Fringe Promo Photos 116: Unleashed

Here are the promotional photos from Fringe episode 116 Unleashed.
(Hover over each of the photos for a full description.)

Fringe Episode Review: Unleashed

Between Inner Child and Unleashed, the writers have really figured out how to make a standalone ep work. Last week's was moody and subtle. This week: full-throttled, terror-filled fun. Fringe has introduced us to supersized virus cells, porcupine men, and heart-choking parasites, but Unleashed was our first real creature-feature. I can't wait to see the accompanying concept art! And in addition to some tangible horror and suspense, there was a wellspring of great character moments as well.

"Monsters aren't real."

Unless you live in Boston, the new nexus of All Things Weird. Last week's griffin tattoo hinted at Unleashed's villain: a real-life manticore. Taking a closer look at the image above, you can really see a cornucopia of species. The bat-like head, the reptilian scales, the lionesque paws, the octopus tail with its rattlesnake terminus.

Kudos to director Brad Anderson for keeping the "Walticore" hidden until the episode's climax, a la Cloverfield. There were a few times earlier where the effects didn't quite create a tangible presence for me, not even a hidden one (in the woods, etc.), and I wanted a more distinctive sound effect, but the final reveal blew me away. Best visual effects I've ever seen on television.

"Are you trying to tell me I'm pregnant?"

I was ecstatic to see Charlie's character further developed in this episode. The scenes between Kirk Acevedo and his real-life wife, Kiersten Warren, were touching and authentic, thanks to some excellent performances and brilliant casting. Charlie's more than just a great voice - Kirk's a luminous actor, and I'm glad the writers gave him a real chance to shine. Now, let's do the same for Peter, Broyles, and Astrid!

"You were brave today."

Peter and Walter's relationship also took center stage tonight, taking one step back as they argued over Walter's culpability, and then two steps forward when Peter recognizes Walter's re-emerging humanity. Walter's selfless heroism in the sewer, combined with Peter's unchecked fear for his father, was a wonderfully moving moment. Even more incredible that the writers managed to squeeze it into such a fun, outlandish storyline about a genetically-engineered monster.

What did you think? Unleashed is now my favorite "standalone" episode of Season 1.

Stray Thoughts

• Best Line of the Night: "I need to tinkle. Could either of you direct me to the facilities?" (Could be my favorite of the season).
• Runner-up: "Apparently you're looking for a lion-snake named Harriet."
• 2nd Runner-up: "I haven't felt any rhinos lately."
• While Charlie was infected, I kept thinking, all the man needs is a BOX of TISSUES.
• Is the cadaver-splitting larvae hatching the grossest Fringe moment yet? I put it right up there with Bound's slug vomiting and the Pilot's Captain Yawny-Face.
• Giacchino's score was particularly riveting tonight.
• John Noble was at his most delectable, too. Give the man an Emmy!
• Anyone think there's more to Walter's "thinking out loud" in this ep? Like, maybe he's speaking with someone through the Ghost Network? Belly himself?
• According to J.R. Orci, one of Unleashed's writers, the Monster is named Rufus II.

Adam Morgan is a writer for the page and screen in Chicago, and blogs daily at Mount Helicon.

Fringe Episode 116: What You Missed Because of American Idol

If you Tivo'd Fringe tonight, you might have found that the last three minutes or so were cut off due the American Idol running long (again!). If you didn't learn your lesson from last week and that happened to you, don't worry - FringeTelevision has got your back! Here are the final scenes from Fringe episode "Unleashed".

Fringe Episode 116: Unleashed

As animal rights activists ransack a laboratory, they get more than they bargained for when one of the caged "animals" unleashes a ferocious appetite. Leaving grotesquely mutilated dead bodies in its wake, the scientific engineered beast...
Leonard Nimoy to play William Bell = ?

LIVE Fringe Chat Tonight for Unleashed

Tonight we will be hosting another LIVE Fringe chat from 9:00 PM to 12:00 PM ET, if you want to talk with other Fringe fans during or after the show. We'll try to get there a little early if anyone has questions they want answered.

To join the chat, visit the Fringe chat room, enter your name or a nickname, and join the fun! (please don't use the default mib_xxxxx nickname!)

