The Candy Man

Fringe’s central conflicts often hinge on the theft of “human resources." This is sometimes done by way of kidnapping; other times the “thieves” impose their experiments on groups of people in public places.  But time and again we see human beings used as unwilling  subjects of large-scale, “fringy” science experiments. As Broyles tells Olivia in the pilot episode, “it’s as if someone out there is experimenting, only the whole world is their lab.” This continues to be the recurring conflict that pushes the plot of Fringe forward, and the title of the most recent episode, “The Abducted,” recognizes a number of different kidnapping cases, from Walter’s abduction of Peter, to Walternate taking Olivia and the Candy Man’s quest for an endless supply of pituitary hormones.

In “The Abducted” the writers continue with the established theme of not only kidnapping but also unethical experimentation. In fact, it could be argued that this is what Fringe is all about: human exploitation and the protagonists’ effort to prevent it. It hardly matters whether this fight takes place in one universe or the other. Hasn’t it always been Olivia’s purpose? To save the day and rescue the abducted from the hands of dreadfully ambitious scientists (like the members of ZFT)? The most pressing, if understated, question in this episode is “how will Olivia get home?” But even as she is struggling to escape her own rat maze, she continues to rescue and comfort others. She saves an innocent boy from an egomaniacal leader and his religious perversions, all the while planning her own escape.

In this parallel world Olivia has suffered the terror of abduction and experimentation, but it’s not her first time being used as a subject of science. It directly reflects her childhood experience, when William Bell and Walter used her and other children to further their own scientific agenda. Though Walter has presumably atoned for his sins, he certainly has done his share when it comes to abduction and exploitation.

The fixation on abduction and human testing has proven to be this show's obsession. Its current plot twists in the parallel world all lead back to the famous Peter Bishop kidnapping. Walternate makes it clear that the abduction of a child is the most unspeakable criminal act that anyone could carry out. But it seems that the characters who engage in this kind of thing, including Walternate himself (although his abduction involves an adult), easily justify doing it when they believe it is for “the common good,” as Reverend Marcus tells young Christopher Broyles, or that it is furthering science and technology. In fact, ZFT, the clandestine scientific cult from the original universe is comparable to Marcus and Wyatt Toomey's zealous organization. The tone of the reverend's prayer is akin to the language of that mysterious manifesto from season one: “in darkness there is a cleansing fire and through the fire, you shall find the spring of new life.”

Thanks for reading! Don't miss Jon Lachonis' fantastic article about keeping Fringe alive: How to Save Fringe