August (Fringe)
Encyclopedia
"August" is the eighth episode of the American science fiction
drama
television series
Fringe
s second season. The episode was written by executive producers J. H. Wyman and Jeff Pinkner
, and directed by Dennis Smith
. The episode marked the first prominent appearance of more than one Observer, and follows the events that occur when one of them saves a girl from boarding a soon-to-be crashing plane. It featured two new guest stars, Peter Woodward
and Eugene Lipinski.
The episode first aired on November 19, 2009 in the United States to mostly positive reviews. Many critics loved the new revelations about the Observers, and expressed excitement that they couldn't wait for more to be revealed. An estimated 5.746 million viewers watched the episode on its first broadcast.
) abducts Christine Hollis (Jennifer Missoni), a 27-year old art student in Boston
. Olivia Dunham
(Anna Torv
) and Peter Bishop
(Joshua Jackson
) learn of the events and realize the assailant matches the description of the Observer. However, after viewing video footage they find that it is not "September" (Michael Cerveris
), the Observer known for observing Pattern-related cases and who previously saved Peter and his father Walter
(John Noble
) in 1985
, indicating there is more than one Observer. Olivia is confused as to August's motives, as Observers are known to only observe events and not interfere with them. After questioning Christine's roommate, Olivia learns she was to take a flight to Rome
, Italy
. Peter finds a picture of Christine from her childhood before her parents were killed in the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, and sees August in the background, indicating he has been observing her entire life. The plane to Rome would later crash, killing everyone onboard. Because of this, the team realize August in fact saved her life.
At Massive Dynamic, Brandon (Ryan McDonald
) theorizes to the team that Observers are time travelers, as they have been documented during several major events in history. They write in an incomprehensible language, and the number of Observer sightings has increased over the past few months, leaving the team wondering why. Meanwhile, August visits the other Observers, who are not happy that he saved a girl who was supposed to die in the plane crash. To correct his mistake, they send Donald Long (Paul Rae
), an assassin affiliated with the Observers to correct August's actions. In an attempt to save Christine, August sends a secret message to Walter. During the meeting, August reveals Christine will die because she is not important; Walter tells August that he has to make her important.
The team are later made aware of Christine's location at a motel
outside the city. However, Donald is on the trail also. August attempts to stop him, but Donald shoots him several times, before Peter and Olivia arrive to kill the assassin. September picks up August and while driving, September asks August why he saved Christine. August reveals that he is in love with her, and asks if she would be safe. September informs him Christine will stay alive because she is now important; she was responsible for the death of an Observer. August cries before succumbing to his wounds. In the end, Olivia takes a day off to spend time with her niece, Ella, at an amusement park
. Two Observers watch the two, and they remark that everything is about to get worse for Olivia.
"August" was written by executive producers J. H. Wyman and Jeff Pinkner
. It was the first Fringe episode to be directed by cinematographer
Dennis Smith
. They began shooting the episode during the second half of September 2009, right after wrapping production on "Of Human Action
". Supervising producer Josh Singer
later noted how "August" helped them write the rest of the season, "There was one episode, 'August', which was all about the Observers, that I feel was mythology without being mythology. And somehow, in working that episode, we sort of found a new creative vein. And its not that that episode was necessarily so related to everything else we did. But I feel like it sort of opened us up in terms of how we were feeling about the year".
Up to the point the episode "August" aired, only one character that was part of a group known as "Observers" had been introduced. In this episode, two more such individuals were revealed: August (played by Peter Woodward
) and December (played by Eugene Lipinski). The creation of Observers was one of the first ideas the writers of Fringe thought of when developing the show in its early stages, when they asked each other, "What if there were these characters where all they did was watch?". Pinkner and Wyman thought of creating Observers by "looking for something... iconic" that had the "quality of being invisible". Though the Observer called September has appeared in every single Fringe episode in a brief cameo, he was first featured prominently in the fourth episode
of the first season. The producers thought of unique characteristics for "somebody who wasn't of our world," evolving to the Observers having bald heads, no eyebrows, and "largely deadened" senses, which led to a love for extremely hot peppers. Before the second season premiere aired in September 2009, co-creator J.R. Orci
hinted that the audience was going to meet "many Observers", and that in the season's eighth episode, "You're going to find out their role in the world, what they're named after, and their connection to some of these characters." Later on, when still leading up to the airing of "August" in another interview, Roberto Orci elaborated that "Individuality will be one of the things that they will be fanatically struggling with, actually. That was a fun one, because that one was one where you're finally getting to pay off things you've been setting up for a year. You finally get to open the toy box and really play with those toys". Actor Michael Cerveris
, who plays September, commented in an interview that as a result of the episode, viewers will learn that the Observers "are not completely devoid of feelings, and are not incapable of being attached to people they're observing". He also expressed relief that his character was no longer the sole Observer on the show, joking that "it was nice to feel like I'm not the only freak in town for once".
