Charlie told me once, everybody breaks. But he never did. Not once. – Karl Lubinsky

And so the story of Charlie Jade, a story one half-hour in the future, comes to a close. A bittersweet ending for sure – there was a lot of story left to tell – but a satisfying end to twenty hours of mystery and intrigue. But before we get started breaking it down, I’m going to suggest you go back and watch it again. Trust me when I tell you: even if you think you followed the episode, you didn’t. In fact, if you think you got it the first time through, you *really* didn’t. Go watch again. I’ll wait.

There you go. Now, you should be ready for this discussion. At least I hope it all made more sense the second time through. If not, you may want to try out the episode commentary at Charliejade.net. In particular, did you notice at the halfway mark that time was bent back on itself? Every moment with Charlie takes place after he’s entered linkspace, trying to remember what it is he is supposed to do. Scenes without Charlie occur before that, in the reference frame of the other players.

Let’s dig in.

The Key to Blues’ Heart

Charlie finds himself in Blues’ bed, but he’s distracted and detached. Is it a dream? Why is he lying awake, listening to a faucet’s drip? What are the sounds just at the periphery of hearing? Blues wakes and tells him she’s real and starts kissing him. He rolls her over and finds himself in bed with 01 Boxer instead.

At the reflecting pool in the morning, Charlie and Blues discuss his future in Cape Town. He’s always been a PI, but is free to be anything he wants now even, he jokes, a surfer. Whatever he does, Blues knows he’ll be getting evicted from his apartment soon and gives him a copy of her key. He reacts with blank confusion; in Alpha, nothing like that would ever happen.

Charlie tells Blues he’s been having strange dreams and feels as though he’s forgetting something. And the first hint that something is truly amiss with Charlie’s mind is a vision of 01 in the surf. Nothing like his visions on the past, and nothing like a nightmare, seeing and hearing 01 during the daytime signals something new.

Blues follows Charlie’s gaze, but sees something even more enigmatic and disturbing than 01 in the surf (and really, by this point, we know it’s got to be something pretty big to out-weird 01.) Charlie breaks from his vision of 01 and sees the same strange light formation, then tells Blues to believe her eyes, kisses her, and dives into the reflecting pool. He shifts to Alpha and recovers in an alley. The Vexcor link countdown comes to its end and the Alpha third of the link is turned on.

Charlie shifts – outside his own control this time – to somewhere *else*. The disembodied voice of 01 asks if he’s “still looking for a way out” and Charlie wonders where he is as the teaser ends.

It’s clear even by this point that something unusual, even by the standards of Charlie Jade, is happening in this episode. Director Pierre Gill took the script that was being written on the fly and married it with stunning, disorienting visuals to give us a peek into a place that can’t be described. Linkspace has a few precedents in fiction – Asimov’s death and rebirth of hyper-light jumps, the wormhole on ST:DS9, even the infinite improbabilities generated by Adams’ Heart of Gold to name but a few – and each of them describe something similar. But Gill, and Robert Wertheimer in post-production, put together the best, in my opinion.

The Link’s up in Alphaverse

Something – and I am still not clear what – has happened to spook everyone at Vexcor’s Betaverse home office. Trading in Vexcor has been suspended and everyone has abandoned ship. Out at the link facility, Urding, Skuldeman, and Verdandi are all alone. They can’t connect with anyone in Cape Town and don’t know whether they’re aware what’s going on. Of course, “there’s water spots in the desert; CNN knows” what’s going on.

Charlie’s still in linkspace, talking to Karl and trying to figure out what he’s forgotten. He jumps back to Karl’s apartment with Karl, Blues, and Reena. Throughout the remainder of the episode, the action cuts in and out of different settings – the tree of knowledge on the open plain being a primary location in Charlie’s mental construct of linkspace – and dialog crosses those physical boundaries. Here, Reena tells Charlie near the tree that the link will next go online in Gamma; back in the apartment she finishes her thought.

Charlie tells Karl they’ve got to go to the facility, but Reena sends Karl to Vexcor tower to get fail safe codes from Julius Galt. At the tree, Charlie gives Karl a gun. The situation is so dire, Karl actually takes it.

Charlie wakes in a dried out lake bed with Reena over him, holding the device she got from Blues last week. She asks him if “he had any idea then what [she] was going to do.” Time is jumbled for Charlie, and he’s trying to piece his thoughts together into a comprehensible narrative. But he can’t. He has too many holes in his memory.

On the road to the link facility, Charlie tells Blues and Reena they’re going to attack on two fronts. He’ll be shifting to Gamma while the women try to gain access to the Beta site. He and Reena have a conversation in linkspace where she laments she’ll never see her home again. The world she’s helping him save is like hell to her and she’ll never go home again.

They arrive at the site and Blues plays like Annie Oakley and shoots out the cameras and blows the lock off the gate. Charlie shifts to Gamma and Reena knocks Blues out and ditches her in her trunk.

We’re not in Kansas, but we’re not in Oz yet either, Toto

When we return, Charlie comes to in somewhere new again. This time it’s indoors, and this time he’s not alone. 01′s waiting for him, sitting in a chair like a throne as Charlie wakes in a pool of water. 01 tells him he finds it funny Charlie’s first view of Gamma will be a “big old ugly building” and lights his cigar. Charlie finishes shifting to Gamma and heads to the facility.

Karl gets to the Vexcor offices and hunts around for a bit until he finds Julius in the boardroom where he confronts him about Elliot Krogg’s memo, the ethics of Vexcor, and Julius’ culpability. He wants to know how Julius could ignore Krogg’s memo, but Julius explains that businesses exist only to expand, not to act as moral agents.

In an echo of the second episode – the last time these two shared a scene – Karl this time asks Julius how he sleeps at night.

Karl asks for the fail safe codes and Julius tells him he’s been played. Karl pulls his gun and puts it to Julius’ head, but Julius knows it’s only a matter of hours before he ceases to exist with the rest of Beta. Karl gives him the gun and leaves. In his final scene, Julius breaks down before a vision of Essa, having finally realized his faith in the company was his undoing.

Reena finds the Norns and tells them to turn on the link. Whatever she has planned, it isn’t what Charlie planned.

In Gamma, Charlie stands at the control panel for the link and attempts to manage it when 01 comes up and starts beating him. Back in linkspace, 01 tells Charlie he has a choice. He’s the only one with a choice:

When this is all over, and it’s gonna be over soon, why don’t you ask him why. You’re the only one who can shift. Never did figure that out, did you? You know, my father had a file on you from way back. Wanna know how it ends?

01 locks the Gamma link online.

Reena tells the Norns about the conclusions of the Krogg memo and the Norns debate what to do. Reena tells them they’ve done all they needed to do. “One world’s going to end. It’s not going to be this one and it’s not going to be mine.” The destroyer of worlds has Alpha as her target, but 01 brings the Beta link online and locks it.

Reflections of Things Past

Karl arrives at the site and lets Blues out of the trunk before heading down to the link floor. There, they find Reena who has positioned herself in the link with the device from last week. It’s more than a recording device. It will reflect the link energy back on itself, destroying Alpha. But she can’t do it. The moral weight of killing everyone in Alpha just to save Beta and Gamma is too much for her. Karl talks her down. In linkspace, Reena tells Charlie it’s up to him now.

