Amber 31422
Encyclopedia
"Amber 31422" is the fifth episode of the third season of the American science fiction
drama
television series
Fringe
. It first aired on November 4, 2010 in the United States. The third season spent its time alternating between the prime and parallel universes
, and "Amber 31422" was set in the latter. Olivia
, still trapped in the Other Side and brainwashed, investigates the Rose brothers, who are able to do the seemingly impossible: escape from an amber-like substance used to contain fringe events.
The episode was written by Josh Singer
and Ethan Gross
, and directed by David Straiton
. An estimated 4.97 million viewers watched "Amber 31422", which up to that point were the lowest ratings of the season. Critics were generally positive, and many praised the cast's performances as well as the Rose brothers' storyline.
, under Walternate's (a doppelgänger
of Walter Bishop) conditioning to believe she is her doppelgänger from Over There and part of its Fringe team. Throughout the episode, she willingly participates in Walternate's tests in a sensory-deprivation tank located on Liberty Island to stimulate her Cortexiphan abilities. One test is successful, as she temporarily finds herself in a gift shop on Liberty Island in the prime universe. Meanwhile, hallucinations of FBI consultant and colleague Peter
continue to bother Olivia.
The Fringe team is alerted to an incident at a quarantine site, where the amber encasing the site has been cut into and a body has been removed. They identify the missing body as Joshua Rose, a former bank robber. Joshua had previously caught Fringe Division's attention as he used a molecular destablization device to break into banks, triggering quarantine-level events. Colonel Broyles is privately cautioned by Walternate that those trapped inside are still alive, a fact he does not want to be made public for fear of their outcry. Broyles relays this to his team, requesting they find Rose and bring him in as quickly as possible.
At Joshua's apartment, they discover he has a twin brother Matthew and equipment used for a negative matter ring. Their investigation is cut short as they are forced to evacuate from a rigged bomb which destroys the apartment as they flee. They travel to Matthew's home in the suburbs, meeting the brother, his wife, and their children. Matthew professes to no knowledge of the location of his brother. Olivia is suspicious of Matthew's behavior but does not explore further. Olivia's suspicion is shown to be correct as Matthew is revealed to have been the one trapped in the amber, having tried to come warn his brother about the quarantine. Joshua, having posed as Matthew for the last few years, was the one that freed him and spoke to Fringe. The brothers switch places again when Olivia requests a more detailed identity check from Matthew, which he passes successfully.
Believing Joshua will attempt another break-in but will avoid putting innocents in danger, Olivia has Fringe Division statistician Astrid identify three remotely-located banks and decides to investigate them. Olivia finds the bank that Joshua has targeted and discovers his device in a subway tunnel, but he knocks her out before she can investigate further. As he energizes the molecular destablizer, Fringe Division detects the event and converges on the bank. Matthew eventually finds Joshua, again trying to warn him off, but quickly realizes Joshua has purposely entered the bank to be trapped in the amber. Joshua believes this to be the only way to force the Fringe team to end their investigation. Matthew escapes the quarantine while Fringe agents Charlie and Lincoln
rescue Olivia in time before the amber sets in. Olivia returns to Matthew the next day and confirms the case is closed, but not before collecting a skin sample that, should she ever need it, conclusively proves that it was Matthew in the amber before.
As the episode ends, Olivia's hallucination of Peter points out to her that there is a way to tell if she is from the prime universe: by confirming her memories of her niece Ella, who did not survive birth in the parallel universe. During Olivia's final test in the tank, she is again able to cross over to the gift shop in the prime universe. She is able to recall Ella's phone number and calls her, but is brought back to the parallel universe before ending the call. As she is removed from the tank, she lies, telling Walternate the test did not work.
and story editor Ethan Gross
co-wrote the episode, while David Straiton
served as the director. The third season spent its time alternating between the prime and parallel universes
, and "Amber 31422" was set in the latter.
