For an episode that could have very easily been Fringe's series finale, "Brave New World, Part 2," charges courageously ahead, resolving old storylines while setting up the endgame to come in the show's thirteen-episode final season. And while it contained several predictable and ultimately frustrating elements, the episode was ultimately a strong one that should leave audiences talking for a few weeks.

Of course, fans are going to be talking about one particular standout scene, which was undoubtedly one of Fringe's strongest moments: when Walter shot Olivia in the head. It was a moment just as shocking and as unexpected as it was when it happened back in last season's finale. Of course, over the following commercial break, it wasn't too difficult to figure out how the writers would work their way out of that corner: Walter's description of Cortexiphan's regenerative abilities should have sent alarm bells ringing in everyone's minds last week. Despite the fact that it didn't last, the shooting was a vey powerful moment, thanks mostly to Peter's heartbreaking grief, one of Joshua Jackson's greatest performances of the season. Even if the tension didn't last, the emotions felt real.

But it's growing increasingly difficult for Fringe to make us worry about the fates of the main characters. The show has retconned the deaths of so many characters so many times that it's hard to take death seriously as a threat on the show. Sure, we knew Olivia wasn't going to die on the eve of the show's final season. But if the writers really want us to feel the high stakes our characters are facing, they'll kill off some characters -- and not just peripheral ones like Charlie Francis or alternate Lincoln Lee. They had a great opportunity to give us an emotional sucker punch when Astrid took a bullet in last week's episode. When we found out that she survived this week, though, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed -- not because I don't like Astrid (who doesn't like Astrid?), but because the show needed the dramatic kick her death would have brought. The Fringe team has saved the world way too many times with way too few losses, and the more it spares its characters from the axe, the less compelled I am.

Speaking of predictability, who was surprised that Rebecca Mader's character was working for William Bell? I can't imagine too many people were, because it's not that surprising of a twist -- I predicted it, along with Olivia being saved by Cortexiphan, last week. In any case, though, it was nice to have Mader back, if only for a bit of brief nastiness and then some crazy eye-wiggling (which was more unsettling than some of Fringe's goriest monsters). Oh, and she did manage to shoot September, which solves that mystery.

Speaking of September, the episode featured some pretty cool set-up for a fifth season. Most of that came from the rune that somehow managed to trap September in place on Jessica's floor. This technology was apparently "beyond" Bell, September noted to Peter and Olivia, hinting at some context that will likely be revealed next season. I'm guessing that the Observers were sponsoring Bell's attempt to make a new universe, hoping to populate it after destroying their own future world. The Observers by now have realized that September is not on their side, which means that they must have partnered with Bell to eliminate him (thus, the superfast gun and the runes). With Bell's failure, it looks like there's only one thing left for the Observers to do: invade the past. This theory, while only a theory, links the rest of the show to the events of "Letters of Transit" in 2036 and starts to give Fringe a greater context. Have the Observers been manipulating events all along? Are they behind the Pattern that kicked off the storyline? We're so close to the answers we can almost taste them.

Finally, it'd be wrong not to note the sly scene toward the end of the episode in which Broyles and the Fringe division receive a promotion and greater funding from Congress, respectively. "You deserve it," the Congressman tells Broyles, and the scene can't help but feel like Fringe slapping its own back. Despite its flaws, this episode proved that Fringe does deserve all the recognition, both critical and otherwise, that it receives (and it could certainly use a higher budget). It certainly deserves the final season that it received, and my hopes are high that Fringe will go out on a high note when it returns next season. B

Fringe 4.22 "Brave New World, Part 2" Review

Last night’s Fringe was an action-packed first part of a season finale. True to form, the episode was rife with shocking moments doled out with alacrity while some long-awaited revelations brought the bigger picture into focus. In “Brave New World: Part 1” we learn that David Robert Jones still has some tricks up his sleeve, and that the closing of the Bridge doesn’t seem to have stopped Jones’ quest to destroy the universes. Not only that, but it becomes quickly apparent that Jones is answering to someone else who is calling the shots. Even though “Letters of Transit” hinted at Leonard Nimoy’s return as William Bell, I didn’t really expect to see Nimoy so fully reprise his role as the enigmatic Belly. I think it’s a credit to everyone involved that they were able to keep such a big secret so completely under wraps.

I love the juxtaposition of the fact that Olivia spent season 1 hell-bent on proving an innocent Bell guilty with the fact that a guilty Bell now seems to be the one behind Jones’ scheming. Fringe always has excelled at symmetry. This does make me wonder, though, if perhaps Bell was more involved in the Pattern than we thought he was, which casts something of a shadow on the Belly we’ve gotten to know and love. That being said, this version of Bell who is willing to destroy two universes to create a third of his own design doesn’t exactly mesh with the version who would sacrifice himself to send Peter, Walter, and Olivia back home across universes. I’ve always loved the dynamic between Walter and Bell, and I think John Noble and Leonard Nimoy play off one another wonderfully. I honestly never thought we’d get another chance to see the two on screen together again – not least of all because Mr. Nimoy was retired – but I’ve never been so glad to be proven wrong!

Every so often I find that I need to take a step back and remind myself that this isn’t the same timeline we’re used to, that there are numerous elements at play which make it very different and that we’ve only just scratched the surface. One such instance involved Walter’s attitude towards Bell: just as this Walter never received absolution from the former Cortexiphan children he damaged so badly, this Walter has never had a chance to clear the air with his former best friend and lab partner. Walter is obviously aware that Bell was responsible for removing bits of his brain, but he doesn’t remember that the reason Belly stole those memories from him is because Walter himself requested it. It does seem as though sometime in the last couple years William Bell's god complex got a little more pervasive.

I can’t help but think we haven’t seen the last of Rebecca Mader’s volunteer-test-subject Jessica Holt. She seemed a little too willing to offer herself up as a guinea pig for Walter, and was a little too at ease with the whole situation. Her presence in the lab would get Bell some valuable intelligence on the Fringe Division team, and give him a gauge for how much control Olivia has over her Cortexiphan-induced powers. There’s also the fact that nothing is ever one-dimensional in the Fringe world, and I have a hard time believing they’d bring in such a well-known actress only to use her character so briefly.

And as great as it was finally, finally getting to see Jasika Nicole’s Astrid kick some ass, I’m going to be really upset if it was only in the moments right before her death that we finally got that payoff. While no-one ever really seems to die in this show – and what finale would be complete without a major character death? – I refuse to believe that it's Astrid! Right now I’m holding onto the fact that Agent Farnsworth was around in the future 2036 we saw in “Letters of Transit” as reassurance.

