The Firefly (Fringe)
Encyclopedia
"The Firefly" is the 10th episode of the third season
of the American science fiction
drama
television series
Fringe
, and the 53rd episode overall. The episode centers on a chain of events created by Walter
crossing over into the parallel universe
in 1985 that has had subtle but significant effects in the present. Christopher Lloyd
guest-starred as retired rocker Roscoe Joyce.
As the first episode in its new Friday time slot, "The Firefly" aired on January 21, 2011 in the United States to 4.88 million viewers, outperforming the previous episode "Marionette
" Thursday night viewership by 18%. Time shifted
viewership added an additional 42% in its ratings. It received generally positive reviews, with many praising the storyline as "elegant" and "beautiful."
), the former keyboardist of the band Violet Sedan Chair, was seen talking to his son Bobby (Nick Ouellette) who had died in 1985, as well as evidence of an Observer. Walter Bishop
(John Noble
), meeting his musical hero, requests to take Roscoe back to his lab to help Roscoe remember what his son said. Walter is able to help Roscoe remember much of his past since the loss of his son through therapy that includes helping Roscoe to recall his piano-playing skills. Roscoe shortly recalls the conversation with his son, which was actually a message from the Observer September to Walter. September (Michael Cerveris
) soon appears at the lab and requests to speak to Walter.
As they walk, September reminds Walter of the damage he did when he brought Peter from the parallel universe. September recounts the events of one such chain: in the prime universe, three months after Walter's crossing, Peter
(Joshua Jackson
) captured a firefly which set into motion a chain of events that eventually led to the death of a pedestrian in a car accident. September mysteriously departs when Walter answers a telephone call, but not before leaving him with a message: "give him the keys and save the girl." Later, Walter returns Roscoe to the nursing home. Roscoe thanks him and explains that the recent events reminded him of the last phone call he had with his son, where Bobby said he had dreamed of meeting Roscoe in a nursing home in the future. Roscoe is remorseful that Bobby died shortly after that call when a car struck him while crossing the street, which led to the breakup of the band. Walter realizes that Roscoe's son was the pedestrian that was previously alluded to by September.
Unbeknownst to the Fringe team, September has engineered several events in the last few days, including stopping an armed robbery to help the asthma
tic female employee (Olivia Cheng
) recover from an asthma attack, taking her inhaler. When Walter hears of this witness, he requests Peter and Agent Olivia Dunham
(Anna Torv
) to bring her to his lab, believing her to be related to the Observer's warning. Minutes from the lab, September rams the car in which the woman is being transported, initiating another asthma attack. September races from the scene, prompting Peter to follow him in Walter's car, requesting Walter to "give me the keys and save the girl." Walter realizes that September has been orchestrating the events leading up to this point and urges Peter not to go, believing that following the advice of the Observer might lead to Peter's death. Walter eventually relents and returns to help the woman, creating a makeshift inhaler before emergency help arrives. Meanwhile, Peter and Olivia follow the Observer to a rooftop. Peter corners September, who says "It must be very difficult, being a father", before he shoots Peter with an energy blast that knocks him off his feet. Olivia arrives in time to give chase to the Observer but September disappears from an adjacent rooftop.
While Walter and Agent Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole
) ensure that the witness is safe at the hospital, Olivia takes Peter back to the lab. Peter, suffering from a headache, takes an aspirin and drinks out of what he believes to be an ordinary bottle of milk from the fridge. In reality, the milk contains a serum developed by Walter in order to help him recover his full mental function. However, the serum was incorrectly prepared, which causes Peter to begin convulsing. Over the phone, Walter directs Olivia to inject Peter with the correct compounds in order to save his life. Walter realizes that the serum would have killed him if he had consumed it, and that this was another step in the Observer's plot. Later that evening, September meets with another Observer, and identifies the fact that Walter was able to let Peter go, despite believing that he may not survive, and that when the time comes, they can expect Walter to do it again.