"Amber 31422" was the first project guest actors and brothers Shawn Ashmore
and Aaron Ashmore
had worked on together in fifteen years. Shawn said in an interview that "it’s usually because the stuff that came along is kind of hokey, but I think the quality of Fringe is really high and the episode is done well and our characters are intelligent. We’re going to have some fun." Holly Dignard
guest starred as Danielle Rose, while recurring guest actors Amy Madigan
and Ryan McDonald
returned as Marilyn Dunham and Brandon Fayette, respectively. Seth Gabel
and former series regular Kirk Acevedo
reprised their characters Lincoln Lee
and Charlie Francis, Fringe Division agents from the Other Side.
The episode was scheduled to air three weeks after the previous episode
, as the Major League Baseball
playoffs were underway until November
11 at the latest, though the lack of a sixth and seventh game at the World Series
allowed the episode to air a week earlier, on November 4th. As with other Fringe episodes, Fox released a science lesson plan in colaboration with Science Olympiad
for grade school children, focusing on the science seen in "Amber 31422", with the intention of having "students learn about the process of fossilization and identification of species from incomplete information."
, and not Humphrey Bogart
, who starred in The Maltese Falcon
. After Olivia arrives late to a crime scene, Lincoln chides her for driving on the "Nixon Parkway," a reference to former president Richard Nixon
. The tank Walternate uses to submerge Olivia has been noted by some critics to closely resemble a similar device in the 1980 science fiction
film Altered States
, which also starred Fringe actress Blair Brown
. Walternate tells Broyles he first began the amber protocol on October 17, 1989, which was the same day as the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in our side's San Francisco.
that aired on October 14. Between Fringe and its lead-in show Bones
, Fox finished in third place for the night. The Fringe episode's low ratings have been attributed by critics to the unexpected end to the 2010 World Series
, which caused Fringe to air a week earlier than expected. Den of Geek columnist Billy Grifter attributed the low ratings to the parallel universe focus, commenting "if you weren't a fan beforehand, you'll not be able to follow what's going on now. For those of us that did step onto the Fringe elevator early, it's a great ride, but I can see that it's a difficult proposition to attract new viewers."
Andrew Hanson thought it was a good episode, writing "This is what I love about Fringe. Not only do they have the cool science, they also have the moral questions that go along". Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly
thought the episode was "enthralling," and he enjoyed the brothers' "nice emotional story," and praised Anna Torv's acting. TV Squad reviewer Jason Hughes enjoyed the parallel universe, and in particular the character of Lincoln Lee, believing he was "too rich a character to just abandon" once the series stopped alternating between universes.
Fearnet
's Alyse Wax wrote, "I definitely think that this was the best "over there" episode they have had so far. They had an actual case, rather than still setting up who these doppelgangers are." HitFix
writer Ryan McGee thought the initial twist over the brothers' identities "was fun", though it "grew old quickly". He praised the series for not "dragging out" Olivia discovering her true identity, explaining "While episodes set Over There are delicious fun, having Olivia unaware for a long stretch would have strained credibility and perhaps damaged audience opinion of her character’s integrity." Writing for Den of Geek, Billy Grifter commented, "I have three words for the latest Fringe episode, and they're all 'brilliant'. Season three has moved gracefully, like a big cat stalking its prey, from the outset, playing a flipside game where we cleverly alternate between our universe and an alternate one where Olivia is currently resident." Grifter praised the Ashmore brothers' acting as well as their characters' storylines, calling their switch "a nice twist that's cleverly played".
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Fringe
Fringe (TV series)
Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...
. It first aired on November 4, 2010 in the United States. The third season spent its time alternating between the prime and parallel universes
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
, and "Amber 31422" was set in the latter. Olivia
Olivia Dunham
FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series Fringe . Olivia first appeared in the pilot episode on September 9, 2008. She is portrayed by actress Anna Torv....
, still trapped in the Other Side and brainwashed, investigates the Rose brothers, who are able to do the seemingly impossible: escape from an amber-like substance used to contain fringe events.
The episode was written by Josh Singer
Josh Singer
Josh Singer is a WGA-award nominated television Writer and Producer, whose most noticeable work includes writing and producing episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, the critically acclaimed series The West Wing, the crime series Bones, and the FOX science-fiction series Fringe.- Fringe...
and Ethan Gross
Ethan Gross
Ethan Gross is an American Screenwriter, currently working as a Story editor on the FOX science-fiction series Fringe, and has also contribued scripts to the show...
