Fringe: “Immortality” – review

What does immortality mean to you? What would you give to achieve it? One can achieve immortality in numerous ways, like finding the cure for a deadly disease like Avian Flu, for instance, or in doing what simply comes naturally–having a baby and passing on your genetic code. Both of these two methods are highlighted in the Fringe episode called “Immortality.” Though it’s set in the Other, or Alt, Universe, what happens to the members of the Fringe Division there, and to its Secretary of Defense, Walternate, directly impacts everyone in our universe, our Earth.

The season is rapidly drawing to a close, and the suspense and momentum is building to what promises to be another excellent season finale. Dr. Armand Silva’s quest to achieve immortality by continuing his research into the beetle Mansonian Bugliosi, a beetle that needs sheep to live and reproduce themselves in, is a noble one. Or, it would be, if he didn’t require the use of live humans as the beetles’ breeding grounds, as sheep died out twenty years ago in the Other Universe.

This entire storyline is pretty cool to me, and I really liked this episode and its many pop and cultural references. So let’s move on to what I specifically thought made this episode special!

Highlights/Memorable Quotes

1.) The first item I must note, and the first pop reference that I caught, is the name of the variety of beetles Dr. Silva uses. It’s derived from the mass murderer’s name, Charlie Manson, combined with the name of the famous lawyer who prosecuted the case, Vincent Bugliosi. And, Manson loved the rock group, the Beatles. And another name for the variety is the Skelter beetle–and the Beatles song “Helter Skelter” was one of Manson’s favorite Beatles tunes!

2.) The highlights for me include the deaths of Silva’s first two victims. The first one, Silva exchange glasses of water with, and the water the poor guy drinks is laced with the rapidly propagating beetle eggs. Silva follows the guy into a restroom, where the man is convulsing, acting like he’s trying to puke, foams at the mouth a little–and then–we see Silva collecting a specimen in a clear bottle, and a closed bathroom stall door, with what looks like tons of beetles swarming out from under the door!

3.) The Other Universe’s Charlie Francis and Lincoln both have lots of lines and major roles in this episode, which I liked to see, and we get to see Frank’s role (Bolivia’s/Faux-Livia’s boyfriend) get developed more than it has in the past. They investigate the case with Bolivia, and when a beetle crawls out of the nostril of the dead first victim, a corny but memorable line (I think Charlie delivers it, but I could be wrong) is: “Looks like we’ve got a live one!”

4.) The Breakthrough

Brandon also has a decent-sized part in this episode. Perhaps his most crucial contribution to it is when he lets Walternate know, via the Secretary of Defense’s ear bud cell phone, that they’ve made an apparent breakthrough in synthesizing the chemicals they got from Olivia’s brain that allow her to travel between the dimensions. Ten out of ten test subjects still died, but the important thing Dr. Brandon believes was learned, is that the tenth man lived longer and died because he couldn’t handle or cope with his new-found telekinetic abilities. The explanation is far from clear as to his cause of death, but he still lived longer than the other nine. Brandon believes that’s because he was younger than them, which leads him to want to continue the experiments with children. This is much like what William Bell and Walter did, of course, with their Cortexephon experiments on our Earth, which included Olivia when she was a little girl.

5.) Walternate shows at least this small sign that he has a heart–he tells Dr. Brandon, in reply: “No children. That is not an option.” I’m guessing that’s because his son, Peter, was kidnapped from him by Walter. But, to me, it seems like Walternate has conflicting thoughts going on inside his head, because he’s seemingly okay with the idea of possibly sacrificing his son if it means Peter can be used to power the Doomsday Machine he wants to utilize to invade and destroy our Earth.

6.) The Other Guy Dies

Dr. Silva keeps on keepin’ on, refining his genetic experiments, and getting bigger and better beetles as a result. In another highlight Silva sits next to a guy at a diner, and the guy orders a slice of cherry pie.  In a reference to a memorable line from When Harry Met Sally, Silva says to the waitress: “I’ll have what he’s having.” He has tricked the dude into ingesting the eggs, and he also dies a hideous death.

7.) I Said I Do, But She Done Did

I for sure have to include as highlights in this episode Frank’s proposal to Bolivia, her acceptance, and her believing that Dr. Silva has infected her, only to later discover at the hospital that she is–wait for it–pregnant! And, it’s not with Frank’s baby, but–you guessed it–Peter’s!

8.) Walternate confronting Bolivia, and basically welcoming her into the family: “Your position with Fringe Division will remain intact. You will have all the resources you need. After all, you’re the mother of my future grandchild.”

9.) The glyphs, according to the Fringe Wiki site (unless they get corrected/changed) spell out ROMAD. I was puzzled what that referred to, but after researching it, learned that ROMAD is an acronym for Radio Operator Maintainer And Driver, and a slang term describing a group that were tricked into a job no one else wanted to do. Still, I’m not entirely certain what in the episode this acronym refers to. If you believe you have this figured out, please let me know your thoughts below!

Fringe seems to be defying the odds, and is prospering on Friday nights despite its shift from Thursday nights, so that’s great news! I didn’t touch on every highlight/memorable quote, I’m sure, in this review, but I mentioned a few that stood out for me. What were some of yours? Did you like, love, dislike, or hate this episode? Please leave your comments below–I’m looking forward to reading them! Happy Valentine’s Day to all of our loyal readers and Fringe fans everywhere!