Cordial Deconstruction

Observations from our shared single objective reality in a materialistic, naturalistic, & effectively macro-deterministic universe.

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Deconstruction Review of Fringe, Episode 1, Season 3, Olivia

Posted by Karl Withakay on September 23, 2010

(A Red Episode)

As usual, an episode synopsis can be found over at Scott’s Polite Dissent.

It seemed to me there was less to Deconstruct in this episode as it didn’t involve a Fringe incident and dealt mostly with the drama of Olivia in the alternate universe, but after finishing this post, maybe I was mistaken.

Ultra Low Security Establishment

OK, first they escort a potentially dangerous, combat trained prisoner using only one guard and no restraints.  Then they have no guard(s) posted outside the room during the treatment, and the guards on patrol in the hallways are best suited to be a mall cops rather than guards at a secure government installation.  (No offense intended to mall cops.)  Next they release her from her restraints when she starts having breathing problems so they can sit her up rather than say, bag her while she is still restrained.  (They’re conducting medical experiments on her, they have to have the  equipment and trained personnel to deal with medical emergencies, right?)  Finally the doors are locked only with a key code and no swipe card, they allow the prisoner to observe the code being entered, and all the doors internal and external have the same code.  If I ever get locked up in a super secret, government facility, this is the one I want to be locked up in.

Magic “Memory” White Blood Cells

I think the writers are confused about what is meant by the term “memory B Cells” and “memory T cells” in regards to B cell lymphocytes and T Cell lymphocytes (types of white blood cells) in the immune system.  The term does not refer to memory in regards to the ability to consciously recollect things; it is an anthropomorphic characterization of the T & B Cell’s ability to chemically “recognize” antigens from pathogens the immune system has “seen” before.  In no way do these cells have anything to do with memories stored in the brain.

Alternate Universe Presidential Trivia

In case you couldn’t make out what was being said on the radio:

In the alternate universe, not only is former president Kennedy still alive, but he is still actively involved in government service.  He is currently stepping down from his role as UN ambassador to head the agency in charge of slowing down ecological breakdown.

Cab Driver AND Women’s Clothes Buyer

How did the cab driver know what size clothes to buy Olivia?  She didn’t tell him her size.  Was she about the same size as his wife, or does he have a lot of experience in buying clothes for women of different sizes?

Alternate Universe Advertising Trivia

GlatterFlug (German for “smooth flight”) offers daily flights to the moon. “Don’t give her diamonds, give her the moon.”

Magic High Explosive Incendiary 5.7X28mm Ammo, Standard Issue

One shot from Olivia’s gun and the propane tanks explodes in a massive fireball.  It looks good on TV, but the Mythbusters can tell you it doesn’t happen like that.

Olivia was using a FN Five Seven pistol that could have been using SS190 copper jacketed rounds that do contain a steel penetrator, so a spark is not completely out of the question, but I’m still comfortable saying the explosion wouldn’t happen.

Adrenaline Carries Blood Cells Across the Blood Brain Barrier?

Scott will probably have more to say on this, but that’s the kind of thing the blood brain barrier prevents.  It’s generally not a good thing when things that normally don’t cross the BBB manage to do so.

Question To Be Answered:

Will we see the cabbie again?

Is Olivia truly converted into Bolivia II, or is she faking?

Identity Assumption Plausibility Problem

How can Bolivia I effectively pass herself off as Olivia in our universe without any of Olivia’s memories?  I would think her complete lack of knowledge of Olivia’s past has to catch up with her pretty soon.  “Geez Olivia, don’t you remember anything from before you returned from the alternate universe?  Wait a minute…travel between universes must give long haired, female FIB agents amnesia.  Yeah, that’s the ticket!”

UPDATE:  From My Notes

I had a couple of things in my notes, but forgot to mention them in my post.

Apparently in the alternate universe Manhattan is spelled with one t, and there is a vaccination for typhus, neither of which is true in this universe.  🙂

Posted in Fringe, Medicine / Health, Red Episode, Science, Television | Tagged: , , , , | 4 Comments »

Willkommen!