, and directed by David Straiton
David Straiton
David Straiton is an American television director.Since the 1990s he has amassed large a number of notable television credits, first making his directorial debut directing an episode of the Disney Channel series Flash Forward...
. An estimated 4.97 million viewers watched "Amber 31422", which up to that point were the lowest ratings of the season. Critics were generally positive, and many praised the cast's performances as well as the Rose brothers' storyline.
Plot
Olivia is still trapped in the parallel universeParallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
, under Walternate's (a doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
of Walter Bishop) conditioning to believe she is her doppelgänger from Over There and part of its Fringe team. Throughout the episode, she willingly participates in Walternate's tests in a sensory-deprivation tank located on Liberty Island to stimulate her Cortexiphan abilities. One test is successful, as she temporarily finds herself in a gift shop on Liberty Island in the prime universe. Meanwhile, hallucinations of FBI consultant and colleague Peter
Peter Bishop
Peter Bishop is a fictional character on the Fox television series Fringe. He is portrayed by Joshua Jackson.-Fictional character biography:...
continue to bother Olivia.
The Fringe team is alerted to an incident at a quarantine site, where the amber encasing the site has been cut into and a body has been removed. They identify the missing body as Joshua Rose, a former bank robber. Joshua had previously caught Fringe Division's attention as he used a molecular destablization device to break into banks, triggering quarantine-level events. Colonel Broyles is privately cautioned by Walternate that those trapped inside are still alive, a fact he does not want to be made public for fear of their outcry. Broyles relays this to his team, requesting they find Rose and bring him in as quickly as possible.
At Joshua's apartment, they discover he has a twin brother Matthew and equipment used for a negative matter ring. Their investigation is cut short as they are forced to evacuate from a rigged bomb which destroys the apartment as they flee. They travel to Matthew's home in the suburbs, meeting the brother, his wife, and their children. Matthew professes to no knowledge of the location of his brother. Olivia is suspicious of Matthew's behavior but does not explore further. Olivia's suspicion is shown to be correct as Matthew is revealed to have been the one trapped in the amber, having tried to come warn his brother about the quarantine. Joshua, having posed as Matthew for the last few years, was the one that freed him and spoke to Fringe. The brothers switch places again when Olivia requests a more detailed identity check from Matthew, which he passes successfully.
Believing Joshua will attempt another break-in but will avoid putting innocents in danger, Olivia has Fringe Division statistician Astrid identify three remotely-located banks and decides to investigate them. Olivia finds the bank that Joshua has targeted and discovers his device in a subway tunnel, but he knocks her out before she can investigate further. As he energizes the molecular destablizer, Fringe Division detects the event and converges on the bank. Matthew eventually finds Joshua, again trying to warn him off, but quickly realizes Joshua has purposely entered the bank to be trapped in the amber. Joshua believes this to be the only way to force the Fringe team to end their investigation. Matthew escapes the quarantine while Fringe agents Charlie and Lincoln
Lincoln Lee
Captain Lincoln Lee is a fictional character on the Fox television series Fringe . Lincoln first appeared in the season two finale on May 13, 2010. He is portrayed by actor Seth Gabel....
rescue Olivia in time before the amber sets in. Olivia returns to Matthew the next day and confirms the case is closed, but not before collecting a skin sample that, should she ever need it, conclusively proves that it was Matthew in the amber before.
As the episode ends, Olivia's hallucination of Peter points out to her that there is a way to tell if she is from the prime universe: by confirming her memories of her niece Ella, who did not survive birth in the parallel universe. During Olivia's final test in the tank, she is again able to cross over to the gift shop in the prime universe. She is able to recall Ella's phone number and calls her, but is brought back to the parallel universe before ending the call. As she is removed from the tank, she lies, telling Walternate the test did not work.
Production
Co-executive producer Josh SingerJosh Singer
Josh Singer is a WGA-award nominated television Writer and Producer, whose most noticeable work includes writing and producing episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, the critically acclaimed series The West Wing, the crime series Bones, and the FOX science-fiction series Fringe.- Fringe...
and story editor Ethan Gross
Ethan Gross
Ethan Gross is an American Screenwriter, currently working as a Story editor on the FOX science-fiction series Fringe, and has also contribued scripts to the show...
co-wrote the episode, while David Straiton
David Straiton
David Straiton is an American television director.Since the 1990s he has amassed large a number of notable television credits, first making his directorial debut directing an episode of the Disney Channel series Flash Forward...
served as the director. The third season spent its time alternating between the prime and parallel universes
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
, and "Amber 31422" was set in the latter.