In a side plot, Olivia and Peter attempt to reorganize their relationship after Olivia receives a book (If You Meet The Buddha On The Road, Kill Him! by Sheldon Kopp
) from Peter that he had originally ordered for Olivia's doppelgänger
from the parallel universe.
. The move meant that Fringe would be airing against Supernatural
, a show with a similar science fiction
genre, though this competition did not begin until Fringes third Friday episode "Concentrate and Ask Again
". Fox's popular reality series American Idol
took Fringes timeslot, as it was shifted a day later to Wednesdays and Thursdays. Executive producer J. H. Wyman stated in an interview that they were excited and believed Friday nights are "open territory that can be conquered... [We believe] we can actually deliver like The X-Files
did. ... I think we both agree it's a good opportunity". Wyman elaborated that the show's high DVR numbers proved that though fans were watching the show, they did not want to do so on Thursdays. Co-executive producer Jeff Pinkner
felt that if the show "can build a fan base on and carve out some territory on Friday night, we can be there for years".
"The Firefly" was written by executive producers J. H. Wyman and Jeff Pinkner, and was directed by Charles Beeson
. The episode was originally going to air on January 28 until it was moved to a week earlier, on January 21 behind the season premiere of Kitchen Nightmares. On October 20, 2010, TV Guide
announced that Back to the Future
star Christopher Lloyd
had been cast in an upcoming episode as "Walter's musical hero". Noble explained Lloyd's role: "We all know how much Walter loves music, right? Well this fellow was one of his icons. He adored this man. So Walter gets to be a bit of a fanboy". Lloyd began shooting the episode in late October. Soon before the episode aired, Lloyd told reporters "I was very excited for this role. My character is going through an experience he never expected to happen to him, and he's adjusting to that." Lloyd also added he felt welcomed in as a part of the ensemble cast. In a conference call interview with journalists, John Noble explained that "probably the best fun that I've had [on Fringe] was doing the stuff with Chris Lloyd, because it was two crazy old guys just trying desperately to communicate with each other. We had a lot of laughs. There was a common thread of trying to find the music again, because Chris' character had forgotten how to play the piano, so we go through this journey of bringing the music back to him, and [it's a] thrill to Walter. This happens all the way through this very complicated episode".
The band name of Lloyd's character Roscoe Joyce, "Violet Sedan Chair," is a fictional band, but one that J.J. Abrams had named-dropped two years earlier in an issue of Wired
for which he had guest-edited, alluding to the band's album, Seven Suns, recorded in the 1970s. Several months prior to the broadcast of "The Firefly", a number of vinyl records of Seven Suns were shipped to a select number of independent record stores across the United States, which have been discovered by some people. The album does contain twelve songs in the style of psychedelic and folk. The album itself has been briefly shown in the series.
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 Firefly", with the intention of having "students learn about pharmacology and the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical functions."
, set in Washington State where Doctor Lawrence Jacoby is the local psychiatrist who also owns a pair of the same sunglasses. Reviewers also contrasted the casting of Christopher Lloyd, better known for his role of the scientist "Doc" Brown
from the Back to the Future trilogy
which took place in 1985, to that of a character involved with time travel involving the year 1985. Some journalists have speculated that the episode's title was in reference to Joss Whedon
's Firefly
series, which while critically acclaimed was cancelled mid-season after being scheduled in the Friday night death slot
. Though "The Firefly" was the first Fringe episode to be first aired in the new Friday night slot, the producer had already selected the title of the episode prior to the Fox Network rescheduling.