Posted by Karl Withakay on August 23, 2010

It seems I have some German traffic from the German Scienceblogs site Frischer Wind where that blogger has linked to my post Flash Forward Gets Schrödinger’s Cat a Little bit Wrong in his post Robert J. Sawyer: Flash Forward.

It’s been more than 20 years ago since I took German in high school, so I won’t insult the German language by trying to use what little remains of my wortschatzie * to say hello to any German speaking visitors.

* For the English only speakers:  Wortschatzie is a German play on words.

Wortschatz is German for vocabulary; it translates literally to “word treasure”.  Schatzie is a German term of affection like honey in english; it translates to “little treasure”.  Wortschatzie would basically be “little vocabulary”/ “little word treasure”.  I tried it out on my native German speaking father, and he got it right away and thought it was witty.

Posted in Flash Forward, Science, ScienceBlogs, This Blog | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Sci-Fi Science and Skepticism Fail on Syfy

Posted by Karl Withakay on June 10, 2010

A couple of months ago, I was flipping through channels on my POOP TV* and caught a few minutes of one of those really bad, direct to cable movies they run all the time on the Syfy channel.  The movie was Savage Planet and before I changed the channel, I chanced to hear the following lines of dialog spoken by one of the characters in the movie:

“I always believed there had to be a scientific explanation for everything.  Science was the only answer.  Since I’ve been here, I’m rapidly becoming a skeptic.”

I hit the record button on my DVR remote so I could preserve that line of dialog for a potential future blog post.  However, I didn’t continue watching the program, and I stopped the recording after the dialog, so I only have a few minutes recorded.

I don’t really know what the character was specifically talking about, but I imagine it had something to do with the killer space bears the reviews say the movie contains.  Regardless, this quote is an epic fail on the part of the writers of the movie.  They apparently buy into the philosophy that “science doesn’t know everything”, which is really a misunderstanding of science, since science is a process, and not a body of knowledge or answers.

To quote the Wikipedia article on science,

“Science is a systematic enterprise of gathering knowledge about the world and organizing and condensing that knowledge into testable laws and theories.”

Science is not the answer, it is the means to an answer; it is they way to provide the explanation.  If it is beyond  your ability to explain scientifically, that is not a failure of science; that is a failure of your ability and knowledge base.  Lacking a scientific explanation for a phenomenon does not make that phenomenon supernatural or paranormal, it simply means you haven’t found the scientific explanation yet.  It can be very frustrating to not have the answer for something.  It can be even more frustrating to know that the answer to that question may never be discovered during your lifetime, but that is no reason to engage in a god of the gaps fallacy and invent some supernatural explanation just so you can have an answer.

The dialog is also a profound misunderstanding of skepticism and the skeptical community.  While the word skepticism can technically mean any questioning attitude, skepticism is about challenging claims lacking empirical evidence.  It is also about challenging and examining the evidence that is used to support a claim.  Skepticism is a crucible for inquiry in which claims are subjected to the fires of scientific scrutiny to burn away the extraneous fluff, leaving only scientific knowledge and/or more questions to be answered.

I don’t really expect any better for a low budget sci-fi movie that likely went straight to Syfy, but I wanted to blog about it because I’ve heard the “Science doesn’t have all the answers” gambit many times before, and I wanted to give my take on why that concept is so wrong.

*POOP TV:  Picture Out Of Picture.  I have a 40” HDTV sitting next to my 60” HDTV.  When I was researching buying a new 60” HDTV, I wanted to get a model with PIP (Picture In Picture) because my then current TV had it, and it was pretty nifty for watching one football game while keeping track of another.  I discovered that it would cost a lot more extra to get any of the current models with PIP, more than the cost of buying a second, smaller HDTV.  So I bought a budget model 32” LCD TV to go next to my new 60” model.  I found that I liked the setup not just for watching two football games at the same time, but also for watching TV while playing video games, especially when I am just performing some boring, repetitive action to level up a character, exploit a flaw in the game to generate endless amounts of money, or get some achievement.  I liked the POOP TV setup so much that a couple years later, I sold my 32” TV to a friend and upgraded the POOP TV to a 40” model.

