6955 kHz
Encyclopedia
"6955 kHz" is the sixth episode of the third season of the American science fiction
drama
television series
Fringe
. It first aired on November 11, 2010 in the United States. The third season spent much of its time alternating between the prime and parallel universes, and "6955 kHz" was set in the former. The storyline followed the Fringe team's investigation into a numbers station
that mysteriously gave its listeners amnesia
, a case that ultimately ties to a doomsday device
.
The episode was written by story editors Robert Chiappetta
and Glen Whitman
, and was directed by Joe Chappelle
. Its broadcast took place on the Fox network
, and according to Nielsen Media Research
, an estimated 4.8 million viewers tuned in. Reviews of the episode ranged from positive to mixed, as some reviewers disagreed about the introduction of a "First People" mythology.
's doppelgänger
from the parallel universe
, continues to pose as Olivia as part of the Fringe division. The Fringe team is brought in on a case where several people, part of an online group attempting to decode the information sent by a numbers station
, have been stricken with amnesia. They discover the station broadcasting the signal, finding its workers killed and a strange box connected to the broadcast equipment. They identify fingerprints on the box of a Joseph Feller, but his current location is unknown. Walter
attempts to decipher the workings of the box, while giving hope to some of the affected people that they will get their memories back in time.
Peter
discovers that the rare book shopkeeper, Edward Markham (Clark Middleton
), was part of the online group but did not listen that night. Edward provides his theory of the numbers stations to Peter and Fauxlivia: that it is a signal left by the "First People", an advanced civilization that existed before a mass extinction event. He provides them with a book about the First People. As they return the book to Walter, Peter notices numbers in the astrological charts in the book are the same as the broadcasted numbers. They give the book to Astrid, a skilled decoder, along with copious volumes of data from biotechnology corporation Massive Dynamic about the numbers stations.
Later, the crash of a small commuter aircraft is attributed to a similar signal from a numbers station, and when Fringe division identifies the source, they find a second box. Taking the box to Walter, Peter identifies one of the electronic components as rare, and engages his contacts to find Feller's address from its purchase. Fauxlivia feigns returning to headquarters to instead travel to Feller's apartment, warning him that Fringe is onto him, but he insists on continuing his job. She throws him out the window as the Fringe team arrives, killing him and revealing him to be a shapeshifter. Fauxlivia claims she killed the man in self-defense.
Meanwhile, Astrid has decoded the numbers as a series of geographical coordinates. The closest one is in Milton, Massachusetts, the site of where a mysterious box was found ("The Box
"). Teams are quickly sent to the other sites given across the globe, and they discover many more parts of what Walter and Peter believe to be the same doomsday machine
that Walternate, Walter's doppelgänger, has already constructed in the parallel universe, and which the First People book claims can destroy or create universes. Fauxlivia later communicates this finding to the parallel universe through the typewriter shop, and is ordered to initiate "phase two".
The episode ends in the parallel universe where Olivia, having broken Walternate's conditioning making her believe herself to be Fauxlivia, is told that no further tests are needed. A vision of Peter warns Olivia that her usefulness to Walternate has ended and her life is in danger.
and Glen Whitman
, while frequent Fringe collaborator Joe Chappelle
served as the director. Leading up to the episode's broadcast, actress Anna Torv
revealed in an official Fox interview that "[The next] episode is all about these co-ordinates that keep getting broadcast on the radio. This is all... a ploy to get Walter and Peter working on Walternate's machine." Chappelle also added that Fauxlivia would be working "to protect Walternate's plan... These pirate broadcasts are created on the other side... by Walternate, to help him in his plans with our universe."
The episode featured performances by guest actors Kevin Weisman
, Mark Acheson, Minh Ly, Paula Lindberg, Tyler McClendon, and Vincent Tong; previous guest stars Ryan McDonald
and Clark Middleton
returned as scientist Brandon Fayette and rare bookseller Edward Markham, respectively.
As with other Fringe episodes, Fox released a science lesson plan in collaboration with Science Olympiad
for grade school children, focusing on the science seen in "6955 kHz", with the intention of having "students learn about information encoding, which is [the] process of converting a piece of information into another form or representation."
helped Fox place third for the night in a tie with NBC
.