As always with Fringe, I can’t help but feel as though there’s more to the story. As Nina pointed out, William Bell didn’t seem like the type to become the destroyer of worlds; at the same time, this is a man who had no compunctions about experimenting on children, and we’ve never really gotten a chance to explore the character well enough to know where he draws the line. All in all, “Brave New World: Part 1” was a fantastic, fast-paced, adrenaline-rush of an episode rounded out with some lovely character moments. I’ll be on tenterhooks all week until we get a chance to see how this season ends! A

Fringe 4.21 "Brave New World: Part One" Review

The first part of Fringe's fourth season finale comes this Friday with "Brave New World, Part Two", and the promo recently released by FOX offers a few hints on some twists yet to come.  If you watched "Letters of Transit", you already know that William Bell wound up frozen in amber.  Obviously this suggests that Bell is alive and well in at least one of the post-sans-Peter-alterna-verses (does that fit the nomenclature? You tell me).  In "Letters" Walter suggested Bell did some pretty vile things, to Olivia in particular. So vile that Walter had no problem cutting off his former partner's hand, leaving the rest of him to wait out eternity in amber. So is Bell the man pulling David R. Jones's strings?  I say probably not.

Think of this, if it were Bell then showing him in amber and giving away the fact in this promo mark a very uncharacteristic bit of heavy handedness on the Fringe think-tank's behalf.  Not to mention that Leonard Nimoy has retired from on-camera acting.  Of the two reasons, though, it would be more surprising to me if Fringe's master story-tellers blew the biggest twist of the season like that.  I'd have to say there is some kind of highly inventive and master crafted red herring swimming around in the Fringe story tank. As for Nimoy,  I could forgive the unusually blatant foreshadowing if we got to see him grace the Fringe set one more time.

Of course with the recent announcement of Fringe's fifth and final season coming after the shooting of this series finale, a lot of fans will be paying close attention to just how the season comes to an end.  Will it do so with any hint of what story-field the series finale of Fringe will play out on, or is it design to give fans some closure.   Tune in to Fringe "Brave New World, Part One" this Friday at 9PM on FOX to find out.

Fringe "Brave New World, Part One" Preview - Season Finale Promises Shocking Returns!

Last night's Fringe was an episode heavily laden with mythology, yet it still managed to include some wonderfully poignant character moments. The reintroduction of Nick Lane and the other Cortexiphan kids in “Worlds Apart” finally revealed what David Robert Jones had in store for both worlds: Jones’ plan was to use the former Cortexiphan subjects to tune into their Alternates on the Other Side in order to weaken the barrier between the universes to collapse both worlds. Although it was certainly telegraphed, I kept hoping that there would be another way to stop Jones than closing the Bridge, and I refuse to believe that that's the last we'll see of the Other Side.

Only in Fringe could the characters go from battling against their Alternates to fighting instead to keep the bridge between the worlds open. Somewhere along the way these strange bedfellows became not only allies but friends, and the moments between the various alternates as they said goodbye were quite perfect. I think the scene between Walter and Walternate in the hallway might just be one of my favourite of the series: the dynamic between the two elder Bishops has always been rather fraught, and yet it certainly seems as though the Secretary has forgiven Walter, even going so far as to reassure him. I found it interesting that the Observers never “prepared” this Walter to give up his son, like we saw in last season’s “The Firefly”, and yet Walter still chose the fate of the worlds over the life of his son. I hadn’t actually considered myself that turning off the Machine could lead to Peter disappearing again, and it didn’t seem like it occurred to Peter or Olivia either.

I’ve always loved the topic of the Cortexiphan trials, and last night’s Fringe was no exception to that rule. Before the timeline was rewritten, Walter seemed to have made his peace with the damage he did to the children: in “Over There”, we saw several former Cortexiphan subjects forgive Walter, but this timeline has offered no such recourse. The great irony is that Walter and William Bell designed the Cortexiphan and dosed the children because they believed a war was coming, and that our world would need protectors: they didn’t see it as damaging the children, but rather as making them special. David Robert Jones was able to take that preparation and potential and turn the Cortexiphan subjects into weapons.

“The Pattern” has long been a subject of debate – and consternation – among Fringe fans, since it was a storyline that was largely abandoned after season 1. When we were first introduced to Fringe Division, Olivia and company were trying to track down and stop people who were conducting “experiments” with the whole world as their laboratory. If Jones was the driving force behind the Pattern, then it would make sense as to why it disappeared with Jones’ death at the end of the season.

With only the two-part finale still to go in this season, it stands to reason that we’ll round off this season with the team trying to once again stop David Robert Jones. Last week’s glimpse into a possible future seems to imply that Jones will indeed be stopped, but also raises numerous other questions – par for the course, with Fringe. Evidently William Bell is still alive, so will Leonard Nimoy make yet another return to the show? The implication of the future we saw was that Bell was somehow responsible for Olivia’s death: will the team make it intact through the season finale?

It was certainly a relief to be able to enjoy Fringe without the specter of cancellation hanging over our heads – I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that FOX has renewed the show for a final season, albeit with only 13 episodes. I’ve seen some frustration over the fact that we won’t have a full season, but I, for one, am absolutely ecstatic that we’ll get to see the storylines tied up in the way that the showrunners and writers want to, and that it will end on their terms. And even with the closure of the Bridge, given Olivia’s potential to be able to cross between universes, I remain hopeful that we’ll see the Alternate Universe again! Make sure you tune in next week for what I’m sure will be an explosive first part of the season finale. B+

Fringe 4.20 "Worlds Apart" Review

Fringe fans can finally stop chewing their fingernails -- FOX has renewed the fan favorite sci-fi series for a fifth and final season of thirteen episodes. The announcement came on Thursday, after weeks of nervous anticipation leading up to the announcement of the fate of the bubble show. Despite the cautious optimism of executive producers J.H. Wyman and Jeff Pinkner, fans were worried that the series might come to an abrupt conclusion in just a few weeks, at the end of its fourth season. Now, however, we have an ending in sight.

In a press release, FOX president Kevin Reilly, an outspoken fan of the show, had this to say about the show's renewal: "Fringe is a remarkably creative series that has set the bar as one of television’s most imaginative dramas. Bringing it back for a final 13 allows us to provide the climactic conclusion that its passionate and loyal fans deserve. The amazing work the producers, writers and the incredibly talented cast and crew have delivered the last four seasons has literally been out of this world. Although the end is bittersweet, it’s going to be a very exciting final chapter.”  

It's not just the end that's exciting -- with the show's renewal, it seems incredibly likely that J.J. Abrams will actually get to direct another episode.  “All of us at Bad Robot are forever indebted to our viewers and the amazingly supportive FOX network for allowing the adventures of Fringe Division to not only continue, but to resolve in a way that perfectly fits the show," the co-creator added in a statement.

It's news like this that gives me a little more faith in the power of network television. Fringe has always been a show that deserved its own proper resolution, and the fact that it will actually get one can only be seen as absolutely positive.

The show's renewal also might be partially due to the involvement of Fringinuity, a group of fans who have launched surprisingly effective Twitter campaigns targeting the advertisers for the show -- campaigns so effective, as it turns out, that FOX started using them to promote the show, too. If fans of any future shows need somewhere to look for a successful campaign, it couldn't hurt to give those guys a glance.

Fringe will return for the twentieth episode of its fourth season, "Worlds Apart," tomorrow night, April 27, at 9/8c on FOX.