I have no wife or kids, I have to spend my money on something, right?

Posted in Critical Thinking, Criticism, Quotes, Sci-Fi, Science, Skepticism, Space, Syfy, Television, Thoughtful/Random Observation | Leave a Comment »

Deconstruction Review of Fringe, Episode 21, Season 2, Over There, Part 2

Posted by Karl Withakay on May 20, 2010

As usual, an episode synopsis can be found over at Scott’s Polite Dissent.

Kind of a Short Deconstruction Tonight

Maybe there wasn’t as much to Deconstruct again, but I know I’m burned out from work this week.

Quaternary Park

It’s nice to know that millions of years from now when some other life form rules the Earth, they will be able to extract DNA from humans encased in quarantine amber, clone them, and build a Quaternary Park.

The Name Walternate is Now Show Canon

It’s now the show’s official designation for the alternate universe Walter, thanks to Walter.

Quote of the Show

“The laws of physics were changed into mere suggestions”

Apparently Peter Prefers Brunettes As Well

“…but you hair’s different.  I think I like yours better.”

Do They Know Scott Watches the Show?

The comic books on the wall were a nice touch, especially the Red Lantern/ Red Arrow cross-over comic.

Motivation Explained

The motivation for the original espionage against the alternate universe was to obtain their advanced technology for our universe.

Prop Convenience Theater

Did the show explain why the device is keyed to Peter’s genome?  Did Walternate obtain it from some third-party source, and is the design therefore out of his control?

You Lost Me at Stars In The Sky

“I’ve traveled between universes so many times, my atoms are ready to split apart at the slightest provocation.  You taught me there are as many atoms in the human body as there are stars in the sky.  That’s how many atom bombs I am.  That should be enough power to get you home.”

There are an estimated 2X10^22 stars in the observable universe, which is an order of magnitude less than one mole of atoms.  Let’s take a 70kg human (154lb) for an example.  The human body is mostly water (Hydrogen and oxygen) and various carbon compounds.  Lets assume every atom in a human body is oxygen (the “heaviest” of those three elements) just to get a ball park number of the approximate number of atoms in the human body.  That would make a human body consist of roughly 4000 moles of atoms, or ~2.5X10^27 atoms, many orders of magnitude more than the number of stars in the sky.

Also, I suppose that traveling between universes could increase the internal energy in atomic nuclei, making them unstable, buy not so unstable that EACH atom was as powerful as an atomic bomb.  If that were the case, Bell’s body would contain more energy than 9X10^23 kg of antimatter annihilating with the same amount of matter (if we assume a very modest Hiroshima type atom bomb).  That is on the order of an antimatter Mars and a regular matter Mars mutually annihilating.

Was William Bell In On The Plan the Whole Time?

For that matter, is that really our William Bell, or was he lying about Willaimternate dying?  By the way, hands up anyone who didn’t figure out half way through the show which Olivia was coming back to our universe.  I hope there aren’t a lot of raised hands out there.

A Little Out of Character, Don’t You Think?

I would have expected Olivia to be a little more defiant and angry, rather than behave like a frightened little girl at the end

All Math is Approximate In This Post

The numbers are ballpark figures for illustrative purposes.  The results of all calculations were imprecisely rounded to give simplified, rough estimate figures.  If my figures are off, I’m blaming it on lingering  exhaustion form working 32 hours without sleep on Montuesday this week.

Any spelling, grammatical, or typo errors will also be attributed to the same cause.

Posted in Fringe, Prop Convenience Theater, Quotes, Science, Space, Television | 6 Comments »

Deconstruction Review of Fringe, Episode 21, Season 2, Over There, Part 1

Posted by Karl Withakay on May 13, 2010

As usual, an episode synopsis can be found over at Scott’s Polite Dissent.