"Amber 31422" was the first project guest actors and brothers Shawn Ashmore
Shawn Ashmore
Shawn Robert Ashmore is a Canadian film and television actor, perhaps best known for his role as Jake in the Animorphs television series and Iceman in the X-Men films. He is the twin brother of actor Aaron Ashmore.-Early life:...
and Aaron Ashmore
Aaron Ashmore
Aaron Robert Ashmore is a Canadian film and television actor, perhaps best known for his role as Jimmy Olsen in Smallville and as Steve Jinks in Warehouse 13. He is the twin brother of actor Shawn Ashmore.-Career:...
had worked on together in fifteen years. Shawn said in an interview that "it’s usually because the stuff that came along is kind of hokey, but I think the quality of Fringe is really high and the episode is done well and our characters are intelligent. We’re going to have some fun." Holly Dignard
Holly Dignard
Holly Elissa Dignard also Holly Elissa Lamaro is a Canadian actress.Born in Moncton, New Brunswick, she made her TV debut on the Sci-Fi Channel's hit series Outer Limits in 2000...
guest starred as Danielle Rose, while recurring guest actors Amy Madigan
Amy Madigan
Amy Marie Madigan is an American actress who is known for her role as Annie Kinsella in the 1989 film Field of Dreams and Iris Crowe in the HBO television series Carnivale...
and Ryan McDonald
Ryan McDonald
Ryan James McDonald is a Canadian actor born 5 August 1984 in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. He is sometimes mistakenly credited as Ryan MacDonald.-Filmography:* "The Ballad of Jack and Rose" * "Terry"...
returned as Marilyn Dunham and Brandon Fayette, respectively. Seth Gabel
Seth Gabel
Seth Gabel is an American actor. Gabel plays the role of agent Lincoln Lee on Fox's television series Fringe.-Career:...
and former series regular Kirk Acevedo
Kirk Acevedo
Kirk Acevedo is an American actor. He is primarily known for his portrayals of Miguel Alvarez in the HBO series Oz, Joe Toye in Band of Brothers and FBI Agent Charlie Francis in the science-fiction series Fringe....
reprised their characters Lincoln Lee
Lincoln Lee
Captain Lincoln Lee is a fictional character on the Fox television series Fringe . Lincoln first appeared in the season two finale on May 13, 2010. He is portrayed by actor Seth Gabel....
and Charlie Francis, Fringe Division agents from the Other Side.
The episode was scheduled to air three weeks after the previous episode
Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?
"Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?" is the fourth episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe, and the 53rd episode overall. The first half of the third season alternated entire episodes between the parallel universe and the prime universe...
, as the Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
playoffs were underway until November
November
November is the 11th month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of four months with the length of 30 days. November was the ninth month of the ancient Roman calendar...
11 at the latest, though the lack of a sixth and seventh game at the World Series
2010 World Series
The 2010 World Series was the 106th occurrence of Major League Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff, played between the American League champion Texas Rangers and the National League champion San Francisco Giants, began on Wednesday, , and ended on Monday, , with the Giants...
allowed the episode to air a week earlier, on November 4th. As with other Fringe episodes, Fox released a science lesson plan in colaboration with Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad is an American elementary, middle, or high school team competition which tests knowledge of various science topics and engineering ability. Over 6,200 teams from 49 U.S. states compete each year. Most teams compete in three levels of competition: regionals, states, and nationals...
for grade school children, focusing on the science seen in "Amber 31422", with the intention of having "students learn about the process of fossilization and identification of species from incomplete information."
Cultural references
In the parallel universe, Lincoln Lee mentions that it was Cary GrantCary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, and not Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
, who starred in The Maltese Falcon
The Maltese Falcon (1941 film)
The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros. film based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and a remake of the 1931 film of the same name...
