Dispatches From Elsewhere Review: Fredwynn (Season 1 Episode 4)
An anxious mind is a lonely place to be on Dispatches from Elsewhere Season 1 Episode 4, “Fredwynn.”
The episode largely rehashes the events of the Jejune Institute stockholder meeting, but this time from Fredwynn’s perspective. In doing so, it offers us a glimpse inside the psyche of the show’s most enigmatic character.
It’s striking how much time Fredwynn spends alone onscreen in this episode. While each of the show’s previous installments has focused on a single character and their experience of loneliness, those characters were still sharing most of their scenes with other people.
This episode, however, features long sequences in which Fredwynn is completely alone.
It’s a writing choice that emphasizes the distinct nature of Fredwynn’s mind. He feels isolated by his own heightened sense of awareness. His thoughts never stop racing, and they echo so loudly that they block out all other ways of experiencing the world.
Fredwynn claims that his anxiety comes from a place of knowledge — he used to work in data mining and spent years thinking about how consumers are manipulated by large companies.
This reveal provides some context for Fredwynn’s paranoia. It’s also instructive for the other characters in the sense that it helps them understand his behavior, especially his fixation on exposing the game as something sinister and untrustworthy.
Still, they don’t seem particularly moved by Fredwynn’s conspiracy theories.
Perhaps this is because there are some truths that people prefer not to acknowledge.
To use the show’s example of big data, most people are aware by now that our information is being collected and sold to companies who then analyze our online behavior — frequently visited sites, search histories, etc. — to craft ads tailored to our interests. Everything we do online is logged, analyzed, and used to inform new marketing strategies.
We know this, but we choose not to fixate on it because we don’t want to miss out on the parts of consumerism that bring us pleasure. We might be steered toward certain content, but we still enjoy that content.
Similarly, Simone and Janice are fully aware that the game they’re involved with is an inventive work of fiction. Peter seems less convinced of this, but he also tends to take experiences at face value, and the Elsewhere missions are self-evidently designed to bring people like Peter a much-needed sense of purpose.
For those of us who feel as though we lack direction in life, the smallest choices can feel overwhelming. We sometimes long for a script or a prompt book.
We crave the simplicity of being told what to do or the guidance of a clue nudging us in the right direction.
This is precisely the appeal of the Elsewhere Society — it gives all of the characters a sense of direction. Even Fredwynn, who claims to be suspicious of the game, derives pleasure from the determination it inspires in him.
What did you think of this episode of Dispatches From Elsewhere? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Dispatches From Elsewhere airs Mondays at 10/9c on AMC.
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Ariel Udel
Ariel fell in love with storytelling on the night Flight 815 crashed on a mysterious island, and has been blogging about television ever since. She has an affinity for messy female anti-heroes and an enduring love of Battlestar Galactica, Xena: Warrior Princess, Lost, and Halt and Catch Fire.