Fringe – Episode 6: “The Cure”
I thought the flow of the action was better on this episode of Fringe, but the medicine and science (and science-fiction clichés) were laughable.
The Plot: At night, an unmarked van pulls into a deserted street and people in some sort of containment suits drop off a confused woman named Emily. The woman wanders into a nearby diner and a friendly waiter and cop strike up a conversation with her. She is partially amnestic and claims she was given red and blue medications. Suddenly, everyone in the diner starts screaming in pain and they start bleeding out of their eyes. The young woman tries to escape, but her head explodes.
Agent Dunham and her team are called in to the diner. They discover that Emily had a rare autoimmune disease Bellini’s Lymphocemia and she had been missing for 2 weeks. The FBI also gets information that Claire, another young woman with Bellini’s Lymphocemia, has also gone missing. The team is able to discover that both Emily and Claire were receiving experimental treatment for their disease with capsules of Strontium-90, a radioactive isotope. Walter realized that in Emily, for some reason, all the capsules detonated at once, releasing an incredible microwave beam and essentially cooking everyone in the diner alive.
Agent Dunham discovers that Intrepus, an unethical pharmaceutical company (cliché plot device #37) is involved. Peter Bishop is able to discover the location of their secret lab. The FBI goes in guns blazing with a heavily armed SWAT team (except Agent Dunham, who apparently thinks it’s casual day at the raid) and rescues Clair, just in time, and did I mention that Walter was able to synthesize an antidote?
1. Autoimmune Insanity
Bellini Lymphocemia is a fictitious autoimmune disease. First off, lymphocemia is not even a real word, or a medical term, for that matter. It is said to be incurable — but then the vast majority (if not all) autoimmune diseases are — but for some reason, Bellini’s goes into remission with radiation treatment.
Strontium-90 does have various medical uses, including the treatment of some cancers (though it can cause cancers as well).
2. Needs Protection
When doing the autopsy, Walter should be wearing some form of containment suit. As far as he knows at that point, there are high levels of radiation as well as the possibility of an infectious disease.
3. Radiation versus Microwaves
Why would a radioactive isotope release high levels of microwaves? They are at opposite end of the electromagnetic spectrum. And conversely, why would a microwave exposure leave residual radiation?
4. Smells Like Cloves
Methyleugenol is not blue, it’s pale yellow. It is one of the main chemicals involved in the hyacinth scent, but it’s found in many other plants as well. It always smelled like a milder sweeter clove-scent to me.
5. My Eyes Have Seen the Glory
How does exposing people to high levels of microwaves (or high levels of radiation) cause them to bleed out of their eyes? I would expect burns, or if the all the water in their body suddenly boiled, I would expect ruptured eyes or other organs, not just bleeding
None of this explains why Emily’s head exploded though.
6. Self-Contradicting Statement of the Week
“Subcutaneous injection marks: she was being given medicine intravenously.”
Emphasis mine. Subcutaneous and intravenous are two different ways of giving medication.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:06 am
It’s just cause Fringe is the lead-in to House, innit? Critiquing the science on this show is like shooting fish in a barrel. I’ve taken to describing it as “X-Files, only with worse science but a cool mad scientist”.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:08 am
Sorry to follow up my post, but mind you, I am enjoying your critiques, even if it does feel like shooting fish in a barrel with Fringe.
October 23rd, 2008 at 6:59 am
Thanks for pointing out the difference between microwave and ionizing radiation…the whole concept was just preposterous, which is par for the course for Fringe.
Also, did that women at the end even get close to an artery with that syringe? It looked like she just stuck herself in the side of the neck…
October 23rd, 2008 at 10:29 am
I think Fringe is a good show (read: not great, but good), however, I think dissecting the science of it is just silly.
Why? Because the science itself is silly! It’s ridiculous over the top science fiction.
It’s like attempting to reverse engineer a lightsaber.
October 23rd, 2008 at 11:55 am
Official Comment
Joshua:
If the show just played fast and loose with “fringe” science, that would be one thing — but when they get basic science wrong, that leaves them wide open for criticism.
October 23rd, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Your note about Dr. Bishop’s needing a containment suit for an autopsy sparked a question. How do real-life medical examiners determine if they need protective gear to do their job? The end result of an autopsy is to determine a casue of death, right? So they look up how someone died and know from that, can they?
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Also Walter got the antidote, Olivia went to NY and back and saved the girl all in one day (her birthday!).
And, is radiation contained by mere glass ? Because at the beginning men in heavy protective suits were inside the dinner, but all our protagonists were out of the dinner, just separated by the window. I found that odd.