Fringe Gets Renewed for Final, 13 Episode Season

Co-written by Sam McPherson

As I’m writing this, my vision is a little blurry from the left-field suckerpunch that Fringe delivered with Friday night’s “Letters of Transit.” If you aren’t reeling from a bit of future shock, you probably didn’t watch the same episode. There’s so much packed into this episode that it’s impossible to tease out all the nuances after just one viewing: it’s remarkably telling that Leonard Nimoy’s surprising return to the show somehow wasn’t what people were most fixated on. Fringe constantly makes us consider cause and effect, the ripple effects of actions that we could never foresee. This has been demonstrated on countless occasions, from Walter’s crossing over in 1985, to Peter’s initialization of the machine, to September’s choices to interfere with the timelines. The bald enigma lurking in the background has, from the pilot, been a source of mystery and debate. This mystery only deepened when it was revealed that there were in fact multiple Observers, and Friday night's episode once again turns everything we know about them on its head.

Aside from September’s meddling, and the subsequent actions of the others to “preserve” the timeline, the Observers have always had a strict non-interference policy. We learned in “A Short Story About Love” that the Observers are from a possible future and that the ones with whom we were familiar were part of a scientific corps that traveled back in time to observe significant events in their own history. The totalitarian regime in 2036 to which we are introduced in “Letters of Transit” is a striking contrast to the Observers’ previous attitude, and calls into question the motives behind their actions. Were the Observers simply acting all along to preserve the future we see in Friday's episode? Or did the Observers’ future change at some point after the scientists went back in time?

In true Fringe fashion, this episode raises plenty of questions. What happened to Olivia? I would guess I’m not alone in thinking that she’s dead; and what did William Bell do to Olivia that was so horrible that Walter had no compunctions about cutting off his hand and leaving him encased in Amber? Who raised ‘Etta? Why is she resistant to the Observers?

As far as why ‘Etta can fool the Observers into thinking that she is exactly what she seems, I think it has something to do with both her genetics and the fact that her mother was treated with Cortexiphan. Given that Walter and Bell created Cortexiphan and ran the first trials in the ‘80s - and that Olivia has been dosed again recently - ‘Etta would be a second generation Cortexiphan kid, and my hypothesis is that this makes Olivia’s daughter just as “strong” as her mother.

It’s certainly a testament to both Georgina Haig and Henry Ian Cusick that they could make us not only connect with but root for their entirely new characters. There was a lot of weight on their shoulders given that we don’t get “our” Walter back until roughly two-thirds of the way through the episode.

In “A Short Story About Love”, when September and Peter are sharing a consciousness, Peter finally learns that he had a son, Henry, with AltLivia. According to September, Henry was never supposed to exist: he was a Bishop child born to the wrong Olivia Dunham. The implication I took away from the conversation was that Peter and Olivia were indeed “supposed” to have a child, and that that child would somehow pave the way for the Observers to evolve from homo sapiens. That being said, it makes me question yet again why the Observers felt that erasing Peter completely from the timeline “preserved” events: how could they have a child together if Peter died as a boy?

I found the juxtaposition of Broyles’ actions in 2036 with those of the alternate Colonel Broyles in last week’s Fringe highly intriguing. In this future, Broyles answers to an Observer, Winmark, who apparently views humans, the “Natives”, as animals. I like to think that, much like the Colonel, this Broyles has a reason driving his actions: given the circumstances of this world, I’m guessing he’s simply trying to protect as many Natives as possible, and if that means he has to answer to Winmark, so be it. I’m highly curious as to what he’ll do with his discovery of Walter’s licorice, since he obviously knew whose it was and what its presence at the Amber site meant.

This is definitely going to be an episode that fans are talking about for weeks, and even though I did find myself missing our Fringe Division team, I desperately want to learn more about 2036 and the events that led to Walter making the drastic decision to encase himself, Peter, Astrid, and William Bell in Amber - especially given that it meant abandoning his granddaughter. I also wonder how it is that William Bell is still alive: in the episode “Novation” the scientist Malcolm Truss stated that Bell was dead. Even though this William Bell never had to sacrifice himself to let Walter, Peter, and AltLivia cross universes, David Robert Jones wasn’t prevented from crossing over (as happened at the end of season 1 in the original timeline), so I assumed that Jones had dealt with Bell himself.

Even in the midst of this frighteningly plausible future, there were countless moments that reminded us that this is still very much the show we love. Walter's first thought, after being in suspended animation for 20 years, was for food, and his appetite for licorice remained well intact; the banter between Simon and Etta strongly reminded me of Olivia and Peter, just as Etta's interactions with Nina called to mind the relationship between Nina and Olivia. In terms of reiterated themes, Fringe has always put an emphasis on perception and reality, and the idea that reality is both subjective and malleable: to quote Peter in “Bad Dreams”, if you can dream a better world, you can make a better world. Simon says as much in his speech to Walter, and, in a curious change, neither Olivia nor Peter is the savior.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the final scene of the episode: from the revelation that Walter cut off William Bell's hand - and I thought Jasika Nicole played Astrid's reaction perfectly - to Peter's realization that Etta is his daughter. Even though I saw that particular reveal coming, the scene still packs one hell of a wallop: I put that down to a lovely job by Josh Jackson and Georgina Haig, accompanied by Chris Tilton's haunting score. I love that it mirrored the scene in “Back To Where You’ve Never Been” where Peter meets Elizabeth Bishop in the other universe and she realizes that this stranger is her son.

Before the episode aired, we were promised that it would be another zany nineteenth episode like the musical outing “Brown Betty” and the partially animated “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide” before it. “Letters of Transit” certainly managed to mix things up, though it certainly didn’t do so on the standalone level of its predecessors. It wasn’t the fun “break” we were promised, but rather a mystery laden outing that, strangely enough, seems to serve as a standalone.

I can’t say that I wasn’t left a little unsatisfied with the sudden, unexpected shift to the future. After all, it came so suddenly out of left field that it seemed almost intentionally disorienting. What’s even more disorienting, though, is the fact that next week’s episode is a return to normalcy, with a continuation of the storyline that the rest of the season has been setting up.

It goes without saying that the episode was very cool, and brought up a lot of interesting story threads, most of which were left open. But its placement in the context of the season raises the question, “Why now?” There was no dramatic motivation for the sudden flashforward to take place at this point in the season, just as it appears that the episode, despite its massive revelations, won’t have a big impact going forward. The prevailing theory is that this is a setup for a fifth season storyline -- but in that case, why not make it the fifth season premiere, or at least the fourth season finale? I appreciate the tradition of a nontraditional nineteenth episode, but this episode seems too much a part of a serial storyline to be dropped suddenly into the mix here. It’s too jarring, and every subsequent episode that doesn’t address what occurred in this episode will be a little bit disappointing.