Kind of a Short Deconstruction Tonight

Maybe there wasn’t as much to Deconstruct, or maybe I’m just too burned out from work today, but I’m hoping for more material from the second part of this episode next week.

Maybe I Just Have a Thing For Brunettes…

But Oliviaternate is way hotter than our Olivia.  Between the brunette hair, the leather jacket, and the ballsier attitude and manner of Oliviaternate, I’ll take her over our Olivia any day.  She’s probably smarted too.  (She can’t be any less bright, can she?)

1983 Silver Clad Nixon Dollar

The reverse of the Nixon Dollar shown in the episode was same as the 1975-76 Bicentennial Dollar from out universe.  The slightly two toned silver color edge of the dollar indicates it is of (or similar to) the silver clad composition, used only for collector issue dollars in our universe, and last made in 1976.  (Half Dollars in silver clad composition were issued for circulation from 1965-1970)  The traditional size dollar coin was last minted for circulation in 1978, though commemorative, traditional size 90% silver dollars were brought back beginning in 1983 for the ‘84 Olympics Coins.  Also, in our universe, no living person may be featured on an American coin, so either the alternate universe does not have that law, or Richard Nixon was already dead in 1983 over there.

Non-Product Placement?

That touch-screen surface table in Colonel Broyle’s office isn’t science fiction, it’s reality.  I’m flabbergasted that they didn’t hit us over the head with a Microsoft logo.  What a missed opportunity for a blatant product placement!

You Didn’t Think We’d Never Hear Form Them Again, Did You?

It seemed likely we’d see the surviving cortexiphan children again; the show made too much of a point of showing them being delivered to Massive Dynamic at the end of their featuring episodes.

Why Not Just Throw in a Mention of Aliens While We’re at It?

Walter:

“You know Belle and I always agreed that that primal part of the brain which allows us to cross universes is also responsible for a host of paranormal activities-  Pyrokinesis,  telepathy, thought control- and that we all had these abilities until, ‘till there was a moment in history when something was done to us and, and it was shut down.  I suspect aliens.”

What, no mention of Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, or ghosts?  🙂

Let’s Not Overuse Our Super Powers Right Before We Need to Really Use Them, OK?

“You’ve got to know something.  What the hell is wrong with us?”

“Oh, I suspect that something that somehow the human circuit is flawed.  Did any of you engage in extreme use of your abilities last night- far more than normal?”

Close, But No Cigar

Secretary of Defense was my second guess, after Homeland Security.

Posted in Coins, Flash Forward, Science, Television | 3 Comments »

Deconstruction Review of Fringe, Episode 20, Season 2, Northwest Passage

Posted by Karl Withakay on May 6, 2010

As usual, an episode synopsis can be found over at Scott’s Polite Dissent.

With Street Smarts Like That, No Wonder She’s Dead

Did the waitress just hook up at the local motel with every charming stranger that bought pie and coffee in the diner?

Gratuitous Product Placement Du Jour

Another gratuitous Ford product placement, this time for the Ford Taurus and its Sync based navigation system.

Ford’s Navigation Must Have a Very Good Location Database

It couldn’t find any city in the entire United States called Mars.  Wikipedia found two US cities currently named Mars, one in Pennsylvania, and one in Texas.

Quote of the Show #1

Peter talking to the Sheriff:

“I know how it sounds, but believe me, if you can imagine it, it’s possible.”

At least in Fringe land that’s true.

A Pen for Many Different Customers

“Find the Crack”  Do they also have those pens at the DEA?  Maybe they have them in the current season of Doctor Who as well.

WTF Was Peter Doing to Those Bullets?

Are hollow point bullets restricted in the state of Washington?  Why was Peter filing on the handgun bullets?  Soft point bullets don’t expand very well at handgun velocities, especially ones made in a hotel room with a file.  Was Peter perhaps carving crosses on them in case he had to shoot a vampire?

