Fringe (TV Series) Anomaly XB-6783746 (2012) User Reviews

Why Observers tilt their Heads

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 21 December 2012]

Our anticipation of the revelation of the identity of Donald is padded down with an unexpected loss.

In any Fringe universe, there is gain only in conjunction with loss. It is a trade-off which we have been exposed to since season 1. And so in our journey toward the identity of Donald, Fringe division loses one of its greatest allies.

It is a senseless loss, but that is the future that is being played out: At any time, we could end up like Agent Simon Foster-Whose head was kept alive so these Observers could dredge more Information from it. In ancient times, our heads may have been severed and displayed as a trophy on the Tower of London - But in this future, the Observers can kill you, save your head and keep getting information from it. Is information all they care about? What will they do if they are wholly successful in creating an ObserverTopia On Earth? There will be a whole Planet of concrete, where guys who are bald with no eyebrows walk around trading briefcases with each other.

We have forgotten how insidious these characters are, and the reason why is due to the lack of imagery relating to the things we have heard about this future. So, every so often we are reminded exactly how inhuman these Observers are.

And that is what this episode is partially dealing with - Why do Observers tilt their heads? It is because they have lost their humanity when they "traded up" for Knowledge. They thought they were discarding a weakness, but in doing so have created a new weakness.

This is why Observers are baffled by acts of true selflessness and heroism. This is why they are intrigued with Human Emotions. And this is why they don't want "Anomaly XB-6783746" aka the "Child Observer" walking around - Because this "Anomaly" is an empath, a creature wholly dependent on emotions.

But not all Observers are as lacking in empathy as Windmark. There was one, one who used to help Walter, one who at one point saved Peter, then didn't save him, but then saved him again, and then saved Olivia. And the "Child Observer" certainly can show emotions as well as just picking up on them. And as this Cyclic story of Time's Arrow comes to a close, we are brought back to that original, first Observer - Who is still helping Walter in this future: But using a different name, a name we have been trying to find out about this whole season. And in true Fringe Fashion, we were told this all the way back in "The Recordist" - We just had not realized it until now.

13 episodes are just not enough to tell this whole story, but the abbreviated way it is being presented to us serves its purpose as well as any fully fleshed out 22-episode season.

I can say now, I thought Donald would turn out to be the assassin from the season 2 episode "August" - But I am glad now that I was totally wrong with that speculation.

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Who Donald Is

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 10 April 2017]

Walter, Olivia, Peter and Astrid do not succeed to contact Michael and they decide to ask for help to Nina Sharp at the Ministry of Science. She takes them to a secret laboratory that belonged to the Massive Dynamic and is used by the resistance to study Observers. However the software does not recognize his mind and the group leaves Michael with Nina while the go to a Ministry of Science facility to bring a second interface to let Michael read Walter's mind. However Captain Windmark suspects of Nina and track her down. When he arrives at the laboratory, Nina hides Michael and when Windmark interrogates her, she commits suicide to protect her friends. When the Fringe group arrives, they find Michael and take him to the Harvard laboratory. Soon they learn who Donald is.

"Anomaly XB-6783746" is one of the best episodes of "Fringe". The story is near to the end and revelations are disclosed, such as the identity of Donald. The tragic end of Nina Sharp is a sad moment of the show. Walter recovering his memories is the best part of the show. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Anomaly XB-6783746"

Who is DONALD

[omar-tahboub · 10/10 · 22 December 2012]

In this episode, the team continues to look for answers regarding who was this Donald and what part should he play with the resistance, keeping in mind that the body, the burned body, the team found in the jungle was assumed to be his, however, there were doubts about if that body was Donald's or not... The main question was and still, what was/is the role of this Donald? what was his part in Walter's plan to defeat the Observers?

Micheal, the observer boy the team picked up in the last episode, is supposed to be a part of Walter's plan, however, the boy may not be as the team thinks he should..given that all we know is that he is an observer boy, which may be true or false.

The team tries to communicate with the boy, however, they face a great deal of difficulty that makes then keep wondering why this boy is so important, So they seek help to communicate with the boy while the observers are keeping up with the team steps to reach them...and they get very close to them..