Having said that, the writers of Fringe have made precious few missteps in the past, and leaving this unaddressed for the rest of the season seems like too much of a blunder for them to make. For now, we'll suspend our skepticism and place our confidence in the competence of the show’s stellar writing staff. After all, “Letters of Transit” was a fun -- if disorienting -- episode, and managed to deepen the complexities of Fringe’s mythology tenfold. All this episode needs to be one of the best is a little more context. A-

Fringe 4.19 "Letters Of Transit" Review

Fringe fans are in for a major game-changer with tomorrow's episode "Letters of Transit" - a game-changer of such magnitude that it actually raises the bar for the use of the term.  Even in the Fringe-verse!  Just when you think Fringe can't get any more engrossingly bizarre, they do something like this:  create a brand new playing field that re-contextualizes everything we know about the Fringe story space, without knocking a single whisker of continuity out of place.  Few shows can get these wild shifts in narrative right without ... wait a minute, let me rephrase that:  no-one can do what the Fringe gang do week after week.  No one.  Fringe has become a singular genre unto itself and we can only hope that the talent behind it holds together for another season.

So, where to start?  There is nothing that can quite prepare you for what "Letters of Transit" does to the storyline.  It's at all at once a revelation and a wild left hand turn into new territory.   Old mysteries are settled once and for all (maybe),  while new ones are left screaming for answers. As you know from last week's previews, "Letters of Transit" is a trip into the future, and what a trip indeed.  In 2036 we find a planet Earth under the control of a familiar—yet until recently very ambiguous—foe, a Fringe Division that persists as more of a symbolic gesture between our captors and the remaining 'natives', and yes, you guessed it, a resistance movement existing just below the surface of it all.  Yes it is 'Fringe does dystopia', but when Fringe does anything it is hardly typical. Fringetopia?  Perhaps.

LOST fans are in for a real treat with the appearance of Desmond Hume himself, Henry Ian Cusick, as Fringe Division agent Simon,  who is sort of a rough around the edges ad-hoc version of Walter. Joining Simon, and more central to the episode, is the lovely Henrietta — whose connection the Fringe present(s) will definitely be a surprise for fans.

So if you are a Fringe fan who hasn't been watching live, or know Fringe fans who have fallen off the wagon, this is the episode worth watching live. Edge of your seat excitement, John Noble doing that John Noble thing squared, and tons of pop-culture and Fringe-culture hat tips that will have you prickling with nerd-gasms.  If you need more convincing, here are some clips.

Fringe "Letters of Transit" Preview - What The Future?

Last night’s episode of Fringe continued to see the two universes collaborating to find and stop David Robert Jones. Seeing the two universes working together has become one of my favourite aspects of the show, and I’m thrilled that the collaboration doesn’t look to be ending any time soon. We also finally started to get some hints as to what Jones’ endgame might be: Jones’ efforts in this episode would have, according to Walter, allowed him to use the Machine to collapse the two universes.

I’m still a little lost as to why David Robert Jones would want to collapse both universes. Doesn’t he still have to live in one of them? In “Nothing As It Seems”, we saw some genetically engineered creations of Jones’ who are “better”  species and could, I assume, be part of his plans for a new world. That being said, we do know that the Machine can be used for both destruction and creation. Perhaps Jones thinks he’s figured out a way to destroy these two universes while creating a new one to be his blank slate.

One thing I’ve always loved about Fringe is the science of it, some of which is actually a lot less “fringe” science than you might think. Even when the science is a little more out there, the writers and producers do a great job of staying true to the rules they’ve created. This episode demonstrated that quite well when it came to Jones’ use of frequencies between the universes. We saw similar principles at work in season 2 when Newton was working on Walternate’s orders. In the episode “The Man from the Other Side”, Walter explains how making a location in our universe vibrate at the alternate universe’s frequency merges the two sides together and allows a crossing over. I wonder if this is, in part, what contributes to linking these two specific universes: theoretically, there should be any number of other universes, but we continue to see only two of them – different timelines aside. If Walter’s transuniversal window just happened to be tuned to the right frequency to let him see into this particular alternate universe, his subsequent actions in crossing over and opening the doorways then served to inextricably tie the two universes together.

Ever since the timeline was rewritten, there have been many moments that mirror ones we’d already seen in the original timeline. One I particularly liked this week was a scene between Walter, Lincoln, and AltLivia after Walter has crossed over to consult: Walter sees a board that reports on hot-spots where damage to the other universe was the worst. I found it reminiscent of the scene in “Over There: Part 2” when Walter is driving with William Bell through a wasteland and sees the damage to the other universe with his own eyes.

What I found particularly interesting was that even though Walter carries so much guilt and has seen first-hand the consequences of his actions, he still tells Colonel Broyles that now that he’s gotten to know his adult son, he doesn’t know that he’d do anything differently. Colonel Broyles is himself carrying around a great deal of guilt: he’s been betraying his own people to David Robert Jones, and in “The Consultant” we finally got an explanation. In the season 3 episode “The Abducted” we learned that Colonel Broyles’ son was dying due to the actions of a serial killer, and Olivia helped save his life when she was impersonating AltLivia. Since Olivia and Walter never crossed over to save Peter in this timeline, Christopher Broyles was still dying, and David Robert Jones was able to exploit this by offering the Colonel a cure for his son. Perhaps now that Olivia remembers the previous timeline, she can think of another way to save Chris since the Colonel turned himself in and is no longer working for Jones.

The willingness to do anything, even betray everything you stand for, to save someone you love has been a long-running theme in Fringe. I found it quite fitting that love for a dying son was Colonel Broyles’ motivation to work with Jones, and equally fitting that he found the line he would not cross. As William Bell used to say, “Only those that risk going too far can possibly know how far they can go” – and evidently the possible destruction of both universes was too far for the alternate Broyles.

It’s always intriguing, and often hilarious, to see the ways in which the Other Side is different from our own. Last week the revelation was that they don’t have Batman, but rather “Mantis”; this week, that Over There “domesticated badgers” are common household pets. Does anyone else now really want a badger as a pet?

All in all, I quite loved this episode. From seeing both Astrids working together again, to Walter attempting to console AltLivia while wearing a sparkly housecoat, to Colonel Broyles’ heartbreaking scenes with his son, it was solid all around. Even though “The Consultant” was, in some ways, a little slow-paced, I get the feeling that it’s laying the groundwork for the final run of episodes of the season. A-

Fringe 4.18 "The Consultant" Review

Friday night's Fringe took its title from the Radiohead song "Everything In Its Right Place," from their (fantastic) 2000 album Kid A. Listen to it here if you've never heard it before. It's a song of hypnotic dread built around singer Thom Yorke's repeated pleas of confusion and disconnectedness: lyrics chosen simply by the band picking a few potential phrases out of a hat. Here are the song's lyrics, boiled down to their simplest form: "Everything in its right place / Yesterday I woke up sucking on lemon / Everything in its right place / There are two colors in my head / What was that you tried to say?" 

After watching "Everything In Its Right Place," the use of that song as the episode's namesake makes perfect sense. There were two colors in Lincoln Lee's head this week: the red and blue of the show's two universes. In his original Blueverse, Lincoln began to find himself obsolete. The woman he loved had forgotten the defining moment of their friendship, returning a token he had given to her after the death of his partner. The token was meant as a "tether" to help her find her way to where she belonged, though her path led, ultimately, away from Lincoln. Olivia's gaffe in returning the gift, though, came when he needed that token back the most, helping him to find a place where he was truly needed. This wasn't done through any inherent power in the little charm itself, but rather through Olivia's act of returning it, which seemed to be the final step in severing any hope Lincoln had of winning her love. Once this was gone, it was time for Lincoln to realize that he no longer belonged in the same place he had before.

