Fringe (TV Series) Black Blotter (2012) User Reviews

Tripping

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 10 April 2017]

Astrid awakes during the night with a signal from the radio brought from the pocket universe. She tries to decode the signal but Walter is tripping after dropping a black blotter acid and is incapable to help. The group contacts Anil to help to triangulate the signal and locate the source. Peter and Olivia go to the spot and find skeletons including one with the identity of Sam Weiss and conclude that he died protecting the transmission. Peter finds the location that is broadcasting the signal and he heads with Olivia, Walter and Astrid to an isolated house in an island. Will they find Donald?

"Black Blotter" is a different episode of "Fringe", with Walter dropping an acid and tripping like he did in other episodes trying to recover his lost memories. There is a weird animation and he recalls the password. However the most important is part is the Observer child named Michael recovered by the group that is part of the plan to defeat the Observers. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Black Blotter"

The stuff that (oneiric) trips are made of...

[omero-omero · 9/10 · 3 November 2022]

This, in short, is one of the very best Fringe installments.

Yet another superlative performance of the whole cast involved, including the resurfacing of old acquaintances that may or may not be real memories, fictional figments of imagination, effects of altered timelines in combination with of all those things and Black Blotter.

Of course the stage belongs to Mr. Noble that once again manages to take the portrayal of an unhinged mind with multiple (dazed and confused, if you allow me) personalities up to eleven. Being Walter is a very demanding role, and Mr. Noble nails it perfectly.

Kicks the story forward to the unavoidable collapse of the events, in a quantum mechanic's way rather than in a relativistic one.

The Trip/The Guilt

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 19 November 2023]

Walter's drug addled brain is the center of this episode. He wakes Astrid up and she realizes he has been tripping on a form of LSD called Black Blotter. He is apparently delving into his own subconscious. In there is his late lab partner who had to let him go. He sees little fairies as well as a Monty Python like feature. He is continuing on his road to enlightenment. In addition to the hallucinatory female, he sees his ex-wife and a boy who is full of mysteries, seemingly an observer as a child. But what most at the front here is Walter's constant feelings of guilt and self loathing as he tries to find his way to rid the world of threat.

One of the BEST Fringe episodes ever !!!

[Pepsipeepl · 15 December 2012]

""" SPOILER ALERT """ for those who haven't seen the already aired show.

...

.....

There was a drug trip sequence that Walter was on that helped him find the password "Black Umbrella" which allowed the team to have access to a young Observer child. It was an incredible Monty Python like over the top animated sequence. I loved the image of the Emerald City and later in the animated sequence where Walter was riding Gene the cow on a quest against a knight version of himself. What an episode. Slightly heavy on the Walter guilt but overall very very nice. Just this show alone makes it worth seeing this seasons final shows.

You've been Him longer than You've been You.

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 16 December 2012]

Donald's Radio is making noises now. Big Problem, because Walter has taken LSD.

Walter's Lab takes on a surrealist landscape, and the ingenuity of this episode is that we don't know if something we see is in Walter's mind or if it is really three in the Lab.

Like Carla Walters. And the Nina Sharp that tried to physically stop Walter from entering the Portal he made. And "Tinkerbell" which Walter sees flying around Peter's head, and into the Dimensional Portal where she splits into Green and Red and the Red Tinkerbell flies through the portal.

Peter seems to be returning to normal, as is his relationship with Olivia. So they go off to find the source of the radio signal using tech Anil gives them. What they find, are the bones of the very "LAST Sam Weiss" and some remains of observers and loyalists. But the Sam Weiss name has no meaning for Astrid and Walter in this timeline. They also find a relay set up high in some trees.

The problem here is that "Walternate" is slowly taking over Walter. It appears to be a genuine split personality, and the problem is that the "Walternate" side of Walter is the side that knows the "plan to defeat the Observers"

Deep in Walter's Mind partitioned off in the "Walternate" side, are the details Walter needs to know.