I will be there (as FringeTelevision) along with Adam Morgan. Last week Fringe executive producer J.R. Orci stopped by... who knows who else might join us tonight!

Fringe Scenemaker 115: Inner Child

Scenemaker is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Fringe. This episode shows the making of the cemetery fight scene, from the Fringe episode Inner Child.

You can watch previous episode's scenemaker videos here.

Fringe Episode Preview: Unleashed

As last week's previews indicated, tonight's Fringe is a classic monster freak-fest, in the vein of Jaws, Alien, or The Relic. You're in for a real treat. Here are a few teases to get you on the edge of your seat (as if you need any help from me):

• Get ready for the creepiest cold open to date.
• Walter and Peter's budding relationship will face a new obstacle.
• Olivia's got an admirer.
• One character is pregnant. But it's not what you think.
  

Tune in tonight at 9/8c on Fox for episode 1.16 Unleashed, and stop by the chatroom if you can! Dennis and I will be there tonight, hopefully for the entire U.S. runtime from coast to coast. Last week's chat was a huge success, and writer/producer JR Orci even stopped by to chat.

Fringe To Canada, No Wrap Party For Crew?

It turns out Warner Bros wasn't bluffing when they announced that Fringe would be moving to Canada. While the mantra until now has been "It ain't over till it's over," unfortunately, it's over. The temporarily renewed NY tax credits were too little, too late for Fringe. Fringe is set to "wrap" (i.e. finish shooting) in the next week or so, and then they'll pack up the sets and head north.

The biggest loss will be the amazing Fringe crew, which can't or won't be allowed to make the move to Canada. From all accounts, the Fringe crew has been "one of a kind from top to bottom".

Now to literally add insult to injury, there is word that there will be no wrap party or thank you gifts for the soon-to-be unemployed crew members.

Normally when a show finishes shooting a season, it thanks everyone for their year of service by throwing a party and giving out nice gifts. However, some studio whistle blowers have come forward to reveal that there are no plans to make good on this time-honored tradition. One source said:

It's unheard of that these people don't get a wrap gift or wrap party after a year [of working on the show]... I feel for those guys and gals.

Not only will most of the crew not have a job on the show next season, they wont even be properly thanked for their hard work.

FringeTelevision would like to thank everyone whose work goes in to creating this incredible show. Please leave a comment here to show the crew how much the fans have appreciated all their hard work!

The Child's Transmission: Reversed

In this week's ep, Inner Child, Walter straps his neuro-transmitter onto the Child, and picks up an odd, unintelligable voice. Lots of fans are speculating that the Child thinks/speaks backwards, since he writes upside-down...

I've recorded the transmission and reversed the audio, which you can find in the Fringe Easter Eggs section.

Discover Magazine has an interesting look at the real technology behind Walter's device.

Discover's premise - that we're years away from this kind of technology - is a bit off and kind of misses the point. Scientists have already discovered how to read images from your thoughts. Besides, the concept of Fringe is that Walter Bishop and Massive Dynamics are far ahead of the current science curve.

FringeTelevision Exclusive: Kirk Acevedo Interview

Kirk Acevedo was kind enough to take cover behind that blood-spattered police vehicle and talk with me for about ten minutes this morning. I asked as many of your questions as I could, and Kirk gave some hilarious answers. He mocks his Charlie Francis voice, does a Lance Reddick impression, and whets your appetite for the last five episodes of season one.

Oh, and the episode he's shooting right now? It isn't one of those...



Click here to read the full transcript

Adam Morgan: Who would win in a fight, you or Josh Jackson?

Kirk Acevedo: I don't even need to answer that. I mean, I think you guys can figure that one out on your own...

Adam Morgan: What's been your favorite scene to shoot so far?

Kirk Acevedo: I would say...the phone conversation with [our audio drops out here...can anyone decipher his answer?]

Adam Morgan: What about your favorite episode?

Kirk Acevedo: I'd have to say the Pilot.

Adam Morgan: What's it been like shooting in your hometown up in New York?

Kirk Acevedo: It's been cool. It's kind of bittersweet, because I live in Los Angeles now and I fly back and forth, so I kind of miss my family.