The Norns can’t shut the link down, but when Charlie shifts in, they realize there might be a way to save the verses.

In one of the most elegant pieces of exposition you’re likely to see this year, the Norns explain to Charlie how the link works, how he travels, and what he must do to save Beta. As they explain it – and colored through Charlie’s memory in linkspace – Charlie shifts locales, narrators switch between the Norns and Reena/Karl/Blues, and Charlie learns his fate. He remembers. (Note the voice as Charlie shifts back to his Betaverse loft saying, “this, we did not expect.” Remember this.)

Complex camera movements and complex blocking make a little ballet of what would normally be boring pipe. Truly a remarkable series of scenes.

Charlie hands Blues his key for her to hold and steps into the link and his destiny.

The Trial of Charlie Jade

Charlie comes to in pain, somewhere in linkspace. He spies three large blocks of ice – each representing one of the verses linked together. Somehow he must bring them together. This is the frame of reference his mind was able to cobble together for whatever was actually there. 01 goes to the control panel of the Alpha link and sees Charlie inside. He heads back into the link to do…something. Kill him, help him, hinder him. I’m still not sure what his plan was, neither am I sure 01 knew exactly what he was going to do.

Again, “this, we did not expect.”

Charlie shatters one of the blocks of ice and the three verses begin rapidly switching back and forth in a replay of the pilot. Then Charlie ends up bound and blindfolded, perched on a rock. 01 prosecutes while Essa judges. In reality, Charlie and 01 are engaged in a complex morality play. Charlie has evolved to the point where he can shift without the use of water, beyond even 01 and Bryon Boxer. Only he can link the three universes.

When he finally comes to grips with his own past and own failings as a man, everything switches. He and 01 end up back inside, with the ice blocks. 01 is tied and Charlie has the gun, but he isn’t going to kill 01; he’s going to join with him. He realizes that everyone has choices. 01 chose to let him live in Gamma. Charlie chooses to sacrifice himself for the verses. He asks 01 for his help. They hold hands, clenching a piece of ice over a gourd. As it melts, the link between the three verses is made permanent.

In Beta, Reena, Karl, and Blues see three passageways open where once there was one. The three universes are permanently and stably connected.

Karl and Reena head to Gamma where they know they must prepare for the inevitable invasion from Alpha. They’ll be ready to fight together. In Alpha, Jasmine sees the new vistas open to her, and everyone from her dying world in Gamma, but in Beta Blues can only see the great sacrifice made by the man she finally loved.

And finally in Verse: Unknown…the men in gray suits stand nearby 01 and Charlie in adjoining hospital beds. Blood flows between them and one of the gray men angrily says, “this, we did not expect.”

Neither did we.

Final Thoughts

There’s so much I could say about this show, but I think I’ll leave with this…of the 20 hour-long episodes, about five are awfully weak, five are adequate and meandering, five are solid, and five are superb. But even with that batting average, I consider the overall arc and the five superb hours so good that I have watched this whole series three or four times through now. I will continue to do so, because each time I am moved by the performances, the layers of story, and the hero’s journey from anti-hero to sacrificial lamb.

I’ve wondered before whether Robert Wertheimer had ever considered continuing his story in another medium, such as comics or novels. Having come to teh end again, I’m more sure than ever that the multiverse has a rich vein, ready to be mined. And there’s no reason to limit stories to Charlie Jade, either. Who wouldn’t be interested in stories of Bryon Boxer and his first experiments with shifting? Who wouldn’t want to read about the young 01 finding comfort in Gamma, away from the hustle and hatred in Alpha?

Hell, who wouldn’t want to read a straight up Blues Paddock true crime story with illegal aliens from Alphaverse?

I know I would. Almost enough to write *fan fiction*.

So, for the final time for this great little show, I ask: what did everyone else think?

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. – Matthew 26:41

It’s all over, right? Charlie’s come back to Jasmine – and just as quickly realized he belongs in Beta – 01′s out of jail, and Essa’s in shackles. Everything is right with the verses. So why, I must ask, is that countdown clock still running? The Vexcor link countdown clock that 01 now controls.

He that troubleth his own house…

After what seems an eternity, 01′s finally left and Bryon’s body has been discovered. Essa wants Sew Sew to bring in 01, even though the video of the boardroom is blank. He agrees to have 01 arrested on her sayso. Some time later Essa is in the boardroom in her mourning whites while the board sits in remotely. A message from Bryon Boxer is wheeled in and played, informing the board that 01 is receiving Bryon’s controlling interest in Vexcor.

Essa…does not take the news well. Neither does 01. After 01 gets notice from the ProbateBot that Bryon’s shares are his – and he utters the classic line, “please hold; your death is important to us” – he goes into an alley and starts throwing and beating garbage cans. This is intercut with Essa’s breakdown in the boardroom as she tries to destroy the message cube. From beyond the grave, Bryon Boxer is still effecting those he “loves” best.

An exoskin spots 01 and shoots him with a tranquilizer.

Please note the time on the countdown clock: 47h80m00s, 47h79m89s, and counting. 90-second minutes, and I assume 90-minute hours. Whether the hours are as long in Alpha as they are here, or there are more hours in a day, I could not guess.

Charlie isn’t happy in Alpha. The apartment – identical to when he left – feels different, the food tastes foul, and the water is even bad. He asks Jasmine about Sew Sew and it escalates into a fight. But it’s not a fight about Sew Sew, it’s a fight about Charlie not being there and he responds by leaving her. Again.

He meets Sew Sew and asks about Jasmine. Then he tells him about Beta and that the activation of the link will destroy it. Sew Sew suggest that the death of Bryon Boxer might have created enough chaos to delay the link and tells Charlie 01 is the prime suspect. Charlie needs to see 01.

01, crazy as ever, chats with Charlie.
“Vexlink open?”
“Nope.”
“Then how’d you get here?”
“The link’s not open and I’d like to see it stay that way. How about you?”
“Does he know?”
“Yeah.”
“I think I made myself pretty clear on how I feel about the link.”

In order to stop the link, 01 needs to get out of jail and needs Essa out of his way. That’s when Sew Sew pulls out his trump card, recorded back in “The Shortening of the Way”, Leonard De Beers saying all the executives who’d gone through the link were being killed. Charlie realizes there must have been a labtech and the hunt begins.

While Charlie and Sew Sew hunt for the tech, Bram Larkin, Essa pays 01 a little visit. In case anyone had any residual doubt who the true face of evil is in Alpha, she burns the items 01 had retrieved from his father. Items belonging to his mother. Helplessly, he watches through the cell wall.

Carl and The Girls of Betaverse

In Beta, the newly integrated Reena/Killer comes to Carl’s apartment to crash. When Blues stops by later to tell Carl about radioactive corpses – not the new speed metal band, but actual radioactive corpses – she sees Reena and pulls her gun. Carl talks her down, convincing her that Reena isn’t a terrorist but a Vexcor scapegoat. N.B. Reena *did* blow up the link, killing several hundred people across three verses. I mean, I support her actions and all, but that pretty clearly fits the textbook definition of “terrorist”.

