Scifriday: Farewell Fringe

Dr. Walter Bishop: Peter, hold on to these tight. Anti-gravity osmium bullets. Shoot Observers with these and watch them float away like balloons.
Peter Bishop: If we shoot ‘em they’re dead. Why’d we want ‘em to float away?

I love this show so much, I wear it on my head!

Dr. Walter Bishop: …Because it’s cool.
Peter Bishop: That makes sense Walter.

Fringe has ended and my heart has broken into a million, red-viney pieces knowing that the last bastion of good scifi tv goes with it.  Especially because this show was so damn good and not just because I got to hear Joshua Jackson lovingly say “Olivia” on a weekly basis.  (I’ve had a crush on him since the days of the Flying V) It really was an excellently written, shot and acted show—while there were rough spots and bad episodes, it was an original and fun series to watch.  Not familiar with this show?  Where have you been for the last 5 years!

Okay so Fringe is a show with a simple scifi premise: a specialized FBI team examines a series of events, ranging from the fantastical to the grotesque, and discovers that these events are linked to the existence of a parallel universe with which “our side” is unknowingly at war.   Intriguing no?  I was hesitant at first when the series began and like any show that is more storyline based, the first season ran slowly.  The initial few episodes were weaker because the show was laying foundations for a spectacular underlying storyline that played out over several seasons and 100 episodes.  What begins with the standard “freak of the week” rapidly becomes far more complicated as the story starts to craft connections between bizarre events and develop the real backstory to our main characters.

This show was essentially like an X-files for the 21^st century—and in my humble opinion, had many one-ups that came from learning what worked and what didn’t work on the previous paranormal series.  Where the X-files underlying theme was the existence of extra-terrestrial life, Fringe followed the concept of the multi-verse i.e. alternate realities.  While simultaneously embracing some of the harder elements of sci-fi it also was a show about a much simpler concept: love.   While there is a romantic relationship between the pretty people on the show (Joshua Jackon’s Peter Bishop and Anna Torv’s Olivia Dunham) the real examination of love is actually that of a Father and Son.  It’s a beautiful story that begins with the estranged Dr. Walter Bishop and his son Peter Bishop…and it resolved in a serious tear jerker end.

The skills of the actors were especially highlighted through the use of the multiverse concept.  Anna Torv and John Noble played not one, not two but 4 different versions of the same character.  These two managed to capture both the big and subtle changes caused by altered timeline events with real aplomb.  John Noble as Dr. Walter Bishop is easily the fan favorite—he is a villain, a hero, comedic relief and the heart of the show all rolled into one.  Still I think the most beautiful character manipulation was in the version of “our side” Olivia Dunham in a world where Peter Bishop remained dead as a child.  Yes remained dead—take that as you will.  I will never forget the scene where this very quietly harder version of Olivia reveals what the driving distinction is: in this universe she killed her abusive father.  It was a quiet but jaw dropping moment in understanding this version of her character and Anna Torv played it beautifully.

Walter Bishop’s character also explores a concept in science fiction that I find particularly of interest: the question of what can and should be done in the name of science.  Dr. Bishop has a dark past—he has done many questionable things in the name of science with a variety of motivations behind them.  As you explore his character over the series, you still can’t help but love him and fear him and then love him again in spite of some of the awful things he’d done—including using children as subjects in some seriously damaging experiments.

Dr. Walter Bishop : It’s one of the inherent pitfalls of being a scientist – trying to maintain that distinction… between God’s domain and our own. Sometimes, I forget myself.

I hesitate to give much a way in this farewell fringe blog post because I really want to encourage those of you who haven’t seen the show, or who maybe only just discovered it, to watch and love all 100 episodes like I did.  I’ve noticed in general that a lot of shows seem to get picked up by viewers at the end.  It must be something about series end hype.  I know that I only just picked up Breaking Bad in its last season and wow, talk about juxtaposition to Fringe.  Fringe exposes the weaknesses and flaws of its characters but resolves ultimately leaving you loving almost all of them.  B.B. has done the exact opposite—I hate or pity pretty much everyone, but that’s a post for another day.

