| "Bound" | |||
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| Fringe episode | |||
Olivia Dunham in pursuit. Her actions scenes for the episode were praised, with one reviewer comparing her to Jack Bauer. |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 11 |
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| Directed by | Frederick E. O. Toye | ||
| Written by | J.J. Abrams Jeff Pinkner Alex Kurtzman Roberto Orci |
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| Production code | 3T7660 | ||
| Original air date | January 20, 2009 | ||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| Fringe (season 1) List of Fringe episodes |
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"Bound" is the 11th episode of the first season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe. The episode was written by series co-creators J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and executive producer Jeff Pinkner. Frederick E. O. Toye directed it. "Bound" follows the aftermath of Olivia's capture in the previous episode, and subsequent efforts to identify and arrest her kidnappers.
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Olivia's former adversary, Sanford Harris (Michael Gaston), conducts a formal review of the Fringe Division. Olivia manages to free herself from her abductors. She, along with Walter and Peter, investigates the murder of an epidemiologist, who is killed by a chemical which creates a giant, slug-like single cell of acute viral nasopharyngitis in his stomach. Olivia succeeds in connecting the murder to Loeb and obtains the necessary evidence to capture him. Olivia tries to question him about her abduction but he tells her that he was trying to save her. Olivia's sister Rachel (Ari Graynor) pays a visit with daughter Ella.
In early December 2008, Entertainment Weekly reported that actress Ari Graynor would be joining the cast as a guest star for a minimum of three episodes, beginning in January. Her character, Olivia's younger sister Rachel, would be visiting Olivia for a few weeks because "she's dealing with some man trouble back home", as described by an insider.[1] "Bound" marked the first episode to feature the new character.[2]
"Bound" was written by co-creators J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci, and executive producer Jeff Pinkner. Producer Frederick E. O. Toye worked as the director.[3]
Up to the point the episode aired, actress Anna Torv considered it her favorite episode, explaining, "In ‘Bound,’ when Olivia gets kidnapped, they’re giving her a spinal tap and she wakes up and breaks out — it was just bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. I found it really easy to follow and kind of energetic, and I really loved filming that."[4][5] In reference to Trini Alvarado, the other actress in their fight scene, Torv also mentioned when shooting it "We had so much fun!" "That's probably my favorite sequence in the show thus far."[6] Actor Joshua Jackson believed the episode was important developmentally for the series, explaining it was "creatively when the show really hit its stride in the first season."[7] Jackson continued, "I think right around the midway point of [the first] season the show decided what it wanted to be. From about the midway, point it got on a pretty good streak of episodes. I can’t remember the exact number, but the two-part episode where Dunham gets kidnapped. After that, it was pretty clear; we introduced the bad guys for the season and there was a much clearer narrative drive through the rest of the season."[7]
On its first initial broadcast, the episode was watched by an estimated 11.96 million viewers.[8]
"I love this show! And seeing it after its weeks-long hiatus just reminds me once again how much I love it and why. Part of it's because they throw little clues at us, and we're tasked to try and figure them out. Where did we see this guy before? What does this mean? How does it tie into the past? Are these new characters part of a larger conspiracy? It's a fun puzzle that isn't dumbed down for the audience."
IGN's Ramsey Isler rated "Bound" 9.6/10; he loved the opening sequence, and called the episode "an energetic start to second half of the season, and it's hopefully a sign of things to come. Perhaps the show runners listened to the complaints about repetitive and formulaic stories in the early episodes of season one and decided to tweak their approach a bit, or they could just be finding their groove. Either way, they should keep up the Jack Bauer approach to Olivia. It works, and it works well."[10] Writing for A.V. Club, critic Zach Handlen also praised the "badassery" of the opening sequence as well as Olivia herself; he graded the episode with an A, calling it "a gripping, bizarre, occasionally wince-inducing hour of television; after a spotty first half of the season, Fringe is finally hitting its stride."[11] Andrew Hanson from the Los Angeles Times felt that despite the extra ten minutes, "Bound" was "more like a two-hour episode... being crammed into half the time".[2] He thought the episode's four writers were "all busy", as there were three stories going on at once, and compared Olivia to the similarly characterized Lost character Jack Shephard. Hanson concluded, "But how bad can it be when my biggest complaint about a show is that I want more? And now that the cold winter of reruns has passed, we should be getting just that."[2] Jane Boursaw of TV Squad enjoyed the episode; like Isler, she also compared Olivia to Jack Bauer, and expressed suspicion that new characters Rachel and Ella were "part of a bigger conspiracy".[9]
Various reviewers disliked the character Sanford Harris, calling him "stereotypical and "one-note".[10][11]
At the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, director Frederick E. O. Toye submitted the episode for consideration in the Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series category,[12] but did not receive a nomination.[13] J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, the writers of "Bound", also submitted their work in the episode for consideration in the Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series category,[12] but received no nominations.[14]
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