Blues agrees and brings Carl and Reena to the morgue to see the bodies, bodies of Reena’s captors whom she blew up. An assistant coroner became ill when the bodies were opened, exposing high levels of radiation from within. Their bodies also, quite oddly contain a high concentration of lead, so the three of them are safe being close. Reena doesn’t say anything about having killed them – probably for the best, as I imagine Blues’ trigger finger is still a bit itchy – but does ask if any unrecognized technology had been retrieved with them.

A Lover’s Sacrifice

Charlie tracks Larkin to The Graves, an off-the-grid slum and tech bazaar. Charlie spots his prey and takes off. For a tech, the hooded figure runs fast and gives Charlie quite a workout. When Charlie finally catches up to him, he’s dead.

Back in the morgue, they examine the body. First, the coroner – a wonderfully creepy fellow who reminded me of Renfield – discovers some fake skin, under which is Larkin’s implant. All well and good, but this isn’t Larkin. Someone traded chips with Larkin to give him a head start. A death sentence. Now Sew Sew and Charlie need to figure out the identity of the body on the slab in order to track Larkin, so when Charlie finds a second bit of fake skin, covering a tattoo, he follows the lead.

The corpse turns out to have been a bouncer at the Lunge Klub, which Charlie discovers by bullying a scrawny bouncer who tries “to be intellectually intimidating.” Astute viewers will recognize our funny, scrawny bouncer as an Alphaverse doppelganger of Terry Schachter, the dumb kid who’d gotten hold of Vexcor ID sticks back in “Identity”. Sadly the actor, Brett Goldin, a popular young actor-writer-comedian in South Africa was senselessly and brutally murdered in 2006.

Once Charlie’s got a name, tracking Larkin’s easy enough. He goes to the dead bouncer’s apartment and disables the lock, hiding around the corner in wait. Larkin runs. Charlie chases him out of the building and into an alley. He tells Larkin his lover’s dead and tells him to come with him. It’s too late. An exoskin scans Larkin’s chip and sends a signal to a hovercraft. Larkin’s burned on the spot, probably fried with microwaves.

Once more to the morgue and Charlie sees Larkin has his lover’s chip. But he’s got a second chip. Leonard De Beers’. Not only does it record the dismantling of De Beers’ body but it has a hidden message from Larkin confessing to De Beers’ death and fingering Essa.

Tough Choices Ahead

That’s it. Sew Sew goes to the boardroom and informs the board. Then he arrests Essa. Her laugh is brilliant and soul-curdling and chilling.

01 appears before the board and vows to serve well. His shares vest and he’s appointed chair.

This is all followed in quick succession by…

• Charlie back at his apartment, pouring himself a victory drink.
• Julius getting a slate in Beta telling him the hunter’s contract has been redirected from Charlie to him.
• Charlie and Jasmine discussing her future. For the first time in her life, someone lets her – no, forces her – to make a choice. She chooses Sew Sew.
• Charlie chooses Beta. Charlie chooses Blues.

As Charlie shows up at Blues’ apartment, we intercut with Jasmine calling Sew Sew and telling him to come home. In these two scenes, only three words are uttered. And volumes are spoken in a four-way acting clinic.

Back in Alpha, 01 tries to get a grip on Vexcor as he sees it spinning out of control. The company had grown to big and too unwieldy and won’t survive without the infusion of raw materials from Gammaverse. No longer the profligate wild child, Chairman 01 must make some tough choices in the hours ahead.

Reena too.

She gets the cube working and sees its message meant for her. She is destined to save Gamma after all. By destroying Alpha.

There’s just one week left. Is everyone else as excited and sad as I am to see this great show come to an end?

Ground Rules:
Rule #5: J.J. Abrams and public transportation do not mix – watch out when you take the bus.

Cruising at 30,000 feet (mini-synopsis):
Someone is able to see horrific and tragic events before those events occur. How is he doing it and why is it happening to him?

Ground level (the details):
Tonight’s episode opens in a church confessional. Probably not a bad place to begin given where J.J. Abrams has taken his audience over the past two weeks, especially with the rising body count he and his team of writers have been amassing.

The team is called to the scene of another attack – a public bus. It was a gaseous substance released that turned solid after a period of time. Everyone on board was dead, seemingly frozen in time.
The FBI soon receive a tip about a person of interest. The priest calls in a tip about Roy (Zak Orth), this week’s guinea pig, who sees future tragic events. He either ends up drawing pictures of them or he makes miniature models just to get them out of his head. The FBI conduct a search on his residence and find enough evidence to bring him in for questioning.

The team is present during the questioning and Dr. Bishop wishes to conduct tests on Roy because he believes that he is psychic or some sort of receiver of messages. When they begin to run tests, Roy nearly dies in the MRI machine. It seems that he has some sort of metal in his blood stream and the machine comes close to tearing him apart. After some brief research, Dr. Bishop remembers injecting young Roy with metal 20 years earlier. Somehow, the metal has multiplied and turned Roy into a walking receiver. Someone else is suspected in continuing his research and perfecting it.

Dr. Bishop proceeds to take another route. He attempts to evesdrop on the transmissions coming in to Roy’s brain. It will require minor brain surgery. Peter and Olivia go to the Bishop’s old house and, hidden away in one of the walls, they find Dr. Bishop’s equipment, a Magnetic Neural Stimulator (MNS) that he had originally created 17 years earlier.

Roy agrees to the experiment and Dr. Bishop begins drilling into Roy’s head after fitting the device on his head. They screw it down and begin to show him a series of pictures. The pictures fire off responses which tap into the transmissions coming in. Using the data, Agent’s Dunham and Francis (Kirk Acevedo) are able to stop another planned attack at the train station. Cornering the suspect, he lays down his gun and briefcase and then steps in front of a bus, committing suicide. Part of the transmission also points them to a fellow federal worker who was killed on the bus. They discover that something was surgically removed from the palm of her hand.

In the briefcase, they find a circular chip in a case. It’s the same chip that was removed from the dead woman’s palm. Broyles tells Dunham that he is going to have his friends at NSA to work on identifying the purpose of the chip. But instead, he takes it to Massive Dynamic and turns it over to Nina Sharp.

Parting shot:
Streaming data from the deceased Agent John Scott…what happened to only being able to communicate with the dead up to six hours after they had “joined the choir invisible?”
Roll credits.

Quotes of the night:
Agent Charlie Francis: “I wasn’t going to tell you this, but he said he loved me too.”

Dr. Walter Bishop: “Am I required to keep him alive?”

Peter Bishop: “You know, they say the psych profiles of criminals and law enforcement are nearly identical. Ever consider a life of crime?”
Agent Olivia Dunham: “No dental.”

Dr. Walter Bishop: “I believe with proper modulation you could receive satellite television for free.”

Parallel Universes?
I didn’t notice anything in tonight’s episode, but if you did, let me know.

Miss Anything?
If I missed something, then leave a comment and let me know.

If you missed something then pay closer attention.

It’s full on war for our favorite Manhattanites and no one is safe.

Plot Line One: The Inevitable Serena- Dan confrontation.

The first day of school brings mixed emotions for everyone, after the way things ended over the summer. Serena begs her mom to stay home; and Dan’s dad tells him to put his sarcastic deflections on the back burner and be honest.

