The Dreamscape (25 Nov. 2008)

An employee of Massive Dynamic covered in mysterious cuts jumps out a window believing himself to be attacked by a swarm of butterflies. Meanwhile, Olivia becomes fed up with her visions of... See full summary »

Director:

Fred Toye

Writers:

J.J. Abrams (creator), Alex Kurtzman (creator),

Stars:

Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, Lance Reddick

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Anna Torv	...	Olivia Dunham
Joshua Jackson	...	Peter Bishop
Lance Reddick	...	Phillip Broyles
Kirk Acevedo	...	Charlie Francis
Blair Brown	...	Nina Sharp
Jasika Nicole	...	Astrid Farnsworth
Mark Valley	...	John Scott
John Noble	...	Dr. Walter Bishop
Yul Vazquez	...	George
Susan Misner	...	Tess Amaral
Ptolemy Slocum	...	Mark Young
David Vadim	...	Michael Kelly
Cindy Katz	...	Charlotte
Tom Riis Farrell	...	Gregory Worth
Carlo Alban	...	FBI Tech Agent

Storyline

An employee of Massive Dynamic covered in mysterious cuts jumps out a window believing himself to be attacked by a swarm of butterflies. Meanwhile, Olivia becomes fed up with her visions of John Scott and decides to go back into the sensory deprivation tank to get rid of them.

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Plot Keywords:

sensory deprivation | butterfly | neck breaking | breaking glass | hallucinogenic drug | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 November 2008 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bad Robot, Warner Bros. Television, Fringe Element Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

49 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Olivia looks at an airplane ticket during her investigation. The carrier is 'Oceanic Air', the same air carrier as in creator J.J. Abrams' show, Lost.

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Goofs

At the end of the chase, when Morales is hit by a car and caught, a police officer is visible across the street. The officer just stands watching rather than rushing to the scene.

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Soundtracks

"Fringe Main Title Theme"
(uncredited)
Written and Performed by J.J. Abrams

User Reviews

The Butterfly EFFECT

I ought to explain why I rate every episode of Fringe a #10 - In my opinion, the whole series is 10/10. I understand that quality fluctuates throughout a season of a series or throughout the series as a whole, but as far as I'm concerned I have been pleased with every iteration of Fringe from the moment I started watching it in 2008.

And so, this may be visually the weakest Episode of Season 1 - Because of "The Butterfly Effect." But other than that, there are some fascinating things here. A drug that can cause a person to experience an alternate reality? Or, "What you Believe is What is Real."

In the Massive Dynamic building, a man named Mark Young is giving a presentation to a group of people which goes over well. But after the rest of the people leave the room, a lone Monarch Butterfly lands on Young. Intrigued, he inspects the butterfly. Until its razor-sharp wings cut him.

And if that is not bad enough, HUNDREDS of Monarch Butterflies emit from a ventilation grill and cut the guy into slices of meat-Before he jumps out of the window to fall to his death several stories down.

A great beginning to an equally great episode, even if the Monarch Butterflies seemed a little CGI-ish. And so Olivia, who is wearing a DRESS! Is called by Broyles-Spoiling her plans to go to a surprise party, in favour of getting to fly up to NYC to see Mark Young's lacerated body at the Massive Dynamic building. BODIES! So while Walter is in Heaven, Olivia is a bit miffed because she couldn't wear her Party Dress.

Walter blissfully notices the lacerations on Young's body, which could not have been caused by shards of Glass in the fall out and down. It's a shame Walter does not have a lab to bring the BODIES to... Oh Wait! He does, HIS lab, At Harvard. But Olivia - Did she see Agent Scott? Nah

• Table that for later.

Nina Sharp seems a little distant when asked about Young, a Rising Star at Massive Dynamic. A man she knew, and what he was doing. Nina always seems to be hiding something, she is not averse to telling the Truth, but only when cornered by it. But Nina talks to Olivia about "Realities" - Something, she suspects Olivia knows something about.

In Young's apartment, many drugs are found. Charlie wonders out loud how Mankind as a species can exist without them.

As Walter examines the remains he notes the lacerations. As an aside, he happens to mention the "foreign compound in Young's Blood," as well as the amount of "surprisingly legal" medications in his bloodstream.

Peter is called by an ex-girlfriend who is being beaten by one of Peter's old Boston Associates, who we've met earlier in the Season- This is a good way to explain Peter's prior existence before being dragged from Iraq to Boston to work for Fringe Division.

But Olivia is getting emails from a ghost, it would seem. A Ghost who is telling her where to find material related to Young's death. In the form of a box of Amazonian Frogs that happen to have hallucinogenic compounds on their skin. She has the frogs transferred to Walter's Lab, Agent Francis notices this. In the confrontation, Olivia tells Charlie about seeing Agent Scott, and that she is reluctant to see the FBI Shrink, because she does not want that on her record.

But as crazy as she thinks she might be going, the Frogs are the pivotal piece of Evidence of the Fringe File. Walter discovers that the Frog Compound was given to Young in "Massive" quantities and that as Young "imagined" he was being cut by the Butterflies, it so happened to him. The hallucinogen was simply a way to convince Young that there were Monarch Butterflies with Razor Sharp Wings in his conference room.

Peter meets his girl, where he sees the bruises - And this sends him on an extracurricular "Peter" activity to beat the crap out of the guy who did it to her.

And so this episode serves to tell that pre-Fringe Peter story along with the Hallucinogenic Frogs - Which Walter has ascertained were used to create the substance Mark Young was laced with and that he was in fact murdered - And so? To find the Murderer - Follow the Frogs.

But can Olivia protect the person the Frog-Evidence leads her to, or will Olivia's visiting Ghost get there first?