Inner Child (7 Apr. 2009)

A mysterious child is recovered from a secret chamber that has been sealed for more than a half-century.

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 (credit only)
Jasika Nicole	...	Astrid Farnsworth
John Noble	...	Dr. Walter Bishop
Erik Palladino	...	Eliot Michaels
Ari Graynor	...	Rachel
Spencer List	...	The Child
Victor Williams	...	Phil
Matt Mulhern	...	Dennis
Sandra Daley	...	Dr. Winick
Jimmy Palumbo	...	Mike
Jeremy Shamos	...	The Artist

Storyline

A mysterious child is recovered from a secret chamber that has been sealed for more than a half-century.

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Plot Keywords:

tunnel | psychic communication | living underground | serial killer | mini van | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 April 2009 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bad Robot, Warner Bros. Television, Fringe Element Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

59 min 59 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

As Olivia is writing on a notepad, the child all of a sudden grabs her arm. There is a shot with both of them in it and he has his hand on her jacket. There is a section of skin near the child's midsection that is exposed where medical wires are inserted. There is clearly much more pigmentation on this section of skin than there is on his feet, hands, face and head.

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Quotes

Dr. Walter Bishop: Unless you have an IQ higher than mine, I'm not interested in what you think!

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Connections

References Frankenstein (1931)

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Soundtracks

"Falling to Pieces"
(uncredited)
Written and Performed by Zach Ziskin

User Reviews

Mini-Observer-Me

This was an unusual Episode. We get the eerie impression of an extra presence when the two demolition men are walking away from the building they had intended to blow to smithereens, they have to turn back. It is as if they were called back.

To find a little bald kid who doesn't talk.

Who must have been in that cesspit since the 1940's?

So initially we just assumed, that this kid had a shiny head and looked young and breathed less oxygen due to living for years and decades in a bomb shelter, eating rats and centipedes: Which Walter asserts "taste good." Would a child living in those conditions, appear to be 9 years old but really be much older? Would those conditions slow the aging process?

Those are the things that went through my mind when I first saw this, I began watching Mid-Season, so I missed "The Arrival" which introduced "The Observer/s" - It did not connect at the time there was any relation to that strange Bald Guy with the Hat that I would see walking past in Frame during episodes.

But Agent Francis has to deal with the return of a serial killer who likes to dress up his victims and display them, "The Artist" - And he has a new show coming to town! Olivia wants to help Francis deal with this - But Broyles wants her with The Bishops with the Kid.

Alicia Goranson from "Roseanne" is the first hapless Victim of The Artist, a Biker "Chick" with great tattoos (if in fact they were real), followed by a normal Woman walking a Dog (Anime voice-over artist Carrie Keranen), and finally by your basic "Nice Old Lady" (stuntwoman Carolyn Feldschuh). Three interesting Women almost prototypical, who scumbag (Theatre Actor Jeremy Shamos) murders, so that he can "improve their looks" (I didn't think the first one needed any improvement).

Scumbag was pretending to be a guy in a wheelchair, which kind of Homages "Silence of The Lambs" - But his approach is different for each woman. And so, there is a great shot of him in the back of his Van after the first woman, with a bloody apron on, drill in hand, and we can only imagine with great disgust what he is doing-But we get to see "The Result"-Biker Chick is given Black Goth Hair and Propped Up like a Dimestore Barbie in a Churchyard. But Scumbag erased her Tattoos, tsk tsk.

The bald Kid takes a liking to Olivia, and tries to give her Clues that will solve "The Artist" case. He provides case-specific details, but Olivia has trouble deciphering them in time to save the first two women.

And to make matters worse a creepy cretin, from the "Child Services" tries to take the Kid, and the Kid freaks - It's because the guy (Erik Palladino) is really CIA-But he's got an Agenda. He knows the Kid is a Mini-Observer, and wants to take him to abuse and treat him like a Lab Rat. He is probably working with Colonel Raymond Gordon (Stephen McHattie-"Fracture").

So Olivia takes him to The Lab so Walter can try to Read his Mind - But at the moment Walter starts getting Results the CIAcreep shows up with Broyles in tow and tries to take the Kid shoving everyone around with CIAuthority. Broyles stalls CIAcreep by Promising delivery later.

But the Kid, mad at Olivia for not protecting him from CIAman, has clammed up. But once Olivia makes the kid understand that she'll protect him, he calms down.

That the "child" is of the Observer's race, is well hidden until the very end, after Olivia has secured a safe place far away from CIAland - They drive past "September" on the way to White Picket Fences- And the two connect from a distance.