As if I need another reason to explain why I love Fringe so much there is a foodie element to the series as well.  Dr. Bishop’s many idiosyncrasies extend well into his stomach and we are treated to a reference to some craving of his in every episode of the series.  They range from the everyday, like rootbeer floats and blueberry pancakes, to the highly imaginative like bacon berry frosting and parmesan ice cream.  One food item is mentioned and shown with such frequency that I’m surprised it didn’t get a line in the credits: RED VINES.  Have I ever told you how much I freaking love red vines?  Have I ever told you that during finals weeks when I’d be cramming for microbiology and trying to memorize my amino acid structures for Orgo (organic chemistry) my diet would subsist mainly of diet redbulls, pizza and red vines?  It’s little wonder that I would wind up sick as a dog after finals…I wasn’t exactly taking care of my diet during those high stress times.  Still it thrills me that my favorite scientist was weekly eating the same “brain food” I devoured in college.  So of course when I said goodbye to the show this past week I had to make something featuring this uncredited cast member.  This season one of Walter’s food choices was a 25 year old jelly doughnut he made that he consumed with an almost crazed glee.  And so from there my abominable recipe was born: Red Vine Jelly Doughnuts.

Red Vine Jelly Doughnuts

An Olivia Original inspired by Walter Bishop on “Fringe”

Doughnuts:

• ¾ cup buttermilk
• 2 Tbsp heavy cream
• 1 tsp + ½ cup granulated sugar, plus more for dusting finished doughnuts
• 2 ¼ teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 4 tsp melted, unsalted butter
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour plus more for surface
• ½ tsp salt
• Canola Oil (for frying)

Red Vine Jelly Filling:

• 12 red vines, cut into small pieces – no more than ½ an inch long
• 2 Tbsp butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 egg yolks

Mix together the buttermilk and cream—heat gently to approximately 100-110°F—add in a tsp of sugar. Mix. Sprinkle yeast over, gently blend and let the yeast bloom i.e. sit for 10 minutes until foamy.  In a separate bowl mix together the flour and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the half cup of sugar and eggs until you get a light yellow mixture—about 2-3 minutes.  Reduce the speed to low and add in the melted butter followed by the yeast mixture.  In small batches add in the flour mixture and switch your whisk to a dough hook.  You should get dough that just barely comes together into a ball—it will be extremely soft and somewhat sticky.  Turn out onto a floured counter and knead gently for another 2-3 minutes.

Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap.  Leave in a warm area to double in size—approximately 1.5 to 2 hours.

Punch down the dough and form into a ball.   Sprinkle with flour and roll out to a thickness of about half an inch.  Cut out doughnut holes with biscuit cutters or use larger sizes to make jelly doughnuts.  Transfer to wax paper or leave on the counter and cover lightly.  Let rise for another 30 minutes or so.  The dough will swell.

Pour enough canola oil into a heavy bottomed pan to have about 2 to 3 inches of oil and heat to 350°F – be sure not to let your temperature rise above 375°F so you don’t risk broaching the oil’s flashpoint.  Gently add in a few of your doughnuts and fry for about 2-3 minutes on the first side until just past golden.  Flip and cook another minute and then, with a slotted spoon or fry spoon, remove the doughnuts to a rack over some paper towels to let excess oil drip off.  After about a minute or so, while still warm but dry of excess oil, dredge the doughnuts in the granulated sugar and set aside for filling.

Make the filling:

Put the red vine pieces in a sauce pot with a good 2 cups of water and place over high heat.  Melt down the red vines, constantly stirring to keep the sugar at the bottom from burning.  Add more water as needed to get the red vines completely melted.  If the pieces are too large they won’t melt evenly so be sure to cut them small and uniformly.  Once melted down remove from heat and mix in the butter.

Lightly beat the egg yolks and sugar.  Add into the red vine mixture and return to the heat, cooking just until boiling then reduce the heat, add in the vanilla extract and continue to cook for another few minutes. Stir constantly.  You’ll wind up with a smooth filling that won’t harden up at room temperature.  Let it cool and then with a pastry bag and long tip, gently fill your doughnuts.

Enjoy with strawberry milkshakes or rootbeer floats and a mad scientist grin.