October 23rd, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Official Comment
Isabel:
Good question. No idea.
alice:
The window should be sufficient protection for the team. Strontium-90 emits beta-particles (essentially electrons and positrons), which has a range of a few meters and is stopped by thin layers of glass, metal, or plastic. An outdoor window should be plenty thick to stop the particles.
(Along that line, the cook in the kitchen should have been protected by the walls from any beta-particle radiation or microwaves).
That brings up another point that occurred to me as I was working out this morning. Why were the victims in the diner (other than Emily) radioactive? Emily was the one with the radioactive element in her blood; the others had no radioactive elements. They were exposed to beta-particles and/or microwaves, nothing that would make them radioactive.
October 23rd, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Aw. I expected something about how likely it was that Claire’s flailing super-jab with the syringe would’ve actually successfully targeted the jugular and injected the antidote into it, rather than either missing or hitting but then punching all the way through the jugular and out the other side.
Anyway, I figured that the actual reason they were emitting microwaves and exploding and stuff was because they got injected with the stuff from both the Red Pill and the Blue Pill at the same time. :-)
Also, I am disturbed by Nina’s implications of having once been Close[tm] with Walter, Back In The Day, because it either suggests that they once had an affair, or adds fuel to my personal Epileptic Tree that Nina is actually William Bell after some Weird Science Experiment Gone Horribly Wrong. Neither is really a good mental image.
October 23rd, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Official Comment
I was thinking they were suggesting that Nina may be Peter’s real mother. Now if you combine our two ideas, that would be some real fringe science.
October 24th, 2008 at 11:47 am
I will start watching this show (this includes buying a t.v.) if they slowly segues into old-school fantasy.
I just want to see a dramatic scene in which a surgical team clap their hands to revive the hero.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I think a guest appearance by ‘The Todd’ is the only thing that can save this show.
“Miracle Five!!!”
October 24th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
A radioisotope like Sr90 would not produce any sort of microwave frequencies. Isotopes with highly energetic decay can cause a secondary phenomenon, Cherenkov radiation, which produces principally UV and visible light. Sr90 would cause this effect, but only in water or similar media. But I have never heard of microwaves being generated in such a manner. Microwaves are many orders of magnitude lower in energy than most nuclear interactions.
A strong microwave burst could not leave any sort of residual radiation, for the same reason.
Human exposure to high intensity microwaves would cause the boiling of water in the outermost tissues first. Water is good shielding against microwaves, and would protect inner tissues until the outer layers were completely dehydrated. This however ignores the metal objects in the room, which would tend to act as antennas focusing the microwaves into points or corners of the objects, potentially offering some protection (depending upon the exact wavelength of the microwaves).
October 26th, 2008 at 5:11 am
The bit I found the silliest was when the girl was sticking herself in the neck with the antidote. Somehow, I doubt that you can just jam that thing ANYWHERE.
October 26th, 2008 at 7:35 am
When I was in high school I got a boot called “How to be a Super-hero” it contained handy advice on things like powers, costumes, and names including “Don’t give away your vulnerabilities in your name eg. Captain Vulnerable to Strontium-90.” I can’t help but think of that any time I read about Strontium.
February 6th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Re medical examiners or coroners…I suspect they take such precautions whenever it might be necesarry –at least if they’re not jaded or unimaginative or too complacent. When it might be be necesarry would be, besides a death obviously due to or in some way involving dangerous conditions so recorded in paperwork, any situation such as this crime scene in which a wierd death ocurred without explanation. The rule of thumb at such a time would be expect it to be lethal, so if it is, you’ve taken precautions and are (probably) safe. (Just as an FYI, I am not an ME. My degrees are in veterinary medicine and animal/human public health, with military and civilian experience.)
Leave a Reply
PsychicSorcerous Nosebleed Zen »Contact Me
About
Subscribe:
The Best Of...
Special Topics
Archives
Categories
Twitter
Comic Blogs
Medical/Science Blogs
Currently Reading
Arbitrarily Interesting Medical Condition
Syndrome
The Net:
Contents may have settled during shipping. Past results are no guarantee of future performance. No animals were harmed during the production of this product. Void where prohibited by law. All rights reserved. Not valid with other offers or specials. Professional driver on a closed track. Your financial institution may impose other fees. All models are over 18 years of age. Employees must wash hands before returning to work. Results not typical. Many suitcases look alike. 18% gratuity added to tables of six or more.
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
© 2004-2010 Polite Dissent. Powered by WordPress