Fringe: "Snakehead" 12/3/09 - Grading & Discussion

[auntiehill]

Forbin wrote:

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The ep was worthwhile just for the Astrid/Walter interaction. Nice to see Astrid having more to do. Nice to see Walter actually thinks of her as more than a background lab assitant. Nice to see Walter realize his actions have consequences, etc. Great performances from the both of them.

I agree. The scenes between these two were wonderful and sweet--a real breath of fresh air. But the rest of the episode was average at best. I wish they would focus more on the characters and less on the recycled X-Files plot-of-the-week.

[Samuel Walters]

^ That's exactly it. The show does its best work when it focuses on the characters. Otherwise the stories (outside of the "mythology arc") are downright boring.

[Gertch]

Samuel Walters wrote:

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Very good scene between Astrid and Walter at the market.

Yes and again at the end. Walter is awesome.

Loved the episode for the interpersonal relationships but man the snake stuff was grotesquely great. When Walter pulled the one out of that dead actor's mouth I cringed.

[Capn Flukie]

The comments here make me think of that South Park episode, "Simpsons did it!"

I love Walter and Asterisks, and am warming up to Peter more.

I think Walter and the Asian lady had a little 'fun', why else would he be wearing a robe?

[propita]

Did I miss the Observer? Was he (one of them) in there? I'd assume the market scene, but anyone got a pic?

[MichaelDornFan]

I can sure tell they're filming in Vancouver now. :P

[dragunzng]

I thought this was easily one of the shows best episodes. I'm surprised folks find fault with the snakes story, because I don't think it was the centerpiece of the episode and instead was just used as a backdrop for the Astrid/Walter/Peter story, which was excellent.

EDIT: Firehawk, I was genuinely curious how well Peter handled the Cantonese as he seemed to fare better than say... the Firefly crew. Not being a speaker myself I had no idea, so it's cool to get your take on how he fared.

[firehawk12]

Hah, I can't really speak for the Firefly crew because they were trying to speak Mandarin... but I've heard that it was horrible.

Peter's Cantonese on the other hand was passable, all things considered - which is a complement because Cantonese is much harder to mimic than Mandarin.

Oh, fun fact: "Snakehead" is what Cantonese people call the Chinese Triad/Mafia/whatever. I don't know if they did that consciously or by accident though, but I guess it's a nice coincidence.

[dragunzng]

Apologies for my ignorance on the whole Cantonese/Mandarin thing, interesting little tidbit about the title "Snakehead" though.

[Mr Light]

It's episodes like these that make me want to stop watching every episode and just go with the storyarc episodes. Aside from the bits with Walter there was little of interest here. Sure the squiddies were gross but that was only interesting for the first time you saw 'em.

[Forbin]

See, like with X-Files, I prefer the standalone eps to the arc eps. It's just that the arc in Fringe hasn't yet gotten as frustrating and dull as the alien arc in X-Files.

[startrekwatcher]

I don't mind standalones but they have to be interesting. The problem with Fringe's standalones is the stories are predictable unimaginative rehashes of better done TXF episodes. There is nothing clever about them with scarce twists or surprises. Rarely is there a intriguing spin on an old chestnut. They are straightforward formulaic middling fares where the best you can say about them is they weren't awful just decidedly average.

The XF standalones were enjoyable because the characters were more interesting than Olivia et al and the show had some fresh ideas executed in interesting ways so you didn't mind not getting a mythology episode except during sweeps. Their standalones held your attention to the point that you weren't disappointed when we didn't get a steady week-in and week-out serving of mythology.

Fringe, on the otherhand, only sets itself apart and exhibits any sort of freshness when they are doing their mythology episodes hence the continued urging by the audience for a more heavily serialized series like LOST where all the threads and episodes focus on the mythology. But I don't see that happening and as a result the show will continue to be a mixed bag offering up stale one-offs and the occasional involving Mythology story.

[firehawk12]

dragunzng wrote:

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Apologies for my ignorance on the whole Cantonese/Mandarin thing, interesting little tidbit about the title "Snakehead" though.

No worries. Probably the only reason Cantonese is used on American TV these days is because the first wave of immigrants were from southern China/HK - which is where the acting pool is drawn from.

It's a strange anachronism - one that I prefer as a Cantonese speaker - but oh well.