rose_griffes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rose_griffes) wrote2012-03-24 10:33 am
rose_griffes) wrote2012-03-24 10:33 am
Entry tags:
Fringe 4.15 and Missing 1.02
FRIIIIIIIINGE! Fringe is back. 4.15 reveals the unsurprising detail that Walter likes Scooby Doo. Heh. Olivia continues to lose her memories of this timeline in favor of the timeline where Peter worked with her, Walter obtains *magic* video-enhancing equipment and discovers that an Observer messed with Peter's eye and... bleh, I have such a squicky reaction to close-ups of eyes when there's not just, y'know, a pretty eye to look at. (Any equipment near that eye, for example. I actually passed out at an ophthalmologist's office once. Yet another fun story in the "Places where Rose has passed out" roster. Needles and blood and such--good thing I never really wanted to be a doctor, eh?)
Oh, and there's a case of the week, which is also icky and gross, because this is Fringe.
For all that I would rather have Olivia as the one we knew from seasons one and two and bits of three, I'm torn by the choice she makes--mostly because of how she expresses it. That the other version of her is better. And, well, that word better is just tricky for me right now. Especially since we saw original-timeline Olivia talk about how red-verse Olivia was better than her and THAT IS SO NOT THE CASE. *sigh*
On the other hand, we finally got the Observer to clarify information for Peter. I'm all torn. But at the same time, this is Fringe. It's not going to be this simple.
Lincoln. *sadface* NINA GETS A SADFACE TOO, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO THINK! (I don't trust you, Nina. But you still get a *sadface*.)
Oooookay, clearly I ran out of coherent thoughts a few paragraphs ago, so I think I'll stop and mull over stuff some more. Chances are good that my opinions--which are currently "Kissing, yay?" and "Oh, Olivia(s)" and "Ack, I don't trust you, Fringe, you're gonna do something terrible next"--will settle onto something more certain over time.
The pilot episode for Missing isn't on the ABC website anymore, but it's available on hulu.com. I was going to rewatch it before watching episode two, but that didn't happen--not yet, anyway. I got impatient to find out what happens in episode two.
Episode two is titled "The Hard Drive." Hee. See, 'cause Hard Drive is actually a person, so it's kinda funny and... anyway.
Some quick general observations:
- I like the music for this show. More than I like the music for my other unrealistic badass ex-CIA agent show.
- Lots of actors playing Americans who are not. The man playing Dax Miller is from New Zealand and of Maori descent. The ruthless American woman on the phone with him is an English actress. Black fingernail agent is Irish.
- Still plenty of ridiculous moments and plotholes. Possibly even more than a typical episode of Person of Interest. I KNOW, how is that even possible?! I'm not sure the show can sustain itself if this continues, but at this point I'm enjoying it tremendously in spite of that.
- So why do I like it so much? SPIES! Especially female spies! Angsty lady spies! They even talk to each other!
- Plus I'm still super-impressed with Judd's French accent.
- And as well-demonstrated with Person of Interest, I don't mind plotholes if there are angsty former spies being all sad and pretty and beating people up.
Here we go:Badass Ashley Judd Becca Winstone isn't dead in the water. She crawls out of the Seine and makes her way to someone she knew before, a woman named Sylvie who ostensibly works in a restaurant. Sylvie gives her help: she gets someone to treat the graze from the bullet, and she hands her a gun. She also tells Becca to stay away from Antoine Lussier. So of course Becca goes and turns herself in to Monsieur Lussier. Winstone likes the direct approach, heh. (Aaah, that scene where Winstone turns herself in to the two cute cops! *dies*)
The confusion about Hard Drive is pretty deliberate in the wording of Becca's conversation with Antoine. Both say the Hard Drive. I'll handwave it as deliberate de-humanizing. After all, the man is indeed an asset. Lussier bargains: find Michael Winstone in exchange for Hard Drive. Becca agrees and is released.
Giancarlo finds Becca and wants to take her out of France for her safety. She dismisses his help again, but says that she'll call if he can help.
Meanwhile Dax Miller, head of the CIA in France, is scrambling to catch up. Clearly this character is going to be a Big Deal--which is okay, because so far his odd face and interesting charisma is working for me. Black fingernail polish agent is trying to help. IMDB says her character's name is Violet Heath.
