer, made an appearance in the real world as well, watching Astrid bring Walter home. He placed a mysterious call on his makeup compact, expressing his concern that Peter hasn’t returned and Walter doesn’t remember the warning he gave. Right now, I can’t remember what that warning was. Can you?

-- Andrew Hanson

Related:

Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman sing the praise of Thursday night's "Fringe"

"Fringe": You are not my father

Complete "Fringe" coverage on Show Tracker

Photo: Walter (John Noble) weaves a mysterious and musical tale for Ella (Lily Pilblad). Credit: Fox Television

---

Clicking on Green Links will take you to a third-party e-commerce site. These sites are not operated by the Los Angeles Times. The Times Editorial staff is not involved in any way with Green Links or with these third-party sites.

---

Comments

[Mike]

Broyles was singing "Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys" by Traffic from 1971.

[KarenJ]

I have to watch the episode again... I get the feeling there may have been more to the episode than appeared on the surface of it. The Observers being such baddies..? William Bell calling Nina 'my love'? Hmmm.... And no - I didn't feel that all was revealed. I was VERY pleased with last night's episode.

A question that's come to mind lately... did William Bell get 'pulled' to the other side when Walter took Peter? For every action there's a reaction. We don't really know what the reaction was for what Walter did, do we? Well, just a thought anyway.

Broyles a baritone? Your too funny... Like I said - I have to watch it again - but didn't Broyles sing a few lines from 'The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys'? I think the Broyles' tune and Astrid's were my favorits. Really impressive.

I too was a little surprised to find that 'Brown Betty' was a marijuana strain. Not shocked mind you - knowing our Walter as we do. But still... it reminded me of 'pie' or 'desert' in a diner - like 'Apple Brown Betty'?! Great way to tie in the '40s feel and the present day.

I was really impressed by the way the writers/director mixed the present with the '40s noir. The phones and gadgets.. and that phone in Olivia's car? What a hoot that was?! It looked like a '40s speaker mounted in the dash - but there was a phone on/off button! Too fun. And the art direction was great too. The lighting and colors were really a treat.

I don't recall what 'the warning' was either? I remember The Observer telling Walter that Peter was 'important'... but warning? When did they give him the warning? When they last spoke? Or when September saved Peter? I hope they reveal that to us... or someone posts it. I was as puzzled as you Andrew.

Looking forward to the rewatch - and the future episodes.

[bettye198]

Kinda fun. My husband the Fringe-aholic wanted to speed through. Yet being a musical lover, they did okay. It gave Noble a chance to be more theatrical which are his roots anyway and allowed a different kind of mystery storytelling. However, when the ET's showed up in the middle of all that, you got to wonder how friggin long they have been around Water Bishop. This is one of our favorite, delightfully mysterious and paranormal shows with excellent acting and who can say is the acting hero that stands out? They all do! Thank you J.J. Abrams. Again. :)

[Rawco]

The boy is important, he must live.. is the warning given to Walter.

[Nate]

Yeah, the only thing I remember is the "Peter is very important" stuff, too. Did he tell Walter more in last year's season finale? What a helpful comment, I know.

Broyles and Astrid ought to cut an album. I thinking for a title: "Still Looking For Your Heart (and more screen time)."

[SF]

Wasn't this surprisingly good? I really enjoyed it. The songs were just enough to give us a sense of the characters, and the story itself was fun and well-done and interesting. A stylish noir with Fringe elements - I didn't pick up that Brendan was like Einstein - that was a good catch, Andrew! I've watched this episode three times now, and like the very best Fringe episodes, there is so much in it, and such good acting, that it needs to be watched a few times to catch everything. You weren't imagining the tension between Olivia and Astrid either.

I loved the chemistry between Peter and Olivia, the Observers on the bad side, Nina and Bell, Nina a threat to Olivia. I know it's from Walter's mind, though I think that because he's forgotten so much, there are clues here it would be wise to keep in mind! And no - I don't think we've heard the warning the Observers gave to Walter about Peter. Another thing Walter has forgotten.

I think the writers did a really good job with this. I really liked Ella - she was good opposite Walter and Astrid. I much prefer her ending! What special ability or talent does Peter have that Walter knows? to hold open the doors to both worlds as Bell said? Something he was born with, that also puts him at risk?

[Owen]

I was most surprised by the Mark Valley 'cameo'. It seemed to cut a little close to the bone, considering he and Anna Torv were married until earlier this year.

[Niki]

I was pretty unspoiled going into my viewing of the episode. I'd heard rumors of a "musical episode," but couldn't even begin to fathom what that might be like, so I didn't really try.

I must say I loved the noir, the fairytale stuff, the acting, everything. Everything but the singing. It really wasn't enough to make it a musical episode for me. Hm, maybe that means I *was* spoiled -- if I thought that everyone was calling it the Noir episode, I might have taken the singing in stride. Maybe it's because the music was mostly covers of old and newer songs (which worked really well in Moulin Rouge, but in this episode it was just sort of jarring) and some odd, poorly written "I need this job, please God I need this job"??? filler. I think I liked Walter's singing because it was him, high, dropping out of the story and Broyles' because he was at a keyboard. As for the rest? If you're going to have cast members break into song randomly, I think you need to have more of it sprinkled throughout the episode instead of "everybody gets one song."

On the bright side, since singing was such a small part of the episode, I still give it two thumbs up.s

[sarah]

astrid's song was a line from one of the songs in "a chorus line"

[George P]

Astrid's song was, indeed, "I Hope I Get It" from A Chorus Line, and Broyles's was "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" by Traffic.

I loved that the songs were from all over the place. This could have been a "filler" period episode (see ST:TNG), but they instead chose interesting music, showed us how Walter views the other characters, and even advanced the plot. They took what could have been tired cliche and "Fringed" it.