Ability

Season 1, Episode 14, Aired

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The team investigates a bizarre incident where the victim's facial orifices closed over, leaving him a faceless corpse. Meanwhile, Mr. Jones turns himself over to the authorities but refuses to speak unless Olivia passes a very particular test for him.
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Fan Episode Reviews (20)

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  • The greatest importance of this episode is it foreshadows the apparent endgame of all the show characters. At least until season 3 finale. *MAJOR SPOILERS*

    10
    "Perfect"
    By deathly_hollows, Oct 15, 2011
    I am actually writing this review to point out the brilliance this show was written with. I am currently rewatching the show after the amazing season 3 finale. I just had to check if everything fits. And judging by what I've come to see until now - it does.

    ZFT: "We think we understand reality, but our universe is only one of many. The unknown truth is that the way to travel between them has already been discovered by beings much like us, but whose history is slightly ahead of our own. The negative aspects of such visitation will be irreversible both to our world and to theirs. It will begin with a series of unnatural occurrences, difficult to notice at first... but growing, not unlike a cancer, until a simple fact becomes undeniable. Only one world will survive. And it will either be us or them." See this? When Walter read this, I was quite surprised to hear a storyline for seasons 2 and 3. Brilliant if you agree. Everything's laid out at this early stage of the show. The collision of the two worlds, Walter messing everything by stealing Peter, and the destruction of one world by the Doomsday device. Ability: Olivia showing her power of telekinesis returned as a crucial element of the show in the end of season 3. Again, I must state my excitement these story elements were incorporated into the show way back in season one. Her special connection to Peter, the cortexiphan trials, recruits... Everything is there. What more can I say about this episode. It's the episode that defined the show, the mythology and the storyline.moreless

  • The best episode so far,and most revealing too...

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By diyari, Aug 28, 2011
    This might be the beginning of the show,till now it was not started,so far we just have seen fragments and pieces of what science can do,and what we have seen so far was just the introduction for the show...
    now the story gets started and the real deal is now on.

    in this episode we saw what we never thought to see,as the scientific bases are now completely of records and amazingly made for the show
    one thing that is really caught my attention was that drug that Olivia was given when she was a child and of course because her father was a millatery man in that base where Dr.Bell did his tests,so olivia was used like a lab rat there...

    about the book(ZFT) I believe that Walter wrote it in the first place but he did not remember first and in the end of the episode we see him typing and he looks like he have seen a ghost,as we can see there is a sign on every thing every where we look in this episode that is what makes this one so special.
    And when Mr.jones sees Walter he looks so happy as I think he believes in Walter like a prophet of some kind,and he new damn right what he was talking about,he was not crazy in any way.

    Last thing that I wanna say is "I believe the war that the book talks about is not between humans but it is between human and other species in the universe"...moreless

  • Best Episode Yet!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By cisumtixe, Sep 25, 2010
    This episode truly was amazing. While the beginning wasn't as cool as the later scene at the news stand, it was pretty good but the one thing that really blew me away was the way it introduced several new elements while at the same time giving answers (The one I can think of being mainly the revelation of Parallel Universes coming from the answer of what ZFT is).
    The conclusion with the bomb was also very cool. I really liked the bomb kind of hovering on this view of the city (Which made it all the more tense)
    The ending in particular though with the revelation that Walter wrote the book really surprised me (Although quite a few people I know didn't actually understand the implication of the "y")
    Other than that I can't wait to see more!moreless

  • Wow!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Dark_Davis, Sep 25, 2010
    So this episode starts off with Jones escaping, which I was glad to see because we have not had any information on what happened to him after he escapes. As always, there is also a case, and this is something I have come to enjoy. Finally we find out what ZFT stands for, not that big of a secret, but it does help to understand what they are about. I really liked Jones in this episode, he is an evil man, but that ZFT book along with the test Jones gives Olivia, were pretty entertaining to watch. An amazing episode, and one that really makes you want to watch the next episode!moreless

  • The most revealing episode so far.