Adam Morgan: And how do you feel about the move to Vancouver next season?

Kirk Acevedo: I'll be closer to home. I go every weekend to see my family, my baby girl. The bad part about it is, a bunch of people are going to lose their jobs. We had a fantastic crew. Fantastic. The best crew that you can get. And I just hope that the Vancouver crew is on par.

Adam Morgan: What was it like working with your real-life wife in next week's episode, Unleashed?

Kirk Acevedo: It's cool. When I found out Charlie was going to have a wife, I suggested my actual wife Kiersten [Warren]. It's hard to create chemistry with someone you don't know, in a day. And also my wife's a real actress, it wasn't just like "Hey, how 'bout my WIFE?!"

Adam Morgan: How many different ways do people mispronounce your last name? Do you ever get "Avocado"?

Kirk Acevedo: Kirk Avacado, sure! Let's see. Ackaveedo, Ace DeVito, there's just so many.

Adam Morgan: Any funny moments or anecdotes from the set?

Kirk Acevedo: We all get along, we all crack jokes. Like Lance [Reddick] is so funny, because he'll come up to me and say "Dude, you always make me laugh." Because Lance is so serious. But he's always cracking up. Next episode, he goes up to Anna: "You always make me laugh, blah blah blah." And then you realize he's saying it to John [Noble]. And then you realize, it's just Lance. Lance has the giggles, and can't keep a straight face.

Adam Morgan: John Noble mentioned that everyone likes to do a take on Charlie's voice. Is that true?

Kirk Acevedo: Well, you know, I put on the "Charlie voice," because there's tons of exposition, and you somehow have to do the same stuff every week, right? So I'm a fast talker, and my register's a bit higher than Charlie's, as you can imagine. So when I gotta do the Charlie thing...[switches to Charlie voice] you just gotta drop it down...right about here...[back to Kirk]. You hear that? That's not the way I sound, at all. I can't do it like Kirk would do it, because it wouldn't come out as authoritative, someone you'd look up to, who you'd listen to, who's working in the best interests of your country, if I did it like me.

So I do the Charlie voice, and people...you know...like there was a line in an interrogation once, where I ask for a box of tissues. But the way I do it with Charlie is..."Can I get a box of TISSUES?" Like the Terminator, you know?

Adam Morgan: What can we expect from these last five episodes of the season?

Kirk Acevedo: Well the whole mythology of the show, we lifted up the folds more. We learn more about William Bell, which is really cool, in the last episode, who's played by Leonard Nimoy. Speaking of beautiful voices. I think he's gonna be perfect. He's a perfect foil for John Noble's character. You'll learn more about the impending war, what is it, stuff like that. We're currently shooting a standalone episode for season two...

Adam Morgan: I heard about that, before you move out of New York. Can you tell me anything about it?

Kirk Acevedo: What I'll say is it has a little bit of Ghost Whisperer in it...if you know what the ghost whisperer genre is.

Adam Morgan: Well I'm glad you don't die next week. After seeing the previews, I was a little scared...

Kirk Acevedo: No, no, no...I don't die.

John Noble Teases Upcoming Eps

John Noble recently spoke with TVGuide about what we can expect from Fringe's last episodes of the season. No explicit spoilers, but he does offer a few tasty hints.

Fringe In A Nutshell

Are you a newcomer to Fringe? Wanna get caught up without waiting for the DVD or combing through dozens of wiki pages?

Here's a Fringe primer, just for you:

The Premise

All over the world, a series of inexplicable phenomena (coined "The Pattern") has aroused the attention of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Special Agent Philip Broyles (Lance Reddick) heads up a multi-agency team called the Fringe Division to investigate the Pattern. They believe science and technology have advanced to unknown, unregulatable levels that put society at risk.

The Players

Agent Olivia Dunham - a headstrong young FBI agent who Broyles personally recruits to help him solve the mystery of the pattern. Olivia follows her instincts and wears her emotions on her sleeve. At the age of three, she unwittingly participated in a drug trial on a military base in Jacksonville, where her father was stationed. The experimental drug, Cortexiphan, was intended to prevent the limitation of the mind's potential, meaning Olivia may have some unnatural mental capabilities. (Played by Anna Torv).