Within minutes of (re-)receiving his necklace, Lincoln jumped at the opportunity to travel to the Redverse to present a report on David Robert Jones to the Department of Defense. He did so partially out of kindness for Astrid (who had plans), but partially out of a need to escape his current environment, which, as it had before Peter's disappearance, had no room for him. Of course, the episode was never going to focus on Lincoln giving a boring recap of things we already knew about Jones (whose absence is growing increasingly conspicuous from week to week), and soon after arriving in the Redverse, Lincoln was dragged off to assist in a new case.

The case turned out to be that of a shapeshifter, a fact almost too convenient considering Lincoln's obsession with the subject following the death of his partner. I shared the skepticism of Colonel Broyles, or at least I did until we were reminded that in this timeline, the Fringe Division director is a pawn of Jones. Broyles, keeping in contact with nasty alternate Nina from the week before, served as the informant whose actions resulted in the death of a beloved character. It seems likely that Broyles will exhibit some guilt for his actions in the future; something tells me the nature of his relationship with Jones isn't all as steady as it appears to be. But more on that death later.

The shapeshifter, naturally, reflected some of Lincoln's inner conflict. Like Lincoln, he was in denial about being spurned, and was still holding out hope for the fact that someone (in this case Jones) would remember him. But what it took the return of a trinket to do for Lincoln, it took a sniper on a rooftop to do for the shifter. After Olivia took the sniper down, Lincoln threw the shifter against a fence and repeated to him a lesson he had only just learned: it's time to find your own place and quit waiting for people to do it for you.

The sniper had served to provide a serious lesson in character development to the shifter, though he had also served to take a character out of the equation: the alternate universe's Lincoln Lee suffered a bullet to the chest and died as a result, leaving both Altlivia and Lincoln in shock. Several scenes of the episode had been spent attempting to determine the divergence point between the two incarnations of Lincoln, though none could be clearly found. Unlike many of the alternate characters, the two shared almost the exact same history, down to the minor details. What caused the divergence? Though the answer to that question was never discovered (What was that he tried to say?), Alternate Lincoln hypothesized that maybe it was just free will. Maybe it just took the Blueverse's Lincoln a little longer to learn to be assertive, to make his own place in the world.

As this change finally took effect on our Lincoln, though, the Redverse Lincoln died, his purpose in the story having been filled. His death left a Lincoln-shaped gap in the Redverse -- and Altlivia's life. After transporting the shifter to the Blueverse to be assisted by Peter and Walter (who was excited to study -- er, help -- his new patient), Lincoln returned to the Redverse to continue his quest to find Jones and to provide comfort to a mourning Altlivia. The possibility of a relationship between the two, almost from the outset of the episode, has increased to the level of "really, really likely," and the quiet moment between the two at the end of the episode only seems to solidify the fact that, through Altlivia, Lincoln has finally found that "tether" he had long been looking for.

Have the pieces for the show's "End Game" (the title of the season finale, though hopefully not the series finale) been set up? It certainly seems that way. With Lincoln probably staying in the Redverse, a defector from Jones's shapeshifters in the hands of Peter and Walter, and evil Alternate Nina in police custody, the walls seem to be closing in around Jones -- though I'd wager that with Col. Broyles, his ace in the hole, Jones still has a few tricks up his sleeve. We do still have five episodes left in season four. But slowly, things are coming together. Everything is in its right place. A-

Next week's episode of Fringe, "The Consultant," airs Friday, April 13.

Fringe 4.17 "Everything In Its Right Place" Review

Last night’s thrilling new episode of Fringe “Nothing As It Seems” saw the team investigating a case with details which Peter recognized from his timeline, even as it became apparent that some aspects were radically different.  The episode evoked a distinct feeling of déjà vu as it turned the season one episode “The Transformation” on its head: although it’s been frustrating, at times, navigating this new timeline, I have found it quite fascinating to see the ways in which a seemingly small change – that is, removing one single person from existence – has caused such pervasive changes.

In many ways the audience has been in the same boat as Peter in this new timeline: we too have missed the characters we’ve grown to love, no matter how interesting these new variations are. But since Olivia chose to keep her memories from the original timeline and became “Peter’s” Olivia again, the rest of the team seems closer than ever to their iterations from the original timeline. Walter swings from hilarious food fixations to disgusting concoctions to heartbreaking revelations as he gives Peter the stockpile of presents he bought for his son on each missed birthday. According to September, Walter’s inability to let go of his son contributed to allowing Peter to come back into existence: fitting, given that in order to remove Peter from the timeline in the first place, the Observers had to prepare Walter to be willing to let his son go.

As much as I appreciate the return to some of the dynamics we’re used to, I will miss the relationship between Nina and Olivia and, come to think of it, the more involved relationship between Walter and Olivia. In some ways I found Olivia’s attitude toward the consequences of her choice in memory sets a little odd: she doesn’t seem to be all that concerned that even though she gained her memories of Peter and her old life, she gave up everyone she loves – and who loves her – in this universe. Reality is a matter of perception, and the memories of the original timeline are now Olivia’s reality, even if she must continue to function in this new Amber timeline. But who’s to say which timeline is the “real” one?

I was glad to see Lincoln featuring more prominently since he’d been relegated to the background in the last couple of episodes, and I am curious as to where they’ll take his character from here. As much as I like what Lincoln brings to the team, he’s felt rather extraneous since Peter began consulting with Fringe division again – even more so now that Olivia and Peter are back together. In the previews for next week’s “Everything In Its Right Place”, our Lincoln seems to be working with the alternates on the Other Side, so perhaps we’ll see him functioning as a liaison between the two universes.

One of the most pressing questions I have at the moment, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this, is what on Earth is David Robert Jones’ agenda? I’ll be interested to see if this case will somehow tie back into ZFT and the Pattern – a storyline which took a back seat once the alternate universe and shapeshifters came into play. If Jones had been responsible for the majority of the Pattern occurrences and then got side-tracked by his fixation on William Bell and his desire to crossover it could explain why it faded into the background, and why this case happened now in this timeline. There’s also the question of the ship at the end of the episode: what the hell is it? What are all the beasties it’s carrying, and where are they going? I thought I saw creatures reminiscent of the ones in both "Unleashed" and "Snakehead". Perhaps one aspect of Jones’ endgame is to destroy both worlds so that he has a blank slate for the “better” species that he’s created. He’s certainly egomaniacal enough!

I thought “Nothing As It Seems” did a great job weaving together hilarious, touching, and revealing character moments with a case that seems to be setting the stage for the rest of the season even as it refers back to a number of previous episodes. It felt like a return to the Fringe we all know and love, while staying true to the new timeline and characters we’ve gotten to know these last several months. Having attended the fantastic scoring sessions for the next two episodes, I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us next! B+

P.S. Good news for Fringe fans this morning: the ratings jumped back up to a 1.2 in 18-49 with 3,112,000 viewers watching live.

