Well, Debris finally cashed in tonight -- ok, this was only the 8th episode, so maybe "finally" is a bit harsh, but it's seemed like a long time -- on the promise (or threat) of Finola's deceased father George being resurrected or reanimated is the more au currant word.
Now, you know if that happened, that George wouldn't. couldn't, possibly be exactly the same. First, there's what I years ago called "the paradox of duplication" -- you can never make a perfect or complete copy of a unique entity, such as any human being, because that duplication will unavoidably rob the original of a crucial characteristic, its uniqueness (see my Mind at Large: Knowing in the Technological Age, 1988, pp. 149-150; and/or my review of Charles Platt's Silicon Man). And worse than that, as was explored so well in Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah, chances are the people or beings who brought a departed loved one back to life will endow that reanimated entity with something not to your liking.
Since Debris like Fringe is deeply obligated to great science fiction of the past, of course there has to be something sinister about the alive-again George that will break Finola's heart. We got just glimpse conformation of this in the very last scene, when "George" seems to disintegrate, or I don't know, under a blanket.
One good thing about George back to life, though, at least as far as the viewing audience is concerned, is that he provided about the best explanation I've heard so far about why the interstellar Debris are so valuable to Earth and humanity: we're way of track, falling apart, irrevocably declining, and the debris can help right our course. In a phrase, that technology can save us.
Though that seemed a tad more relevant six months ago, we're still not out of the real woods by a long shot yet, so I'll keep watching Debris. Nah, not true -- I'll keep watching because I'm an irredeemable sucker for classic science fiction.
See also Debris 1.1 Some Probability of Gems Among the Pieces ... Debris 1.2: Clones ... Debris 1.3: Trapped Out of Time ... Debris 1.4: Suspentia Belief ... Debris 1.5: Fine Tuning ... Debris 1.6: Fountain of Youth and Its Complications ... Debris 1.7: Ferry Cross the Moebius Strip