Do You Have Any Delicious Strawberry Flavored Death?  Yes, Aisle Five.

Apparently Potassium Bromate (KBrO3) may not be the best thing to improve flour with, though it’s still legal to use in the US.

Maybe She Had a Clue When They Posted Mid Term Grades

Walter speaking to Astrid:

“You’re a federal agent.  I doubt during your years of training that you had dreams of baby sitting a helpless old man.”

I’m No Doctor, But My BS Meter Was Registering Off The Scale

I’m not even going to bother Deconstructing that BS with the adrenaline & the time of death.

Are You Allowed to Work in the Fringe Unit if You Know Proper Firearms Safety?

Firing a handguns indoors without hearing protection is a good way to suffer some permanent hearing damage.  Based on the location of the windows in the room, it looked like they were in the basement or lower level, which brings up two other safety issues.  If the building had concrete floors, the bullet could had ricocheted, or if the floors weren’t concrete, the bullet could have penetrated to the upper floor and injured someone.  Hey Peter, why not just try shouting “BOO!’ when the sheriff’s back is turned if you want to scare her?

Quote of the Show #2

Sheriff to Peter:

“I think you’re looking for meaning in things that have no meaning.”

That’s what we humans tend to do; we are pattern seeking creatures.  Even when none exist, we tend to find them if we look hard enough.

Confirmed Sooner Than I Expected

Ladies and Gentlemen: Secretary Walternate Bishop.  Anybody want to guess what he’s secretary of?  My vote is for Homeland Security.

Posted in Fringe, Product Placement, Quotes, Science, Television | 4 Comments »

Deconstruction Review of Fringe, Episode 19, Season 2, Brown Betty

Posted by Karl Withakay on April 29, 2010

As usual, an episode synopsis can be found over at Scott’s Polite Dissent.

A Doubly So-So Episode

This was a pretty meh episode from a Deconstruction viewpoint due to the nature of the episode.  Regardless of whether you liked the episode itself or not, it was also kind of a throw away episode that didn’t do much of anything for the show’s story arc/plot either.

Rachel Dunham, Mother of the Year

OK, let’s assume that Rachel had a really good reason for needing to go to Chicago for the weekend.  Was it really a good idea to leave her daughter in the care of her single, FBI field agent sister who wasn’t on vacation?  How was this any better than just taking Ella with her to Chicago?  Did she know that Olivia could just pawn Ella off to Astrid for daycare, or did she think Olivia was just going to bring Ella along on cases?

Did Astrid run over the FBI director’s dog at some point in her past?

How badly do you have to screw up in the FBI to not just be assigned to the Fringe division, but to be assigned as the lab assistant/ gofer/ baby sitter for the rest of the Fringe unit?  If Olivia’s not usually the sharpest tack in the junk drawer (the previous two episodes notwithstanding), what does that say for Astrid as Olivia’s lackey?

Story Walter’s Lab is Cooler than Real Walter’s

Story Walter has cooler toys in his lab than real Walter.  Real Walter needs to go to Think Geek and Edmund’s Scientific more often like story Walter apparently does.

Continuity Lapse

I know it was just a story being told to a child, but Fringe has usually done a commendable job on continuity in the past, in that scars and bruises persist from one episode to another.  It was a little disappointing to see story Olivia’s chest scar disappear in the next scene after Esther treated it.

Get Your Sci-Fi Straight

I know I’ve made this mistake in the past myself, but I’m not one of the show’s writers.  A bald guy in a dark suit and hat in Fringe is called an Observer, not a Watcher.

I Always Carry a Nice, Warm Blanket in My Zodiac

You know, just in case I happen to find a woman trapped in a leaky wooden coffin out at sea.  I wouldn’t want her to suffer from hypothermia or anything.