Actress Anna Torv
stated in an interview with MTV News
that "August" was one of her favorite episodes because "We sort of get to meet the Observers. At the moment what we know about them, they... seemingly just observe. That's kind of it, but [in] the episode that we have coming up, we're not sure if all they do is just observe".
", which had a rating of 2.2.
's Josh Wigler thought the episode was "a touching, sad tale with a healthy mix of mythological advancement," and couldn't wait for more episodes about the Observers. Ramsey Isler of IGN
gave the episode 7.6/10, writing that despite the hype, the episode was "just plain average". He did however appreciate the new revelations about the Observers. After previewing the episode, Entertainment Weekly
s Ken Tucker graded the episode an A-, explaining Fringe had become "one of the fastest, smartest, wittiest shows on television now". Andrew Hanson from the Los Angeles Times
called it a "good story peppered with a lot of great details... 'August' showed a greater connection to the larger Fringe universe". Noel Murray of The A.V. Club
graded it with a B+, praising the "wonderfully moody" episode and how it was able to make the halting Observer dialogue work. Murray found some aspects lacking however, as he thought it was "a very sketchy episode, plot-wise and mythology-wise. Not a whole lot happened". Website blogger io9
listed "August" as one of the "crucial" episodes new viewers must watch to get into the show.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Fringe
Fringe (TV series)
Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...
s second season. The episode was written by executive producers J. H. Wyman and Jeff Pinkner
Jeff Pinkner
Jeff Pinkner is an American television writer and producer. He graduated from Pikesville High School in Baltimore Maryland in 1983. He is known for his work on Alias where he served as executive producer. In 2006 and 2007, he worked as an executive producer and writer for the mystery series Lost...
, and directed by Dennis Smith
Dennis Smith (director)
Dennis L. Smith is American television cinematographer, director and former motion picture camera operator.As a camera operator he worked on such films as Stir Crazy , Revenge of the Nerds , License to Drive and Home Alone . He continued his career as a cinematographer/director of photography on...
. The episode marked the first prominent appearance of more than one Observer, and follows the events that occur when one of them saves a girl from boarding a soon-to-be crashing plane. It featured two new guest stars, Peter Woodward
Peter Woodward
Peter Woodward is an English actor, stuntman and screenwriter. He is probably best known for his role as Galen in the Babylon 5 spin-offs Babylon 5: A Call to Arms, Crusade and Babylon 5: The Lost Tales....
and Eugene Lipinski.
The episode first aired on November 19, 2009 in the United States to mostly positive reviews. Many critics loved the new revelations about the Observers, and expressed excitement that they couldn't wait for more to be revealed. An estimated 5.746 million viewers watched the episode on its first broadcast.
Plot
An Observer, "August" (Peter WoodwardPeter Woodward
Peter Woodward is an English actor, stuntman and screenwriter. He is probably best known for his role as Galen in the Babylon 5 spin-offs Babylon 5: A Call to Arms, Crusade and Babylon 5: The Lost Tales....
) abducts Christine Hollis (Jennifer Missoni), a 27-year old art student in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. Olivia Dunham
Olivia Dunham
FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series Fringe . Olivia first appeared in the pilot episode on September 9, 2008. She is portrayed by actress Anna Torv....
(Anna Torv
Anna Torv
Anna Torv is an Australian actress known for her role as FBI agent Olivia Dunham on the Fox television series Fringe.-Early life:...
) and Peter Bishop
Peter Bishop
Peter Bishop is a fictional character on the Fox television series Fringe. He is portrayed by Joshua Jackson.-Fictional character biography:...
(Joshua Jackson
Joshua Jackson
Joshua Carter Jackson is a Canadian American actor. He has appeared in primetime television and in over 32 film roles. He is best known for playing Charlie Conway in The Mighty Ducks film series, Pacey Witter in the television series Dawson's Creek and Peter Bishop in the television series...
) learn of the events and realize the assailant matches the description of the Observer. However, after viewing video footage they find that it is not "September" (Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris is an American singer, guitarist and actor. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including in several Stephen Sondheim musicals: Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Road Show, and Passion...