Winstone goes to Hard Drive; he's brushing a horse, which is code for "He's a sweet guy." Hard Drive isn't an idiot, but he gets into the car with Becca anyway.
Miller's team gives the exposition chat: Hard Drive used to work for Lussier, Becca turned him, she tried to bring Lussier down but the situation got messy and she received the blame for it. Lussier must be Teflon man to still be in power at this point, although I've heard it said that the French care more about intelligence than morality when it comes to leadership. (Because it's easier to fix corruption than stupidity.)
Hard Drive gets Winstone to tell us a memory about her son: Michael's first word was banana. I've been wondering about how two CIA agents managed to raise a young son while still working; it's an odd dichotomy, the detachment and coldness required by the job versus the intimacy and warmth of good parenting.
Hard Drive talks about his own memories--that they're always there, all of them, whether good or bad. It gets to Becca; she tries to renegotiate but Lussier has more leverage now: a video of Michael with a newspaper held in front of him. The tactic works and Becca continues driving to the rendez-vous.
Antoine tries using a fake Michael with a hood over his head; it almost works, but then Becca recognizes the ploy and everyone shoots at everyone and Becca and Hard Drive speed away.
Giancarlo meets Winstone at the horse farm; he's going to get Hard Drive's family to safety with Interpol. Hard Drive, Giancarlo and Becca brainstorm about information traded for the video of Michael; Becca decides to break into French intelligence to find out if there's a record on Lussier's computer. Hard Drive tells her he's going to help out; he has a perfect knowledge of the building. Sneaky break-ins, yay!
Miller meets with Lussier; Dax isn't subtle about his disdain for Antoine, but under orders from the woman on the other end of the phone line, he offers a reluctant "Let's work together" deal.
Becca and Hard Drive start the process to get to Lussier's computer: steal an ID (Becca), set off a fire alarm (Hard Drive), climb like a monkey to the higher levels (Becca). They manage to get inside the offices, although Becca has to knock out a couple of security agents inside the office. I had no idea how useful a computer keyboard could be in an attack. Cool!
Miller's team figures out the location of Hard Drive's farm, but they find it empty of people.
Hard Drive finds the information on Lussier's computer: a flight with medical clearance is leaving in twenty minutes. No security check for this type of flight. Becca leaves and calls Miller to ask if he can stop the flight; then she steals a motorcycle. Hard Drive stays a bit longer--just long enough to leak a bunch of information about Lussier's corruption to a Wikileaks-wannabe site.
Hard Drive is reunited with his family, Lussier disappears before he can be arrested, and then we have the drama of Becca making it to the airport to see her son dragged off in the airplane.
Which scenic European country shall we visit next?
Oh, and there's a case of the week, which is also icky and gross, because this is Fringe.
For all that I would rather have Olivia as the one we knew from seasons one and two and bits of three, I'm torn by the choice she makes--mostly because of how she expresses it. That the other version of her is better. And, well, that word better is just tricky for me right now. Especially since we saw original-timeline Olivia talk about how red-verse Olivia was better than her and THAT IS SO NOT THE CASE. *sigh*
On the other hand, we finally got the Observer to clarify information for Peter. I'm all torn. But at the same time, this is Fringe. It's not going to be this simple.
Lincoln. *sadface* NINA GETS A SADFACE TOO, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO THINK! (I don't trust you, Nina. But you still get a *sadface*.)
Oooookay, clearly I ran out of coherent thoughts a few paragraphs ago, so I think I'll stop and mull over stuff some more. Chances are good that my opinions--which are currently "Kissing, yay?" and "Oh, Olivia(s)" and "Ack, I don't trust you, Fringe, you're gonna do something terrible next"--will settle onto something more certain over time.
The pilot episode for Missing isn't on the ABC website anymore, but it's available on hulu.com. I was going to rewatch it before watching episode two, but that didn't happen--not yet, anyway. I got impatient to find out what happens in episode two.
Episode two is titled "The Hard Drive." Hee. See, 'cause Hard Drive is actually a person, so it's kinda funny and... anyway.