Fringe 4.16 "Nothing As It Seems" Review

Despite its science-y weirdness, Fringe is a show dedicated to the superiority of love. The show argues that love is something that doesn't adhere to the rules of science. It's something that can bring universes together, and it's something that can shatter them. "A Short Story About Love," the March 23 episode of Fringe, is ultimately part of a much longer story about love. But does the episode serve as a representative microcosm of the rest of the series, as any episode bearing such a title ultimately should? The answer is yes, though not without a few flaws.

"A Short Story About Love" thankfully put an end to the most frustrating part of season 4 so far: the contrived mystery of where Peter is. It's been obvious to most fans since the outset that Peter is in an altered version of his own timeline, but the show has insisted upon trying to convince us that he's actually in the wrong timeline. That's been the primary source of drama for the past few episodes, and it's been about as compelling as watching a debate of whether the earth is flat or round. We know, already. But the show finally addressed that question in this episode, answering definitely that the obvious was true. Now, thankfully, we can move on.

That reveal (confirmation?) was the major mythological payoff of the episode, but that storyline was largely disconnected from the case of the week, which saw a creepy burn victim (Michael Massee) attempting to perfect a pheromone cocktail that would make women love him. As a character, the villain remained almost entirely an enigma, though the brilliantly edited scene in which he sadly listened to "The Friends of Mr. Cairo" by Jon and Vangelis did wonders in developing the character. Also nice was the fact that the character survived the episode, making him one of the few one-off bad guys not to die at the end of their respective episodes. As he sat in a police car waiting to be taken away, the villain described to Olivia his twisted-but-noble goal: to make a chemical that could allow everyone could experience love. "[The episode] was inspired by the notion that love is chemistry," tweeted executive producer J.H. Wyman, who wrote and directed the outing (making him one of the few showrunners around to have done both, and to have done both well). But Fringe ultimately argues that this isn't entirely the case. The burn victim failed to replicate love through science because love transcends science.

Peter's largely disconnected subplot served to elaborate upon this theory. After discovering a message that September left on his eye, Peter followed it to an address that turned out to be our favorite Observer's rather pristine apartment. A tracking device found in the Observer's apartment ultimately led to Peter stumbling upon one of the beacons, the burrowing cylinders which haven't been properly seen since the season one episode "The Arrival" (though one did make a brief appearance in Walter's drugged-out dreamworld in "Brown Betty"). When he took the beacon back to September's apartment and it finally activated, it was revealed to serve as a gateway for September to escape the imprisonment that his fellow Observers had placed him in following the events of "The End of All Things." Apparently no longer suffering from the bullet wound in his abdomen, September revealed to Peter the truth of where he was -- and that Peter had been brought back because people had been unwilling to let Peter go. The Observer calls it "love."

There's an interesting parallel at work here. The beacon serves the same function for September as love does for Peter. Both serve as the hooks that bring our characters out of their extrauniversal isolation and back into this universe. But is the connection any deeper? And how is this beacon connected to the one we saw back in "The Arrival" (and what about those guys who were trying to steal that one)? Wyman promises that we haven't seen the last of these beacons, and I for one believe him. The fact that the series is calling back to a mythological element not examined since the show's fourth episode ever deserves applause, though, and with its reintroduction, it feels like we're getting another piece of the puzzle.

Finally, it's time to also direct your applause toward the acting of Anna Torv and Blair Brown in the scene near the close of the episode, in which Olivia resolved to allow her memories to be replaced by that of her old self. While there was no real question that she would do otherwise, the superb acting job by both actresses gave the scene weight it wouldn't have ordinarily had.

Ultimately, while "A Short Story About Love" isn't an entirely perfect episode of Fringe, it certainly sees the show ridding itself of some of its narrative burdens. It's a transitionary episode without a doubt, but it's a solid one that convincingly reinforces the show's central theme that love is more powerful than any fringe science. B+

Fringe 4.15 "A Short Story About Love" Review

For most Fringe Fans, (myself included) it has been a nerve-racking couple of months as Fox’s critically acclaimed mind-bending drama has seen a steady decrease in ratings. The dismal numbers lead many to assume that cancellation will be the likely outcome as Fringe's last new episode to air barely broke 3 million viewers. (You can check those numbers here!) To ease some of the sting, executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H Wyman have promised that, in the event of cancellation, the story will continue, just not in the way that you would expect. Like the previously announced Smallville comic, Fringe would do something similar where the show would continue in comic book form.

Speaking at Wondercon 2012, Pinkner had this to say about the comic, "It would be really elaborate and we would go to town on it and make sure that everything you needed to understand about the show would be in that and pay off that way. That's our back up plan."

Although it would be unfortunate to no longer have the Fringe team grace our television screens, a comic book is an interesting angle to take. Die hard Fringe fans might recall this would not be the Fringe team's first comic book appearance as Joshua Jackson (The Boy Who Lived/Peter Bishop) also made his comic book debut by writing the three part series "Beyond the Fringe."

What do you think Fringe fans? Would you read the comic continuation if the worst were to happen?

Fringe returns this Friday.

Source: Zap2it 

Fringe to Continue Even if Cancelled

As I'm sure many of you are aware, Fringe returns this week from a four week hiatus with the new episode "A Short Story About Love". Fox released some sneak peeks which you can watch below!

In case you need a bit of a refresher, we left off with the episode "The End of All Things", which was packed with revelations. We finally learned that the Observers are scientists from a possible future that is somehow dependent on Peter being with the right Olivia - that is, not the alternate Olivia. Peter learns that he had a son, who ceased to exist when he made his choice with The Machine. One thing I still find a little confusing is September's implication that his own future is dependent on a child of Peter and Olivia's, since they should never even have met without September's "error" and subsequent saving of Peter and Walter. I suppose Peter and Olivia could have met at some later point if Walter and Bell's forays into investigating the Other Side had progressed, but it isn't obvious to me how they would have met without interference.

I'm hoping that in the coming weeks we'll continue to learn more about the Observers, and why they've gone from scientists who simply observe important events to so blatantly interfering. You'd think that scientists from an apparently advanced future would know better than to disregard the "observer effect"! Another thing that came up when I was debating the episode with friends was: what even gives the Observers the right to change events? Since they obviously exist, who's to say that the way everything played out wasn't the way it was supposed to happen? If they come from a future that was brought about by Olivia and Peter somehow being together, then how do we know that they didn't bring it about by interfering in the first place? You have to love time-travel paradoxes!

Given the title of the episode, I'm assuming that Peter and Olivia's relationship will be the focus of the episode: I'm now convinced that this really is "our" universe, which makes Peter's behaviour all the more frustrating. That being said, I understand where he's coming from. Having already mistaken one Olivia for another, he's terrified of making the same mistake again and betraying the woman he loves. But now that Olivia remembers everything, she is his Olivia. Although I suppose the question still remains of whether this is, as Walter seems to think, simply an Olivia who is so tuned to Peter that she's becoming what he needs. There's also the question of what is it that makes us who we are: is it our memories? Or is there some intangible, undefinable thing - a soul, for lack of a better word - that makes us wholly unique and would distinguish between the same people in alternate universes?

This week's Fringe will be the first in a run of the last 8 episodes of the season, so make sure you don't miss them! I think we're in for quite the ride.