), the Observer known for observing Pattern-related cases and who previously saved Peter and his father Walter
Walter Bishop (Fringe)
Walter Bishop, Ph.D. is a fictional character on the Fox television series Fringe. He is portrayed by John Noble. Noble also plays Walter's counterpart in the show's parallel universe, who is referred to in the show as Walternate.-Arc:...
(John Noble
John Noble
John Noble is an Australian film and television actor, and theater director of more than 80 plays. He was born in Port Pirie, South Australia, Australia and is currently starring as scientist Walter Bishop in the J. J. Abrams television series Fringe.He made occasional appearances on the...
) in 1985
Peter (Fringe)
"Peter" is the 16th episode of the second season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe, and the 36th episode overall. Considered a keystone episode of the series, "Peter" is a flashback episode, told as Walter Bishop reveals to Olivia Dunham that his son Peter is really the...
, indicating there is more than one Observer. Olivia is confused as to August's motives, as Observers are known to only observe events and not interfere with them. After questioning Christine's roommate, Olivia learns she was to take a flight to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Peter finds a picture of Christine from her childhood before her parents were killed in the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, and sees August in the background, indicating he has been observing her entire life. The plane to Rome would later crash, killing everyone onboard. Because of this, the team realize August in fact saved her life.
At Massive Dynamic, Brandon (Ryan McDonald
Ryan McDonald
Ryan James McDonald is a Canadian actor born 5 August 1984 in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. He is sometimes mistakenly credited as Ryan MacDonald.-Filmography:* "The Ballad of Jack and Rose" * "Terry"...
) theorizes to the team that Observers are time travelers, as they have been documented during several major events in history. They write in an incomprehensible language, and the number of Observer sightings has increased over the past few months, leaving the team wondering why. Meanwhile, August visits the other Observers, who are not happy that he saved a girl who was supposed to die in the plane crash. To correct his mistake, they send Donald Long (Paul Rae
Paul Rae
Paul Rae is an American film and television actor.Rae was born Paul Rae Stuart in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Jean Rushing and Norman Stuart, and was raised in Bogalusa, Washington Parish, Louisiana...
), an assassin affiliated with the Observers to correct August's actions. In an attempt to save Christine, August sends a secret message to Walter. During the meeting, August reveals Christine will die because she is not important; Walter tells August that he has to make her important.
The team are later made aware of Christine's location at a motel
Motel
A motor hotel, or motel for short, is a hotel designed for motorists, and usually has a parking area for motor vehicles...
outside the city. However, Donald is on the trail also. August attempts to stop him, but Donald shoots him several times, before Peter and Olivia arrive to kill the assassin. September picks up August and while driving, September asks August why he saved Christine. August reveals that he is in love with her, and asks if she would be safe. September informs him Christine will stay alive because she is now important; she was responsible for the death of an Observer. August cries before succumbing to his wounds. In the end, Olivia takes a day off to spend time with her niece, Ella, at an amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
. Two Observers watch the two, and they remark that everything is about to get worse for Olivia.
Production
Jeff Pinkner
Jeff Pinkner is an American television writer and producer. He graduated from Pikesville High School in Baltimore Maryland in 1983. He is known for his work on Alias where he served as executive producer. In 2006 and 2007, he worked as an executive producer and writer for the mystery series Lost...
. It was the first Fringe episode to be directed by cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Dennis Smith
Dennis Smith (director)
Dennis L. Smith is American television cinematographer, director and former motion picture camera operator.As a camera operator he worked on such films as Stir Crazy , Revenge of the Nerds , License to Drive and Home Alone . He continued his career as a cinematographer/director of photography on...
. They began shooting the episode during the second half of September 2009, right after wrapping production on "Of Human Action
Of Human Action
"Of Human Action" is the seventh episode of the second season of the science fiction/crime series Fringe, and the 27th episode overall. The episode followed a case involving the apparent kidnapping of the son of a scientist working for biotechnology corporation Massive Dynamic, leading the Fringe...
". Supervising producer Josh Singer
Josh Singer
Josh Singer is a WGA-award nominated television Writer and Producer, whose most noticeable work includes writing and producing episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, the critically acclaimed series The West Wing, the crime series Bones, and the FOX science-fiction series Fringe.- Fringe...
later noted how "August" helped them write the rest of the season, "There was one episode, 'August', which was all about the Observers, that I feel was mythology without being mythology. And somehow, in working that episode, we sort of found a new creative vein. And its not that that episode was necessarily so related to everything else we did. But I feel like it sort of opened us up in terms of how we were feeling about the year".
