Fringe: “Stowaway” – review

Friday’s finally here, Fringe fans! There are some people who would do anything they could to stay alive forever, despite the Blue Oyster Cult’s song, “Don’t Fear the Reaper.” Then there are others, people who have lived long, long, long lives and who would consider it a blessing if they were able to die and be reunited with their loved ones in Heaven. But how is it possible to achieve this, when it’s impossible for you to die? Perhaps in a case like that, the only possible way that you can rejoin your loved ones is by becoming a stowaway to Heaven.

That is one of the subjects the Fringe episode “Stowaway” is about. When you’ve had more than your fill of immortality, and grow weary of it all and desperate to “shuffle off your mortal coil,” what can you do to bid adieu to your way-too-sullied flesh and purchase a ticket on the Afterlife Express? That’s the problem confronting the main subject of the Fringe Team’s investigations in “Stowaway,” when they try to locate a Soul Vampire (of sorts), Dana Gray, who works at a Suicide Hotline (talk about your perfect job for a Soul Vampire).

Another major topic of “Stowaway” is a different sort of stowaway, namely, William Bell, who has taken possession of Olivia Dunham’s body. Hearing Anna Torv (Olivia, of course) do an imitation of Leonard Nimoy’s (William Bell’s) voice is creepy, but oh, so cool. And, in this episode, we learn how he did this–that is, how he took over Olivia’s body–in a little section of this review I like to call….

Highlights/Quotable Quotes

1.) Soul Magnets

Yes, the very thing that Nina Sharp mocked Walter about for being so interested in the last episode, “Os”–Soul Magnets–are what Belly used to rejoin the world of the living. He tells us, through the beautiful lips of Olivia Dunham, that he spiked her tea with Soul Magnets, and when Olivia drank the tea, she become a conduit for Bell to return.

I like this idea, but what, exactly, are the “Soul Magnets” made of? How do they work? These little minor details are glossed over. So, I guess this highlight is both a part of the episode I liked, in that it reveals information about how Bell’s coup over Olivia’s body happened; but, it also is a part I have a problem with, in that to me, the concept of “Soul Magnets is very fuzzy. The science behind much of the strange stuff that Fringe is about is, it’s true, not usually gone into any great detail about; but, to me, this seemed even more vague a concept than usual. Am I blowing this out of proportion? What do you think? Leave any comments below, please!

2.) Suicide Is Painless, you Go Through So Many Changes

I apologize for this highlight’s title, if you have had any friends/relatives who have tried to commit suicide, or if you have tried to do so, in the past. But, suicide is one of the other themes of “Stowaway’s” plot. Dana at first appears to the Fringe Team to be a Soul Vampire, in that she seems to survive what might ordinarily kill average people (like a fall off the top of a building into the roof of a parked car) and to walk away from it with minimal injuries. When we see, close to the beginning of the episode, a man Dana’s talking to jump off the top of a building (and her trying to save his life, holding on to his hand as he dangles over the side of the building), but then see Dana crashing into the cab instead, that is a freaky highlight of this episode for me–especially, when she gets up from it, and walks away with a bloodied mouth.

3.) The man, before he jumps, asks Dana, “What’s your reason for sticking around? Have you found your purpose?” This is a great quote, in that it is what Dana eventually discovers about herself–that there is a purpose to her having lived as long as she has:  in order to save the lives of people on a train where a bomb has been stashed in a duffel bag.

4.) One aspect I really love about Fringe is the sense of humor the writers have, and the pop and musical references sprinkled throughout the episodes. When Olivia speaks in Bell’s voice and says things like, “A human brain would be ideal, but not a prerequisite,” for Bell’s eventual transfer from Olivia’s body, I can easily picture Leonard Nimoy saying the same sort of thing, if he were still on the show in person. Great quote, one of several in this episode I found memorable!

5.) Great Minds Think Alike

Yet another aspect of “Stowaway,” I liked is when Olivia, speaking in Bell’s voice, says something at the same time that Walter does. It shows that great (or brilliant but twisted) minds think alike, at least sometimes.

6.) Agent Lincoln Lee joins the Fringe Team–Woo-Hoo!

What more can be said? Having Lee in this episode was a touch of genius for whichever writer(s) thought of doing so! It’s apparently the first time he’s had contact with the Fringe Team (unless he’s a Shape-Shifter who is hiding himself in plain sight, that is). I liked the following exchange between him and Olivia a lot, wherein he’s referencing a past case he worked on, involving two sets of prints on a windowsill:

Lee: “Second set? Those fingerprints were identified as those of Dana Gray.”

Olivia: “Stranger things have happened.”

Lee: “No, they haven’t.”

7.) Da Bomb, Bomb Jiggedy

Yeah, boy! This is the part of the review I get all gangsta! Oh, pardon me–for a moment there, I got possessed by the soul of Snoop Dogg!

Anyway, this (somewhat) awkwardly introduces another of the episode’s highlights for me–that is, Dana’s discovery that Brian, a man who is about to commit suicide, has stashed a duffel bag in a train filled with twenty pounds of explosives. He then puts a gun he’s had pointed in her direction under his chin, and pulls the trigger. It’s up to her to try to locate the bomb. But is she doing it to take as many people with her as she can, in the hopes that by doing so, this might somehow reunite her with her loved ones in Heaven? Or, is she doing it to use the bomb to both kill herself (ironically committing suicide), and also to save the lives of everyone aboard the train?

8.) A Minor Glitch In The Plans…

There are several other highlights and quotes I could mention; among them one I especially liked is the one scene where Olivia momentarily regains control over her body, and speaks a few words (drat–I didn’t write them down, so I can’t recount them here). It was a pretty cool scene, close to the end of the episode. Then, she speaks again in Bell’s voice: “Oh, no. I think I may have been wrong. This may be more complicated than I thought.” This scene made me wonder if this was a good thing, that Olivia is fighting the possession and will take over control of her body once again; or, is it a very bad thing, in that Bell might have screwed up and acted without taking everything into account that he should have, and that perhaps this will make it more difficult for him to eventually leave Olivia’s body? Only time will tell….

9.) The glyphs for this episode spell out “ERODE.” I believe this likely refers to the “spatial decay,” that Olivia (using Bell’s voice) refers to when talking to Walter, a sort of erosion that’s happening, causing the rifts, vortexes, and Fringe occurrences in both universes. If you have any further ideas on this, please let me know!

10.) Milk Does A Body Good

Perhaps my favorite interchange in this episode is that between Olivia/Bell and Walter, with the cow, Gene, in Walter’s lab. They are discussing the possibility of using Gene as a vessel for William to transfer to. The Supertramp song (one of my faves!) plays–”Give A Little Bit.” Walter is inhaling what appears to be a joint, deeply. They think it could possibly work, but Walter says: “Still, I’d have to milk you!” Olivia/Bell’s response? “Well, we could assign Astrid!”

Did you love, hate, like, or dislike “Stowaway”? What ramifications, if any, do you think this episode might have for the season finale? As always, I love reading your input, your opinions and thoughts about Fringe, so please leave any comments you might have about this episode, or Fringe in general, below!