Black Blotter
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"Black Blotter" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the
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drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
''
Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts * Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe" * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * The Fringe, the ...
'', and the show's 96th episode overall. The episode was written by Kristin Cantrell and directed by Tommy Gormley.


Plot

The radio previously collected by the Fringe team from the pocket universe ("
Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There "Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of the Fox science-fiction/drama television series ''Fringe'', and the 93rd episode overall. The episode was written by David Fury and directed by J ...
") starts to receive a strange signal, but when they look for Walter (
John Noble John Noble (born 20 August 1948) is an Australian actor. He is known for his roles as Denethor in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Dr. Walter Bishop on the science fiction series ''Fringe'', Henry Parrish on the action-horror series '' ...
) to decode it, they find that he has taken a dose of the hallucinatory drug "
black blotter "Black Blotter" is the ninth episode of the Fringe (season 5), fifth season of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox science-fiction/Drama (genre), drama television program, television series ''Fringe (TV series), Fringe'', and the show's 96th episode ...
". Peter asks him why he took LSD. Walter explains that he was desperate to remember the plan and implies that he thought this would help, but that he did not know they would be getting a message on the radio. He then confesses to Peter that he asked
Nina Sharp This article lists the major and recurring fictional characters on the science fiction television series, ''Fringe'', created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci. In the overarching storyline for the five seasons of the show, several ...
(
Blair Brown Bonnie Blair Brown (born April 23, 1946) is an American theater, film and television actress. She has had a number of high-profile roles, including in the play ''Copenhagen'' on Broadway, the leading actress in the films ''Altered States'' ( ...
) to remove the pieces of brain that they had to restore to repair his brain after being in amber for so long; he asked for this because he felt he was becoming like his much crueler old self. As Walter suffers from visions of his old lab assistant, Carla Warren (
Jenni Blong Jenni Blong, sometimes credited as Jeni Blong or Jenny Blong, is an actress who has worked in American film, television, and theater. She has guest starred in a variety of television series, including ''Big Love'', '' True Blood'', ''Lost'', '' ...
) and images relating to his first passage to the parallel universe (as seen in "
Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...
"), the rest of the team work with Anil (Shaun Smyth) to triangulate the signal from the radio. Peter (
Joshua Jackson Joshua Carter Jackson (born June 11, 1978) is a Canadian-American actor. He is known for his starring role as Charlie Conway in '' Mighty Ducks'', as Pacey Witter in The WB teen drama series ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003), Peter Bishop in the ...
) and Olivia (
Anna Torv Anna Torv (born 7 June 1979) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as FBI agent Olivia Dunham on the Fox science-fiction series ''Fringe'' (2008–2013), for which she was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for ...
) travel to the site in a nearby forest, and find the decades-old remains of Observers and members of the human resistance, including one with Sam Weiss's identification. The two recognize that Sam and his allies were defending a makeshift transmitter tower that was relaying the radio signal, and find where the signal is broadcasting from. Walter is drawn by his hallucination of Carla to a spot in the lab where he had hidden a notebook containing many of his ideas, including the original design for the device to cross between universes. His vision of Carla claims that she died in a lab fire in trying to destroy the notebook. Nina Sharp appears in the hallucination and warns Walter not to read the notebook again. Peter, Olivia, Walter, and Astrid (
Jasika Nicole Jasika Nicole Pruitt (born April 10, 1980), is an American actress and illustrator from Birmingham, Alabama. She is known for her role as Agent Astrid Farnsworth on the Fox series ''Fringe''. She has guest-starred in ''Scandal'' as Kim Munoz. She ...
) travel to a boat dock across from the island site where the radio signal originates, briefly stalled by a Loyalist force. Upon the island, they find the signal coming from a house, where a couple, Richard ( Tom Butler) and Carolyn (Maria Marlow), are staying along with the Observer child (as seen in "
Inner Child In popular psychology and analytical psychology, the inner child is an individual's childlike aspect. It includes what a person learned as a child, before puberty. The inner child is often conceived as a semi-independent subpersonality subordinat ...
") whom Walter had hidden in the pocket universe with help of the unknown person referred to as "Donald". Before they allow the group to approach, they demand a password that would have been encoded in the radio signal; Walter, through his drugged mind (we see a slightly
surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...
cutout animation Cutout animation is a form of stop-motion animation using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or photographs. The props would be cut out and used as puppets for stop motion. The world's ea ...
in the style of
Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including ''Time Bandits'' (1981), ''B ...
of
Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
), is able to assemble the password "black umbrella". The couple allow them in and prepare the child, whom they have named Michael, for traveling, and explain that they were former members of the Resistance forces; as they were ready to settle down, Donald left Michael with them for his protection, and as per his instructions, they activated the radio signal every five days. The Fringe team returns with Michael back to the lab. Olivia discovers that Michael still remembers her, despite having only met in the original timeline. Walter, still in his drug-addled state, reminisces about the damage that his more sinister side had done, and decides to burn the notebook. However, his hallucination of Carla warns that he has already done the damage, having recalled what he was capable of; when he next looks up, he finds he is looking at himself, a grim smile on his face. Walter snaps alert, finding no notebook and the lab empty.


Production

"Black Blotter" was written by Kristin Cantrell, marking her first writing credit for the series; she previously served as a script coordinator. It was directed by Tommy Gormley, making his first solo directing credit. He served as first assistant director on several of ''Fringe'' co-creator
J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' F ...
' projects, including ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' and ''
Super 8 Super 8 or Super Eight may refer to: Film * Super 8 film, a motion picture film format released in 1965 * Super 8 film camera, a motion picture camera used to film Super 8mm motion picture format * ''Super 8'' (2011 film), a science-fiction fi ...
''. Within the episode is a 75-second animation in the style of
Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including ''Time Bandits'' (1981), ''B ...
s animated sequences for ''
Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
'', representing part of Walter's drug-induced memory. The animation was produced by 6 Point Harness over a two-week period, working the various idiosyncrasies of Gilliam's animations into this sequence. Elements such as a giant foot crushing the characters are a direct homage to the same elements used in Gilliam's animation for the ''Monty Python'' title sequences.


Reception


Ratings

"Black Blotter" first aired in the United States on December 14, 2012, on Fox. An estimated 3.13 million viewers watched the episode, and earned a ratings share of 1.1 among adults aged 18 to 49, to become the highest rated episode of the season to date. 1.43 million viewers watched the episode through DVR and garnered a 0.6 rating, totaling 4.55 million viewers and a 1.7 rating.


Reviews

"Black Blotter" has been compared to the "19th episode" of earlier seasons - " Brown Betty" from Season 2, "
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...
" from Season 3, and "
Letters of Transit "Letters of Transit" is the nineteenth episode of the fourth season of the Fox science-fiction drama television series, ''Fringe'', and the series' 84th episode overall. It is set in the future, where the Observers have taken control of human so ...
" from Season 4 - where the producers have provided a strange, out-of-context episode that does not follow the usual narrative and direction of most other ''Fringe'' episodes The episode received positive reviews, with Noel Murray of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' awarding the episode an "A−" grade, and
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
's Ramsey Isler rating the episode a 7.5 out of 10. Jeff Jensen of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' named "Black Blotter" the nineteenth best episode of the series, stating "Walter Bishop's most epic LSD trip ever — an attempt to recover lost memories of his master plan to defeat the Observers — allowed Fringe to creatively cut loose with some novel storytelling devices, none more inspired than a cartoon romp rendered in the style of Terry Gilliam's stop-motion Monty Python animation."


References


External links


"Black Blotter"
at
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Blotter 2012 American television episodes Fringe (season 5) episodes