[Recap] Fringe – The Box (With Spoilers)

Fringe Season 3 Episode 02: The Box

If last week’s premier was all about Olivia, this week’s episode The Box is all about Bolivia and the significance of a box.

How can a box be significant? Does the box have something important inside? Is it gold? Is it a new car? I would argue that this episode takes us beyond the literal box which is this weeks MacGuffin and riffs on the natural curiosity people have to want to know what’s inside an unknown space. Like Homer Simpson and his mystery box, it’s hard to resist peaking inside when you don’t know what’s in there. And that desire to peak, well, that’s what got Walter into his mess in the first place.

As always, spoilers follow.

So here’s our alluring box. We’re introduced to the box when a duo of thieves and their partner upstairs, digs up a box from the basement of a house, the owners of said house are tied up and guarded by their upstairs partner. After uncovering the box, the thieves can’t resist peaking into the box. What if what’s in the box is super valuable and they can take off with it and make more money than the guy who hired them if offering?

A few nosebleeds and glazed over eyes later, the only person still alive is the upstairs partner, and thus endeth the teaser. You may have noticed however that Bolivia is in that picture up above and her contact in the A-universe, Thomas Jerome Newton, making his first appearance this season after a key role last season.

Turns out Bolivia hired Newton to retrieve the box for her, with all of the thieves dying in said plan. Upstairs thief wasn’t the mastermind, he’s just a scared guy who doesn’t know why everyone’s dead. You see he’s deaf, which goes into how this box works.

Walter works out (while delivering some genius one liners: “Bessie will never be able to digest these Cacao nibs!”) that the box operates by emitting the ultimate punk song. Apparently, when harmonious music is playing, it’s easier to think clearly because your brain wave activity slows down. It’s the reason I just turned off Naked Gun 331/3 and put on Quintette A Vent Op. 43 and it’s the principal behind iTunes’ Study Rock playlist. Just a note to all those kids out there, Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend are good bands to study to. Don’t try to study to Sonic Youth.

So anyhow, Walter theorizes that the box must contain an unharmonious sound, like bad punk, played at a very high decibel, and we get to see this theory in action as Thomas Newton decides to use the box as a Weapon of Mass Destruction. But first…

Dang Bolivia! Don’t you got a serious boyfriend back in B-universe that you love very much? Well apparently, when you murder a deaf guy and then your other self’s love interest comes to your door seeking comfort, drastic measures are called for. Walter, with Astrid’s nudging, tried to explain to Peter why he did what he did. It goes back to the box metaphor. When Walter’s son, not-Peter, died Walter was completely distraught and it was probably the wrong time for him to get a peak into the B-universe. Seeing our-Peter dying just as his son had, and seeing that he could save Peter, Walter acted impulsively, and admits to present day Peter “If I had to do it all over again, I don’t know if I would have the strength to do it differently”

Pete’s not ready to talk about it, so he goes for some comfort, Bolivia needs to cover up a murder she just committed, then get hot, but then coitus interuptus!

Thomas Newton leaves the box with a homeless little person, who of course can’t help but peak,causing a mass event that Fringe division has to handle. The homeless guy took off into the tunnels with the box, it’s all a bit confusing but there’s trains still coming a chance for even more catastrophe. So Bolivia shoots her gun past both Peter’s ears, rendering him temporarily deaf. The show did a really cool thing with the sound, muting it to make the world feel much like Peter was experiencing it. Peter manages to diffuse the box, but can’t hear a train coming, Bolivia has to swoop in and make a dramatic save.

So her motivation was super complicated, she wanted the box to be in Peter’s hands, knowing he couldn’t resist taking it apart, but she had to make him believe it fell into his lap naturally. So far, no one has picked up on Bolivia’s otherness, though Anna Torv does a brilliant job playing her just slightly differently.

There are other small details, Walter owns Massive Dynamic now, but I mean, how could that end badly? Apparently he’s next on the list of people Bolivia is instructed to target. Can’t wait for next week. In summary, interesting episode, above average, but without any game changers.

Grade: B