". When time shifted
viewership over the following three days is considered, the episode received a 42% ratings increase with a 2.7 rating share, and within 7 days after its airing, reported a total of 6.7 million viewers with 2.8 rating, representing a 37% increase from the live broadcast. Fringe and its lead-in show, Kitchen Nightmares
, resulted in Fox's highest rated Friday night with entertainment programs since 2008.
considered "The Firefly" as one of the series' "finest episodes", calling on the show's many qualities:
The A.V. Club's Zack Handlen rated the episode an "A" in considering the "elegance" of the complicated Rube Goldberg
-like plot, and praised the "beautiful, beautiful writing" in the reveal of the connection between Walter's actions and Roscoe's loss. Time
s James Poniewozik also enjoyed the elegant plot, calling the episode "an impressive outing for the series to welcome back its fans with"; Poniewozik also appreciated John Noble's performance as he "made Walter's regret, and the toll it has taken, real—while also pulling off an amusing turn as an overawed, elderly rock fanboy". Andrew Hansen of the Los Angeles Times
, though somewhat confused to the cause-and-effect of the Observer's plot, he still found the show enjoyable, and called it "the Fringe version of the butterfly effect
", a trope often used in other shows to show the impact of small changes in the characters' lives. IGN
's Ramsey Isler gave the episode a rating of 7.5/10, stating that was "an important part of the setup for the second half of the season" with strong character development, but felt the pacing was slow and needed more action. Television Without Pity rated the episode a "B+".
, John Noble submitted "The Firefly", along with "Entrada
" and "The Day We Died
", for consideration in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category, but did not receive a nomination.
Fringe (season 3)
The third season of the American science fiction television series Fringe premiered on Fox on September 23, 2010, and concluded on May 6, 2011, consisting of 22 episodes. The series is produced by Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros...
of the American 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...
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...
, and the 53rd episode overall. The episode centers on a chain of events created by Walter
Walter Bishop (Fringe)
Walter Bishop, Ph.D. is a fictional character on the Fox television series Fringe. He is portrayed by John Noble. Noble also plays Walter's counterpart in the show's parallel universe, who is referred to in the show as Walternate.-Arc:...
crossing over into the parallel universe
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...
in 1985 that has had subtle but significant effects in the present. Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd is an American actor. He is best known for playing Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, and Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He played Reverend Jim Ignatowski in the television series Taxi and more...
guest-starred as retired rocker Roscoe Joyce.
As the first episode in its new Friday time slot, "The Firefly" aired on January 21, 2011 in the United States to 4.88 million viewers, outperforming the previous episode "Marionette
Marionette (Fringe)
"Marionette" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe. The episode was written by Monica Owusu-Breen and Alison Schapker, and directed by Joe Chappelle...
" Thursday night viewership by 18%. Time shifted
Time shifting
Time shifting is the recording of programming to a storage medium to be viewed or listened to at a time more convenient to the consumer. Typically, this refers to TV programming but can also refer to radio shows via podcasts....
viewership added an additional 42% in its ratings. It received generally positive reviews, with many praising the storyline as "elegant" and "beautiful."
Plot
The Fringe team is brought to a nursing home, where Roscoe Joyce (Christopher LloydChristopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd is an American actor. He is best known for playing Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, and Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He played Reverend Jim Ignatowski in the television series Taxi and more...
), the former keyboardist of the band Violet Sedan Chair, was seen talking to his son Bobby (Nick Ouellette) who had died in 1985, as well as evidence of an Observer. Walter Bishop
Walter Bishop (Fringe)
Walter Bishop, Ph.D. is a fictional character on the Fox television series Fringe. He is portrayed by John Noble. Noble also plays Walter's counterpart in the show's parallel universe, who is referred to in the show as Walternate.-Arc:...
(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...
), meeting his musical hero, requests to take Roscoe back to his lab to help Roscoe remember what his son said. Walter is able to help Roscoe remember much of his past since the loss of his son through therapy that includes helping Roscoe to recall his piano-playing skills. Roscoe shortly recalls the conversation with his son, which was actually a message from the Observer September to Walter. September (Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris is an American singer, guitarist and actor. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including in several Stephen Sondheim musicals: Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Road Show, and Passion...
) soon appears at the lab and requests to speak to Walter.
As they walk, September reminds Walter of the damage he did when he brought Peter from the parallel universe. September recounts the events of one such chain: in the prime universe, three months after Walter's crossing, Peter
Peter Bishop
Peter Bishop is a fictional character on the Fox television series Fringe. He is portrayed by Joshua Jackson.-Fictional character biography:...
