The Abducted
Encyclopedia
"The Abducted" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American science fiction
drama
television series
Fringe
. The third season spent much of its time alternating between the prime and parallel universes, and "The Abducted" was set in the latter. The episode followed the Fringe team's investigation of "the Candyman", a man who kidnaps children to harvest their youth-giving hormones.
The episode first aired on November 18, 2010 in the United States to an estimated 4.85 million viewers. Reviews of the episode were mixed; multiple critics lauded the final five minutes of the episode, while another praised lead actress Anna Torv and actor Lance Reddick's performances. Due to the holiday of Thanksgiving
, "The Abducted" began a two week break that did not end until the broadcast of a December 2 episode
.
; Olivia (Anna Torv
), having broken her conditioning that made her believe she was her doppelgänger
Fauxlivia (Torv) from that universe, maintains the pretense that she is still conditioned. She meets with Henry (Andre Royo
), the taxi driver who helped her out before, and asks him to help her return to Liberty Island
to use the sensory deprivation tank
to return herself to her universe.
A child, Max (Michael Strusievici), is kidnapped from his home. The Fringe team investigates and Broyles (Lance Reddick
) immediately recognizes this as the work of "The Candyman"; though only appearing once every two years, the Candyman abducts a child and returns him some days later, but whatever the Candyman has done leaves the child physically deprived. Broyles' own son, Christopher (Curtis Harris), was one of the most recent victims, having become blind as a result of the ordeal. Christopher tells Olivia that he believes there were two people involved with his abduction, one old and one young. Combined with other information, Olivia suspects that the Candyman is draining the children of hormones from the pituitary gland
, helping the Candyman stay young.
The interview leads Olivia and Broyles to Reverend Marcus (David Nykl
), who gave up a career as a physician in order to establish a local church. Working through the congregation list, Olivia talks to one member, Wyatt Toomy (Will Rothhaar
), a garbageman. When Olivia spots a child's toy within his apartment, Wyatt realizes he is caught and attempts to escape, but Olivia captures him. She soon finds Max in a hidden room with a not-yet-activated device on the back of his head near the pituitary gland. She frees the boy, accidentally telling him she is an FBI
agent.
Believing the case completed, Olivia goes to meet with Henry, where he has gotten use of his cousin's boat. As he talks about having been trained to use it, Olivia contemplates how Wyatt knew about the chemistry to make the serum, and realizes he had a teacher as well - their true culprit, and immediately suspects Reverend Marcus. Broyles and Olivia hurry to his house to protect Christopher from Marcus; Olivia subdues Marcus. Olivia accompanies Broyles and his family to the same hospital that Max is being treated. There, Max thanks Olivia personally and asks her about what the "FBI" is. Broyles, having listened to Olivia's conversation, knows that she has broken her conditioning, as the FBI had ceased to exist years earlier in the parallel universe. Because of her efforts to save Christopher, he lets her go.
Olivia rejoins Henry and then leaves him to swim the rest of the way in and make her way to the isolation tank. After injecting herself with the same drugs Walternate (John Noble
) had used on her, she enters the tank and soon finds herself back in her own universe. She encounters a cleaning lady, and as Olivia feels herself being dragged back to the parallel universe, she gives the cleaning lady a message to pass along to Peter (Joshua Jackson
). Back in the isolation tank, Walternate has had Olivia extracted from the tank and directs his agents to lock her up and sedate her.
Back in the prime universe, Peter and Fauxlivia are sleeping together when Peter receives a call from the cleaning lady, who relays the message: that Olivia is trapped in the parallel universe. Peter realizes that he has been sleeping with Olivia's doppelgänger.
and executive story editor Graham Roland
, and directed by filmmaker Chuck Russell
. The episode featured guest appearances by Curtis Harris, David Nykl, John Hainsworth, Karen Holness, Andre Royo
, Will Rothhaar, Tristin Leffler, and Michael Strusievici. Holness and Royo had previously guest starred on Fringe before as the characters Diane Broyles and Henry Higgins, respectively.
Actor Lance Reddick
drew inspiration for the episode from undercover FBI agent Joe Pistone, whom he met while filming the TV series Falcone
. Pistone recommended his autobiography Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia
, and Reddick found many parallels to it and the episode. "In the book, [Pistone] talked about how while being undercover in the Mafia, he had to separate his personal feelings from his professional and moral sense of responsibility. There were certain guys he really couldn’t stand, but there were some people he genuinely liked, even though ultimately he had to bring them down. I think Col. Broyles feels the same way about Olivia. On various occasions, she has performed heroically to earn his respect, and in tonight’s episode, that appreciation — and the angst that goes with it — reaches a new level".
