Episode 1.14 AbilityThis is a featured page


"Ability"
Fringe Cast Guide - FringeVITALS
Episode #: 14 Season: 1
Original Air Date: February 10, 2009
Writer: David H. Goodman
Story: Robert Chiappetta
Glen Whitman		 Director: Norberto Barba
Special guest(s): (Chance Kelly) Mitchel Loeb; (Michael Gaston) Sanford Harris; (Jared Harris) David Robert Jones; (Clark Middleton) Edward Markham; (Noah Bean Kenneth Tigar) Warden Johann Lennox; (Philip LeStrange) Tommie; (Chinasa Ogbuagu) NID Agent #1; (John WuClark Middleton) Edward Markam; (Eric Lenox AbramsAdam Ludwig) German Prison Guard #1; (Henning Fischer Elizabeth Davis II) Joanne; (Chad Gittens Anthony Mazza) ND Swat #1; (Robert Matzelle) ND Swat #2; (Ben Van Vergen) Customer, Paramedic, Davis, German Prison Guard #2, and ND FBI Tech.
Featured song(s):
Episode synopsis: German agents question Olivia about her "relationship" with David Robert Jones, an escaped prisoner questioned months earlier now living in the U.S.
Meanwhile, the Fringe Division investigates a threatening case where victims die faceless from their orifices suddenly sealing. With few leads and many questions, German authorities turn to Olivia, Peter and Walter to help make sense of the return of Mr.Jones and the foreboding mysterious occurrences. As the investigation unfolds, Olivia is put to the test.
Walters Lab Notes, Episode 114

On Hold: The exploration of Gene's udders in the name of science.


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Fringe Episode Case Files FIND THE PATTERN. FOLLOW THE CLUES.
THE FRINGE EPISODE CASE FILES
Date / Location:
February 2008, Wissenchaft Prison, Germany
Paranormal occurrence(s):
 Scar tissues growing over all of the human body's orifices, suffocating the victim.
Parties involved: Mr. Jones, the ZFT, Massive Dynamic, FBI
Death(s):
 Tommie Avery, an FBI Agent (Officer Kemp). The newspaper vendor.
Method(s) used to solve:
 Olivia's newfound mental abilities to be able to defuse a bomb by looking at the lights.
Technology used:
 Toxin that causes rapid growth of scar tissue; a drug, cortexiphan, which eliminates the limitations of the human mind
New clues/patterns: The ZFT manuscript, which speaks of alternate universes and invaders from those universes.
Possible suspects/tie-ins:
 Mr. Jones, Nina Sharp, Walter Bishop
Conclusion(s):
 Walter (or someone from his old lab) wrote the notes about the genes. He still had his typewriter with the 'y' that upshifted, so they were his writings that were never published.
See the bigger picture: Fringe Conspiracy ››
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS & PLOT DANGLERS

  • Who (if anyone) abducted Jones at the end?

  • What are the other nine tests?

  • How did Walter learn of the other universes and their intentions toward this one?

  • Is ZFT working with Massive Dynamic? If not, how do they know about Bell's cortexiphan tests?

  • What was the "unthinkable" that Walter inferred would happen to Jones, or anyone after teleporting? Does this relate to his note of "ability" at the end?

  • Why was Nina's arm malfunctioning? Why did it get better? And what connection does it have to the invading universe's somewhat more advanced technology?

  • Did the bomb make Nina's arm "act up" or malfunction? After the bomb was turned off, Nina's arm is now better, how?

  • Is the Observer from the invading universe?

  • Was the "Walter" that Walter saw at the asylum in "The Equation" a hallucination, or one of the invaders? (suggesting the possibility of mirror universe counterparts)

  • If it is the invading universe that has somewhat advanced technology, how is it that ZFT and Massive Dynamic seemingly have access to it?

  • How does Walter seemingly have knowledge of so much advanced technology that seems to have come from the alternate universe?

  • Will Astrid report or pursue Walter's statement that Jones will transform into something "unthinkable?