(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...
) captured a firefly which set into motion a chain of events that eventually led to the death of a pedestrian in a car accident. September mysteriously departs when Walter answers a telephone call, but not before leaving him with a message: "give him the keys and save the girl." Later, Walter returns Roscoe to the nursing home. Roscoe thanks him and explains that the recent events reminded him of the last phone call he had with his son, where Bobby said he had dreamed of meeting Roscoe in a nursing home in the future. Roscoe is remorseful that Bobby died shortly after that call when a car struck him while crossing the street, which led to the breakup of the band. Walter realizes that Roscoe's son was the pedestrian that was previously alluded to by September.
Unbeknownst to the Fringe team, September has engineered several events in the last few days, including stopping an armed robbery to help the asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
tic female employee (Olivia Cheng
Olivia Cheng (Canadian actress)
Olivia Sonya Cheng is an actress, broadcast journalist, and former correspondent for Entertainment Tonight Canada.Her filmography includes the mini-series Broken Trail, and the episode The New World on the television series The 4400....
) recover from an asthma attack, taking her inhaler. When Walter hears of this witness, he requests Peter and Agent Olivia Dunham
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....
(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:...
) to bring her to his lab, believing her to be related to the Observer's warning. Minutes from the lab, September rams the car in which the woman is being transported, initiating another asthma attack. September races from the scene, prompting Peter to follow him in Walter's car, requesting Walter to "give me the keys and save the girl." Walter realizes that September has been orchestrating the events leading up to this point and urges Peter not to go, believing that following the advice of the Observer might lead to Peter's death. Walter eventually relents and returns to help the woman, creating a makeshift inhaler before emergency help arrives. Meanwhile, Peter and Olivia follow the Observer to a rooftop. Peter corners September, who says "It must be very difficult, being a father", before he shoots Peter with an energy blast that knocks him off his feet. Olivia arrives in time to give chase to the Observer but September disappears from an adjacent rooftop.
While Walter and Agent Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole
Jasika Nicole
Jasika Nicole is an American actress and illustrator from Birmingham, Alabama. She is most famous for portraying the character of Astrid Farnsworth in the TV series Fringe....
) ensure that the witness is safe at the hospital, Olivia takes Peter back to the lab. Peter, suffering from a headache, takes an aspirin and drinks out of what he believes to be an ordinary bottle of milk from the fridge. In reality, the milk contains a serum developed by Walter in order to help him recover his full mental function. However, the serum was incorrectly prepared, which causes Peter to begin convulsing. Over the phone, Walter directs Olivia to inject Peter with the correct compounds in order to save his life. Walter realizes that the serum would have killed him if he had consumed it, and that this was another step in the Observer's plot. Later that evening, September meets with another Observer, and identifies the fact that Walter was able to let Peter go, despite believing that he may not survive, and that when the time comes, they can expect Walter to do it again.
In a side plot, Olivia and Peter attempt to reorganize their relationship after Olivia receives a book (If You Meet The Buddha On The Road, Kill Him! by Sheldon Kopp
Sheldon Kopp
Sheldon Kopp was a psychotherapist and author, based in Washington, D.C.. He was born in New York City, and received his PhD from the New School of Social Research. In addition to his private practice, he served as a Psychotherapy Supervisor for the Pastoral Counselling and Consultation Centres...
) from Peter that he had originally ordered for Olivia's doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
from the parallel universe.
Production
In November 2010, Fox announced that Fringe was being moved to Friday nights as a part of the network's midseason overhaul, to air after the fourth season of their reality series Kitchen NightmaresKitchen Nightmares
Kitchen Nightmares is an American reality television series broadcast on the Fox network, in which Chef Gordon Ramsay spends a week with a failing restaurant in an attempt to revive the business. It is based on the British show Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. The show is produced by ITV Studios...
