Amber 31422
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"Amber 31422" is the fifth
episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption. Etymology The noun ''episode'' is ...
of the third season of the American
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
''
Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts and music * "The Fringe", or Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * Purple fri ...
''. It first aired on November 4, 2010 in the United States. The third season spent its time alternating between the prime and parallel universes, and "Amber 31422" was set in the latter.
Olivia Olivia may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olivia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Olivia (singer), American singer Olivia Longott (born 1981) * Olívia (basketball), Brazilian basketball playe ...
, still trapped in the Other Side and brainwashed, investigates the Rose brothers, who are able to do the seemingly impossible: escape from an
amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...
-like substance used to contain fringe events. The episode was written by
Josh Singer Josh Singer (born 1972) is an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known for writing '' The Fifth Estate'' (2013), '' Spotlight'' (2015), ''The Post'' (2017), '' First Man'' (2018), and ''Maestro'' (2023). He won the Academy Award for B ...
and
Ethan Gross Ethan Gross is an American television writer. Career He worked for three seasons on the FOX science-fiction series ''Fringe'', as executive story editor and writer. He co-wrote the independent thriller ''Klepto'' with the film's director, Thom ...
, and directed by
David Straiton David Straiton is a Canadian television director. Career His directorial debut was a special of the Nickelodeon series '' Weinerville''. Some of his other television credits include: ''The Secret World of Alex Mack'', '' Dark Angel'', '' Fastlan ...
. An estimated 4.97 million viewers watched "Amber 31422", which up to that point were the lowest ratings of the season. Critics were generally positive, and many praised the cast's performances as well as the Rose brothers' storyline.


Plot

Olivia is still trapped in the parallel universe, under Walternate's (a
doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...
of Walter Bishop) conditioning to believe she is her doppelgänger from Over There and part of its Fringe team. Throughout the episode, she willingly participates in Walternate's tests in a sensory-deprivation tank located on Liberty Island to stimulate her Cortexiphan abilities. One test is successful, as she temporarily finds herself in a gift shop on Liberty Island in the prime universe. Meanwhile, hallucinations of FBI consultant and colleague
Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...
continue to bother Olivia. The Fringe team is alerted to an incident at a quarantine site, where the
amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...
encasing the site has been cut into and a body has been removed. They identify the missing body as Joshua Rose, a former bank robber. Joshua had previously caught Fringe Division's attention as he used a molecular destabilization device to break into banks, triggering quarantine-level events. Colonel Broyles is privately cautioned by Walternate that those trapped in amber are still alive, a fact he does not want to be made public for fear of an outcry. Broyles relays this to his team, requesting they find Rose and bring him in as quickly as possible. At Joshua's apartment, they discover he has a twin brother Matthew and equipment used for a
negative matter Negative may refer to: Science and mathematics * Negative number * Minus sign (−), the mathematical symbol * Negative mass * Negative energy * Negative charge, one of the two types of electric charge * Negative (electrical polarity), in e ...
ring. Their investigation is cut short as they are forced to evacuate from a rigged bomb which destroys the apartment as they flee. Lee and Francis were unable to hear the bomb, but Olivia could, possibly indicating that she retains the enhanced hearing demonstrated in " Night of Desirable Objects." They travel to Matthew's home in the suburbs, meeting the brother, his wife, and their children. Matthew professes to no knowledge of the location of his brother. Olivia is suspicious of Matthew's behavior but does not explore further. Olivia's suspicion is shown to be correct as Matthew is revealed to have been the one trapped in the amber, having tried to come warn his brother about the quarantine. Joshua, having posed as Matthew for the last few years, was the one that freed him and spoke to Fringe. The brothers switch places again when Olivia requests a more detailed identity check from Matthew, which he passes successfully. Believing Joshua will attempt another break-in but will avoid putting innocents in danger, Olivia has Fringe Division statistician
Astrid Astrid is a given name of Scandinavian origin, a modern form of the name Ástríðr. Derived from the Old Norse Ássfriðr, a compound name composed of the elements (a god) and (beautiful, fair). Variants * * Assan (diminutive) (Swedish) ...
identify three remotely located banks and decides to investigate them. Olivia finds the bank that Joshua has targeted and discovers his device in a subway tunnel, but he knocks her out before she can investigate further. As he energizes the molecular destabilizer, Fringe Division detects the event and converges on the bank. Matthew eventually finds Joshua, again trying to warn him off, but quickly realizes Joshua has purposely entered the bank to be trapped in the amber. Joshua believes this to be the only way to force the Fringe team to end their investigation. Matthew escapes the quarantine while Fringe agents Charlie and
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...
rescue Olivia in time before the amber sets in. Olivia returns to Matthew the next day and confirms the case is closed, but not before collecting a skin sample that, should she ever need it, conclusively proves that it was Matthew in the amber before. As the episode ends, Olivia's hallucination of Peter points out to her that there is a way to tell if she is from the prime universe: by confirming her memories of her niece Ella, who did not survive birth in the parallel universe. During Olivia's final test in the tank, she is again able to cross over to the gift shop in the prime universe. She is able to recall Ella's phone number and calls her, but is brought back to the parallel universe shortly after Ella answers. As she is removed from the tank, she lies, telling Walternate the test did not work.


