"Fringe" Ability (TV Episode 2009) Poster

(TV Series)

(2009)

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8/10
The Test and the Discovery
claudio_carvalho1 January 2017
When a newsdealer dies with his orifices close after receiving a two-dollar bill, Dr. Bishop finds a virus that infected him. Meanwhile Peter discovers the meaning of ZFT, a German acronyms for "Destruction by Advancement of Technology" and goes with Olivia to a bookstore where they get a copy of the ZFT. David Robert Jones turns himself in to the FBI suffering from the effects of teleporting and demands to speak with Olivia. However Sanford Harris does not allow and soon an FBI agent dies also infected by a two-dollar bill. When Olivia is allowed to interview Jones, he discloses that there is a bomb that will blow-up in thirty-six hours. He gives instructions to her to find a package of puzzles and toys. Now he challenges Olivia to pass in a test to give the location of the bomb. She cheats Jones with the support of Peter and he gives its location. When Olivia finds the bomb, she needs to solve the same test to disarm it. What will happen to Olivia?

"Ability" is an intriguing episode of "Fringe" where Olivia awakens her hidden ability, fruit of an experiment she was submitted with the substance "Cortexiphan" when she was a child at Jacksonville. The great mystery is the war David Robert Jones is preparing for. Sanford Harris is an irritating character. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Ability"
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9/10
Hooked for now!
Wirefan12228 April 2015
Warning: Spoilers
After a newsman and an FBI agent die of a orifice-closing toxin (not sure what else to call it!) they catch from a 2-dollar bill, Dunham and the gang are led back to Dr. Jones and his Star Trek disappearance from the German prison.

The ZFT book (which they find with yet another of annoying Peter Bishop's underworld/kooky connections) appears to be a how-to manual on recruiting an army to fight off the as yet unknown invaders! Sounds a bit corny but I do not do the dialog/plot much justice...it is quite engaging/intriguing.

I will leave further summaries in the future to the reviewer who rates EVERYTHING a ten...he/she certainly does a stellar job of summing up the plot.

Previous episode reviews/rants by me are fading away in my mind as this show is really starting to reel me in!
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10/10
The Author of ZFT
XweAponX3 May 2012
Warning: Spoilers
We always assumed the guy who wrote ZFT was a pimply, gangly crazy terrorist with nasty habits-Well, the category "crazy" fits, but not the rest of it

The sad thing here is that a cool old-guy selling papers and rags, who was a real Movie buff (He knew about "Charade" with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn)-Gets killed horribly when every orifice on his body gets overgrown with excess skin after he accepts a 2-dollar bill from a faceless customer. One moment this guy is pretending to be Robert Osborn from TCM, the next, Horror and Murder! Also, Homage: When the skin grows over the guys face, he looks alarmingly like some X-Files "Rebel Aliens" who had deliberately sewn up all of their orifices to keep from getting infected by the "Black Oil" - One of the forms of Aliens from The X-Files, if the stuff got into your eye, mouth or nose - Then it takes over your body and exposes everyone around you to massive radiation.

Here, we need to remember the stuff that causes this excess skin growth is on a 2-Dollar Bill, which is just to show how easily and how fast it can spread to the general population.

After Jones "Trekked" himself out of German Prison, he vanished. Until Now. He just walks right in to the FBI Building - And Immediately asks for Dunham. It is a "no-brainer" that Jones is responsible for this Skin-Growth toxin/hormone, so the FBI should not waste time, eh?

But of course, Sanford Harris plays his game of domination, which utterly fails almost immediately and causes several hours to be wasted - And one more FBI Agent killed because Harris refused to just let Jones talk to Olivia. A Team is sent to investigate the warehouse where Jones spent time decompressing after being transported - And they find more drawings of Olivia made by Jones.

There had been talk of a substance called "Cortexiphan" in previous episodes, made by Massive Dynamic-Used by Walter and William Bell in "The Cortexiphan Trials" - And Olivia had never lived in any of the cities where they had the trials, so she thinks it a given that she's never had the drug.

But once Harris steps out of the way and lets Olivia do her Job, she talks to Jones, and he asks her to pass a "test" after which he will tell Fringe Division how to disarm a Bomb he has set up which will shower the Skin Growth Hormone all over a City.

When Jones starts getting sick, Harris allows Walter to bring him to the Lab so Walter can treat him. It is there where Jones sets up his "test" - He wants Olivia to shut off some lights in an array using her mind! Peter gimmicks the test box, so that it appears Olivia had passed the test, But Jones knew he had been Faked Out, because when Fringe Div gets to the Bomb Site, the Bomb can ONLY be disarmed by Olivia, shutting off the lights with her mind!

Which she tries, and succeeds. When she asks Jones about this, he recites a quotation from ZFT that says something to the effect that the "Recruits" will be unwilling to participate - Just like Olivia.

Jones Treks himself away again, but in the Aftermath, Nina Sharp calls Olivia and tells her that indeed, there were Cortexiphan Trials at the Military Base in Jacksonville, Florida - Where she lived as a Child.

But the real kick in the pants happens when Walter, reading the ZFT Manuscript, notices that the word "AbilitY" has the letter "Y" off from the rest - Just like the Typewriter that used to belong to William Bell. And this makes a direct connection from Jones straight to Walter.
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9/10
Deadly Gunk of the Month
Hitchcoc27 October 2023
The newest method of killing people is a virus that closes all the open parts the body, the eyes, the mouth, the ears, etc. They suffocate quickly and violently. Once again Olivia has to find a way to connect with her new self, including her connection to a drug she was given as a child. To make a long story short, she guy who created the device to transport matter ala Star Trek, is out of prison but facing the consequences of his matter being reformed. Olivia must pass a test to stop a terrible bomb that could kill untold millions. She must do this by using her mind to put out a set of lights in a display. But Bishop is shown at the end to have had a hand in the inception of the danger.
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7/10
I take it back, this is the real mind bender here.
Darwinskid23 March 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Goodness, it has been quite a while since I wrote a review for a Fringe episode, now, where do I begin? ...Ah yes...

After a portion of people have died with a disease leaving them faceless and no where to breath the fringe team's investigations take them to the mysterious escape of Dr. David Robetr Jones, who may be on their side, especially Olivia's.

Very engaging story arc here, though it felt a tad disjointed in some areas, things did work out in the end.

I won't say much on it but the monologue read on the note in one scene really expands this show's universe and questions a lot.

Also a nice character development moment for Olivia and her relationship with both Jones and Peter.

7/10.
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