Fringe: White Tulip

[beccatoria]

This was a surprising example of a standalone I thought worked really well. If I had one major criticism of Fringe, overall, it would be the way it relies so much on the standalones and therefore the mythology crawls forwards. Though if it became more arc-ish I'd probably have to worry about Fox canceling it for being too impenetrable. Ah, who am I kidding, I worry about that anyway.

It was a great standalone because it was really about Walter.

It was the story of a day when Walter woke up and found a White Tulip, and it was surprisingly moving.

Still, I feel the need to explain why, because it's not, perhaps, the first reason that comes to mind.

I'm an atheist, and fairly passionate about that belief, and this does inform my relationship to narratives about G/god/s. I also absolutely adore religious mysticism in stories. Religion is interesting. The concept of God is interesting. While I tend to get cranky when God in the Story becomes a God from the Machine, I think religion can and should be explored in a variety of ways especially in science fiction.

However, a combination of objective and subjective issues make me very wary of Walter's proclamations in this episode.

Objectively, this is a new character trait brought out seemingly only because it sets up the wonderful moment at the end. While it's possible to argue that guilt can change people's beliefs or needs, I still don't know that believe it's in character for Walter to suddenly be asking God for forgiveness.

Subjectively, I'm not sure I like the implications of doing this at this time and in this way. For a previously atheist character to suddenly begin searching for God during a period of great confusion and guilt with no explanation or qualification, narratively speaking, comes perilously close to suggesting that no explanation is needed because such behaviour is natural. Because everyone needs God. Bluntly, I very much enjoy Walter as the shell of a man who once did terrible things in his arrogance. But I am very much not interested in seeing his reformation symbolised in part by a belief in God.

I don't believe that Walter will suddenly become a very religious person (another way in which the episode essentially felt like a setup where a fairly out of character initial plothook was used to get to a wonderful moment). But I still think it's worth noting that "I'm a better person because now I think that there might be a God to forgive me while before I was too arrogant to consider that possibility," is pretty much right at the top of Things I Hate when God shows up in stories.

I don't want the dangerous parts of Walter's arrogance to be explicitly tied to his atheism and I feel that's partly what's happening here.

So, I acknowledge that my personal views affect my reading but at the same time, I don't think it's as simple as I'm an atheist and therefore hate God as a motivating force.

WITH THAT SAID.

I did like that if Walter is going to approach God in any fashion, he does so specifically, impossibly and in the manner of a crazy scientist.

I would have preferred that the White Tulip have been some kind of control test to see if God existed, or a facetious challenge his younger self had thrown out to Dr Warren, perhaps. But if Current!Walter was going to ask God for forgiveness, then yes, this is how he would do it.

But perhaps what I like most is that, annoying as I found Walter's need for forgiveness from God, per the narrative of the story, that's not actually what he received.

(Setting aside, for the moment, the "God moves in mysterious ways and clearly orchestrated all this," perspective since I don't find it narratively fulfilling for the reasons stated above.)

What he received was forgiveness from a friend; perhaps more movingly, ultimately, he received it from himself.

And that's what I find beautiful about this episode.

By Fringe's crazy scientific standards, this is a completely logical and explicable tale that nonetheless is, ultimately, the story of the day Walter woke up and was granted grace.

Not from God, but from himself (which is beautiful and sad). Not from God but via crazy, messed-up science (which is beautiful and terrible and sad).

I still wish this episode had clarified why Walter turned to God at this point; had taken some space to distance itself from the potentially simplistic implications of such a decision.

I still hope that the show did not mean anything that simplistic.

But assuming, for the moment, that it didn't, it was an extraordinarily moving moment.

Why aren't all standalones like this?

In other news, emmiere already posted this, but I feel it is a public service announcement to point out that Olivia Dunham is a Private Eye. Or will be in Fringe's musical episode that will air at the end of the month, which has the potential to be awful, but I have decided to anticipate with unabashed joy under the assumption that it will be delicious, delicious, deadly serious CRACK.

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the photograph of Walter in his costume for that episode?

He totally wins. Even more so than Olivia Dunham.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Where is that picture?

[emmiere.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I can answer this one!

Here it is.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

I can't honestly remember where I saw it I'm afraid.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

I thought I'd seen it, but it didn't really look that awesome I didn't think? Like it was just a kind of noir suit? And didn't really look half as awesome as THE HAT? But I am now wondering if instead I saw a different picture...