As with other Fringe episodes, Fox released a science lesson plan in collaboration with Science Olympiad
for grade school children, focusing on the science seen in "The Abducted", with the intention of having "students learn about vaccination and the spread of communicable diseases."
, which was a 1930s pulp magazine
turned radio show in our universe. Peter and Fauxlivia watch the 1942 romantic drama film Casablanca
, and the latter incorrectly says it starred actor and later president of the United States
Ronald Reagan
, rather than actor Humphrey Bogart
. Olivia finds a children's book her niece owns called Burlap Bear Goes To The Woods in Christopher's room. SFScope
's Sarah Stegall believed that the episode antagonist's name of Toomy was a reference to popular villain Eugene Victor Tooms in the science fiction television series The X-Files
. Olivia also refers to several fringe cases that were in first season
episodes of Fringe, including "The Same Old Story
" and "Midnight".
holiday in the US, "The Abducted" was the last episode to air until December 2, when the season's eighth episode "Entrada
" aired.
writer Ken Tucker wrote, "I loved this episode for... its careful layering and expansion of the series’ key themes, and for the way it’s setting us up for a truly superb, universe-shaking episode when Fringe returns Dec. 2." The A.V. Club
s Noel Murray graded the episode with a B+, explaining he enjoyed the episode more than the previous visit to the parallel universe
because "the last five minutes or so of 'The Abducted' were more compelling than the case-of-the-week. But not far more. The Candy Man is just so creepy—and his crime so powerfully symbolic—that I felt better about this episode overall than I did about 'Amber." Los Angeles Times
columnist Andrew Hanson thought the whole episode was "disturbing, even for Fringe", and was pleased that the killers were shot rather than arrested due to the heinousness of their crimes. IGN
's Phil Pirrello believed "the Broyles Factor padded a cool premise with a solid (if unremarkable) execution that lead to a great final five minutes." SFScope
contributor Sarah Stegall believed the episode contained some of the cast's best performances, especially praising Lance Reddick's portrayal of a "very human, caring hero who has been damaged but not crippled by the tragedy that struck his family" and Anna Torv's ability to subtly play both Olivias.
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...
. The third season spent much of its time alternating between the prime and parallel universes, and "The Abducted" was set in the latter. The episode followed the Fringe team's investigation of "the Candyman", a man who kidnaps children to harvest their youth-giving hormones.
The episode first aired on November 18, 2010 in the United States to an estimated 4.85 million viewers. Reviews of the episode were mixed; multiple critics lauded the final five minutes of the episode, while another praised lead actress Anna Torv and actor Lance Reddick's performances. Due to the holiday of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
, "The Abducted" began a two week break that did not end until the broadcast of a December 2 episode
Entrada (Fringe)
"Entrada" is the eighth episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe, and the 51st episode overall. The third season spent much of its time alternating between the prime and parallel universes, and "Entrada" was the first of the season to have time...
.
Plot
"The Abducted" takes place 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...
; Olivia (Anna Torv
Anna Torv
Anna Torv is an Australian actress known for her role as FBI agent Olivia Dunham on the Fox television series Fringe.-Early life:...
), having broken her conditioning that made her believe she was her doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
Fauxlivia (Torv) from that universe, maintains the pretense that she is still conditioned. She meets with Henry (Andre Royo
Andre Royo
Andre Royo is an American actor. He is best known for his role as "Bubbles" in The Wire , and has had guest starring appearances in Fringe, Party Down, and How To Make It In America.-Career:...
), the taxi driver who helped her out before, and asks him to help her return to Liberty Island
Liberty Island
Liberty Island is a small uninhabited island in New York Harbor in the United States, best known as the location of the Statue of Liberty. Though so called since the turn of the century, the name did not become official until 1956. In 1937, by proclamation 2250, President Franklin D...
to use the sensory deprivation tank
Isolation tank
An isolation tank is a lightless, soundproof tank inside which subjects float in salt water at skin temperature. They were first used by John C. Lilly in 1954 to test the effects of sensory deprivation. Such tanks are now also used for meditation and relaxation and in alternative medicine. The...
to return herself to her universe.
A child, Max (Michael Strusievici), is kidnapped from his home. The Fringe team investigates and Broyles (Lance Reddick
Lance Reddick
Lance Reddick is an American theater, film and TV actor and musician born in Baltimore, Maryland. He starred in The Wire as Cedric Daniels, appeared in Oz as Detective Johnny Basil and appeared in the fourth and fifth seasons of Lost. He now has a prominent role in Fringe...