Production

Co-executive producer
Josh Singer Josh Singer (born 1972) is an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known for writing '' The Fifth Estate'' (2013), '' Spotlight'' (2015), ''The Post'' (2017), '' First Man'' (2018), and ''Maestro'' (2023). He won the Academy Award for B ...
and story editor
Ethan Gross Ethan Gross is an American television writer. Career He worked for three seasons on the FOX science-fiction series ''Fringe'', as executive story editor and writer. He co-wrote the independent thriller ''Klepto'' with the film's director, Thom ...
co-wrote the episode, while
David Straiton David Straiton is a Canadian television director. Career His directorial debut was a special of the Nickelodeon series '' Weinerville''. Some of his other television credits include: ''The Secret World of Alex Mack'', '' Dark Angel'', '' Fastlan ...
served as the director. The third season spent its time alternating between the prime and parallel universes, and "Amber 31422" was set in the latter. "Amber 31422" was the first project guest actors and brothers
Shawn Ashmore Shawn Robert Ashmore (born October 7, 1979) is a Canadian actor whose career spans film, television, and interactive media. A former child actor, he first drew notice as Jake Berenson on Nickelodeon's ''Animorphs'' (1998–1999), Tyler Connell ...
and
Aaron Ashmore Aaron Richard Ashmore (born October 7, 1979) is a Canadian actor. He is the identical twin brother of actor Shawn Ashmore. He is known for portraying Jimmy Olsen on ''Smallville'' (2006–2011), Steve Jinks on '' Warehouse 13'' (2011–2014), ...
had worked on together in fifteen years. Shawn said in an interview that "it’s usually because the stuff that came along is kind of hokey, but I think the quality of ''Fringe'' is really high and the episode is done well and our characters are intelligent. We’re going to have some fun."
Holly Dignard Holly Elissa (born 1 October 1979, as Holly Elissa Dignard), is a Canadian artist, actress, filmmaker, and activist. Personal life Elissa is an advocate for women's rights, child welfare, social injustice and discrimination as well as a suppor ...
guest starred as Danielle Rose, while recurring guest actors
Amy Madigan Amy Marie Madigan (born September 11, 1950) is an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1985 film ''Twice in a Lifetime (film), Twice in a Lifetime''. Her other film credits include ''Love ...
and Ryan McDonald returned as Marilyn Dunham and Brandon Fayette, respectively.
Seth Gabel Seth Gabel (born October 3, 1981) is an American actor. He is known for his roles of agent Lincoln Lee on Fox's television series ''Fringe'', Cotton Mather on WGN America's series '' Salem'', and Adrian Moore on the FX series ''Nip/Tuck''. He ...
and former series regular
Kirk Acevedo Kirkland M. Acevedo (born November 27, 1971) is an American actor best known as Miguel Alvarez in '' Oz'', Joe Toye in '' Band of Brothers'', and FBI Agent Charlie Francis on '' Fringe''. His best-known films are '' The Thin Red Line'', '' D ...
reprised their characters
Lincoln Lee Lincoln Lee is a fictional character on the Fox television series ''Fringe'' (2008–2013). Lincoln first appeared in the season two finale on May 13, 2010. He is portrayed by actor Seth Gabel. Initially, Gabel was cast for just the finale, and ...
and
Charlie Francis Charles Merrick Francis (October 13, 1948 – May 12, 2010) was a Canadian Olympic sprinter and sprint coach most noteworthy for being the trainer of sprinter Ben Johnson (Canadian sprinter), Ben Johnson, the first competitor to be stripped of an ...
, Fringe Division agents from the Other Side. The episode was scheduled to air three weeks after the previous episode, as the
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
playoffs were underway until November 11 at the latest, though the lack of a sixth and seventh game at the
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
allowed the episode to air a week earlier, on November 4. As with other ''Fringe'' episodes, Fox released a science lesson plan in collaboration with
Science Olympiad Science Olympiad, sometimes abbreviated as SciOly, is an American team competition in which students compete in 23 events pertaining to various fields of science. The subjects include earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering. O ...
for grade school children, focusing on the science seen in "Amber 31422", with the intention of having "students learn about the process of fossilization and identification of species from incomplete information."