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By avi01, Jun 02, 2009
    Fringe is really impressing me with the last couple of episodes. This show started as ok at best to me but since Safe, business has picked up for sure.
    Since Safe, it was clear that there's a bigger picture here. It is just not an episodic one case per episode show but rather a serialized one now. The bigger picture is slowly but surely being exposed and Ability is the most revealing episode of the show so far.
    The biggest revelation was about Olivia's ability. This is a huge surprise here because it was not even teased. I'm not against. It was great to see Jones back. Still early to know how much of a bad guy (or good or both) he is and that's fine cause it makes him even more intriguing. The revelation of Olivia's ability was perfectly executed. Another major revelation came in the end where we learned that Walter wrote ZTF. It was another huge surprise and I really liked the way this was revealed (with the typewriter's y).
    So the best episode (along with safe) so far and things look very promising for the rest of the season.moreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (6)

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    • Trivia: In the shot of the newsstand, right before Tommie gets the contaminated $2 bill, a yellow evergreen symbol can be seen on the store's awning. This is a clue toward the next episode, "Inner Child."

    • Peter removed the old phone from the Harvard laboratory in "The No-Brainer," but it is seen here in the lab again.

    • Just before Walter is collecting the gas from Tommie, Tommie can be seen breathing and he also moves his head slightly. This should be impossible as he is dead with all of his orifices closed so there's no chance of breathing and no chance of gas escaping to cause his body to move.

    • Trivia: Olivia says she was 3 in 1981, making her 31 years old when this episode premiered.

    • When Walter pulls out the typewriter and begins to type, how could the ribbon still be fresh enough to create characters on paper?

    • Trivia: The Observer can be seen at the newsstand as the first victim passes by.

  • QUOTES (12)

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    • Markam: Who's this friend? Olivia: Olivia Dunham. Markam: Five dollars I could name at least one item on your nightstand, Olivia Dunham. Don't tell me. You're gonna like this, I'm never wrong. It's a gift. Okay. Tony Morrison novel, something by Obama and/or the current issue of Bon Appetit. Olivia: I'm reading Advanced Forensic Science by Anaman. I keep it next to my gun. Markam: I like this one.

    • Peter: (to Olivia) Do you want a drink? Or five? I've seen you with a whiskey bottle.

    • Peter: (reading out instructions) "The recruit sits no more than 24 inches from the device but cannot touch the lightboard. The recruit focuses on the lightboard. The object of the test is to systematically shut down the lights so that ultimately, none are illuminated." Olivia: How? Peter: Using all your magic powers, I guess.

    • Olivia: What was the other thought? Walter: Sorry? Olivia: You said two thoughts came to mind. Walter: Ah yes. The other was... coffee cake. Tiny pebbles of cinnamon sugar. Peter: Once again... my father.

    • Olivia: Is your father about? Peter: Right here. Why don't you ask him what he's doing? Olivia: I'd rather not.

    • Peter: How come when nobody knows and it doesn't make sense, they come to us?

    • Walter: Two thoughts to come to mind. The first, that this affliction might have been caused by a mutation, changing these lipids to seal any and all orifices. Did they check his anus and penis? Peter: You think we could get the answer to that question without me in the room?

    • Olivia: I was hoping you might have one of your... weird connections... Peter: Weird connections? Olivia: They're always a little weird. Peter: Well, you're always a little weird.

    • Markam: Was that really necessary? Peter: Well, you know me, Markam. Friend of the people. Markam: What about me? Aren't I people? Peter: People who shower.

    • Walter: It's.. fascinating, isn't it? I was just reading it whilst sitting on the crapper. Peter: Please, no more information than that.

    • (Astrid chokes on gasses emitted from a corpse) Walter: Oh dear God that is putrid. On a separate topic, do you like coffee cake?

    • Peter: Walter, put the cow away, would you? Paramedic: What is this place? Peter: It's a freak show.

  • NOTES (3)

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    • Original International Air Dates: Norway: April 5, 2009 on TVN Finland: April 6, 2009 on MTV3 United Kingdom: April 12, 2009 on Sky1/Sky1 HD Germany: June 29, 2009 on ProSieben Sweden: July 2, 2009 on Kanal 5 Belgium: July 16, 2009 on RTBF2 France: July 29, 2009 on TF1 Poland: December 18, 2009 on TVN Slovakia: January 17, 2010 on Markiza Czech Republic: March 26, 2010 on Nova Cinema

    • Number 47: The skin-growth mutation bomb is located on the 47th floor of the building.

    • As of this episode, Mark Valley's name no longer appears in the opening credits.

  • ALLUSIONS (1)

    ADD ALLUSIONS

    • Olivia: The man was clever enough to Star Trek himself out of a maximum security German prison. Referencing the 1960s cult series created by Gene Roddenberry and its several spinoffs. The allusion refers to the transporter, a device that the crew use to beam up and down from their ship to the plane's surface. Roddenberry created the concept to avoid the cost of modelwork showing a ship landing and taking off every episode.

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