) immediately recognizes this as the work of "The Candyman"; though only appearing once every two years, the Candyman abducts a child and returns him some days later, but whatever the Candyman has done leaves the child physically deprived. Broyles' own son, Christopher (Curtis Harris), was one of the most recent victims, having become blind as a result of the ordeal. Christopher tells Olivia that he believes there were two people involved with his abduction, one old and one young. Combined with other information, Olivia suspects that the Candyman is draining the children of hormones from the pituitary gland
Pituitary gland
In vertebrate anatomy the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea and weighing 0.5 g , in humans. It is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain, and rests in a small, bony cavity covered by a dural fold...
, helping the Candyman stay young.
The interview leads Olivia and Broyles to Reverend Marcus (David Nykl
David Nykl
David Nykl is a Czech Canadian actor of film, television, commercials and theater.After the Soviet invasion in 1968, he and his family left then-Communist Czechoslovakia for Canada...
), who gave up a career as a physician in order to establish a local church. Working through the congregation list, Olivia talks to one member, Wyatt Toomy (Will Rothhaar
Will Rothhaar
Will Rothhaar is an American actor.Rothhaar was born in New York City, New York, the son of Michael Rothhaar and Nancy Linehan Charles, both of whom are playwrights, actors and directors....
), a garbageman. When Olivia spots a child's toy within his apartment, Wyatt realizes he is caught and attempts to escape, but Olivia captures him. She soon finds Max in a hidden room with a not-yet-activated device on the back of his head near the pituitary gland. She frees the boy, accidentally telling him she is an FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agent.
Believing the case completed, Olivia goes to meet with Henry, where he has gotten use of his cousin's boat. As he talks about having been trained to use it, Olivia contemplates how Wyatt knew about the chemistry to make the serum, and realizes he had a teacher as well - their true culprit, and immediately suspects Reverend Marcus. Broyles and Olivia hurry to his house to protect Christopher from Marcus; Olivia subdues Marcus. Olivia accompanies Broyles and his family to the same hospital that Max is being treated. There, Max thanks Olivia personally and asks her about what the "FBI" is. Broyles, having listened to Olivia's conversation, knows that she has broken her conditioning, as the FBI had ceased to exist years earlier in the parallel universe. Because of her efforts to save Christopher, he lets her go.
Olivia rejoins Henry and then leaves him to swim the rest of the way in and make her way to the isolation tank. After injecting herself with the same drugs Walternate (John Noble
John Noble
John Noble is an Australian film and television actor, and theater director of more than 80 plays. He was born in Port Pirie, South Australia, Australia and is currently starring as scientist Walter Bishop in the J. J. Abrams television series Fringe.He made occasional appearances on the...
) had used on her, she enters the tank and soon finds herself back in her own universe. She encounters a cleaning lady, and as Olivia feels herself being dragged back to the parallel universe, she gives the cleaning lady a message to pass along to Peter (Joshua Jackson
Joshua Jackson
Joshua Carter Jackson is a Canadian American actor. He has appeared in primetime television and in over 32 film roles. He is best known for playing Charlie Conway in The Mighty Ducks film series, Pacey Witter in the television series Dawson's Creek and Peter Bishop in the television series...
). Back in the isolation tank, Walternate has had Olivia extracted from the tank and directs his agents to lock her up and sedate her.
Back in the prime universe, Peter and Fauxlivia are sleeping together when Peter receives a call from the cleaning lady, who relays the message: that Olivia is trapped in the parallel universe. Peter realizes that he has been sleeping with Olivia's doppelgänger.
Production
"The Abducted" was written by co-executive producer David WilcoxDavid Wilcox (screenwriter)
David Wilcox is an award nominated television writer and producer, best known for working on series such as Law & Order, Dragnet, the American remake of Life on Mars, and the FOX science fiction series Fringe.- Fringe :...
and executive story editor Graham Roland
Graham Roland
Graham Roland is an American television writer.- Career :Roland is best known as a writer on the FOX series Prison Break and for the final season of the ABC mystery series Lost...
, and directed by filmmaker Chuck Russell
Chuck Russell
Charles "Chuck" Russell is an American motion picture director, producer and actor.-Filmography:*The Hearse *Hell Night *The Seduction...
. The episode featured guest appearances by Curtis Harris, David Nykl, John Hainsworth, Karen Holness, Andre Royo
Andre Royo
Andre Royo is an American actor. He is best known for his role as "Bubbles" in The Wire , and has had guest starring appearances in Fringe, Party Down, and How To Make It In America.-Career:...
, Will Rothhaar, Tristin Leffler, and Michael Strusievici. Holness and Royo had previously guest starred on Fringe before as the characters Diane Broyles and Henry Higgins, respectively.
