Fringe: The Curious Case of Kirk Acevedo
September 21, 2009 by Cynthia
One moment we’re looking inside an empty car and a moment later a body comes hurtling through the window of said car from the inside out. Fringe is back and it’s as mind bending as ever. From the body count to spotting the Observer, fans are once again mulling over every tiny detail and there are plenty to be mulled.
For me, the biggest question is one that crosses the boundaries of reality — was actor Kirk Acevedo telling the whole truth on his Facebook last spring or was it part of a planned ruse?
DO I NEED TO SAY THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD???!!
Back in May, Kirk Acevedo who plays FBI agent Charlie Francis posted to his Facebook that he had been summarily fired from Fringe. This cause a wave of excitement and anxiety among the Fringe fans who took his word to heart. But soon after, producers for the series went on the record as saying, that like everything on Fringe, this was not what it seemed. They said that fans should rest assured because they’d be seeing more of Charlie in season two, literally — which seemed to imply that there would be two Charlies, an easy concept to absorb given the alternate universe plotline in the show.
The second season begins and we’re presented with a shapeshifting assassin who can take on the form of anyone as long as he can stick a three-pronged adaptor in their mouth and his. Next we find out that congress is shutting down Fringe division, which could be conceived as a firing from Fringe, but Charlie wasn’t ever an official member of the gang. He was more like an outside accomplice. So I don’t think that meets the standard of “being fired from Fringe” as Kirk wrote back in May.
By the end of the episode, we do indeed see Charlie split in two. The real Charlie goes into an incinerator while the assassin with his face (played, of course, by Acevedo) takes his place. Ah wait – has Charlie now been “fired” — as in burned to a crisp? That would make the play on words work out nicely, wouldn’t it? Both his Facebook comment and the later comments by producers.
But the LA Times has a different take. Their review of the season opener says that Kirk Acevedo is indeed leaving the show and this is just a very cool send-off.
So what do you think? Was the initial “I’ve been fired by Fringe” message a publicity ploy, or did he really get pink slipped by the locale-shifting production? Was this new shapeshifter twist written to take some pressure off the producers, or was this the plan all along?
We’ll probably never know for sure, because this is Fringe where it’s possible to tell the truth and a lie all at the same time.
FRINGE: Kirk Acevedo returns as Agent Charlie Francis. ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. CR: Justin Stephens/FOX
Now answer me this. Was there not an extra body floating around? BG (Bad Guy) kills #1 and takes his shape. BG kills nurse and tries to kill Olivia but jumps out the window. Kills Acevedo in basement. If he truly took over Acevedo’s shape, that’s fine, but they found the nurse’s body in the basement. So, you’ve got Acevedo’s dead body, BG, and the nurse’s body. How’d that happen? I await any and all enlightenment!
Yeah, that’s exactly the problem I was referring to, I also thought there was an extra body but here’s how one of my Live Journal friends explained it:
When the shifter changed into the nurse it dumped her body in those large bins with the intent to come back and burn her body, which was why it was running that way when Charlie caught up with it. So after it killed Charlie and took his form it pulled the dead nurse from the bin and then stored Charlie’s body in there instead, to later come back and burn.
Not sure that works but I’ll go with it. LOL
Well is soon as they figure out that Charlie is actually the shape shifter something will happen to him and if he’s killed Kirk will be out of a job. Unless they bring in a Charlie from another AU…
I’ve already mentioned on my own blog that I really am not a fan of this plot line due to not liking the idea that the other characters wouldn’t figure out that something is up. I don’t know that I could buy it for more than a few episodes, much less an entire season. What I’m really hoping is that they don’t end up with a situation that makes it look like Charlie is betraying the other characters – I want them to know the truth.
Cynthia, remember that the FBI found the nurse’s body and this is how they knew who to look for. So it could not have been stashed for later use. Not only is there an extra body, but also the wrong body is left behind. The shape shifter changes shapes to the other person. He then leaves the dead body of the person whose shape he assumed behind. This is what happened at the beginning of the episode. The body left should have been Charlie, not the nurse. I think that the whole thing with taking Charlie out of the bin was merely an expedient way to show people that he assumed Charlie’s shape.
Well Pete, actually what could have happened was the shape shifter stashed the body of the nurse in the basement and and planned to kill someone else as an escape all along. Charlie definitely died and incinerated, the real question is will Charlie come back in the form of an alter universe Charlie? Hard to say I was shocked when they killed him. I wondered how long they would keep him around as the shape shifter. I kind of hope they do bring Charlie back but even if they do he may not be the same Charlie that we’re used to.
Kirk Acevedo / Agent Charlie Francis WAS killed, shape-shifter took his shape then was killed by Olivia…How is it he is on the show (2010 season premiere Jan. 11)?!?!?!?! PLEASE clarify
The episode aired on 1/11/10 was actually episode 21 from season 1 (which had never been aired before). That’s why Kirk/Charlie was in it. This episode was actually long before he had been taken over by an assassin etc…