The school day begins with Blair interviewing potential new posse clients. She is unimpressed with the menial selection. Meanwhile, across campus Chuck is reviewing the files for potential dates candidates. Chuck cordially tries to get Blair to swap files for information, but she kindly reminds him that she doesn’t need any dates this year; she has the Lord.

While Serena attempts to avoid Dan, he is found making nice with the new girl in school, Amanda. Blair advises Serena that she needs to find another boyfriend and quickly, because the one who dates first wins. Serena isn’t exactly sold on the idea, but doesn’t say anything otherwise.

Blair and her posse befriend Amanda – by threatening her- and invite her to lunch. Once they explain “The Rules” (which include no dating ex boyfriends) they assume that Dan will remain alone and Serena will have an opportunity to make a comeback. Besides, “Boyfriends are so less reliable then girlfriends.”

Amanda, who decides that she will not be bullied, convinces Dan to show up at a popular nightclub with her. When the two are caught together, Dan is considered insensitive because he is sporting his date in front of Serena’s friends. Still Serena, tries to be the bigger person and invites the two out to get to know Amanda. Fortunately, Blair’s minions have brought back up for Serena, a hottie from another school. Serena spends the night flirting in front of Dan, while Dan and Amanda flaunt their common interests in poetry. Obviously, both Serena and Dan are jealous of the others’ counterpart, and when Dan confronts Serena about the new guy, things escalate. Serena, “You need to leave”, Dan, “Are you threatening me?”, Serena “Consider it a suggestion.”

In the background, Chuck explains to the minions that it isn’t Dan they should be after, it is Amanda. He suggests a stunt that will burn off the back of her hair, a stunt they gladly accept. Amanda is mortified when the solution is supposedly-accidentally spilled on her and she runs crying from the club. Serena witnesses the event and is quick to apologize to Dan. Fuming, Dan wants nothing to do with Serena or her empty excuses anymore. And it is at that moment, we discover that war has been waged.

Plot Line 2: The Awkward Confrontation between Vanessa and Nate.

Nate is frantically trying to meet up with Vanessa to figure out what is going on with her. She denies that anything is wrong. When he asks if they can still be friends she proclaims “Well we were never really friends to begin with.”

Catherine pays Vanessa a visit, with a large check in tow, as a thank you to turning Nate down. Irate at the offer, Vanessa makes a trip over to the Duchess’ home and imagine her horror when she finds the Lord Marcus and Catherine together in the thrones of passion. Good thing, Vanessa has her cell phone ready to snap some pictures as evidence…good thing neither one of them see her standing in the door way….

With advice from Dan, Vanessa takes the pictures to Blair for help with a plan. Distraught, Blair explains that she will take care of it. Since, revenge is Blair’s middle name it is no surprise that she is able to work out a deal with the Duchess and Lord Marcus. She would keep her silence for a full payoff of Nate’s Dad’s restitution. However, Vanessa was unaware of the plan and very untrusting of Blair decides she will take the news directly to the Duke. Everything that Blair has set up for Nate is quickly taken down, because of Vanessa.

Mini Side Story: Lily is back from her honeymoon and desperately alone. Her husband has stayed to work in Beijing and her children are living their own lives, and she is sitting at home. She finds herself drawn back to her ex, Rufus. Hey Lily, you made your choice! He has moved on!

The Conclusion: Serena shows up at school the next day ready to take down anyone in her path. In a twisted ending we find out that Chuck has arranged the entire puppet show with Amanda so he can watch the takedown of Blair Waldorf. His main mission was to dethrone Blair as the queen, and the only one more powerful then Blair is her best friend Serena. Serena comes back with a vengeance; we see a total takeover as Blair is quietly taken down. A shift in power leaves, Lonely Boy Dan, alone in the courtyard.

This was my favorite episode by far, such a power pack of drama, what did you think?

How do you sneeze? You just let yourself. Maybe your head hurts because you don’t like seeing the invisible people. Like, it doesn’t ‘hurt to breathe, but f you hold your breath you’re going to get a headache and then you just have to breathe anyway. So just let it happen. – Jedi Jody

W00t! That’s right m’nerds. Charlie Jade can travel. Just like his brother in arms, 01 Boxer, you just add water and he and his sea monkeys go all fizzy and take off to parts unknown.

She scary? No. Shikari.

We open with Charlie lying in wait for Shikari, a genetically modified hunter-killer from Alphaverse. This is the first time we’ve ever seen Charlie scared of anyone, despite the decidedly un-scary appearance and behavior of the actress. She’s like Michael Keaton‘s Batman, but even less so. Still, for the sake of the story we accept that she’s a badass.

Charlie’s on a catwalk with a sniper rifle, gets a clear shot of Shikari, and suffers a vision. When he clears his eyes of sights of Alphaverse and sees the abandoned warehouse again, he can’t find her in the scope. You know how we know this hunter-killer’s dangerous? Besides Charlie telling us and Karl in the next scene? He starts *running*. Drops the rifle and bolts.

He follows his planned escape route and plants a bomb on the door behind him before running out to the car and taking off. In his rear view, he sees Shikari walk through the fire and smoke with a bemused look on her face.

Back at Karl’s apartment, he tells Karl to pack up and get out of town for a few days. Or, until Charlie’s death ends the hunter-killer’s mission. Then they discuss the problem of Charlie’s visions. They’ve been coming more frequently and causing more problems, and the headaches have been more severe. Karl wonders if the pills Charlie used to take could be synthesized in Beta, but Charlie’s not sure they ever really helped.

Karl suggests tackling the problem differently. Instead of trying to stop the visions outright, maybe a shaman could help Charlie learn to control them. It’s a stretch, but nothing else has worked.

Vision Quest

Charlie goes to meet Karl’s shaman friend. Karl’s got friends in some very interesting places. Drinking some nefarious potion, Charlie stares out across the Cape Town skyline and sees it change into Cape City. When he tells the shaman, the sage replies that Charlie needs to stop looking outside for answers, but into his soul instead where he will find the devils inside him with his own face. This line was intended as a foreshadowing of later parts of the episode, but those were dropped on the floor during production of the episode. Check out Alex Epstein‘s podcast commentary for this week’s episode for much more about the many Charlies.

Charlie sees Jody and knows where he should go for answers: back to where he started in the desert to let the child guide him on his journey. Guide him she does, by telling him to stop fighting the visions. The way of the dimension hopper is to relax and be one with the flow.
Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water,
Yet nothing can better overcome the hard and strong,
For they can neither control nor do away with it. – Lao-Tze

Jody sends Charlie off to another dimension – one we’ve never seen before – while he’s relaxed and watching it. When he returns (let’s not ask how he got back on his own right now,) she tells him Shikari had come looking for him. He knows how to travel now, so he tells Jody to take his car and her mother and get away after pouring water over him one more time. Charlie’s finally going home.

Reena and the Geisha

After last week’s deprived us of 01 Boxer, we got a bit of Filipowich fun tonight. Reena had come to Carl for his help and he suggested she seek out 01. Maybe he could help. So Carl takes her to the Glass Door where she finds 01 meditating.

