The search for the ultimate high leads to the theft of dreams and the unleashing a living nightmare
Most people are not scared by their dreams. Only nightmares are frightening; and even then, we know that nightmares are not real. But this episode reminded us that for some, nightmares are all too real and they can scare you to death. Watching just the few patients highlighted, we saw the terror they experienced from a simple dream. For them sleep was not a sanctuary from their every day lives and troubles, their dreams were what they wanted to hide from. Thus, Dr. Nayak’s (Ravi Kapoor) bio-chip implanted into their brains was their salvation.
It was just a shame that one man’s salvation led to another man’s downfall. Dr. Nayak’s addiction to other people’s dreams was his undoing. Peter (Joshua Jackson) summarized it nicely with, “His addiction to dreams became his nightmare — one that he could not wake up from.” Dr. Nayak may have thought he was helping people, but by stealing their dreams and then playing those dreams back when they were awake led to horrific acts of violence. People are not meant to experience dreams awake as the conscious mind cannot handle it. It is truly extraordinary that the subconscious mind is better equipped to handle nightmares, but perhaps that is because the conscious mind is too busy dealing with reality to combat both reality and nightmares simultaneously.
So as Olivia (Anna Torv), Peter and Walter (John Noble) grappled with what was causing these people to lose touch with reality and react to a perceived threat, we also saw each of the team face their own nightmares.
Olivia had gone to see Sam Weiss (Kevin Corrigan) as the death of Charlie (Kirk Acevedo) had caused her to doubt herself again. Peter was experiencing flashbacks to his childhood nightmares. And Walter was worried that Peter would finally figure out that his nightmares were actually memories.
In the end, Olivia was the only one who dealt with her nightmare. Sam had accurately assessed, “your life is something of a nightmare,” and in order to deal with it, he recommended that she collect business cards from each person she met. When pressed about what she was supposed to do with those business cards, Sam told her to locate a letter from the names on each business card and to rearrange those specific letters to create an anagram. This would unlock the puzzle of what Olivia’s subconscious was trying to tell her. In the end, it was only after visiting Charlie’s grave that Olivia was finally able to see the hidden message, “you’re gonna be fine.” Not totally earth-shattering, but it was just what she needed to hear.
However, in Peter’s case, we saw him awakening from yet another nightmare with Walter worriedly sitting beside him. After Peter explained what he had seen in his nightmare, Walter cautiously asked, “And the rest, you don’t remember it?” To which Peter simply shook his head. But one day Peter will remember the end of that nightmare and the horror of what happened to him may just come crashing down on him. It will be a living nightmare. And this is what Walter is worried about. It will be his ultimate nightmare too.
What Worked
It was good to see Peter taking an active part in the investigation again and that babysitting duty had been relegated to trusting FBI agent, Agent Kashner (Travis Schuldt). This allowed Peter to assist Olivia in figuring out what was going on with the sleep-deprived patients. It also provided a nice moment when Peter knocked on Olivia’s hotel room door late one night and they got to swap stories about their respective nightwear. It was perhaps fleeting, but it again shows the foundations of a common rapport and subtle attraction.
It was also quite fun to try to figure out why on earth Olivia was collecting business cards from everyone and then watching her struggle to solve the riddle that Sam had given her. On many levels, this episode had our brains spinning as we too had to figure out the mysteries within mysteries.
By far, the best line of the episode was Walter telling Astrid (Jasika Nicole), “Don’t be a Grinch. Science is supposed to be fun!” Only Walter would equate Astrid’s hesitancy to use human subjects with being a Christmas Grinch.
What Didn’t Work
As much fun as it was meeting Agent Kashner, we can only hope that there will not be a revolving door of FBI agents that appear for simply one or two episode before disappearing into the ether. I am still wondering what ever happened to Agent Jessup (Meghan Markle). Character continuity (even amongst background characters) helps keep one invested in a show.
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
‘Dream Logic’ was written by Josh Singer and directed by Paul A. Edwards. ‘Fringe’ stars Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Blair Brown, Jasika Nicole. ‘Fringe’ airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on Fox.