. The move meant that Fringe would be airing against Supernatural
Supernatural (TV series)
Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
, a show with a similar 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...
genre, though this competition did not begin until Fringes third Friday episode "Concentrate and Ask Again
Concentrate and Ask Again
"Concentrate and Ask Again" is the 12th episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe, and the 55th episode overall.-Plot:...
". Fox's popular reality series American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
took Fringes timeslot, as it was shifted a day later to Wednesdays and Thursdays. Executive producer J. H. Wyman stated in an interview that they were excited and believed Friday nights are "open territory that can be conquered... [We believe] we can actually deliver like 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...
did. ... I think we both agree it's a good opportunity". Wyman elaborated that the show's high DVR numbers proved that though fans were watching the show, they did not want to do so on Thursdays. Co-executive producer Jeff Pinkner
Jeff Pinkner
Jeff Pinkner is an American television writer and producer. He graduated from Pikesville High School in Baltimore Maryland in 1983. He is known for his work on Alias where he served as executive producer. In 2006 and 2007, he worked as an executive producer and writer for the mystery series Lost...
felt that if the show "can build a fan base on and carve out some territory on Friday night, we can be there for years".
Charles Beeson (director)
Charles Beeson is a British television director.Some of his credits include the films: Second Sight, Four Minutes, Stranded, Cider With Rosie, Thursday 12th, and episodes of EastEnders, Spooks, Inspector Morse, and Casualty...
. The episode was originally going to air on January 28 until it was moved to a week earlier, on January 21 behind the season premiere of Kitchen Nightmares. On October 20, 2010, TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
announced that Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
star Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd is an American actor. He is best known for playing Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, and Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He played Reverend Jim Ignatowski in the television series Taxi and more...
had been cast in an upcoming episode as "Walter's musical hero". Noble explained Lloyd's role: "We all know how much Walter loves music, right? Well this fellow was one of his icons. He adored this man. So Walter gets to be a bit of a fanboy". Lloyd began shooting the episode in late October. Soon before the episode aired, Lloyd told reporters "I was very excited for this role. My character is going through an experience he never expected to happen to him, and he's adjusting to that." Lloyd also added he felt welcomed in as a part of the ensemble cast. In a conference call interview with journalists, John Noble explained that "probably the best fun that I've had [on Fringe] was doing the stuff with Chris Lloyd, because it was two crazy old guys just trying desperately to communicate with each other. We had a lot of laughs. There was a common thread of trying to find the music again, because Chris' character had forgotten how to play the piano, so we go through this journey of bringing the music back to him, and [it's a] thrill to Walter. This happens all the way through this very complicated episode".
The band name of Lloyd's character Roscoe Joyce, "Violet Sedan Chair," is a fictional band, but one that J.J. Abrams had named-dropped two years earlier in an issue of Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
for which he had guest-edited, alluding to the band's album, Seven Suns, recorded in the 1970s. Several months prior to the broadcast of "The Firefly", a number of vinyl records of Seven Suns were shipped to a select number of independent record stores across the United States, which have been discovered by some people. The album does contain twelve songs in the style of psychedelic and folk. The album itself has been briefly shown in the series.
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 Firefly", with the intention of having "students learn about pharmacology and the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical functions."
Cultural references
Walter explains that the red and blue sunglasses he uses in order to see Roscoe Joyce's aura were sent to him by his friend, Doctor Jacoby from Washington State. This is a reference to the television series Twin PeaksTwin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
, set in Washington State where Doctor Lawrence Jacoby is the local psychiatrist who also owns a pair of the same sunglasses. Reviewers also contrasted the casting of Christopher Lloyd, better known for his role of the scientist "Doc" Brown
Emmett Brown
Doctor Emmett Lathrop "Doc" Brown, Ph.D. is a fictional character and one of the lead characters in the Back to the Future film trilogy, in which he is the inventor of the first time machine, which he builds out of a DeLorean sports car...
from the Back to the Future trilogy
Back to the Future trilogy
The Back to the Future trilogy is a comedic science fiction adventure film series written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, directed by Zemeckis, produced by Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The main plot follows the adventures of a high school student Marty McFly and...
which took place in 1985, to that of a character involved with time travel involving the year 1985. Some journalists have speculated that the episode's title was in reference to Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
's Firefly
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
series, which while critically acclaimed was cancelled mid-season after being scheduled in the Friday night death slot
Friday night death slot
The Friday night death slot is a perceived graveyard slot in American television, referring to the concept that a television program in the United States scheduled on Friday evenings is destined for imminent cancellation....