Fringe Sneak Peeks: Episode 4.15 'A Short Story About Love'

Last night’s episode of Fringe was one that we’d been waiting for since this season began.  It picked up right where last week’s “Welcome to Westfield” left off, with Olivia seemingly slipping back into our Olivia from the original timeline. The case of the week was distinguished by a great performance by newcomer Harrison Thomas as a patient misdiagnosed with schizophrenia, but was largely overshadowed by the confounding developments between Olivia and Peter.

Even though we’ve seen Peter and Walter’s relationship becoming much more similar to the one we’d grown to know and love in the original timeline, this new Fringe episode saw it reverting to mistrust and suspicion, at least on Walter’s part. Walter’s preliminary explanation for the fact that Olivia is remembering events from what they have been assuming is another timeline altogether is that between her Cortexiphan-magnified empathetic abilities and Peter’s desperation to get his Olivia back, some sort of memory transfer is occurring. In this new timeline, Peter’s absence has facilitated a much closer relationship between Walter and Olivia, and I think we were definitely seeing that at play here. Not to mention the fact that Walter was right: it would be wrong for Peter to be trying to twist this Olivia into someone she isn’t. Walter saw first-hand the universe-shattering effects of trying to hold onto someone you love, and that his surrogate daughter is apparently being threatened now only serves to amplify his anger.

With all the questions that last night’s Fringe introduces, it certainly seems to finally answer one that has been much debated: we aren’t in a different timeline, but rather “our” original timeline that has been rewritten by the Observers. My favourite analogy so far is that the timeline is like a videotape: someone has recorded over the original movie, but traces of it still remain and can bleed through, under the right circumstances. It seems as though some combination of the Cortexiphan doses and the effects of David Robert Jones’ machine in Westfield have triggered Olivia’s abilities. After all, reality is only a matter of perception. This was actually something I’d been hoping for since season 4 began, and seeing Olivia try to reconcile differing sets of memories should definitely be fascinating. One question I have, though, is whether Olivia’s regained memories include only the last 4 years with Peter, or whether they will apply to her whole life. There are some aspects of the two timelines that are very different for Olivia: for instance, whether or not her stepfather is still alive, and the fact that she was raised by Nina Sharp.

Speaking of Nina, I’m so glad that we finally get an explanation for her behaviour. She’s always been quite an ambiguous character, and while it’s never been easy to tell whose side she’s on, I hated the idea that she could so thoroughly betray someone she raised as if she were her own daughter. There are still some debates going on, but my guess is that Nina was, at some point relatively recently, replaced by one of Jones’ human shapeshifters. Although the new human shapeshifters are almost completely indistinguishable from their human models, they wouldn’t have the memories of the person they were impersonating. Earlier this season, we saw Nina and Olivia reminiscing over events from their shared past, so I assume Nina was replaced sometime after that. David Robert Jones used to work for Massive Dynamic, so it’s conceivable that he would know that only Nina had access to the vault where the information on Cortexiphan and the trials was kept. Nina’s connection to Olivia also made her ideal as a way for Jones to get close to Olivia. The most pressing question I have right now is why? What makes Olivia so special that even now Jones is fixated on her? Olivia’s newly regained memories may give her an edge against Jones that he isn’t expecting, which could certainly make things even more interesting.

There have been aspects of this new timeline that I’ve found quite frustrating, but “A Better Human Being” went a long way towards redeeming that. On the one hand, I don’t want the time we’ve spent in this new timeline to be wasted, but on the other hand, I still want our characters and timeline back, and don’t want to feel as though the first three seasons have ceased to have meaning. We may be getting the best of both worlds with these new developments. That being said, I also don’t want to see Peter repeating his mistake: as he himself points out, he has confused Olivias before, and in doing so, betrayed the Olivia he loves. But when it comes down to it, what makes us who we are is the sum of our memories and experiences: if Olivia remembers their past together, then isn’t she, for all intents and purposes, his Olivia? I loved the moment between Peter and Olivia that mirrored the heartbreaking events of the Fringe episode “Marionette” – Peter knows now that this is his Olivia because when he looks into her eyes he finally sees the person he loves.

I thought that the case introduced some very interesting questions about genetic experimentation, and given how far science has progressed, it is an inevitable destination. One issue with genetic modification at the embryonic level lies in the question of where to draw the line, and it’s indisputably a slippery slope. I love that Fringe still continues to raise ethical issues that are endlessly fascinating to debate.

Next week’s episode of Fringe is ominously called “The End of All Things”, and, given the way “A Better Human Being” set up the next episode with one hell of a cliffhanger, it promises to be quite something. It looks as though we’re finally going to get an explanation for the Observers, as well as hopefully learning something of what David Robert Jones’ endgame is! A-

Fringe 4.13 "A Better Human Being" Review

Fringe's fourth season is really heating up, and don't expect that momentum to be deferred. Friday's episode, "A Better Human Being," promises to be a great outing, especially after the cliffhanger of last week's "Welcome to Westfield," which saw the new timeline's version of Olivia apparently regaining the memories from the other timeline's self. But it's the February 24 episode that's really going to blow your mind. The episode, titled "The End of All Things," is apparently so good that it necessitated releasing a trailer two weeks in advance.

"Answers are coming," the trailer ominously promises. What answers are we talking about, exactly? Well, if the trailer is to believed, a very, very big one is going to be answered: who are the Observers?

September (Michael Ceveris) will appear in the lab before Peter, suffering from the gunshot wound he had in "Back to Where You've Never Been." Either the gunshot happens after he enters the lab or his wound is healed, though, because the trailer reveals another shot of him standing next to Peter, with Peter asking him a fateful question: "Who or what are you?" The trailer seems to make it certain that we'll get a concrete answer.

Watch the trailer below. Fringe airs its next episode, "A Better Human Being," Friday, February 17 at 9/8c on FOX. "The End of All Things" will air the next Friday.

Fringe: Find Out Who the Observers Are on Feb. 24

Fringe has finally started answering questions, and that couldn't have come soon enough. Season 4 has featured some absolutely fantastic episodes, but it's also suffered from the affliction of being too damn frustrating. Episodes like "Enemy of My Enemy," which push the story forward, are too often followed by meandering affairs such as "Forced Perspective," which largely ignore the momentum created by the previous episode. There's a pervading feeling of 'Who cares?' throughout those episodes, and perhaps for good reason. Fringe has spent several episodes subtly trying to convince us that Peter needs to 'return home,' challenging the previously held notion that he is home and just needs to be remembered. The characters became just shadows of their previous incarnations that we were doomed to leave, and the mysteries, despite being quite often good, no longer held any real weight.

Thankfully, "Welcome to Westfield" finally slapped all those storylines back into place with a resounding, "Yes, it matters." It appears that, as we had previously thought, Peter does just need to be remembered. And, of course, Olivia is the first one to do so.

She remembers Peter over the course of the episode's case, a Fringe event reminiscent of season two episodes "Johari Window" (because of the hostile small-town setting) and "Jacksonville" (because of the melding universes). In a smart move, Fringe turned those similarities into a plot point, with Olivia remembering the case from "Johari Window" despite the fact that she never worked on such a case in the Peter-less universe. Add that to her Peter-lovin' dream from the beginning of the episode, and you've got a recipe for a kick-ass cliffhanger.