, critic Ken Tucker noted and appreciated that "many key details were provided by characters who don’t often serve that function", such as with Broyles and the numbers stations. He called it "a terrific, almost Astrid-centric episode." Los Angeles Times
writer Andrew Hanson enjoyed the episode's many puzzles and expressed appreciation for the "First People" revelation as well as Walternate's "long con" concerning the doomsday device. Hanson was skeptical that Peter had not yet figured out Fauxlivia's true identity, but praised Anna Torv's performance ("Anyone who doubted [her] acting chops in the first couple of seasons should be eating their words").
Like Andrew Hanson, A.V. Club's Noel Murray called the introduction of the First People "a masterstroke on the part of the Fringe writers". Murray graded the episode with a B+, explaining it "was a strange Fringe for me. The dialogue was often painfully expository, with liberal doses of ADR to make sure that we viewers didn’t miss any of the massive amounts of significant information we need to understand as the story moves forward...And yet the episode was also funky and philosophical in the way I like my Fringe to be, using the plot and even the setting to put across more than just pieces of the series’ mythology."
Fearnet
critic Alyse Wax wrote "This episode made my brain hurt. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. They were throwing a lot of weird shit at us. It was great because I feel like we are finally getting answers, like we will finally get some closure, and just maybe get rid of the Red universe stiffs. This episode was so ridiculously dense I am sure I missed some of the deeper scientific facts. I got the gist of it, though, and frankly, I much prefer these jam-packed episodes. I like when the puzzle pieces start falling into place. It's calming." SFScope
's Sarah Stegall believed the episode "start[ed] out interestingly enough", but unlike other reviewers, she was very critical of the First People mythology, stating "This is where my disbelief not only stopped being suspended, it got up and walked out of the room... I still don't like the premise of the evolution of an entire hominid species that left not one single solitary fossil behind. It's more like fantasy than science fiction." Stegall praised Torv's acting as she plays "two people very subtly, very convincingly", and concluded her review by commenting she will continue to watch the series because she trusts the writers will "supply us with plausible answers from time to time", but is "losing some respect for it".
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...
. It first aired on November 11, 2010 in the United States. The third season spent much of its time alternating between the prime and parallel universes, and "6955 kHz" was set in the former. The storyline followed the Fringe team's investigation into a numbers station
Numbers station
A numbers station is a shortwave radio station of uncertain origin. In the 1950s, Time magazine reported that the numbers stations first appeared shortly after World War II and were using a format that had been used to send weather data during that war.Numbers stations generally broadcast...
that mysteriously gave its listeners amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
, a case that ultimately ties to a doomsday device
Doomsday device
A doomsday device is a hypothetical construction — usually a weapon, or collection of weapons — which could destroy all life on a planet, particularly the Earth, or destroy the planet itself, bringing "doomsday", a term used for the end of planet Earth...
.
The episode was written by story editors Robert Chiappetta
Robert Chiappetta
Robert Chiappetta is an American television writer who, along with his writing partner Glen Whitman, serves as executive story editor on the FOX science-fiction series Fringe and has contributed many scripts to the show as well.- Fringe episodes :...
and Glen Whitman
Glen Whitman
Glen Whitman is an American television writer who, along with his writing partner Robert Chiappetta, serves as executive story editor on the FOX science-fiction series Fringe and has contributed several scripts to the series. Whitman has been a Science Adviser to the series since the first season.-...
, and was directed by Joe Chappelle
Joe Chappelle
Joe Chappelle is an American film and television director and producer. Chappelle was a Co-executive producer and regular Director for the HBO crime drama The Wire...
. Its broadcast took place on the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox 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...
, and according to Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
, an estimated 4.8 million viewers tuned in. Reviews of the episode ranged from positive to mixed, as some reviewers disagreed about the introduction of a "First People" mythology.
Plot
Fauxlivia, Olivia DunhamOlivia 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....
's doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
from the parallel universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
, continues to pose as Olivia as part of the Fringe division. The Fringe team is brought in on a case where several people, part of an online group attempting to decode the information sent by a numbers station
Numbers station
A numbers station is a shortwave radio station of uncertain origin. In the 1950s, Time magazine reported that the numbers stations first appeared shortly after World War II and were using a format that had been used to send weather data during that war.Numbers stations generally broadcast...