. Though "The Firefly" was the first Fringe episode to be first aired in the new Friday night slot, the producer had already selected the title of the episode prior to the Fox Network rescheduling.
Ratings
"The Firefly" was the first Fringe episode to broadcast in its Friday slot, and many journalists considered the pending viewership numbers critical for the future of the show. The episode was the most watched show of the night, earning a 1.9/6 share or about 4.88 million viewers in the 18–49 age group. This figure was slightly higher than the average viewership for Fringe in the first half of the 2010-2011 television season, and 18% higher than the previous episode, "MarionetteMarionette (Fringe)
"Marionette" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe. The episode was written by Monica Owusu-Breen and Alison Schapker, and directed by Joe Chappelle...
". When time shifted
Time shifting
Time shifting is the recording of programming to a storage medium to be viewed or listened to at a time more convenient to the consumer. Typically, this refers to TV programming but can also refer to radio shows via podcasts....
viewership over the following three days is considered, the episode received a 42% ratings increase with a 2.7 rating share, and within 7 days after its airing, reported a total of 6.7 million viewers with 2.8 rating, representing a 37% increase from the live broadcast. Fringe and its lead-in show, Kitchen Nightmares
Kitchen Nightmares
Kitchen Nightmares is an American reality television series broadcast on the Fox network, in which Chef Gordon Ramsay spends a week with a failing restaurant in an attempt to revive the business. It is based on the British show Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. The show is produced by ITV Studios...
, resulted in Fox's highest rated Friday night with entertainment programs since 2008.
Reviews
"The Firefly" was well-received by critics who considered the episode to be backed by a strong script. Ken Tucker of 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...
considered "The Firefly" as one of the series' "finest episodes", calling on the show's many qualities:
The A.V. Club's Zack Handlen rated the episode an "A" in considering the "elegance" of the complicated Rube Goldberg
Rube Goldberg
Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor.He is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. These devices, now known as Rube Goldberg machines, are similar to...
-like plot, and praised the "beautiful, beautiful writing" in the reveal of the connection between Walter's actions and Roscoe's loss. Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
s James Poniewozik also enjoyed the elegant plot, calling the episode "an impressive outing for the series to welcome back its fans with"; Poniewozik also appreciated John Noble's performance as he "made Walter's regret, and the toll it has taken, real—while also pulling off an amusing turn as an overawed, elderly rock fanboy". Andrew Hansen of the 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....
, though somewhat confused to the cause-and-effect of the Observer's plot, he still found the show enjoyable, and called it "the Fringe version of the butterfly effect
Butterfly effect
In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions; where a small change at one place in a nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state...
", a trope often used in other shows to show the impact of small changes in the characters' lives. 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 Ramsey Isler gave the episode a rating of 7.5/10, stating that was "an important part of the setup for the second half of the season" with strong character development, but felt the pacing was slow and needed more action. Television Without Pity rated the episode a "B+".
Awards and nomination
At the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards63rd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in primetime television programming from June 1, 2010 until May 31, 2011, was held on September 18, 2011, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Fox televised the ceremony within the United States. Actress Jane Lynch hosted...
, John Noble submitted "The Firefly", along with "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...
" and "The Day We Died
The Day We Died
"The Day We Died" is the third season finale of the Fox science fiction drama television series Fringe. It is the season's 22nd episode and the series' 65th episode overall. The finale follows the aftermath of Peter entering and activating the doomsday device...
", for consideration in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category, but did not receive a nomination.
External links
- "The Firefly" 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...