3.06 – 6955 kHz – Fringe Review

Posted by Samuel Walters

“6955 kHz” is a tremendously entertaining and important installment of Fringe. Sometimes the importance and enjoyment of an episode cannot be measured by plot, pacing, or character. Sometimes the revelations are fun enough or important enough or riveting enough to make the entire episode worthwhile. Such is the case here. The crime, though built around a captivating mystery, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The pacing is uneven. Whole sections of the story are thoroughly ignored. But what is uncovered — literally and figuratively — make this an episode to remember.

Oh, and if you’re a fan of Lost or H.P. Lovecraft, you might find these revelations to your liking.

The central mystery involves something called “Number Stations” which are investigating a strange string of numbers that have been heard since the time of the very first radio — which ought to get the attention of Lost fans. These cryptic numbers have long been investigated, even by Massive Dynamic, but no one has yet cracked their meaning. What catches the attention of Fringe Division is the sudden amnesia of several dozen amateur number investigators. The search will ultimately lead to a world-altering discovery.

After a trip to an antique book dealer, Peter and Olivia learn of a theory that attributes the numbers to The First People — a race of humans who evolved millions of years ago, before even the dinosaurs. This notion of Old Ones, or a race of beings which existed long before our time, was an idea at the very heart of many of H.P. Lovecraft’s writings. And the realization that the numbers are coordinates for ancient, buried technology — a technology with the ability for both creation and destruction — fundamentally alters the scope of Fringe: Instead of dealing with our reality and the alternate reality, we’re now dealing with realities across time and space itself.

Just your average, garden-variety sci-fi, eh?

The discovery of the ancient technology, which is literally a part of the doomsday machine Walternate is trying to reconstruct, also confronts a universal theme: the double-edged nature of technology itself. Progress provides for an incredible ability to create (just look at the cities we’ve built) but it also provides for an incredible ability to destroy (just look at the Gulf of Mexico). This doomsday device, whimsically called The Vacuum, is the ultimate representation of the fundamental challenge of technology.

Furthermore, Peter’s character offers a kind of commentary about the results of using that technology. After Folivia asks him which reality he would choose to save — should he be forced to make such a decision — Peter boldly claims, “I gotta believe there’s another way. There’s always hope.” In other words, Peter represents the importance of Choice. So whether The Vacuum is, ultimately, either an instrument of destruction or creation, depends entirely on the decisions our characters make. As even Astrid says at one point, “It’s … not destiny.”

In terms of how the episode is executed, the results are mixed. On the one hand, Astrid gets a prominent role in figuring out The Numbers — Walter affectionately refers to her as Watson (while calling his son Sherlock Holmes). Nina Sharp gets a fairly prominent role to play in discussing the ideas of hope and curiosity with Walter (while they smoke a joint on campus). Folivia’s conscience continues to develop and grow, to the point where she’s acting to save “innocent lives” by killing off the shapeshifter who was causing the amnesia in the amateur investigators to begin with.

But there are issues, as well.

Why was the shapeshifter leaving behind the transmission boxes? I suppose one could posit that doing so would call in the attention of Fringe Division. But it seemed a fairly awkward way to pull them into the story. Furthermore, a great deal of attention was spent on the amnesia victims, particularly a young mother who couldn’t remember her husband or infant son. But by the end of the episode, her plight is entirely forgotten — explained away by the rather perfunctory comment from Walter that her memories are still locked in her brain. Actually the scene in which Walter explains this to the young mother is particularly well-acted, but it’s the last we hear of the matter.

This dichotomy between the investigation and the discoveries of The First People and the ancient technology is why the episode feels so uneven. People seem to keep glossing over Folivia’s absent memories. And Astrid figuring out a centuries-old puzzle in hours stretches plausibility just a wee bit.

But the implications of the episode are so much fun to consider (for us as viewers, not for the life-and-death circumstances the characters will ultimately face) and so captivating that this is an episode that transcends its flaws. Besides, the final scene in which Olivia, in the alt-verse, realizes she “needs to go home,” as Peter says, is particularly suspenseful.

Overall Grade: A-

“6955 kHz” is an episode that ends up being both entertaining and meaningful, despite its rather obvious shortcomings. Ultimately, the point of this story is to advance the plot and themes of the series, rather than focus on character. And as long as Fringe doesn’t fall into the trap of making every installment about plot, then the series is well-positioned to continue its run of high-quality episodes.

Topics: Mystery, Sci-Fi, TV Reviews
Filed under: Fringe