He tries to get the programmed personality to come out with gentle prodding; when that fails he resorts to violence. A little headbutt and some light bondage are all it takes to get Reena’s inner killer to come out. From there, it takes 01 only a little while to get what he wants, integration of the programmed killer with Reena’s own personality. He needs her to be strong and needs the knowledge she possesses, but also needs Reena to be in control. By threatening the programmed personality’s existence, he forces it to integrate with Reena, giving her the memories that had been blacked out and control over herself again.

One of the pieces of knowledge the programmed personality possesses is the names of the three remaining scientists who can rebuild the link: Urding, Skuldeman, and Verdandi. These three are named for the three Norns of Norse mythology who draw water from the Well of Urðr to water the world tree, Yggdrasill.

Sew Sew and the Case of the Missing Executives

Sew Sew has everything he’s ever wanted. He has Jasmine and even if she does not love him, she cares for him. But he can’t let go of the missing Vexcor executives and their families. He even defends his clamoring for truth to Jasmine by asking if she doesn’t want to know the truth about Charlie. He would risk everything – risk even finding Charlie and losing Jasmine – to resolve this impenetrable mystery.

He gets closer to the truth tonight when he apprehends Leonard De Beers as he attempts to escape his fate. Brion Boxer’s condition is deterioration again and he needs those magical molecules the lab geeks extract from people who’ve been through the link. De Beers is the last executive around who’s been through and his time is up. But before going to his death he gives Sew Sew enough information to be useful in the future. Especially as Sew Sew recorded it.

Final Thoughts

Okay. Charlie can travel. This changes everything. He’s far out in the desert, but once he gets back to Cape City there should be tearful and awkward reunions. But what then? Charlie can’t leave Beta to its fate; his time in our verse and with Karl has changed him more than he realizes. He won’t be able to turn his back on six billion souls anymore than he could turn his back on Karl or Blues. Charlie will be back.

What did everyone else think?

In an attempt to solve the gas crisis, Dennis, Mac, and Charlie try to score a $300,000 bank loan to buy gasoline. Once they have been turned down, they steal money from Dee’s sock drawer and fill trashcans with gas at the gas station. The attendant stops them and later they attempt to sell the gas back to the station. Since that plan fails, they attempt to sell the gas out on the street.

After the fireball accident, they decide to do door-to-door gasoline sales. But before they can do that, Dennis wants to steal Frank’s van so that they can transport the trashcans of gasoline around the neighborhoods. Mac, with his taped up towel head (really a bandage for the fireball burns, it looks more like an Arabian headwrap), is the one to actual take the van.

Dee and Dennis’s dad, Bruce Mathis, is giving all their deceased mother’s money to a Muslim charity. Dee and Frank hatch a plan to get it back. Frank has bought a “rape van” according to Dee (because of the blacked out tinted windows), and they are using it for surveillance. Frank water boarded some guy to get information on where Bruce was living. They think it’s Bruce but Frank’s window tinting job is so dark, so you can’t really tell if it is him or not – it’s not. Frank and Dee break into what they think is Bruce’s apartment and Frank wants to plant a bug, but it’s a baby monitor. When Dee questions him about it, he says, “A lot of people are bugging their babies these days. I guess babies can’t be trusted.” After bugging the apartment with the baby monitor, Dee and Frank set up to listen to it in the back of the van, but they get in an argument and continue their verbal fight outside the van. That is when Mac jumps in the van and steals it. However, Frank can’t see Mac’s face, all he sees is the towel and he thinks a Muslim is taking his van. Frank thinks that Dee is in on getting his van stolen. Frank water boards Dee in the men’s urinal. That is when the guys walk in and Frank discovers that they were the ones who took the van, not some Muslim.

Charlie Work
Favorite Charlie scenes:
Charlie is siphoning gas into trashcans.
Illiterate Charlie’s “For Sale” gas sign is totally misspelled – hilarious… “Unled’d, Premem, Deasel”
Charlie blows a fireball and burns Mac’s head – then he tapes a towel to his head with duct tape.
Charlie cutting the brakes and diving out of the back of the van.

Favorite Charlie quote:
“How about we all go in the back and have great sex?”
“So help me God I’ll blow this place to kingdom come.”
“Plus I’ve swallowed a good deal of that and it’s just a damn waste.”
“Uh, I know how to count man.”
“Well, you’re looking all sorts of good…We want to fill you up if you was so inclined to let us. Now we ain’t going to be taking ‘no’ for an answer now, ya hear. So don’t be making me sick my associate on ya here, alright? He don’t take kindly to ‘no’. So, can I fill you up or what? ”

Last Call
Solving the gas crisis is something that we all could use. But the way they gang decides to go about it might not be the most practical. However, it is the most hilarious solution and this was a much funnier episode than Mac and Dennis: Manhunters. It seems that last year was a little hit and miss and so far, after two episodes, it looks like it could be a repeat of that for this season. I hope not though; this episode brought me to tears I was laughing so hard.

Charlie and Dee steal Frank’s deer meat and cook it up and start eating it. Frank get’s ticked off at them and padlocks his fridge, but he leaves one piece of meat out. Charlie and Dee cook up the meat that was left out and just love it. Frank catches them and tells them it is human meat. For nearly the rest of the show, Charlie and Dee think they have turned into cannibals.

To test their theory, they go to China Town and buy up all sorts of exotic meat, including monkey . They cook it up and try it all, but none of it tastes similar to what they had before. So they take a trip to the morgue, to try and confirm that they ate human meat by trying it again, but once there, they “chicken” out and just can’t bring themselves to eat a dead guy. Later on, they are seen wandering the streets of Philly, salivating after the passer bys. They pick up a homeless guy and start covering his arm with seasoning salts, but before they can eat him they are interrupted by the rest of the gang. Frank tells them he was trying to teach them a lesson about stealing his food, and that it wasn’t human meat, but rather it was raccoon. They don’t believe him and they chase him from the apartment looking to eat him.

When Frank initially takes the deer meat from Charlie and Dee, the discussion turns to how he hunted and shot the deer. Mac and Dennis want to raise the stakes and so they decided to hunt a human…specifically, Cricket. They spend their time stocking up on beer and camo-ing up for the hunt. They position themselves on some busy sidewalk hidden in a cardboard box waiting for Cricket to come by panhandling. When they eventually spot him, Cricket out runs/gymnastics/maneuvers them and they quickly give up the chase. Frank finds Cricket and talks him into teaming up against Mac and Dennis. Cricket agrees. While Mac and Dennis are sleeping, they leave a note with a knife stuck in their pillows for them to find when they wake up. They do and they start freaking out, so they go to Dee’s place to talk her into becoming bait for Cricket. They walk in on Charlie and Dee preparing the homeless guy for food. The homeless guy runs away and Frank and Cricket enter the room.

Dee and Charlie chase Frank out of the room and Mac and Dennis are left in the room with Cricket.

Charlie Work
Favorite Charlie scenes:
1. He takes a hot plate to the morgue so he and Dee can warm up some human meat.
2. He whips out a knife and chases Frank out of Dee’s apartment.

Favorite Charlie quotes:
1. “You gotta human meat guy?”
2. “You don’t understand – you don’t have the hunger!”
3. “I’m gonna chop off a piece of that fat little calf muscle and eat it.”