. After Olivia arrives late to a crime scene, Lincoln chides her for driving on the "Nixon Parkway," a reference to former president Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. The tank Walternate uses to submerge Olivia has been noted by some critics to closely resemble a similar device in the 1980 science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
film Altered States
Altered States
Altered States is a 1980 American science fiction-horror film adaptation of a novel by the same name by playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky. It was the only novel that Chayefsky ever wrote, as well as his final film. Both the novel and the film are based on John C...
, which also starred Fringe actress Blair Brown
Blair Brown
Bonnie Blair Brown is an American theater, film, and television actress. She has had a number of high profile roles, including a Tony Award-winning turn in the play Copenhagen on Broadway, as well as a run as the title character in the television comedy-drama The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd,...
. Walternate tells Broyles he first began the amber protocol on October 17, 1989, which was the same day as the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in our side's San Francisco.
Ratings
"Amber 31422" was watched by an estimated 4.97 million viewers in the United States. The episode had a season low rating of 1.8/5 among viewers 18-49, which was down 10% from the previous episodeDo Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?
"Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?" is the fourth episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe, and the 53rd episode overall. The first half of the third season alternated entire episodes between the parallel universe and the prime universe...
that aired on October 14. Between Fringe and its lead-in show Bones
Bones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...
, Fox finished in third place for the night. The Fringe episode's low ratings have been attributed by critics to the unexpected end to the 2010 World Series
2010 World Series
The 2010 World Series was the 106th occurrence of Major League Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff, played between the American League champion Texas Rangers and the National League champion San Francisco Giants, began on Wednesday, , and ended on Monday, , with the Giants...
, which caused Fringe to air a week earlier than expected. Den of Geek columnist Billy Grifter attributed the low ratings to the parallel universe focus, commenting "if you weren't a fan beforehand, you'll not be able to follow what's going on now. For those of us that did step onto the Fringe elevator early, it's a great ride, but I can see that it's a difficult proposition to attract new viewers."
Reviews
The episode received mostly positive reviews from television critics. Noel Murray of A.V. Club graded the episode with a B-, explaining that "after four solid weeks of good-to-great episodes, Fringe delivered its first semi-dud of season three" because the case-of-the-week was "dull" and "twistless", and the dialogue was "too flat and too earnest". Despite this, Murray thought the episode was "essential viewing" for Fringe fans due to certain revelations, such as how people are actually alive in the amber, and also because it moved the plot closer to a Olivia-Altlivia confrontation. Conversely, the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
Andrew Hanson thought it was a good episode, writing "This is what I love about Fringe. Not only do they have the cool science, they also have the moral questions that go along". Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
thought the episode was "enthralling," and he enjoyed the brothers' "nice emotional story," and praised Anna Torv's acting. TV Squad reviewer Jason Hughes enjoyed the parallel universe, and in particular the character of Lincoln Lee, believing he was "too rich a character to just abandon" once the series stopped alternating between universes.
Fearnet
FEARnet
Fearnet is a cable channel, website and Video on Demand television service owned by Horror Entertainment LLC, a joint venture between Comcast, Lions Gate Entertainment, and Sony Pictures Entertainment...
's Alyse Wax wrote, "I definitely think that this was the best "over there" episode they have had so far. They had an actual case, rather than still setting up who these doppelgangers are." HitFix
HitFix
HitFix, or the HitFix.com is an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information and providing reviews and critiques of film, music and television...
writer Ryan McGee thought the initial twist over the brothers' identities "was fun", though it "grew old quickly". He praised the series for not "dragging out" Olivia discovering her true identity, explaining "While episodes set Over There are delicious fun, having Olivia unaware for a long stretch would have strained credibility and perhaps damaged audience opinion of her character’s integrity." Writing for Den of Geek, Billy Grifter commented, "I have three words for the latest Fringe episode, and they're all 'brilliant'. Season three has moved gracefully, like a big cat stalking its prey, from the outset, playing a flipside game where we cleverly alternate between our universe and an alternate one where Olivia is currently resident." Grifter praised the Ashmore brothers' acting as well as their characters' storylines, calling their switch "a nice twist that's cleverly played".
External links
- "Amber 31422" at FoxFox Broadcasting CompanyFox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...