By John Keegan and Edmund Boys
"Matsya Nyaya", the title of this episode, roughly translates to "The Law of the Fishes". It's a Hindu variation of survival of the fittest, assuming bigger fish will eat smaller fish in the natural order of things. However, it is used to justify why governments need to establish laws and standards to counteract those base instincts. It's not the first time Jonathan Nolan has turned to Eastern philosophy to inform his narrative, and, as in “Batman Begins”, it provides an apt metaphor. In "Person of Interest", the leaders have been shirking their responsibilities, and it's time for the little fish, both past and present, to rise up and reimpose some order.
"Matsya Nyaya", the title of this episode, roughly translates to "The Law of the Fishes". It's a Hindu variation of survival of the fittest, assuming bigger fish will eat smaller fish in the natural order of things. However, it is used to justify why governments need to establish laws and standards to counteract those base instincts. It's not the first time Jonathan Nolan has turned to Eastern philosophy to inform his narrative, and, as in “Batman Begins”, it provides an apt metaphor. In "Person of Interest", the leaders have been shirking their responsibilities, and it's time for the little fish, both past and present, to rise up and reimpose some order.
Well, how was that for an opening? Just like that, Renly Baratheon is totally out of the picture. Sure, it may not beat the sheer boldness of storytelling on display in the death of Eddard Stark, but at the very least, I was much more surprised by this scene than I was by Ned's death. True, part of that was due to my being spoiled ahead of time that Ned would lose his head. But I was spoiled about Renly's death as well. As with Ned, I knew that Renly would be killed, but knew little of the circumstances or the timing. I expected him to be killed at some later point in the season. So to have him be killed so suddenly, at the very beginning of the episode, and in a manner that totally defied my expectations, was enough to leave my jaw agape.
If someone would have told me, at the beginning of this season, that “Fringe” would be renewed before “Supernatural”, I’d have laughed myself silly. Not just at the notion of either show coming back (I was sure this was the swan song season for both epics), but at the thought that cancel-happy Fox would allow a loss-leader like “Fringe” to survive, despite its creative and critical praise, while the struggling CW would even consider letting one of its few successful shows to slip away. I still think that “Supernatural” is as sure a thing for an eighth season as it gets right now, but it’s definitely a symptom of how weird this season has been for the traditional networks.
Considering the nature of this episode, it’s important to begin with the best news that any “Fringe” fan could have wanted to hear: despite the ratings struggle of the past two seasons, the show has been renewed for a fifth and final season. It will only be 13 episodes, but given that this was a concession between Warner Brothers and Fox over the licensing fees vs. future syndication potential, this was never a sure thing. It’s clear that the producers knew that this was the likely outcome, should renewal take place, so there’s every reason to think that they have been planning to bring the story to a close in that amount of time.
As a long-time sports fan, I will personally admit to wondering what it would be like for games to have different outcomes. We all wonder what the opposite outcome would be. Also, I've been watching television for a long time as well and I'm well-versed in the police procedural. "Awake" dips twice into that well here once again and I am tiring of these cases that are so easy to solve.
When a show relies on mysteries, its success is measured not by how good the mysteries are, but how well it pays them off. The creators of "Once Upon The Time" cut their teeth on the show that reveled in redefining those payoffs, to the joy of many (and frustration of some.) While their current show doesn't aspire to the mind-bending extremes of "Lost", "The Return" makes it clear they're not above toying with audience expectations. They seem to revel in playing puppetmaster, but more on that later.
Mitch Pileggi is probably best known to fans for his role as Assistant Director Walter Skinner in the popular The X-Files, but has appeared on television in a variety of roles, including Stargate Atlantis, Sons of Anarchy, Supernatural, and will be appearing on the upcoming Dallas.
It’s becoming apparent that the writers for “The Secret Circle” have had a plan in mind over the course of the season, if only in terms of overall broad strokes and how it should all fit together. It’s also apparent to me that they just couldn’t make a potentially interesting story work with a miscast lead character and inconsistent execution. Things have been better since the arrival of John Blackwell, but it still feels like the show is grasping at straws.
Rumors of Alaric’s impending demise, based on the actor’s upcoming schedule, have been running rampant for quite some time. So it’s only natural that his character arc this season should lead to a death scene. It provides the season with one of its more poignant farewells in quite some time, and sets the stage for an emotionally draining season finale.