Last Call
Not the best episode that I have seen by these guys. It had a few funny parts, but I thought it could have been better. Most of the jokes seem forced and fell flat. I hope that the rest of the season is funnier than this first offering, otherwise it could be a long season.

They said this thing: ‘As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens another man.’ And I realized, Proverbs 27:17? That’s you and me. You showed me the way. – Michael Westen

You might wonder how I got there, you know? I’ve been down for so long, with my ex and everyone against me, I never thought I’d find a way out of this hole. But thanks to Michael and this job he got me involved in, I couldn’t sleep. So I came downstairs to watch TV and I there was a bible program on. It was like they were talking right to me. Like God was telling me everything’s going to be okay.

These angels sent to try me, and the ones sent to try Michael, all they do is make our conviction stronger.

Recap

Fiona’s new boyfriend Campbell, he’s got a big heart. He takes his job home with him, so when he patches up Henry, he wants to do more than just fix his wounds. He wants to help Henry out of his jam. And Henry, he’s in deep.

Henry works for a security company and got beat up pretty bad by Lesher and his Muscle. Lesher wants Henry to help him kidnap Isabella Arroyo so his client can muscle in on the Arroyo’s oil business in Venezuela. But Henry’s a good man. He won’t stand for it.

Michael and Fiona make sure Lesher will pick me as his patsy, not that they have to do much to make that happen. Recently divorced, money problems, and too much drink. I’d pick me too. At least I would have before. Lesher approaches me and I let him pull me in so I can convince him it’s not worth the effort to kidnap Isabella, but the job’s too big; he’s going to do it no matter what.

But when I have my revelation and refuse to help him, it puts him in a bind. He tries to bully me, but I don’t listen. Then he tries to have me killed, but that doesn’t take. I realize he’s never going to see the light, so I have to make sure the world sees his sins. I crash into his car, trapping him and the Muscle, and leave a list of his sins on the windshield for the police.

While I’m busy with Lesher, trying to stop a kidnapping, Michael is trying to stop his own crime. He breaks into the office building where Carla’s sniper has been going and realizes it’s a perch. The sniper is targeting someone on a ferry, but there’s no way to figure out who or when. Carla pulls up on a motorcycle while Michael’s inside and Sam gets a tracker on the bike. That leads them to Carla’s hotel and extended surveillance.

Michael manages to break into Carla’s room and find her hidden records on all the players in the plot, but that doesn’t bring him any closer to solving it. It does give him one new face to look out for, though.

Carla, of course, is just as smart and capable as Michael, so when she realizes he’d used the keycard and been to the sniper’s perch, she lashes back at his family. Nate is arrested on trumped up charges that his new limo company is a front for money laundering which company was built with a big loan from Madeline. With one move, all of Michael’s family is in jeopardy.

Carla heads to the waterfront and Michael, Fiona, and Sam follow her. Michael realizes it’s a setup and they split up: Sam heads to the sniper’s house to try to cut him off; Michael heads to the loft to retrieve the keycard, hoping to get to the perch in time; and Fiona runs interference in her car. Michael steals a motorcycle, and thanks to Fiona loses the cars tailing him, but Carla stays on him on her bike.

Sliding under a semi, Michael manages to get away and make it to the loft in one piece. Sam calls when Michael arrives and tells him the sniper’s dead. As Michael goes to open the door, Sam tells him the sniper’s front door was booby trapped. Michael dives off his balcony as the bomb goes off.

Character Counts

Typically, Michael manages to be a wet blanket to both his mother and Nate on the same day. But this time he gets them both with one sentence and a look: “You let mom take a loan out on the house?” Impressive. A moment of celebration turned to recrimination as Nate leaves and Madeline’s joy turns to bitterness.

Michael does a bit better – but only a bit – with Fiona. She’s inordinately happy with Campbell and wants Michael to be happy for her, so she keeps asking what he thinks of Campbell. Michael’s only response is that Campbell is “nice”. Then with every chance he gets Michael demonstrates how much he doesn’t like Campbell. Like running out to get more yogurt to avoid eating the tuna tahini he prepared. (Okay, I’ve got to say, “tuna tahini” would normally be served cold. “Tuna tagine” would be hot but would not be pronounced like that. I really don’t know what was in that oven. Better to just get yogurt after all.)

The most emotional scene of the episode was Michael’s late-night confession to Lesher. Intended to pull his cover identity out from under Lesher’s control and show that he could no longer be threatened with death, the confession served a larger purpose as it was directed at Fi. As she stood eating his yogurt, her spoon froze in midair as Michael quoted Proverbs.

But it’s not the verse Michael quoted that was directed at Fi, it was the unspoken Proverbs 27:16 that was intended for her: “Restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.”

Finally, Fiona got her answer about Campbell. Michael might be cool to him, but he won’t stand in the way of her happiness. He won’t hold her back.

Chin Bits

• “Hey Mike, what are you seeing up there? A mastermind petting a Persian cat?”
• “Your burn notice lady just showed up.”
• “Always be prepared. Navy Seal motto.”
• Michael: “Sam, I could kiss you.” Sam: “Get in line.”
• “She’s got a hell of a breast stroke, Mike. I mean the woman can swim. She’s a machine.”

Lessons in Spycraft

• Getting intel on an enemy position can be done slowly from a distance, or quickly from inside, but that can be fatal.
• The best sniper locales are inside rooms through open windows. It hides the shooter, the muzzle flash, and the supersonic report.
• Any hiding place is a tradeoff between access and security.
• To recruit someone, you dress like someone, talk like them, and act like them, but let the potential recruit make the first move.
• “When selling yourself as a traitor, you can’t be too eager.”
• Facial recognition systems can’t tell the difference between a photcopy of a face and a face.
• When searching a spy’s room, assume they’re as creative as you are.
• To drink without getting drunk, start with a lot of ice, order new drinks before finishing the old, and spill.
• A cover ID that involves drinking gives you some big tactical advantages, like having an excuse to get in your target’s vehicle and leave a bug.
• When someone turns you, their main weapon is fear. Their worst nightmare is an asset without fear.
• Motorcycles don’t have an aftermarket in stolen parts, so anti-theft measures are pretty outdated and the steering lock on a smaller bike breaks pretty easily.

Final Thoughts

An interesting episode to end the summer half of the season. Like everyone else, I hate the split seasons the cable nets give us, but then again, as least they give us shows we want to watch in the summer. I can’t complain too much.

It’s still not clear what game Carla’s playing with Michael, neither is it clear who’s winning. It’s completely possible – and likely – she’s aware of his every move and is just giving him enough rope for his own hanging, but then I wonder about the booby trapped door. Would Carla risk Michael *actually* blowing himself up if he didn’t find out about the sniper until a minute later? Or does she want him dead at this point?

What did everyone else think?

Episode Title: The Same Old Story
Season: 1
Episode: 2
Network: FOX
Airdate: Tuesday September 16, 2008

Ground Rules:
Rule #3: Your momma probably told ya, don’t go with strangers. This is especially true if J.J. Abrams is in charge of the world and the rules by which it lives by…
Rule #4: Follow Rule #3 as if you life depended on it – it does!