Actor Lance Reddick
Lance Reddick
Lance Reddick is an American theater, film and TV actor and musician born in Baltimore, Maryland. He starred in The Wire as Cedric Daniels, appeared in Oz as Detective Johnny Basil and appeared in the fourth and fifth seasons of Lost. He now has a prominent role in Fringe...
drew inspiration for the episode from undercover FBI agent Joe Pistone, whom he met while filming the TV series Falcone
Falcone (TV series)
Falcone is an American TV show on CBS which lasted only one season. The plot follows Joseph D. Pistone , who goes undercover to bring down the mob. This was based on a true story, also having been dramatized in the movie Donnie Brasco. also Based on the book Donnie Brasco-My Undercover Life in the...
. Pistone recommended his autobiography Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia
Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia
Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia is a non-fiction crime book written by Joseph D. Pistone. It is the true story of FBI agent Joseph Pistone going undercover and infiltrating the Mafia...
, and Reddick found many parallels to it and the episode. "In the book, [Pistone] talked about how while being undercover in the Mafia, he had to separate his personal feelings from his professional and moral sense of responsibility. There were certain guys he really couldn’t stand, but there were some people he genuinely liked, even though ultimately he had to bring them down. I think Col. Broyles feels the same way about Olivia. On various occasions, she has performed heroically to earn his respect, and in tonight’s episode, that appreciation — and the angst that goes with it — reaches a new level".
As with other Fringe episodes, Fox released a science lesson plan in collaboration 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 "The Abducted", with the intention of having "students learn about vaccination and the spread of communicable diseases."
Cultural references
Over there, Christopher Broyles is seen watching an episode of an old television series called The ShadowThe Shadow
The Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in pulp magazines, then on 1930s radio and then in a wide variety of media, that follow the exploits of the title character, a crime-fighting vigilante in the pulps, which carried over to the airwaves as a "wealthy, young man about town"...
, which was a 1930s pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
turned radio show in our universe. Peter and Fauxlivia watch the 1942 romantic drama film Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
, and the latter incorrectly says it starred actor and later president of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, rather than actor 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....
. Olivia finds a children's book her niece owns called Burlap Bear Goes To The Woods in Christopher's room. SFScope
SFScope
SFScope is an online trade journal devoted to entertainment news concerning speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It was founded by Ian Randal Strock in early 2007....
's Sarah Stegall believed that the episode antagonist's name of Toomy was a reference to popular villain Eugene Victor Tooms in the science fiction television series The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
. Olivia also refers to several fringe cases that were in first season
Fringe (Season 1)
The first season of the American science fiction television series Fringe commenced airing on September 9, 2008, and concluded on May 12, 2009. The season contained 21 episodes, although only 20 of them aired as part of the first season...
episodes of Fringe, including "The Same Old Story
The Same Old Story
Josh Jackson of Paste Magazine disliked the "deus ex machina" aspects that "neatly solved the puzzles of the first two episodes", and also criticized perceived "plot contrivances" like how the serial murderer immediately began aging once interrupted from killing his last victim...
" and "Midnight".
Ratings
On its initial broadcast on November 17, 2010, "The Abducted" was watched by an estimated 4.85 million viewers in the United States, with a 3.0/5 rating among all households. It earned a 1.9/5 ratings share for viewers 18-49, helping Fox place third for the night in that demographic. Due to the ThanksgivingThanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
holiday in the US, "The Abducted" was the last episode to air until December 2, when the season's eighth episode "Entrada
Entrada (Fringe)
"Entrada" is the eighth episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe, and the 51st episode overall. The third season spent much of its time alternating between the prime and parallel universes, and "Entrada" was the first of the season to have time...
" aired.
Reviews
Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment 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...
writer Ken Tucker wrote, "I loved this episode for... its careful layering and expansion of the series’ key themes, and for the way it’s setting us up for a truly superb, universe-shaking episode when Fringe returns Dec. 2." The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
s Noel Murray graded the episode with a B+, explaining he enjoyed the episode more than the previous visit to the parallel universe
Amber 31422
"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...
because "the last five minutes or so of 'The Abducted' were more compelling than the case-of-the-week. But not far more. The Candy Man is just so creepy—and his crime so powerfully symbolic—that I felt better about this episode overall than I did about 'Amber." Los Angeles Times
Los 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....
columnist Andrew Hanson thought the whole episode was "disturbing, even for Fringe", and was pleased that the killers were shot rather than arrested due to the heinousness of their crimes. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Phil Pirrello believed "the Broyles Factor padded a cool premise with a solid (if unremarkable) execution that lead to a great final five minutes." SFScope
SFScope
SFScope is an online trade journal devoted to entertainment news concerning speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It was founded by Ian Randal Strock in early 2007....
contributor Sarah Stegall believed the episode contained some of the cast's best performances, especially praising Lance Reddick's portrayal of a "very human, caring hero who has been damaged but not crippled by the tragedy that struck his family" and Anna Torv's ability to subtly play both Olivias.
External links
- "The Abducted" 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...