Cultural references

In the parallel universe,
Lincoln Lee Lincoln Lee is a fictional character on the Fox television series ''Fringe'' (2008–2013). Lincoln first appeared in the season two finale on May 13, 2010. He is portrayed by actor Seth Gabel. Initially, Gabel was cast for just the finale, and ...
mentions that it was
Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English and American actor. Known for his blended British and American accent, debonair demeanor, lighthearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing, he ...
, and not
Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart ( ; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart ...
, who starred in '' The Maltese Falcon''. After Olivia arrives late to a crime scene, Lincoln chides her for driving on the "Nixon Parkway," a reference to former president
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
. The tank Walternate uses to submerge Olivia has been noted by some critics to closely resemble a similar device in the 1980
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
film ''
Altered States ''Altered States'' is a 1980 American science fiction horror film directed by Ken Russell, and adapted by playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky from his 1978 novel of the same name. The novel and the film are based in part on John C. Li ...
'', which also starred ''Fringe'' actress
Blair Brown Bonnie Blair Brown (born April 23, 1946) is an American theater, film and television actress. She has had a number of high-profile roles, including in the play ''Copenhagen'' on Broadway (for which she won a Tony Award in 2000), the leading ...
. Walternate tells Broyles he first began the amber protocol on October 17, 1989, which was the same day as the
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. Pacific Time Zone, PST, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz Cou ...
in our side's San Francisco Bay region.


Reception


Ratings

"Amber 31422" was watched by an estimated 4.97 million viewers in the United States. The episode had a season low rating of 1.8/5 among viewers 18–49, which was down 10% from the previous episode that aired on October 14. Between ''Fringe'' and its lead-in show ''
Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...
'', Fox finished in third place for the night. The ''Fringe'' episode's low ratings have been attributed by critics to the unexpected end to the
2010 World Series The 2010 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2010 Major League Baseball season, 2010 season. The 106th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American L ...
, which caused ''Fringe'' to air a week earlier than expected. Den of Geek columnist Billy Grifter attributed the low ratings to the parallel universe focus, commenting "if you weren't a fan beforehand, you'll not be able to follow what's going on now. For those of us that did step onto the ''Fringe'' elevator early, it's a great ride, but I can see that it's a difficult proposition to attract new viewers." Time shifted viewing increased the episode's ratings by 44 percent among adults, resulting in a rise from 1.8 to 2.6.


Reviews

The episode received mostly positive reviews from television critics. Noel Murray of
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
graded the episode with a B−, explaining that "after four solid weeks of good-to-great episodes, Fringe delivered its first semi-dud of season three" because the case-of-the-week was "dull" and "twistless", and the dialogue was "too flat and too earnest". Despite this, Murray thought the episode was "essential viewing" for ''Fringe'' fans due to certain revelations, such as how people are actually alive in the amber, and also because it moved the plot closer to an Olivia-Altlivia confrontation. Conversely, the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' Andrew Hanson thought it was a good episode, writing "This is what I love about ''Fringe''. Not only do they have the cool science, they also have the moral questions that go along". Ken Tucker from ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' thought the episode was "enthralling," and he enjoyed the brothers' "nice emotional story," and praised Anna Torv's acting.
TV Squad Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles, and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could b ...
reviewer Jason Hughes enjoyed the parallel universe, and in particular the character of Lincoln Lee, believing he was "too rich a character to just abandon" once the series stopped alternating between universes.
Fearnet Fearnet was an American digital cable television network, website and video on demand service owned by Comcast. The network specialized in horror entertainment programming through a mix of acquired and original series, and feature films. Backgr ...
's Alyse Wax wrote, "I definitely think that this was the best "over there" episode they have had so far. They had an actual case, rather than still setting up who these doppelgangers are."
HitFix HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...
writer Ryan McGee thought the initial twist over the brothers' identities "was fun", though it "grew old quickly". He praised the series for not "dragging out" Olivia discovering her true identity, explaining "While episodes set Over There are delicious fun, having Olivia unaware for a long stretch would have strained credibility and perhaps damaged audience opinion of her character’s integrity." Writing for Den of Geek, Billy Grifter commented, "I have three words for the latest ''Fringe'' episode, and they're all 'brilliant'. Season three has moved gracefully, like a big cat stalking its prey, from the outset, playing a flipside game where we cleverly alternate between our universe and an alternate one where Olivia is currently resident." Grifter praised the Ashmore brothers' acting as well as their characters' storylines, calling their switch "a nice twist that's cleverly played".


References


External links


"Amber 31422"
at
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
* {{Fringe (TV series) Fringe season 3 episodes 2010 American television episodes Television episodes directed by David Straiton