Dr. Walter Bishop - an impatient, brilliant scientist (with a knack for hilarious non-sequitors) whose questionable experimental ethics landed him in a mental institution in 1991. Olivia Dunham managed to get him released from St. Claire's Hospital to help the Fringe Division make sense of the Pattern, as most of the phenomena are scientific mysteries with curious ties to Walter's former work in the basements of Harvard University. (Played by John Noble).

Peter Bishop - an intelligent black-market entrepreneur whose mysterious past constantly threatens to catch up with him, Walter's son often acts as a translator between his unintelligable father and the rest of the Fringe Division. Given Walter's institutionalization, his relationship with Peter is an estranged one, though they are slowly building a rapport. (Played by Joshua Jackson).

William Bell - Walter's former lab parter at Harvard, who went on to become the fabulously wealthy founder of Massive Dynamic, a multi-billion-dollar tech corporation involved in research and development for a variety of fields, such as pharmaceuticals, robotics, and defense. Bell has yet to make an appearance on the show, but his influence is everywhere. Many Pattern events have ties to his (and Walter's) technology.

Nina Sharp - Massive Dynamic's Executive Director, a silver-tongued professional who also shows interest in Olivia Dunham's capabilities, and acts as her liason at the corporation when investigations point in its direction. Nina lost her arm to cancer in the past, but it was replaced by a fully-articulated robotic limb designed and developed by William Bell himself. She also has an unknown history with Walter Bishop, and an unqualified relationship with Fringe Division head Philip Broyles, with whom she often shares clandestine information. (Played by Blair Brown).

Charlie Francis - Olivia Dunham's straight-talking ally in the FBI, Charlie is second-in-command behind Broyles. He and Olivia have a long professional history, and they trust each other implicitly. (Played by Kirk Acevedo).

Astrid Farnsworth - A junior agent assigned to assist Walter Bishop in his revamped Harvard laboratory, Astrid's knowledge of cryptology, linguistics, and technology have proven vital to the Fringe Division's success. (Played by Jasika Nicole).

Philip Broyles - A high-ranking DHS agent in charge of the Fringe Division, Broyles is Olivia Dunham's immediate superior, who often intercedes on her behalf against beurocratic rivals like Sanford Harris. Broyles also has a mysterious, collaborative relationship with Nina Sharp. (Played by Lance Reddick).




John Scott - Olivia Dunham's deceased former partner, both professionally and romantically, John was killed on the run from authorities when he was exposed as a double-agent. But thanks to Walter's sensory deprivation tank, parts of John's consciousness crossed over into Olivia's mind, revealing his benevolent, undercover mission. (Played by Mark Valley).



The Story So Far

Each week, the Fringe Division deals with a new phenomenon: creatures, viruses, inexplicable objects and incidents. And at every single Pattern event, a mysterious man can be found watching in the background. He's known simply as the Observer.

In episode four, The Arrival, we learned that the Observer once saved Walter and Peter Bishop from drowning in an icy lake, ostensibly breaking his just-here-to-watch rules. The Observer also demonstrated the ability to hear the thoughts and feelings of people nearby.

In episode ten, Safe, FBI double-agent Mitchell Loeb uses a teleportation device invented by Walter Bishop to transport the mysterious Mr. Jones out of a high-security German prison. Mr. Jones is a powerful biotech terrorist with ties to something called ZFT.

In episode fourteen, Ability, we learn that ZFT is the German acronym for an obscure manuscript called Destruction by Advancement of Technology, an eschatological polemic that warns against the unchecked advancement of technology. According to the anonymous author, it will open doors to a parallel universe similar to our own, whose history is slightly more advanced. That the way to travel between these universes has been discovered, and that it will lead to the destruction of one. Us, or them.

Mr. Jones forces Olivia Dunham to take a test (one of ten), to prove herself capable of the abilities necessary to participate in this "war" between universes...

Does she succeed? Where does the Observer fit into this cosmology? What do Massive Dynamic and Walter Bishop's research have to do with the Pattern?

Tune into Fringe for the next five Tuesday nights at 9/8c on FOX.

Also, Hulu.com and Fox.com are able to stream the last eleven episodes for free.