I have been remiss in my coverage of sci-fi television lately. This is a shame because all the shows that I watch regularly are really good right now. I suppose the draw of the springtime in Atlanta is calling me outdoors, which is a welcome change. My DVR has been working overtime and I have been stacking episodes. I assume that if you’re reading this, you’ve already watched the show. If you have not, I have thoughtfully provided a cut. Click ahead if you are interested.
Fringe’s last two episodes were delightful and both featured items of interest to Pagans. In Os, which aired on March 11th, Walter Bishop referred to the myth of Daedalus more than once. At the beginning of the episode a man who defies gravity is discovered and the Fringe team is called upon. Walter muses that Daedalus crafted wings so his son Icarus could fly. Little did Walter know at the time that the story would play out much like the myth of Daedalus where guest star Alan Ruck as Dr. Krick secretly devises a miracle cure for his paraplegic son. At the end of the episode, there is a touching scene between Dr. Krick and his son which was an interesting insight into the relationship of the father and son regular characters on the show. Once again, Walter is reminded of Daedalus and Icarus. But, Olivia reminds him, that Icarus died in that story. However, the end of the episode hit me with quite a curve ball when the departed spirit of Leonard Nimoy’s Dr. William Bell was channeled into the body of our own Olivia. I am really glad that Anna Torv can live up to the demands put on her by JJ Abrams and his team. She knocks the Nimoy impression out of the park.
The next Episode, Stowaway, featured more of the Olivia-as-William-Bell story as well as a guest spot by Paula Malcomson from recently cancelled Caprica as well as one of my favorite shows, Deadwood. Also, I have to say I really like the way that Fringe weaves one-off storylines with the main series arc. In a way that X-Files never seemed to do, there isn’t one scene that isn’t carefully planned out to reflect the greater story. The episode resolves around Malcomson’s character who seems to be unable to die. We learn her family died in an accident and she walked away, not because she survived, but because she didn’t stay dead. Since that event, she unsuccessfully tried to “stowaway” with other people’s suicides. But of course, the story also refers to William Bell as he stows away in Olivia and rather than trying to die, he is trying to return from death. We also learn that a seemingly innocuous scene in the Season 1 where Olivia is catapulted into the other universe to meet William Bell for the first time was carefully crafted. In that episode, William Bell offers our Olivia a cup of tea which we later learn contained a pet project Bell and Walter had been working on called Soul Magnets. Bell had selected Olivia to be his vessel and after he died he could be recalled to the soul magnets.
Where the allegory of Os and the story of Icarus was very deliberate, there was a mythological overtone to this story that I am uncertain whether or not the writers planned it. Because Bell was now trapped in the body of Olivia I couldn’t help but think of the story of the blind seer Tiresias. In the Greek story, Tiresias is transformed into a woman by Hera for 7 years. Of course in our story, William Bell chooses this vessel very carefully and I can only hope that he doesn’t inhabit our Olivia for 7 whole years. However, I can’t help but wonder what insights an experience like this would give to William Bell. I am eager to see if they are able to find a suitable vessel for him moving forward.
I am also very much enjoying the Season 3 of the British series Being Human. So much so, in fact, that I cancelled the DVR scheduled recording of the American remake on SyFy. Alas, it seems as though they have renewed it for a second season. It remains a pale imitation of the original. Since British seasons are, in general, much shorter than a typical US run they do pack a lot more into just a few episodes. This season we have already rescued Annie from the Underworld in an Orpheus-like move. Werewolves George and Nina have discovered they are going to be parents of a werepup. And Mitchell, a vampire who gives Angel a real run for being the “broodiest” on TV, has been seeking redemption from his slaughter of passengers on a train car at the end of the last season. No witches yet, though we have had a zombie. However, I was most amused by a completely random reference by a social worker rambling about running into a pack of druids on her way to their Supernatural B&B.
Being Human is nearly over and Fringe won’t be too far behind. But, as I have mentioned the summer will bring Haven back to SyFy and TrueBlood back to HBO. The newest season of Doctor Who will begin airing on BBC America at the end of April as well.
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