Believe - 1.05 White Noise - Review - Exposing The Truth

Believe's fifth episode was directed by showrunner Jonas Pate and written by Dave Erickson. Dave Erickson should be noted for his work on the TV show Sons of Anarchy, as he served as consulting and co-executive producer and penned 17 episodes!

"White Noise" continues on from Bo and Tate leaving Manhattan with Winter where again we see Bo and Tate get new living accommodations and where the characters featured in the story of the week more directly tie into the larger picture due to a surprise leak on Roman Skouras end. Also questions are raised with the stakes becoming higher about exposing the world to either Skouras' program and/or Bo Adams.

I was glad to see things from previous episodes begin to take shape. Ben and Taryn made for a much better story this week, because of the fact that Ben is being fed information to write a story on his blog about the secret Government funded "Project Orchestra", but also because of the way both Bo and Tate responded to Taryn, and how again that seems to reflect on Nina Adams and what Tate and Bo don't yet know. (And interesting to see drawings like the one's in the opening theme also seen in this episode)

Zoe being the one to feed Ben the info was definitely a good twist and I liked how it juxtaposed Tate getting in contact with the people he believed set him up for murder. In "Origin" I did wonder about Zoe's relationship with Roman Skouras, because she came off to me being somewhat motherly of Bo and seems to still be the case, as she continues to press Roman on his choice to not only send another dangerous agent named Hayden out to find Ben, but also sending the seemingly indifferent Joshua, who's abilities have been gaining, out into the field where Bo could of easily been harmed. 

It might be easy to assume that Zoe's motives were to shut down Project Orchestra ultimately to protect Bo and maybe some of the others, but I can't help thinking that there could be something contradictory or even dubious about Zoe's motives, as this would expose not just Project Orchestra or The U.S. Government, but also Bo, which is not only against Roman's prerogative, but also Winter's, who encouraged Ben to wait until the time is right before exposing Bo to world. It makes it seem like Zoe could create her own organization. I also find myself wondering if we could see Taryn and Ben sooner rather than later. The thought crossed my mind that maybe she or her baby could of been special too?

Through out the episode we saw Bo continue to also push her beliefs and force her way with the vending machine, Tate, and now Channing along with the climatic scene with Joshua nearly killing Ben at the train station, but my favorite scenes were actually the final scenes, as Bo was able to deeply reflect on what she did to Joshua, (even though she saved Ben) which resulted in freeing Tate from his ankle bracelet and ultimately his responsibility to her...

The episode title is also an interesting title when not only does it directly refer to Joshua being able to pic up the frequency/signal of other people, such as Bo, or that Ben thought the train station would provide him a way to hide in plane site, but also because White Noise can relate to various kinds of patterns related in signal models which could be seen as an analogy to having various kinds of kinetic abilities, including being able to see chain reactions and possible outcomes of events. White Noise is also the name of an 1985 post modern novel by Don DiLillo that is told in parts and in which DiLillo constructs and bridges them all together through tones and themes of a contemporary America. There is also a 2005 supernatural thriller loosley based on the novel that explores hearing voices on audio recordings coming from "the other side". 

One of the things I think the series still has going for it, besides likable characters now starting to get more fleshed out, is that there are so many characters and groups of characters all coming from different perspectives and/or beliefs, which keeps the plot threads open to bring in and out all of those characters at different times and with potential to do so in unexpected ways down the line, (much like Person of Interest) but where I think it continues to be a bit weak is in it's straightforwardness. I think it would do the show some good to add a small flavor of mystery that actually feels mysterious. However I found this episode in particular much more promising in telling a bigger story and using the secondary characters in good outside the box ways, compared to previous characters in previous episodes. Ben and Taryn made things feel more personalized for the majority of the main characters.

Bad Robot Factor:
Each week after my review I will bring this section relating to many things Bad Robot in relationship to the episode, as I feel certain Bad Robot often makes a point to reference themselves with similar characters, subject matter, riffs, easter eggs, aesthetics, contrasting situations, & occasionally shared pop cultural references. So this section is to explore the possibility of those things, which may provide some and insight speculation and at the very least food for thought and/or trivia. I also think it's just fun to be able to reminisce!

You Know, I Always Thought of Myself As A Pacifist...