, have been stricken with amnesia. They discover the station broadcasting the signal, finding its workers killed and a strange box connected to the broadcast equipment. They identify fingerprints on the box of a Joseph Feller, but his current location is unknown. 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:...
attempts to decipher the workings of the box, while giving hope to some of the affected people that they will get their memories back in time.
Peter
Peter Bishop
Peter Bishop is a fictional character on the Fox television series Fringe. He is portrayed by Joshua Jackson.-Fictional character biography:...
discovers that the rare book shopkeeper, Edward Markham (Clark Middleton
Clark Middleton
Clark Middleton is an American actor. He may be best known for his supporting roles in Kill Bill: Vol. 2, Sin City, and Fringe.-Career:Middleton began acting at a California junior college when he signed up with an acting class with friends...
), was part of the online group but did not listen that night. Edward provides his theory of the numbers stations to Peter and Fauxlivia: that it is a signal left by the "First People", an advanced civilization that existed before a mass extinction event. He provides them with a book about the First People. As they return the book to Walter, Peter notices numbers in the astrological charts in the book are the same as the broadcasted numbers. They give the book to Astrid, a skilled decoder, along with copious volumes of data from biotechnology corporation Massive Dynamic about the numbers stations.
Later, the crash of a small commuter aircraft is attributed to a similar signal from a numbers station, and when Fringe division identifies the source, they find a second box. Taking the box to Walter, Peter identifies one of the electronic components as rare, and engages his contacts to find Feller's address from its purchase. Fauxlivia feigns returning to headquarters to instead travel to Feller's apartment, warning him that Fringe is onto him, but he insists on continuing his job. She throws him out the window as the Fringe team arrives, killing him and revealing him to be a shapeshifter. Fauxlivia claims she killed the man in self-defense.
Meanwhile, Astrid has decoded the numbers as a series of geographical coordinates. The closest one is in Milton, Massachusetts, the site of where a mysterious box was found ("The Box
The Box (Fringe)
"The Box" is the second episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe. The episode was written by Josh Singer and Graham Roland, and directed by Jeffrey Hunt. The third season spent its time alternating between the prime and parallel universes, and "The...
"). Teams are quickly sent to the other sites given across the globe, and they discover many more parts of what Walter and Peter believe to be the same doomsday machine
Doomsday device
A doomsday device is a hypothetical construction — usually a weapon, or collection of weapons — which could destroy all life on a planet, particularly the Earth, or destroy the planet itself, bringing "doomsday", a term used for the end of planet Earth...
that Walternate, Walter's doppelgänger, has already constructed in the parallel universe, and which the First People book claims can destroy or create universes. Fauxlivia later communicates this finding to the parallel universe through the typewriter shop, and is ordered to initiate "phase two".
The episode ends in the parallel universe where Olivia, having broken Walternate's conditioning making her believe herself to be Fauxlivia, is told that no further tests are needed. A vision of Peter warns Olivia that her usefulness to Walternate has ended and her life is in danger.
Production
"6955 kHz" was written by story editors Robert ChiappettaRobert Chiappetta
Robert Chiappetta is an American television writer who, along with his writing partner Glen Whitman, serves as executive story editor on the FOX science-fiction series Fringe and has contributed many scripts to the show as well.- Fringe episodes :...
and Glen Whitman
Glen Whitman
Glen Whitman is an American television writer who, along with his writing partner Robert Chiappetta, serves as executive story editor on the FOX science-fiction series Fringe and has contributed several scripts to the series. Whitman has been a Science Adviser to the series since the first season.-...
, while frequent Fringe collaborator Joe Chappelle
Joe Chappelle
Joe Chappelle is an American film and television director and producer. Chappelle was a Co-executive producer and regular Director for the HBO crime drama The Wire...
served as the director. Leading up to the episode's broadcast, 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:...
revealed in an official Fox interview that "[The next] episode is all about these co-ordinates that keep getting broadcast on the radio. This is all... a ploy to get Walter and Peter working on Walternate's machine." Chappelle also added that Fauxlivia would be working "to protect Walternate's plan... These pirate broadcasts are created on the other side... by Walternate, to help him in his plans with our universe."