  • Did Walter type the ZFT manifesto? William Bell also worked in the lab and had access to the typewriter.

  • Is there more to Walter than we're seeing or being led to believe? Does Walter know what was done to Agent Dunham?
PLOT HOLES, INCONSISTENCIES OR JUST PLAIN IMPOSSIBLE?
Add unbelievable incidents or sci-fi faux pas to this list!
  • Despite the fact the typewriter has been sitting in Walter's lab for over a decade, the ink ribbon still works.
  • The old phone in Walter's lab, last removed by Peter in ep.1.12 No Brainer, reappeared in this episode.
  • Episode 1.14 Ability - Fringe
EPISODE'S BEST QUOTES

  • "How come when nobody knows and it doesn't make sense, they come to us?" - Peter

  • "Two thoughts to come to mind. The first, that this affliction might have been caused by a mutation, changing these lipids to seal any and all orifices. Did they check his anus and penis?"
    "You think we could get the answer to that question without me in the room?" - Walter, Peter

  • "I was hoping you might have one of your... weird connections."
    "Weird connections?"
    "They're always a little weird."
    "Well, you're always a little weird." - Olivia, Peter

  • "It's... fascinating, isn't it? I was just reading it whilst sitting on the crapper."
    "Please, no more information than that." - Walter, Peter
OMG! MOMENTS

  • Olivia's ability to turn the lights off with her mind with only seconds to spare.

  • Walter sitting at his typewriter and revealing to the viewers that the manuscript was typed on that typewriter.

  • The huge hole in the wall of Mr. Jone's hospital room.

  • The look of pure astonishment on the Observer's face as the newspaper vendor stumbles into him.....he does not usually display any emotion.


  • Nina revealing that William Bell conducted trial of Cortexiphan at the military base in Jacksonville, Florida
EPISODE TRIVIA

  • Mark Valley is no longer credited as a series regular..

  • The Observer can be seen as the news vendor Tommie stumbles down the sidewalk.


  • In the previous episode, as Olivia enters the dreamscape hotel room, a reflected motel sign reads "ZFT," a clue to the group's involvement in this episode.

  • The toxin bomb is on the 47th floor: "47" being a number J.J. Abrams slips into his shows.




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Keyword tags: agent dunham anna torv astrid farnsworth blair brown charlie francis fringe on fox fringe show fringe tv j.j. abrams jasika nicole john noble john scott joshua jackson kirk acevedo Lance reddick mark valley nina sharp norberto barba olivia dunham peter bishop phillip broyles walter bishop
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gerson.rip Cortexiphan or Cortexifan? 8 May 17 2009, 11:58 AM EDT by david77627
Thread started: Apr 21 2009, 7:43 PM EDT  Watch
"The domain name Cortexifan.com was reserved on January 15, 2009 - three weeks prior to the airing of Ability"
Retrieved from "http://fringepedia.net/index.php?title=Cortexiphan"
Is it a fake site?
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Woolyworm Two things 1 May 5 2009, 6:47 PM EDT by ChrisDoyon
Thread started: May 5 2009, 4:31 PM EDT  Watch
1) Friggin cough up some petty cash and buy some flood lights for crime scenese already! JJ musta got a great buy on flashlights.....

2) At 19:45, on the dust on the desk in the room, the number 14627 is written. It about has to mean something but I, being a math toad, know not what.....
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drkngth Nina Sharp's PDA in Ability 2 Apr 14 2009, 12:39 AM EDT by drkngth
Thread started: Apr 13 2009, 10:17 PM EDT  Watch
i dont if anyone has notice this but the pda that NINA has in ability (i haven seen or rather notice in any other episode) resembles that of Al Calavicci (Dean Stockwell) in Quantum Leap, Ziggy the PDA like aparatus wich was actually a wireless terminal of a mucha larger computer, very similar to the one Nina Sharp(Blair Brown) looks, any comments?
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Keyword tags: Al Calavicci Nina Sharp PDA Quantum Leap ziggy
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