In this weeks episode I was reminded of many things William "Will" Tippin from Alias. At the beginning of the first season Will, working as a journalist for a local newspaper, keeps getting phone calls and information sent from sources in relation to his need to get to the bottom of his friend Sydney Bristow's fiance's death. One source is Sydney's father Jack, who's a double agent for the CIA and a terrorist organization masquerading to it's own lower agents as the CIA, but is really SD-6, a section of the Alliance of Twelve. Jack is trying to mislead and threaten Will to save his life and get him off of SD-6's path. Someone else was also feeding Will information, which nearly got him killed on a trip to Paris when freelancer Julian Sark believes Will has information about The Circumference. Will was also trying to help someone else who wrongfully imprisoned by trying to expose SD-6.

Ben and Tate both shared aspects with Tippin in this episode with Tate making elicit phone calls to the people he believes have set him up for murder and with Ben writing a story that could cost him his life.

Trivai: In Alias Will Tippin also has a assistant and love interest named Jenny. Jenny is played by actress Sarah Shahi, whom is a pretty deadly assassin named Samantha Shaw currently apart of "Team Machine" on Person of Interest.

Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore

 Actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben) also guest starred on a season one episode of Fringe, "Power Hungry", as character Joseph Meegar. Meegar responded to an add in the newspaper that claimed they could help people by reaching their full potential. Through an experiment he gained an electromagnetic ability that allowed him to be linked to electricity, but Meegar was both emotionally and physically unstable, possibly due to the experiment and became a great danger to his family and others. He accidentally killed his mother. Additionally Walter Bishop found a way to track Meegar by using the frequency of Meegar taken off of a cassette tape found in his (and his mother's) apartment in which he then electromagnetically charged the frequency signature to the beaks of carrier pigeons, which flew to his location. In Believe's Pilot episode, Bo was able to control pigeons through the frequency of the pitch of her scream!

Roads Not Taken: (Schrodinger's Cat/Many World's Interpretation Theory/Casimir Effect)
Given that Bad Robot likes to explore the possibility of whom anyone could or could not be through differences in circumstances and life choices, do they often play with multiple time lines and/or multiple universe to show potential variation in identity. Star Trek and Fringe are where one can more directly see this empirical concept explored, where in LOST it is more of a hidden idea.



Curiously Bo comments at the train station not only what she believes or sees as what needs to come to pass, again providing the audience with predetermination, destinty, or fate, but for the first time she also tells Ben and Taryn the possibility of an alternate course in which results in Taryn's and Ben's child not being born, should they separate at this time.





Drawing The Unknown
Bo's drawings, which was suggested that it could be Nina Adams, may come to show another ability of either revealing the truth and people she doesn't yet know over time and/or may then also predict the future. This may be a similar to trait to Fringe's Olivia Dunham. In the episode "Subject 13" a flashback to her time as a child in 1985, there is a real quick shot of a drawing of man that we later discover exists in Olivia's head-space as, 'The man whose going to kill her'. Fans did not get the follow through until the end of the next season, which initially features another version of Olivia in another time line (until the previous Olivia's memories are given to her). It turns out to be a new version of William Bell. This possible reference and episode title reference makes me wonder if Bo will be able to talk to Nina from the beyond or through time?

Looking at the picture though it almost looks like a depiction of an ancient fictionalized or mythological person in the wilderness and where the white and black fish circling each other is reminiscent to the Ying-Yang symbol and thus could represent "balance", the circle of life, and/or birth. The Zodiac sign Pisces is also symbolized with two encircling fish. I still think that we could get into a bigger history of a kinetic race of people.

So what did you think of "White Noise"? Do you think we could see Ben and Taryn sooner rather than later? Do you think Tate will try and resolve his own problems now that he is free? Do you think Zoe will take off on her own before she get's discovered? Do you think she has Bo's best interest in mind or is she also dangerous to Bo? Do you think Joshua will recover quickly?  Let us know in the comments below

About the Author - Darthlocke4

Laura Becker (Darthlocke 4) is a long time commentator, TV addict, and aspiring writer participating with other fans on SpoilerTV. She writes reviews and analytic type articles. Some of her other interests include philosophy, cultural anthropology, reading, drawing, and working with animals, as she grew up and continues to work on her family's horse farm.