Some quick general observations:
- I like the music for this show. More than I like the music for my other unrealistic badass ex-CIA agent show.
- Lots of actors playing Americans who are not. The man playing Dax Miller is from New Zealand and of Maori descent. The ruthless American woman on the phone with him is an English actress. Black fingernail agent is Irish.
- Still plenty of ridiculous moments and plotholes. Possibly even more than a typical episode of Person of Interest. I KNOW, how is that even possible?! I'm not sure the show can sustain itself if this continues, but at this point I'm enjoying it tremendously in spite of that.
- So why do I like it so much? SPIES! Especially female spies! Angsty lady spies! They even talk to each other!
- Plus I'm still super-impressed with Judd's French accent.
- And as well-demonstrated with Person of Interest, I don't mind plotholes if there are angsty former spies being all sad and pretty and beating people up.
Here we go:
The confusion about Hard Drive is pretty deliberate in the wording of Becca's conversation with Antoine. Both say the Hard Drive. I'll handwave it as deliberate de-humanizing. After all, the man is indeed an asset. Lussier bargains: find Michael Winstone in exchange for Hard Drive. Becca agrees and is released.
Giancarlo finds Becca and wants to take her out of France for her safety. She dismisses his help again, but says that she'll call if he can help.
Meanwhile Dax Miller, head of the CIA in France, is scrambling to catch up. Clearly this character is going to be a Big Deal--which is okay, because so far his odd face and interesting charisma is working for me. Black fingernail polish agent is trying to help. IMDB says her character's name is Violet Heath.
Winstone goes to Hard Drive; he's brushing a horse, which is code for "He's a sweet guy." Hard Drive isn't an idiot, but he gets into the car with Becca anyway.
Miller's team gives the exposition chat: Hard Drive used to work for Lussier, Becca turned him, she tried to bring Lussier down but the situation got messy and she received the blame for it. Lussier must be Teflon man to still be in power at this point, although I've heard it said that the French care more about intelligence than morality when it comes to leadership. (Because it's easier to fix corruption than stupidity.)
Hard Drive gets Winstone to tell us a memory about her son: Michael's first word was banana. I've been wondering about how two CIA agents managed to raise a young son while still working; it's an odd dichotomy, the detachment and coldness required by the job versus the intimacy and warmth of good parenting.
Hard Drive talks about his own memories--that they're always there, all of them, whether good or bad. It gets to Becca; she tries to renegotiate but Lussier has more leverage now: a video of Michael with a newspaper held in front of him. The tactic works and Becca continues driving to the rendez-vous.
Antoine tries using a fake Michael with a hood over his head; it almost works, but then Becca recognizes the ploy and everyone shoots at everyone and Becca and Hard Drive speed away.
Giancarlo meets Winstone at the horse farm; he's going to get Hard Drive's family to safety with Interpol. Hard Drive, Giancarlo and Becca brainstorm about information traded for the video of Michael; Becca decides to break into French intelligence to find out if there's a record on Lussier's computer. Hard Drive tells her he's going to help out; he has a perfect knowledge of the building. Sneaky break-ins, yay!
Miller meets with Lussier; Dax isn't subtle about his disdain for Antoine, but under orders from the woman on the other end of the phone line, he offers a reluctant "Let's work together" deal.
Becca and Hard Drive start the process to get to Lussier's computer: steal an ID (Becca), set off a fire alarm (Hard Drive), climb like a monkey to the higher levels (Becca). They manage to get inside the offices, although Becca has to knock out a couple of security agents inside the office. I had no idea how useful a computer keyboard could be in an attack. Cool!
Miller's team figures out the location of Hard Drive's farm, but they find it empty of people.
Hard Drive finds the information on Lussier's computer: a flight with medical clearance is leaving in twenty minutes. No security check for this type of flight. Becca leaves and calls Miller to ask if he can stop the flight; then she steals a motorcycle. Hard Drive stays a bit longer--just long enough to leak a bunch of information about Lussier's corruption to a Wikileaks-wannabe site.
Hard Drive is reunited with his family, Lussier disappears before he can be arrested, and then we have the drama of Becca making it to the airport to see her son dragged off in the airplane.
Which scenic European country shall we visit next?