Up to the point the episode "August" aired, only one character that was part of a group known as "Observers" had been introduced. In this episode, two more such individuals were revealed: August (played by Peter Woodward
Peter Woodward
Peter Woodward is an English actor, stuntman and screenwriter. He is probably best known for his role as Galen in the Babylon 5 spin-offs Babylon 5: A Call to Arms, Crusade and Babylon 5: The Lost Tales....
) and December (played by Eugene Lipinski). The creation of Observers was one of the first ideas the writers of Fringe thought of when developing the show in its early stages, when they asked each other, "What if there were these characters where all they did was watch?". Pinkner and Wyman thought of creating Observers by "looking for something... iconic" that had the "quality of being invisible". Though the Observer called September has appeared in every single Fringe episode in a brief cameo, he was first featured prominently in the fourth episode
The Arrival (Fringe)
"The Arrival" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe. The episode was written by the series co-creator and executive producer J. J. Abrams and executive producer and show runner Jeff Pinkner. Paul A. Edwards directed it...
of the first season. The producers thought of unique characteristics for "somebody who wasn't of our world," evolving to the Observers having bald heads, no eyebrows, and "largely deadened" senses, which led to a love for extremely hot peppers. Before the second season premiere aired in September 2009, co-creator J.R. Orci
J.R. Orci
J. R. Orci is a television and film writer and producer.He was born in Mexico City and raised in Canada, Texas, and Los Angeles. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin...
hinted that the audience was going to meet "many Observers", and that in the season's eighth episode, "You're going to find out their role in the world, what they're named after, and their connection to some of these characters." Later on, when still leading up to the airing of "August" in another interview, Roberto Orci elaborated that "Individuality will be one of the things that they will be fanatically struggling with, actually. That was a fun one, because that one was one where you're finally getting to pay off things you've been setting up for a year. You finally get to open the toy box and really play with those toys". Actor Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris is an American singer, guitarist and actor. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including in several Stephen Sondheim musicals: Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Road Show, and Passion...
, who plays September, commented in an interview that as a result of the episode, viewers will learn that the Observers "are not completely devoid of feelings, and are not incapable of being attached to people they're observing". He also expressed relief that his character was no longer the sole Observer on the show, joking that "it was nice to feel like I'm not the only freak in town for once".
Actress Anna Torv
Anna Torv
Anna Torv is an Australian actress known for her role as FBI agent Olivia Dunham on the Fox television series Fringe.-Early life:...
stated in an interview with MTV News
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
that "August" was one of her favorite episodes because "We sort of get to meet the Observers. At the moment what we know about them, they... seemingly just observe. That's kind of it, but [in] the episode that we have coming up, we're not sure if all they do is just observe".
Ratings
"August" premiered to an estimated 5.746 million viewers in the United States, with a 2.0 rating. The episode was down 9% from the previous week's episode "Of Human ActionOf Human Action
"Of Human Action" is the seventh episode of the second season of the science fiction/crime series Fringe, and the 27th episode overall. The episode followed a case involving the apparent kidnapping of the son of a scientist working for biotechnology corporation Massive Dynamic, leading the Fringe...
", which had a rating of 2.2.
Reviews
MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Josh Wigler thought the episode was "a touching, sad tale with a healthy mix of mythological advancement," and couldn't wait for more episodes about the Observers. Ramsey Isler of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode 7.6/10, writing that despite the hype, the episode was "just plain average". He did however appreciate the new revelations about the Observers. After previewing the episode, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Ken Tucker graded the episode an A-, explaining Fringe had become "one of the fastest, smartest, wittiest shows on television now". Andrew Hanson from the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
called it a "good story peppered with a lot of great details... 'August' showed a greater connection to the larger Fringe universe". Noel Murray of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
graded it with a B+, praising the "wonderfully moody" episode and how it was able to make the halting Observer dialogue work. Murray found some aspects lacking however, as he thought it was "a very sketchy episode, plot-wise and mythology-wise. Not a whole lot happened". Website blogger io9
Io9
io9 is a blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The blog focuses on the subjects of science fiction, futurism, and advancements in the fields of science and technology....
listed "August" as one of the "crucial" episodes new viewers must watch to get into the show.
External links
- "August" at FoxFox Broadcasting CompanyFox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...