Comments on: Fringe – Episode 5: “Power Hungry”

By: DJB

DJB — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:10:18 +0000

Uh…I am listening to a cassette tape right now. Many people I know record from CD to cassette and use the cassette until it wears out –cheaper than constantly replacing Cs (especially when they are no longer obtainable). People also listen to vinyl, andeveryone who kept their old record collection is now laughing at those scrambling to pick up records now that turntables are being manufactured again. Even good digital leaves out too much if you’re used to the spectrum in acoustical recordings.

I think the point of the pigeons was to follow a visible source, although it does seem odd considering they were watching GPS signal via computer. At any rate, if I were in a city and saw a flock of pigeons flying purposefully instead of just milling about or taking off and coming back down as they usually do, I’d notice and wonder what was going on. Possibly typical urbanites wouldn’t even notice the difference?

By: Ted

Ted — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:58:02 +0000

I think when Bishop said that the typewas ‘permanently altered’ he mean that it wouldn’t wear off, that the type would stay the same forever (well for a long time) unless someone recorded over it. The idea being that a type is different from say a steel needle which can be magnetised but it will wear off.

By: Geekthras

Geekthras — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 02:10:21 +0000

Yeah I’m from nearby Lincoln and that does NOT look like Worcester
Also, how would the electromagnetic pulse record itself onto a cassette sequentially? And how does sticking these pigeons in a box with magnets ‘rewrite’ their brains?

By: Ledasmom

Ledasmom — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:46:00 +0000

They could have shown Union Station, which is photogenic, or the cathedral, or any of the large number of other fairly decent-looking churches in Worcester or, heck, the front of City Hall with the staircases. Or Elm Park and the humpback bridge. Honestly, if they couldn’t find any angle at which to film Worcester attractively, they weren’t looking; there’s so many things that would have nailed it down as being Worcester, and they just didn’t bother.

By: Slarti

Slarti — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 02:08:27 +0000

Also, as a former long-time Worcester, MA resident, I can say that that was not Worcester. I would've hoped that they'd at least try with the swooping skyline shots, but no. (Although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised; Worcester is not a photogenic city. I imagine they only used it because it's A City In Massachusetts. On the other hand, I can believe that Worcester could be home to an evil mad scientist who turns people into electrical generators.)

By: Dr Archeville

Dr Archeville — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:40:46 +0000

The biological source is the same one Electro uses.

By: nybbler

nybbler — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:22:31 +0000

One more glaring engineering concern. Namely, you can’t usefully push on a rope. In a traction elevator (which is what they showed), a motor (not inside the car) moves a cable which is attached on one end to the car and on the other end to a counterweight. If the car falls too fast, brakes engage the shaft (and it’s said in the episode they did) to stop it . If you continue driving the motor at that point, you don’t force the elevator down, you just pile up cable on top of it.

By: alice

alice — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:25:03 +0000

Oh god, I am now so worried about the pidgeons!! Are they still circling over him??? :O

By: David

David — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:03:19 +0000

Add his camera phone to the electronics mysteriously not fried, even as a computer near him crashed.

On point 4, presumably the log from the weight sensor was read from before the elevator started falling. Also the levitation was given as a reason for him not being electrocuted, which was what killed everyone else in the elevator. The actual landing didn’t cause any noticeable damage to anybody.

By: Harvey

Harvey — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:24:05 +0000

Mike

Maybe he was hit by a car and this is all taking place in 1973.