Posted in Fringe, Science, Television | 4 Comments »

Cordial Deconstruction of a Comment Left by natalie898

Posted by Karl Withakay on April 24, 2010

In my recent Deconstruction Review of an Episode of Fringe, I made several spelling mistakes, ignorantly using the word loose in multiple places when I meant the word lose.  Natalie898 was “kind” enough to leave a comment “politely” pointing out my mistakes, and I have now corrected the mistakes.  I am embarrassed to have made the mistakes, somehow reversing the two words in my mind.  I am not, however, embarrassed to have the errors pointed out to me.  (I am embarrassed that someone noticed the mistakes before I did.)  I strive for perfection, and appreciate any assistance in achieving that perfection.  If the error is mine, then the frustration is with myself, not the person who points out the error with the intention of providing constructive criticism.

I can accept that some people have very strong feelings about proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar, but you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.  My Friend Orac would be a lot less respectful than I am being to the type of pedantry natalie898 has presented.

Here is natalie898’s comment followed by my Cordial Deconstruction of that comment:

“If you are going to complain about how the car battery thing doesn’t make sense you should learn to spell first. Loose is not the same as lose no matter the few times it is spelled incorrectly in various places on this page. Loose…really? really?”

Spelling mistakes…really?  really?

Are you disputing my position on the car batteries or simply choosing to be rude in the way you point out my spelling errors for some reason?

I don’t mind if people point out typos and spelling mistakes, but why the hostility?

First of all if you’re going to complain about spelling mistakes rather than make substantive comments or observations, you should be sure to use proper punctuation when you do so.  You are missing a comma between “sense” and “you”.  (If x, then y)  Let him among us who has a clean hand cast the first stone.

Second, how does my incorrect spelling of lose disqualify me from being able to comment on the car battery thing or in any way invalidate my position?  It is a non sequitur to claim that my point is invalid or unworthy of consideration simply because I misspelled the word lose for whatever reason.  It is also effectively an ad hominem attack, in that you are attacking me rather than my position.

If you want to point out a spelling error or my part, please feel free to do so with out the hostility.  If you would like to dispute, correct, or discuss a point in my review in a civilized and constructive manner, I welcome the discussion.

Thanks for reading my blog.

Posted in Critical Thinking, Criticism, Followup, Fringe, Television | Leave a Comment »

Deconstruction Review of Fringe, Episode 18, Season 2, The Man From the Other Side

Posted by Karl Withakay on April 22, 2010

As usual, an episode synopsis can be found over at Scott’s Polite Dissent.

Olivia Dunham, Now With Improved Investigative Skills.

Olivia manages to notice the joint has no lipstick stains even though the woman was wearing lipstick.  Has she been taking remedial investigator classes at night?

Rubber Gloves for Mercury?

I was wondering if it would be safe to handle mercury while wearing rubber gloves.  In spite of what some yahoos say, it seems that it may indeed be safe (or at least safer) to handle mercury while wearing rubber gloves according to numerous sources, here, here,  here, here, and here..

Leap of Logic #1

Quote form Peter regarding the interference signal form the TV broadcast:

“Shape shifters are soldiers.  Soldiers always come with orders.  Maybe that’s a message.”

Implying that the message would be the orders for the shape shifter(s).   That’s a bit of a leap of logic, don’t you think?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to give the soldiers their orders before they crossed over to the other universe, when you could just tell them in plain English, rather than wait until they’re in the other universe and then send the orders by a signal that might get distorted due to interference, a signal that could be picked up by someone on the other side?

Closed Captioning for the Math Impaired?

Massive Dynamics scientist discussing the signal from the transmission:

Scientist:

“It’s not a language, it’s math.”

Olivia:

“Math?”

Scientist:

“Trigonometric equations, in this case, a kind of wave, the kind given off by solar flares, which is interesting.”

First of all, I’d like to point out that the closed captioning said “trig and metric equations” which makes even less sense than the actual dialog spoken.

I only have the equivalent of a minor in mathematics, so maybe I’m off base here, but unless solar flares are sinusoidal, I don’t really see how you can say a trigonometric equation is the kind of wave given off by a solar flare.

Leap of Logic #2 (Yeah, That’s the Ticket!)