Cruising at 30,000 feet (mini-synopsis):
A serial killing, pituitary gland thief is on the loose and Homeland Security and the FBI are out to stop him.

Ground level (the details):
This episode opens at night, at a cheap hotel…nothing good can come of this. Our thief is there with the “girl” – Loraine (“my mom gave all her girls flowers for middle names”) Daisy. Well, Loraine tonight is your night to be plucked. She asks him what is in his bag, a mushroom pizza (ok, that’s gross), and he says “yeah, it’s a mushroom pizza.” Uh, no it’s not, it’s a mini-science lab you freak. Suspect Zero goes to the bathroom and starts breaking out with the vials, needles, and other odd assortments of instruments to help him “take care” of his lady friend. While he is fiddling with his toys, Loraine starts screaming and going berserk as a weird shape moves around in her abdomen. Suspect Zero grabs his belongings, grabs the girl (who has now run outside) and helps her into his vehicle, it’s off to the hospital. He is about to become a proud papa…yeah, that’s right, she’s pregnant and it is growing so fast that it looks like she is close to delivering it.

At the hospital, she is still screaming and the doctors have her restrained on the table. The baby is increasing in size and the doctors are about to do emergency surgery on her to remove the child, but they are too late, the baby has grown so large by now that it rips through the stomach and Loraine dies instantly. Then mass hysteria ensues with the doctors and nurses in the room as they all start freaking out and screaming.

Recipe for 15-minute Insta-Baby
1 Suspect Zero
1 Random hooker
1 World created by J.J. Abrams
1 Seedy hotel room
Wait for 15 minutes, presto baby.

Homeland Security Agent Phillip Broyles is leading a meeting with several, as yet, unknown, people. The only other familiar person attending the meeting is Nina Sharp (Blair Brown), who works for Massive Dynamic. Agent Broyles tells the group that he has assembled his new team consisting of FBI Agent Olivia Dunham, Dr. Walter Bishop, and Peter Bishop (Walter’s son). The main purpose of the meeting is the event that happened at the hospital 43 minutes earlier and somehow this “anomaly” falls under this group’s jurisdiction.

Cut to Dunham, at home, pouring over old case files she worked with her former partner Agent Scott trying to find some clue as to what happened to him. She gets a call from Broyles where she is instructed to pick up the others and meet him in 30 minutes at the medical center. She goes to where the Bishops are staying and Peter answers the door. “You’re phone was off the hook,” Dunham says. “That’s because I didn’t want to get woken up,” replies Peter. She tells them that they are all being called in so Peter goes to wake up his father. Oops, Walter is not in his bed. No, he would rather stay in the closet. I’m guessing all those 17 years locked up in a small, padded room makes a closet an inviting place. Turns out he’s having troubles getting to sleep at night, because he had gotten used to a patient, Carlos, who would sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat every night.

They arrive on the scene, except Walter won’t leave the car because he is “fiddling around with the seat warmer. Broyles goes to get him and Walter says, “I have never seen feature like this before. It warms your ass. It’s wonderful. Have you tried it?”

Cut to inside the hospital, Broyles runs through the timeline for the team.

17 minutes after midnight, the girl is dropped off outside.

12:24 AM – she becomes a mom (that’s less than 2 minutes after she was pronounced dead)
He tells them that the baby was growing and that they could all see it doing so. The “baby” lived for about 30 more minutes before dying of natural causes, old age…It wasn’t just growing. It was growing and aging. Fun baby fact of the night: 92% of newborns have blue eyes. Peter’s were green. Dr. Bishop requests that the bodies need to be taken to a lab immediately so that he can begin work. He has forgotten he already has his old lab at Harvard. Broyles tell Dunham and Peter all of these inexplicable events are happening and his group is trying to find a connection between them, which they have dubbed “The Pattern.”

Olivia and Peter are at the hotel after a tip is phoned in asking about the girl. Olivia notices something familiar about the scene – medical grade sheets on the bed. It’s similar to the old cases that her and Agent Scott used to work on. She recognizes the profile of this serial killer. Whoa…

Each time Suspect Zero would kill five young women at a time, within a few days of each other. Pick them up, take them to motels, give them a muscle paralyzer so they would remain wide awake, but unable to move. He would make an incision along the front of the gums so he could pull their mouths open up to their eyes. Then, going through their nasal cavity he would remove their pituitary gland.

Peter asks the obvious, “An all of this connects to magic old man baby and the pregnant woman how?” Patience Peter, that is what the rest of the show is about.

Scoreboard: one girl down, four more to go. Our guy is now at a strip club, picking up his next victim.
Back at the FBI building we find out that Suspect Zero was dubbed “The Brain Surgeon.” Dunham makes a request to re-open the old case files. It is granted.

The Brain Surgeon and his girl arrive at a warehouse. Time to get to work. He tells her to check out the view of the bridge from the window. She doesn’t care about the bridge and asks him what he likes. “I like the bridge, go check it out.” While her back is to him, our guy whips out his needle, pops the top, gives the girl a kiss and a stick.

Back at the lab – Dr. Bishop is milking the cow… (that’s not a slang or euphemism, he really is milking the cow from episode 1) and he has finished doing the experiments on the 80-year old man-baby. He remembers that he conducted similar experiments before his lock-up as well as remembering where he parked his car seventeen years ago. It is in an old garage held closed by a combination lock. The combination – pi to the sixth digit – clever. In his car are piles of files and paperwork from Dr. Bishop’s work. The team is running through them to find the connection. We find out that the pituitary gland regulates growth and removing it causes rapid growth.

He worked with a colleague on it – a Dr. Penrose who is now a professor at Boston College. Time for a “get-to-know-you” session. Dr. Penrose has nothing to share, although he does have two different color eyes – right eye is blue, left eye is brown – freak.

Back at the warehouse, we have a little Dexter action ongoing. Girl is strapped down, despite being paralyzed. She has clamps holding her mouth open and then we have the scalpel enter the shot…cut to commercial. Even Fox has its limits.

The Lab: Dr. Bishop offers a hypothesis on why the gland is removed. They originally were cultivating soldiers. They could grow soldiers but they were unable to turn the aging process off once they reached the desired age. A breakthrough must have occurred while he was locked up in the mental hospital.

The gland is removed and the hormone extracted to regulate the aging process. The good doctor deducts that someone out there is an experiment and is trying to keep themselves from rapidly growing old. Apparently the rapid growth condition can be passed on via conception, as we found out earlier when Suspect Zero had un-safe sex. Dr. Bishop replies to both Dunham and Peter, “Even condoms are not 100% effective. You two should be aware of this.”

At the warehouse, Dr. Penrose shows up and is speaking to Suspect Zero – Christopher. Penrose tells him he had a visit from the FBI and to be more careful. He calls him “son.” Also, he only needs one more girl and then he will have what he needs.

