Dialogues of the Week!

Oh, it's a close tie - between new episodes of Fringe and Human Target (shocking, I know).

From Fringe, Episode 2.16, "Peter", where Walter explains and confesses himself to Olivia after she has become able to see objects from the other universe, and now knows that Peter is one of them. In this scene, a flashback to 1985, Walter has seen his double (or, as he likes to call him, "Walternate" - isn't that great?) make a critical error in observation that will result in him missing the cure for Peter's terminal illness, thus ensuring that Peter 2 will meet the same fate as Peter 1, and resolves to cross over to prevent this from happening.

Dr. Carla Warren: Walter, I'm sorry, but you can't.

Dr. Walter Bishop: Yes, yes, I think I can.

Dr. Warren: No, I mean you can't. Shattering the wall between universes would rupture the fundamental constants of nature...

Walter: ...That's just a theory; we don't know it to be true.

Dr. Warren: It's a good theory, it's why we've been lying to the military and telling them it's impossible... Walter. There has to be a line somewhere; there has to be a line we can't cross.

Walter: (after a long pause) I've always considered you as a scientist, Dr. Warren, despite your personal needs for religious claptrap. I see I was wrong.

Dr. Warren: "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."

Walter: Don't you quote Oppenheimer to me!

It was a fantastic episode of what surprisingly became a fantastic show, packed with great twists on the standard cliches, and the series is well worth taking a look at. Caveat: you may want to avoid the introductions of most episodes, in which the deaths of the week usually occur, as those deaths are of the sci-fi/horror variety (think Alien or The Thing) and tend to be extremely nauseating.

On HumanTarget 1.10, "Tanarak", a standard tale of a mining company trying to cover up the nature of an unnatural, chemical-related death that's elevated out of the standardized drudge through great acting, great direction, doing things like watching Mythbusters (in the episode's climactic scene, main character Chris Chance grabs a flare gun to blow up a semi instead of using his sidearm, since gas tanks are made to not blow up simply by being punctured or shot - but a flaming puncture is a whole other story!), and, of course, great writing. This week goes again to Jackie Earle Haley's Guerrero, as he blackmails the mining company's corporate fixer:

Guerrero: (entering the startled fixer's car) Whoa, hey Taggart! Been awhile!...Oh yeah, I get it. I could be recording this, right? If I were you, I wouldn't say a word either. So here's the deal. I know you're working with Agrius. You're scrubbing evidence over this whole propylide mess, and I also know, dude, even if you destroy it all, you're keeping one folder for yourself, the one with the really good stuff in it. The one that guarantees you get paid on time, they never mess with you. Problem is this: this company's going down, bro. I think we both know there's no reason for you to be anywhere near it when it does. Make sense? ...Oh, what's in it for you? Dude. How about doing the right thing? How about just the satisfaction of knowing you helped a really good person out of a rotten situation (breaks down snickering) dude, I'm messing with you! I know where you live! And you know it! Tom's Diner, Nineteenth and Pine. Just leave the folders in the back booth by the can, okay? Tell your wife I said hi. (exits the car) See you, Taggart!

The cherry on top here is really that, in a three-man operation, the smallest one is their creepy, dangerous thug. It's a great running visual.