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I am...certainly not an atheist. And I also adored (most) of this episode to pieces. I talked about it quite a bit in my own reaction. I liked that you can put God pretty much wherever you want to in this episode (I put him a little bit closer to the action than you do, I imagine, but I have the gods very close to science in my worldview in that I have the deepest respect and the vaguest understand of the finer points of both), and it still TOTALLY WORKS. That's just really good writing.

The only point I really disagree with you on is the "sudden"ness of it. And yeah, for a second there I was all "Wait, Walter believes in GOD?" because of what he said to Dr. Warren in "Peter", and then I realized that Walter believes in God exactly because of that conversation with Dr. Warren in "Peter". (I want to know how Dr. Warren dies, the specifics, I mean, SO BADLY now! You have NO IDEA!)

OMG, I can't WAIT for the ICONS from that EPISODE! It will make the whole AWKWARD MESS worth it!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

I do agree that it's a sign of very good writing that it's open to multiple interpretations. And similarly am really eager to learn more about Dr Warren, whom I loved in "Peter".

I think I still disagree about the suddenness of it. I see your point, but it's still a jump for me that he goes from denying God even if it was at a moment he would later look back on with profound regret, to wanting forgiveness from that same person. I absolutely believe it's a journey he could believably take, I just think that it would have been nice to see more of it if this is the direction they're going in. That said, I suspect this religious development isn't going to play a major part in his character in the ongoing series. So it's not something I'm really that concerned about.

In some ways, as emmiere notes below, it's because of the recent discussion with Dr Warren that some of my concerns were present; it makes it look like the two must be linked and kind of retroactively makes Dr Warren right; not just about the fact that he shouldn't have done it but also that it was against God, which is where I start thinking, Okay, Show, but I hope this isn't going to be a Recurring Theme?

Which isn't to say that it wouldn't work better for someone with a different perspective on the whole thing, just...that's why I still feel it's a bit sudden.

And yes - I WANT AN ICON OF OLIVIA IN THAT HAT. HAAAAAAAAT!

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I agreee: I don't want it to be all on God. And I certainly don't want it to be a recurring theme. But my brain is very good at seeing God where it wants to, so for now I am okay, even if this episode was right on the edge of my comfort zone.

So far, all I've got is this one, but I didn't have a lot of time to play last night, and the angle of that picture is just shade wrong for what I want to do with it.

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

yay fringe! i hope you know that it has been renewed for a third season!!

i think that fringe has been doing much better with its standalone eps and with tying them to the larger mythology than last season [fringe is actually much better at this than, for example, supernatural, where you can go 3-4 eps without even hearing about the larger arc].

omg, that musical episode looks like the most cracktastic thing ever! i can't wait :D

my most pressing question: will you vid fringe?

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Fringe! Yes, I did know that it'd been renewed and was very relieved to hear it!

I think that you're right in general about the standalone eps, although even during S1 I did like that a lot of the standalone eps did have at least some more moments of character development than some shows I've sat through. Still. MORE ARC! ;)

As to vidding, the answer to your question is I expect to, but not until later this year as I'm currently working on (starting) a few Sarah Connor Chronicles vids for my epic VIDWAAAAAR with chaila43! So it's entirely HER fault for challenging me to vid futuristic robots instead of parallel universes. :p

[emmiere.livejournal.com]

I don't want the dangerous parts of Walter's arrogance to be explicitly tied to his atheism and I feel that's partly what's happening here.

No, I thought that too, especially since we did see arrogant Walter in all his eighties glory just recently. Juxtaposed with Dr. Warren, it's not hard to make that association (even though I'd be more interested how her faith affected the decision to continue in what was likely morally dubious work). I do think Walter has mentioned God in more vague, but similar ways a couple of times before this and it caught my eye because I thought it was potentially a weird character thing for him. And I'll admit that my own perspective on things means I missed some of the implications you saw, but your worries are completely legitimate.

That end scene though is just...a completely beautiful moment, for exactly the reasons you say. And while I don't think the show is necessarily staking a place on the matter, I thought that Other Scientist Dude(?) was a good counterpoint, talking about science as God. The parallels of grace and choice just worked really well for me.

(And I as a side note, I totally sympathize trying to define a more complex argument from the perspective of just having done this from the opposite way, as a non-atheist talking about the secular humanistic view of religion on B5. As you might know. ;) It made me laugh watching this the next day.)