The group follows the signal to an Island, Walter in tow, in his mind he escaped from Astrid again and took a Taxi to Observer Headquarters in NYC. Maybe this is what "Walternate" wants to do. By "Walternate" I am referring to the pre-lobotomy Walter, the one who has been re-emerging after Simon's quick-repair of Walter's Brain from S4E19. That man was more evident in that episode and in S5E1, before being addled by Windmark.

What they find at the source of the Signal has to be verified by Walter, the password that was being Broadcast, they need to present it to pick up the item which is at the Broadcast Location. This is where some very Monty Pythonish animation is used to show the process of how Walter's mind works. We can almost assume that this is a graphic depiction of that process that normally goes on, but just a little enhanced by the Black Blotter Acid. Just a little Black Blotter to find "Black Umbrella."

The Item of course is the Observer Child from S1E15 "Inner Child" which had been stored in Walter's Pocket Universe from a few episodes back.

The Child remembers Peter and Olivia from the old timeline, how can this be? This child has to be very special.

Meanwhile, Walter decides to burn a book which contained all of his old notes from before he had those parts of his brain taken out. We've been assuming that this was a real, Physical Object that he had been carrying around this episode. But he was not physically carrying that book - Walter IS that book. Carla's parting words are merely a foreboding that we will be seeing the wholly restored Walter soon. And should we fear that day, or embrace it?

IN the episode before this one, Peter was telling Walter how it was with the device in his head. Our Walter would not consider putting it in, but would "Walternate" do it? The question always has been 'what will "Walternate" do once he emerges?' Will he carry out his plan to defeat the observers, or will he Join the Observers?

Also posted at XweAponXMovies.blogspot.com

Fringe Black Blotter

[dalydj-918-255175 · 15 December 2012]

Astrid wakes up hearing strange sounds which makes her reach for a gun to see what is making all the noise. The noise is coming from the radio which has picked up a signal. Walter then walks out acting very strange and silent. Peter is struggling to sleep because he is going through headaches after losing the chip in the back on his neck. Astrid then tells the two the radio is now working. No one knows where the message is coming from and also Walter has had some acid which is making him act the way he is. While talking Walter talks about what he has been seeing. The crew try to ask for help from Walter but still on acid it is very hard to talk to him. Walter tells them he took the acid mainly because he wanted to remember the plan. Walter questions what he has been doing but feels his previous self knows everything he has been doing. Walter starts to see more as he goes on the acid trip with all the bright colors and candles at his disposal. Walter is so unaware of what is going on that when Anil arrives he does not know why he is at the lab. Anil helps with the radio and they get a signal to follow to where it could have originated from. Olivia and Peter go to check the signal in the middle of some woods. Peter takes the opportunity to apologize to Olivia for having her and what he has done lately. While kissing Olivia sees over his shoulder sees an abandon camp ground where the signal came from a place with bodies of observers and loyalists. The two then find Donald who is just a bag of bones. The body behind the wheel was Sam Weiss and not Donald. Walter continues to see his old assistant who try's to challenge him to act on his ambitions. He does not want to leave but people keep telling him to. Walter and his vision of his old partner go in a car to explore his old self and find out more of the plan. He unknowingly drives himself to the observer's headquarters while his old assistant questions who he is now. Walter actually is meeting up with Olivia and Peter to follow some of the symbols. The have to go to an island where Walter sees a castle. The gang are disturbed by some loyalists which means they have to pick up the pace especially when they are all shot at. They get away and arrive at the island to find where the signal came from. When the team get to the signal they have a gun put to their face. The gun is told to be lowered only if Walter can remember the password left by Donald. Walter then goes another acid trip in animation. Somehow Walter remembers the fight code which keeps them safe. The team are told about what Donald left behind which was a boy. The team then take Michael off of the resistance pairs hands to become part of the plan. Oliva try's to talk to the boy and somehow he remembers them from another time line. Walter watches a flash back in his mind of him and his old assistant regarding universe travel. Walter lights a fire to his memories of his old assistant letting her evil presence go. Strange episode at parts but because of John's performance I could not stop from watching the whole episode.

EPISODE GRADE: B- (MVP: John Noble)