Finally, a very an expected manner of communication took place between the boy and the team.

Through the Boy

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 19 November 2023]

Those horrible things carry on their carnage, but Nina at least gets a chance to tell them why they are evolutionary midgets, reptiles. Of course, they are undaunted, but she makes the ultimate sacrifice. Much of the episode involves efforts to communicate with Michael. The problem is that he is on a different plane than they are and conventional efforts don't work. He has in his head, compassion, and the realization that he is an anomaly and they will simply destroy him without any regard for his incredible being. The finals scenes under the pall of sadness continue the plan. Now Walter has the pieces. Can they carry through with the plan?

Fringe Anomaly XB-6783746

[dalydj-918-255175 · 22 December 2012]

The fringe rebellions have the child Michael with them and find it hard to try talk to him. They try to ask him questions but still no answer comes from him. Walter thinks they should drug the child to get him to talk. Olivia calls Nina looking for help but it is not safe for the two to speak. The observers then walk in looking for Nina who they suspect of speaking with the fringe team. They then bring a device to find out Nina is the one in connection with the rebels. Nina tells the team that they can use some of her equipment to talk to the boy. Olivia still has problems seeing Etta's face plastered around town but cannot show her true emotions. Nina brings the team to the black lab to give them the new device to talk to Michael. They see that in the lab there was tests done on the observers. The tests start on Michael with Nina and Walter looking at how his brain actually works. Results come up that Michael is unlike other observers which is why he cannot contact with normal people. The people who work at Nina's lab are being looked by the observers and the gang cannot contact them. While the observers interview the doctors at the lab the gang break into a building. The main observer does not believe what Hastings says so he dismisses everyone else because they are not needed. Olivia then sees that the observers are in the building they are in. Nina steps outside and her signal is tracked. When Windmark goes the gang find out everyone knows where Nina is now. While in town the guys get away from their car and have to find a different form of transport to keep Nina and Michael Sae. Nina goes against Windmark by blocking her thoughts from him. Windmark then sees the bodies that were tested on by Nina calling her the animal. Windmark breaks Nina's mind finding out all he needs to know about Michael. She try's to fight back but he breaks her wanting to know where Michael is. Nina gives Windmark her passionate speech calling him the true animal just before she is restrained to her chair, but before she pulls a gun and kills herself. The gang of three get to the lab but only left behind is Nina's dead body. Everyone sees that she is dead and Walter starts to cry showing his emotions while the other two start to get emotional at the loss of Nina. Walter thinks the observers have the boy which leads the three to watch a video of Nina's last moments that Olivia cannot watch at the end. Michael is save after hiding but he sees Nina's body and sheds a tear for her which comes as a shock for an observer. The gang try the machine Nina gave them and finally they are able to contact with Michael. Michael then helps Walter remember all he needs to about the plan. We then learn Donald is September. Great episode and while I'm sad to see another death from a favourite character on the show I know it will be important for the final three episodes next year. Blaire Brown gave a great performance in her final speech and also the reveal at the end is surprising.

EPISODE GRADE: B+ (MVP: Blaire Brown)

Slow start but strong finish

[iansmyth95 · 9/10 · 22 December 2012]

"Anomaly" started off with a nice pace, taking place right after the team locates Michael the Observer boy. Unfortunately, the pace soon dips and the episode takes a slow turn as Peter, Walter, and Olivia visit Nina to read Michael's thoughts.

A major chunk of the episode was Windmark interrogating scientists and the Fringe team trying to get a piece of technology. These two linear plot lines took about half of the episode and went by slowly, but as soon as Windmark found the man working with Nina and our team found the technology for Michael it picked up again.

With the "black lab" Nina brought them too compromised, the Observers found her and were about to interrogate her for information on Michael when Nina took a Loyalist's gun and shot herself. It was a tragic ending for Nina, but really raised the stakes. With the piece of technology allowing them to communicate with Michael, the team went back to the lab and Walter asked him questions. Michael showed Walter flashes of his past, and revealed that Donald was actually September as a human!