Also, based on Private Eye Olivia Dunham and chaila43's suggestion on my post that there's a crazy palm tree Olivia/Broyles AU just waiting to happen in that pic, I move that the proper use of all screencaps (or clips!) from this episode is to create insanely awesome new narratives, never mind what actually happens. :D

[chaila.livejournal.com]

the proper use of all screencaps (or clips!) from this episode is to create insanely awesome new narratives

VIDLETS. \o/

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

EVERYBODY LOVES VIDLETS!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

I'm really glad I'm making sense to you, though I have to say that you're sharper than me in picking up those moments from him earlier on as they sailed right by me.

I also think you make a really important point about how the issue of faith might have affected Dr Warren's career far more intriguingly than Walter's?

But as you say, that end moment, is just beautiful. As you say, so many gorgeous, circular parallels of grace and choice, and I think it's the choice I'm so reluctant to let go of and abdicate to a higher power?

Anyway, hooray for our reverse-religious concerns regarding science fiction shows! ;) *tries not to imagine Walter on Babylon 5 trying to convince Sinclair to let him dissect the first Vorlon ambassador after his murder...*

I also have to admit, I kind of ship Olivia/Broyles a bit anyway. Not as much as Broyles/Nina Sharpe, because she randomly snogged him in public, but, um, a bit. Mainly, I think, because they're both awesome in their own right and Broyles needs more screentime than anything else, but the point is, I am entirely amenable to cracktastic Noir!AUs regardless of what actually happens on the show!

[chaila.livejournal.com]

I fail and still haven't seen this episode so I don't have anything to go on other than what I've heard you say about it. But. I LOVE religion in stories, as we know. But that has not been an element of this show AT ALL until suddenly in this ep, which makes me hope that whatever it was they wanted to say, they said and it'll be confined to this ep. I just. . . I like this show, but I do not trust it to do a mytharc with religion connotations in an appropriately ambiguous way. I love the setup of science and religion and all the questions that raises, but I haaaaaaaaaaate it when those questions are answered.

Bluntly, I very much enjoy Walter as the shell of a man who once did terrible things in his arrogance. But I am very much not interested in seeing his reformation symbolised in part by a belief in God.

THIIIIIIS. I like that Walter did not feel guilt and now he does. But I like Walter's guilt as a human being; I suspect the closer it is tied to god, the less I will like it. I like it as internal change and growth and reflection; I do not like it as an external appeal to some higher authority. Logically I know it's not that clear cut, because even if he has some newfound desire to believe in a god to forgive him, that's internal change too. But. . .it's still an important distinction for me. So, um, maybe I should actually watch this ep before rambling any more!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

WAAATCH IT! So that I can discuss it with you!

But yeah, you really nail it with the part about liking Walter's guilt as a human being, rather than as a repentant Christian. It absolutely is a possible internal change, but not, I feel, one that is completely and obviously the natural way to go to the point that it needs no further explanation. And even if it were, it's a narrative decision that has wider-ranging implications so I would have liked the writers to have stopped and thought about them at least.

Ultimately I think that it will end up being more of a central standalone kind of episode rather than an ongoing plot about Walter's belief in God or anything, just because I really can't see how that would feasibly fit into the wider world of Fringe without making it horribly boring as it's just about them wandering judging stuff as ungodly or...what-have-you. I just can't see that happening. I guess it could herald the start of a more spiritual Walter but I really struggle to see how that would work either just given his character.

I suppose, hilariously, he could take the tulip as a sign that God forgives all and it could just spur him to greater heights of arrogance... :p (though I don't expect that either, it's just a funny image...)

Um, in conclusion, watch it!

[ivanolix.livejournal.com]

Religious issues don't really bother me either way in fiction (other than the fact that I like exploring fictional religions), so I wasn't focusing on that aspect of the episode—yet I still felt the same sense of grace/forgiveness from self at the end. And for a Walter-focused episode, which usually would bug me, I was very moved.

I'm still looking forward to next week because, well, NOIR!OLIVIA FTW. It will be gorgeous crack, I'm positive, because you can feel that atmosphere just ready to burst out of all Fringe's serious episodes.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

See, I love Walter and think John Noble is the man so perhaps I would have been moved even if I'd hated the entire rest of the episode! But I'm inclined to think that given others reactions, the writing really was very good this time around.

It's certainly nice to hear that you also felt there was an interesting, circular sense of forgiveness from himself at the end, since I think even without any of the issues I potentially have with the treatment of religion in the episode, it's just flat out more moving and interesting if he receives the forgiveness he wants so desperately from the only person who really can forgive him, in the end - himself. Because even if Peter and everyone else forgave him, if Walter can't forgive himself, he'll never be able to move on or recover or make amends or...anything.

I think it's the week after next, but yes, NOIR!OLIVIA FTMFW!