Again, the scientist at Massive Dynamics:

“Yeah, yeah, because in a parallel universe, time would be slightly out of sync.”

Upon what is the scientist basing this a priori assumption?  Regardless of whether it is the case or not, the scientist provides no underlying support for this wild assertion.  Unlike Olivia, he has no personal or experimental experience with parallel universes upon which to base this speculation.  It seems he’s just making it up to conform to and support the observed data.  Thanks for the circular logic, buddy.

Prop Convenience Theater

Don’t all scientists have a pair of metronomes just laying around in their work areas?

Double Spoken Quote of the Show

Spoken simultaneously by Walter and Astrid:

“There’s more than one way to roast a reindeer.”

The Writers on Fringe Must Just Like Car Batteries

What do they need the six car batteries for if they are hooked up to building power, and they lose power when they blow a breaker/fuse?

Bring Me an Autobot!

Walter told Peter he needed several things, one of which was a “voltage transformer”  Presumably he said  “voltage transformer” rather than just “transformer” so Peter didn’t bring him an Optimus Prime figure by mistake.

It’s Not the Volts, It’s the Amps

OK, the breaker/fuse blew at 140 amps, which is good deal of amperage.  Car batteries are made for short burst of cranking energy, not sustained operation like deep cycle trolling motor batteries, so again, I’m not sure what the car batteries bring to the table here.  If they were running just off of building power, and they had a 208V/30A outlet to work off of, they could get 140A if they stepped the voltage down to 44V, and Walter did mention a voltage transformer as one of his requirements, so this is doable.

Just for the Search Engines

Geometry and harmonic vibrations.

Leap of Logic #3 (Public Service Announcement for Law Enforcement Officers Everywhere)

ATTENTION ALL POLICE OFFICERS:

PLEASE KEEP YOUR POLICE RADIO BATTERIES CHARGED AT ALL TIMES.

DO NOT LOSE OR DAMAGE YOUR POLICE RADIO.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF COMMUNICATION IF YOUR POLICE RADIO IS UNAVAILABLE FOR ANY REASON.

IF YOU ARE OBSERVED BY FBI AGENT OLIVIA DUNHAM TO BE VIOLATING THESE GUIDELINES, SHE WILL PUT A BULLET BETWEEN YOUR EYES.

THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY JUST BE YOUR OWN.

THAT IS ALL, THANKS

Posted in Fringe, Prop Convenience Theater, Quotes, Science, Television | 7 Comments »

Deconstruction Review of Fringe, Episode 17, Season 2, White Tulip

Posted by Karl Withakay on April 15, 2010

As usual, an episode synopsis can be found over at Scott’s Polite Dissent.

UPDATE  4-22-10 :  Scott’s review is now up.

When I talked to him 30 minutes before show time, he was planning on doing the review from his hotel room tonight.  I’ll know soon whether he was able to or not.

UPDATE:  It looks circumstances may have conspired against Scott being able to watch & review Fringe tonight, so his post probably won’t be up until Monday.  I should have known that him going swimming with the family 30 min before show time might result in not getting to Fringe in time.  Now I can’t talk to him about it all weekend, nuts.  Well, I’m kind of glad I thought he was going to post tonight so I was bullied into doing my post and getting it out of the way.  My whole schedule for the first half of next week would have been thrown out of whack if I waited until Monday night to do my Deconstruction.

No DVR, but I Managed OK

Well, I managed to write my Deconstruction from the hotel room, watching the episode in real time without benefit of a DVR with only one real problem where I wanted to copy down a more detailed quote than I was able to.

Heart Attack/ Heart Failure, Same Diff, Right?

I could buy collective heart failure caused by some Fringey external source, but heart attacks (otherwise known as myocardial infarctions) are the result of interruptions of the flow of blood to the heart, which causes some of the heart cells to die.  Sorry Peter, but leave the medicine to Walter.   (4-16-10 ETA: That is to say I don’t buy collective heart attacks as even Fringely plausible.)