The episode featured performances by guest actors Kevin Weisman
Kevin Weisman
Kevin Weisman is an American film, television and stage actor. His best-known acting role was that of Marshall Flinkman on the television series Alias .-Early life:...
, Mark Acheson, Minh Ly, Paula Lindberg, Tyler McClendon, and Vincent Tong; previous guest stars 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"...
and Clark Middleton
Clark Middleton
Clark Middleton is an American actor. He may be best known for his supporting roles in Kill Bill: Vol. 2, Sin City, and Fringe.-Career:Middleton began acting at a California junior college when he signed up with an acting class with friends...
returned as scientist Brandon Fayette and rare bookseller Edward Markham, respectively.
As with other Fringe episodes, Fox released a science lesson plan in collaboration with Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad is an American elementary, middle, or high school team competition which tests knowledge of various science topics and engineering ability. Over 6,200 teams from 49 U.S. states compete each year. Most teams compete in three levels of competition: regionals, states, and nationals...
for grade school children, focusing on the science seen in "6955 kHz", with the intention of having "students learn about information encoding, which is [the] process of converting a piece of information into another form or representation."
Ratings
On its first American broadcast on November 11, 2010, "6955 kHz" was watched by an estimated 4.8 million viewers, earning a 2.9/5 rating for all households and 1.7/5 for adults 18 to 49. Fringe and its lead-in show BonesBones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...
helped Fox place third for the night in a tie with NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
.
Reviews
The episode received positive to mixed reviews. Writing for Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment 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...
, critic Ken Tucker noted and appreciated that "many key details were provided by characters who don’t often serve that function", such as with Broyles and the numbers stations. He called it "a terrific, almost Astrid-centric episode." 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....
writer Andrew Hanson enjoyed the episode's many puzzles and expressed appreciation for the "First People" revelation as well as Walternate's "long con" concerning the doomsday device. Hanson was skeptical that Peter had not yet figured out Fauxlivia's true identity, but praised Anna Torv's performance ("Anyone who doubted [her] acting chops in the first couple of seasons should be eating their words").
Like Andrew Hanson, A.V. Club's Noel Murray called the introduction of the First People "a masterstroke on the part of the Fringe writers". Murray graded the episode with a B+, explaining it "was a strange Fringe for me. The dialogue was often painfully expository, with liberal doses of ADR to make sure that we viewers didn’t miss any of the massive amounts of significant information we need to understand as the story moves forward...And yet the episode was also funky and philosophical in the way I like my Fringe to be, using the plot and even the setting to put across more than just pieces of the series’ mythology."
Fearnet
FEARnet
Fearnet is a cable channel, website and Video on Demand television service owned by Horror Entertainment LLC, a joint venture between Comcast, Lions Gate Entertainment, and Sony Pictures Entertainment...
critic Alyse Wax wrote "This episode made my brain hurt. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. They were throwing a lot of weird shit at us. It was great because I feel like we are finally getting answers, like we will finally get some closure, and just maybe get rid of the Red universe stiffs. This episode was so ridiculously dense I am sure I missed some of the deeper scientific facts. I got the gist of it, though, and frankly, I much prefer these jam-packed episodes. I like when the puzzle pieces start falling into place. It's calming." SFScope
SFScope
SFScope is an online trade journal devoted to entertainment news concerning speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It was founded by Ian Randal Strock in early 2007....
's Sarah Stegall believed the episode "start[ed] out interestingly enough", but unlike other reviewers, she was very critical of the First People mythology, stating "This is where my disbelief not only stopped being suspended, it got up and walked out of the room... I still don't like the premise of the evolution of an entire hominid species that left not one single solitary fossil behind. It's more like fantasy than science fiction." Stegall praised Torv's acting as she plays "two people very subtly, very convincingly", and concluded her review by commenting she will continue to watch the series because she trusts the writers will "supply us with plausible answers from time to time", but is "losing some respect for it".
External links
- "6955 kHz" 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...