At the lab, they know they have a pituitary gland serial killer on the loose, but they have absolutely no leads to work with. Dr. Bishop thinks that they can recover the last images the dead girl from the warehouse saw with some special equipment (using the theory that the last image she saw is permanently frozen into her retina, a la Jules Verne). Who has the equipment to do this? Massive Dynamic. How is it done? Something that can grab the frozen electrical impulses along the optic nerve and transmit them to a monitor. Dunham goes to Massive Dynamic to pick up the equipment. While there, Nina Sharp makes more cryptic statements, implying there is more to all of this than Dunham realizes, then she offers Dunham a job. With the equipment back at the lab and everything hooked up and working, the experiment begins. There is a lot of flashing lights, like paparazzi, and hazy, distorted images flash on the screen. (Meanwhile, our boy, Suspect Zero, is at another club on a hunt for his last girl.) They see something familiar in one of the images – a bridge…

Sargent Bridge, visible from the warehouse district. They find the bridge, match the angle, triangulate the position of the image to find the correct warehouse. Then they bring up old satellite imagery from the past 24 hours and viola, we have a car parked outside the warehouse during the time of the murder.

Dunham and Peter break into the warehouse and find none other than Dr. Penrose monitoring the latest victim. Christopher’s latest work has been interrupted and he goes on the run. Dunham chases him and it ends badly for Christopher, he instantly grows old and dies before it is all over, but before dying he tells Agent Dunham that he was an experiment and Penrose’s mistake was in blurring the lines and getting emotionally involved, thinking of him as a son instead of an experiment. Meanwhile, Peter is watching Penrose at gun-point. He gets distracted and Penrose delivers an overdose of anesthesia and takes off running as well. Peter makes a “dial-a-friend” to his dad and is walked through creating a make-shift defibrillator to shock the girl back to life. Dr. Penrose is on the run. No one knows where he is.

Parting shot: a sterile, white room under florescent lighting with three men each lying in their own bed, hooked up with monitoring equipment. They all look identical.
Roll credits.

Quote of the night:
“I thought you had a way with women?”– Dr. Walter Bishop to his son Peter after Dunham speaks down to him and walks out.

Parallel Universes?
On the island in LOST, they have fertility problems. Seems like in the Fringe universe, not only have they’ve got the fertility thing worked out, but they’ve created insta-baby (and insta-soldiers). I wonder if fertility issues will continue to be a theme on Fringe as they are on LOST.

Miss Anything?
If I missed something, then leave a comment and let me know.

If you missed something then pay closer attention.

For weeks now there has been much debating about Kelly’s babydaddy and finally we were not let down! Of course the viewers were forced to wait until the end of the show, so it is only fair that you readers must wait as well…….

If you have been following reviews or teasers about the new 90210 season, then you were already aware that Brenda was brought back to the block to direct the new school musical. It is no surprise then, when in the first scene Harry announces that the drama teacher is taking a leave of absence. Grandma Tabitha, always at the right place as the right time, overhears the emergency and is quick to take action. Channeling her own past performances, she is determined to lead the play with gusto.

Naomi, obviously distraught about the bombshell from last week (that her dad is fooling around on her mom), can’t seem to get the images out of her head. Both her mother and father pretend to be in love, for a family Christmas card, of which her sister will be photoshopped in later. Basically her mom tells her to mind her own business and let the fling run its course.

Different day or same day, as I am not entirely sure of the timeline on this show, back at the school, Kelly and Brenda enjoy breakfast. They bond over their own fond memories of chanting “Donna Martin Graduates” in the hallways. (This show is desperately trying to incorporate as much as the old 90210 series as they can cram in). So, during their girl bonding moment, Brenda wants all of the dirt on Kelly and Ryan’s date. Brenda urges Kelly to reveal the truth about Sammy’s father, but Kelly is adamant that it does not matter.

Dixon was fortunate to be able to drive his dad’s van to school and ends up knocking the rear-view mirror off of one of the school’s many luxury cars. After a conversation at home about the lack of money, Dixon decides to take matter into his own hands and ask the other driver to do him a “solid” and settle this without insurance.

Ryan and Kelly meet up before class in the hallway to once again press the daddy issue. He learns that the father is a wonderful man, currently halfway around the world doing charity work. Other drama in the hallways ensues when Naomi bumps into Silver and pleads with her not to tell anyone about her dad’s affair. Ironically, this was the same incident that Silver didn’t want blabbed years ago. What goes around comes around!

After school at rehearsal, we find Grandma Tabitha telling the students they need to “sing like their privates are on fire” and to use their angst against their own mother to apply emotion to the song. A mortified Annie confronts her dad about the current director situation. Enter Brenda’s part. Brenda suggests taping the rehearsal, to watch with many different eyes, and Tabitha is finally able to see the way she has been treating the students. Quietly, she decides to resign and allow Brenda to direct the entire show.

Luckily, Dixon was afforded the option of a solid from his fellow classmate, now he just had to come up with the money. Hmm, now where oh where, could the Wilson son find a job? Oh right the Peach Pit!!! As if the reference to Donna wasn’t enough of a flashback, we now see Nat giving Dixon a job. Nat also fondly remembers the “good egg” that he hired from West Beverly oh so many years ago. C’mon!

Of course the show wouldn’t be complete, without a love triangle resurface. For some reason, Annie continues to blow of Ty for Ethan. Annie is in denial about the fact that Ethan and Naomi are actually done. As if breaking up with someone you have been in love with for a number of years is that clean and dry! Silver even tries to warn Annie about the non-break up! Unfortunately for Annie, Ethan once again blows her off for Naomi.

Naomi is hell bent for leather on confronting her dad’s mistress. (Side Note: Do any other viewers find it odd that a teenage Naomi would sneak into her parent’s bedroom while her dad is taking a shower to look at his phone?) Of course she doesn’t want to go alone, so she enlists the help of her dear old friend Ethan. Shockingly on her quest for truth, Naomi discovers that her dad’s ‘fling’ is more then that. That they are in love and she is moving into the family beach house. Once again Naomi confronts her mom with the new discovered truth, and for the first time her mom accepts that this may be the end of her marriage.

After getting blown off for Naomi, Annie finally realizes what a mistake she has made with Ty. So what would any girl from the Midwest do to try to get her crush back? Bake! Annie approaches Ty with a canister of sinker doodles that puts the entire show to shame. Once she sees this isn’t going to get Ty back, she moves in for the Kiss. Ironically, he finds that more persuasive then the baked goods!

What would the new clean 90210 be without the feel good moment at the end? Dixon finally confides in his dad about the accident. Harry wants to help in any way possible and is willing to loan Dixon the money for the time being. (Side Note: Wasn’t Dixon on the Lacrosse team a few weeks ago? Do they not have practice anymore? I am just confused because the school I went to had sports practice after school, which is when Dixon always seems to be working…. Oh right, it is 90210 where anything is possible!)

Finally, in the last scene we see the big reveal! Who were you voting for? Dylan? Brandon? Steve?

Kelly is for some reason irate that Ryan went to Brenda for information about Sammy’s dad and decides to confront her. Brenda exclaims that it is obvious that she is still in love with Sammy’s father – “Dylan”. After the blood subsided from my brain and I was able to regain composure from the big news, I realized that I was heart broken. I was hoping it would be Brandon, who would some how come back to edit the school newspaper, or something equally as crazy. But of course Dylan makes everything so much more intriguing. After all, the Dylan-Brenda- Kelly love triangle was the original 90210 way.