Some Things for the Search Engines

ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is the basic energy source used in cells.  It is produced in the mitochondria, which are often called the fundamental energy centers of cells.

Quote of the Day #1

By Olivia once or twice, depending on how you view repeated time lines:

“Send up the Bishops, please.”

I assume everyone understood she wasn’t asking for a celebrity roast (sendup).

Fringe Unit Attracts Cadets that Passed on the Curve.

So rather than surveiling the location first to determine whether the suspect was present or not, the FBI Fringe unit just raids his premises to find him not there, risking alerting him and scaring him away when he arrives to find them there.  It didn’t really matter in this case since he had to ability to flee at will, but it COULD have mattered.  If he didn’t have the ability to time jump at will, he might have fled when he found the Fringe unit there rather than confront them.

And the Winner is: Olivia (& Me)

My prediction in my early notes was correct:  Olivia was the first to register a sense of déjà vu.

Einstein Sort of Predicted that, But Not Really

Technically, Einstein’s theories do predict that anything that travels faster then the speed of light would travel back in time, and technically, and though the equations are symmetric about the speed of light, various other logical absurdities come up when discussing faster then light travel (losing energy increases velocity– velocity approaches infinity as energy approaches zero).  Also, Einstein also stated that it is impossible for anything with mass to obtain the speed of light, and therefore impossible for any sublight object to obtain superluminal velocity, because it would first have to obtain the speed of light (which is impossible) before transitioning beyond it.

Do Those Come With any Antibiotic Ointment?

Peter Weller’s Character must have a lot of problems with infections with all those implants projecting out of his skin.

Quote of the Day #2

This is where I really missed having a DVR for this episode, having done my Deconstruction from my hotel room in Chicago.  I couldn’t get down the entire quote, so I’ll just put down what I got, and perhaps I will remember to update this post when I get home to my DVR.

EDIT 4-17-10: Thanks to commenter Josh for the full, exact quote.

Alistair Peck to Walter Bishop:

“God is science. God is polio and flu vaccines and MRI machines and artificial hearts. If you’re a man of science, then that’s the only faith we need.”

Laser Sights, Why Did it Have to Be Laser Sights?

I wish Hollywood wasn’t so obsessed with laser sights.  They are specialty use items that aren’t used nearly as much as TV & the movies think they are.  Snipers generally don’t use laser sights at all for numerous reasons.  Laser sights just aren’t as useful as you’d think they would be.  If you have a scope (especially one with an illuminated reticule like a swat sniper would), there’s really no use for the laser sight.  The only thing the laser sight would accomplish to alert the subject that they are being targeted, which serves no purpose unless you want them to duck.   Also, laser sights dim as the distance to the target increases.  In fact, lasers follow the same inverse square law of propagation of radiation that regular light does, such that if the brightness of the laser at, say 10 feet is X, than the brightness of the laser at 100 feet if 1/100 X.  Additionally, laser sights usually don’t have incremented distance adjusters like a scope does (never in my experience).  Once the laser is zeroed in at a certain range, there is no accurate, quick, and easy way of adjusting for a shorter or longer distance to the target as there is with a scope.  Lastly, you’d be surprised how hard it can be to find that laser point at any distance, particularly a long one, especially if the target is in a well lit area.

What’s Your Opinion?

Did Peck plan all along to die with his wife rather than save her, or was that a mistake?  Did he inadvertently cause her death by delaying her departure long enough for her car to get T-Boned by the truck?  My opinion is that he planned to die with her, and since his body was not previously discovered with hers in the wreck, she would have died either way.

Good Ending

I really like Pecks anonymous message to Walter, it was very touching.

A Note About Peter Weller

Not only is Peter Weller a fairly accomplished actor, but he also teaches a literature and fine arts class at Syracuse University.  He can also be seen on the excellent non-Hitler or WW II based show Engineering an Empire on the History Channel.

Posted in Fringe, Quotes, Science, Television | 8 Comments »

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