Yes, this episode did answer a major mystery of the show, but it seemed like it took too long to do it. Just like last weeks, it felt that the first chunk of the episode was stretched out too long, although the final 10 minutes were fantastic. It just feels like time is being a bit wasted here, and with only 3 episodes to go there isn't any time left to stand around.

9/10

It's A Wrap: A Major Character Pays The Price!

[Traxman15 · 7/10 · 21 December 2012]

This is Pretty Solid, But Once More Fraught with The Need to Tie Things, Up Emotionally: Which is Really Wearing Thin: Enough With All The Tear Jerking, and so on: I really hope, that Soon, a More Clear Direction Towards the Finale is Coming: Plus the Telegraphing of Major Plot Lines, is Approaching from Really Far Away: The Return of Nina Sharp, was Most Welcome: But It was so Obvious Just What Her Reaction to Being More Thoroughly Probed, would in Fact Be! This was 1 of my Favorite Characters, over the run of the Series, and I sure Hope, that Walter, Will Be Getting a More Suitable Denouement, Than Mrs Sharp! It would be a Real Cop Out, if Walter were to Simply Take His Own Life etc: The Major Characters resorting to Suicide, is Merely the ' Easy Way Out ' as a Plot Device: And I was Really Expecting More than That from This My All Time Favorite Televised, Scripted Drama/Sci-Fi Combo: It is Nice to See Etta getting some Due, and I still Say, The Primary Cast, will Be Helped by Her Spiritual Presence, or some such Similar Deal, Over the Last Few Episodes: Come On Mr JJ Abrams Let's Go Out On Top, With A Mind Blowing Finale! It Really Is the only justified way to close it out 4 us True Fringe Dwellers, Out Here on the Edge of Known Science etc.... ' If I knew where Mel Gibson was, I'd be down on the floor licking his balls at this very moment, sir. ' Cheers TRX15:

Compression killed the greatness

[VladimirSkywalker · 22 December 2012]

I still do not know what vote to give to this episode. Some parts of it were magnificent, such as the death of Nina Sharp, who departs in a manner of a great tragic hero, after gaining a moral victory over captain Windmark.

Some other moments, basically the ones concerning the plot setup, are so sloppy that it makes me wonder were those brilliant creating minds of the Fringe drunk or high while writing this episode. As yet Aristotle said in his "Poetics", plot should be built having in consideration what is possible and what is plausible and consequent, and the plausible should prevail over the possible if a writer wants his story to be persuasive.

How plausible and persuasive is that the Observers, depicted in previous episodes as all-controlling and all-seeing, would leave the Black Lab completely unguarded after Nina Sharp committed a suicide there? How plausible is that Peter, Olivia and Walter could sneak into the Ministry Lab while Windmark is inside with his team questioning Dr. Hastings? If loyalists could trace Nina Sharp's phone location from the moment she switched on her phone, how is it that they could not trace the call she received from Olivia? So far, the 5th season mythos has been driven upon the mystery, revealing the pieces of the puzzle Walter set up. This stream of motifs is very much alike some other J.J.Abrams babies (Lost, Alcatrazz, Person of Interest...) predictable and monotonous - which is not a little disappointing, since "Fringe" used to be by far superior and better crafted story than these mystery soap operas.

The other, much more interesting and unpredictable stream - Peter's private crusade, his self-implanting the Observers gizmo into his head, and the consequent duel with cptn Windmark, was left unsolved.

So far, only Olivia is showing a surprising lack of initiative in the season 5. Will she be the hero who saves the day? The good thing about this episode and the 5th season in complete is the successful linking of persons, events and things with ones from previous 4 seasons, and shining a new light upon the entire set of riddles from the past.

The bad thing in general is too much gizmos and too great part they play in the plot. Also, almost every "invasion" SciFi story has a "traitor invader" as a key character, in this case it is a good ole September who reemerged as Donald. But what is his motif to betray his kind?

I am still a big Fringe fan, as before, and it is still the best SciFi series ever made, but all these opened questions I don't have answers for decrease my enjoyment in the show. I guess the problem of compression of what was supposed to last for another 48 episodes into only 13 made the finale less impressive than what it deserves to be.