But first, the case itself, which was apparently the work of David Robert Jones, a notably absent figure who pulled the strings of the episode without even making an appearance. For reasons unknown, Jones decided to meld the town of Westfield together, ultimately succeeding in destroying it nearly entirely, save for a bike shop in which our heroes managed to hide.

The episode managed to make the most of the season's significantly lower budget. The mostly subtle changes to Westfield's residents were surprisingly effective, and served to be the perfect example of how the show can save money without looking like it's saving money.

So, finally, we reach the end of the episode, which saw Olivia apparently completely transformed into the Olivia we knew. The fact that she's acting like this is a routine seems to indicate that she has no memory of Peter's disappearance and return, which will make the next episode interesting, to say the least. It seems likely that Olivia's memory was returned by the Cortexiphan doses that she's been receiving from Nina, but does Nina know that is what the Cortexiphan is doing?

In any case, it seems clear that Fringe is no longer about 'going home,' but about remembering, meaning that the show can be compelling again after a few episodes of spinning its wheels. Welcome back, Fringe. We've missed you. A

Fringe 4.12 "Welcome to Westfield" Review

Tonight's episode of Fringe is one of its best, but you might do well to be getting excited about a future episode of the series. Episode 19 of the season is bringing in a guest star from that other great J.J. Abrams series, LOST. Henry Ian Cusick, better known as Desmond Hume, will guest star, according to TVLine.

Cusick will play an FBI agent assigned to a Fringe case, though it's unknown which universe he's from. TVLine speculates that Cusick's role is that of an "Alternate Universe Agent" who "possesses strength and confidence as well as strong comic timing."

Cusick's not exactly known for his comic timing, but I wouldn't put it beyond him -- the man can act. At the moment, the role looks like it'll be a one-off guest star, but I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that it would be absolutely fantastic to see Cusick recur.

Cusick, of course, starred on LOST, which was also created by J.J. Abrams. Writers Jeff Pinkner and David Fury have also worked on both shows. Star Lance Reddick appeared in a recurring role on LOST, and LOST star Jorge Garcia had a guest role on Fringe. There is plenty of overlap between the two shows, but we get excited with every new connection that's made.

Fringe airs tonight, February 10, with the fantastic episode "Welcome to Westfield."

Fringe Nabs Lost Star Henry Ian Cusick for Guest Role

This week’s episode of Fringe, “Making Angels”, was certainly a long time coming: we finally, finally learn more about Astrid beyond the fact that she’s a junior field agent who’s remarkably good at handling Walter. It sometimes boggles my mind that we’ve gone so long without learning anything personal about one of the main characters on Fringe. It also felt like the other characters were learning new information about their coworker just as we were: maybe it was just me, but both Walter and Olivia seemed surprised to learn that Astrid’s mother died when she was a girl.

Jasika Nicole, who plays Agents Astrid Farnsworth, did an absolutely fantastic job in tonight’s episode. It was wonderful to see her get to take the lead, and seeing the two versions of her characters side by side makes it even more apparent how very different the Alternate is from the Astrid we’ve gotten to know. Yet again it brings up the debate of nature versus nurture, in this case in terms of autism spectrum disorders. It fascinates me to wonder how genetically identical people can be so radically different, and I love that Fringe provides such an interesting platform for the debate: they’ve certainly woven the two universes together in an entirely new way this season, and I hope they continue to do so.

I wrote an article a couple weeks ago about a set interview with Jasika during which she discussed wanting to see her two characters interact, and what their reactions might be. Astrid reacted in much the way Jasika thought she might: Astrid has, in many ways, always been the heart of the team, and she reacts with her characteristic empathy to her Alternate. She provides a stable counterpoint for Walter, and, as AltAstrid observes, Astrid functions as his voice to the rest of the world. AltAstrid actually reminded me in many ways of Walter, particularly the version in this new timeline, and I think that’s part of the reason she actually seemed to fit in the lab with the strange little family they’ve created.

Once again I was left to wonder at how exactly Olivia’s kidnapping and subsequent replacement with AltLivia played out without Peter around. It seems that this time around, Walter feels much more betrayed personally, and I assume this has something to do with the fact that he and Olivia share a much closer relationship. As AltAstrid points out, anger rarely flares up without an emotional involvement, and I imagine that Walter feels guilty for that too: both that he actually likes Olivia’s Alternate, and that (presumably) he didn’t realize that she wasn’t his Olivia. Like father like son. And it was as intriguing as always to see the two Olivia’s interacting without the Peter issue between them: they certainly seem less at ease than the two Astrids, but I think it’s because they make one another uncomfortable for a variety of reasons.

Other than the addition of Astrid to the field, this new timeline has really begun to feel a lot more like the universe and characters that we’ve known from the beginning, although the differences that do remain are admittedly glaring. It was sad to see Walter feeling so threatened by Peter’s proficiency in the field, and his ability to anticipate Walter’s requests, when that was part of what made them such an effective team before. I do get where Walter is coming from, though: he must be thinking that with Peter around and able to do “his” jobs, he’s no longer necessary. And if Olivia no longer needs him, he could find himself being returned to St. Claire’s. I also found it interesting to see Olivia beginning to trust Peter as a partner, as that was how the foundations of their relationship were built.

As this timeline begins to look more like the one with which we’re familiar, I continue to find myself torn. On the one hand, I want “our” characters back, and I want Peter to be able to return to the people he loves. Yet at the same time, I’ve gotten invested in this new timeline as well, and I’d be frustrated if we’ve spent so much time with them only to discard them if Peter were to return to his world. I suppose some combination would be the most ideal: a way to get “our” people back, without having to completely abandon the new timeline. I wonder if a bleed-through effect might be the reason the Observers were so intent on erasing Peter completely. If his presence could undo the rewriting of the timeline in some way, then the Observers would have failed in correcting September’s error. It would also explain why Walter and Olivia had the connection to Peter even though they’d supposedly never known him.

Aside from the focus on Astrid, one of my favourite parts of the new Fringe episode was that we’re starting to learn even more about the Observers: for one, they’re not as omniscient as they sometimes appear to be, and they certainly don’t have a united front. December seems to be the leader, and September apparently disobeyed him by not erasing Peter from the timeline. Evidently, disobedience of any kind is rare among whatever they are since December and the other Observers didn’t check to see that September had done as instructed. I do wonder, though, how they didn’t know before this case that Peter was still alive, and whether this means that they will again take action to try and erase him from existence – if they even can.

My only real complaint about “Making Angels” was how they approached the topic of spinal cord injuries. It is a very personal subject for me, and it bothers me immensely when the main message is that life is no longer worth living. That being said, I appreciate that they didn’t shy away from the sobering reality of what life is like for some people with spinal cord injuries: many fall through the cracks of a broken system, and those without family often face an even bleaker future.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the episode: the moments of levity were as welcome as always, and I love the way the writers make use of two universes. I hope that we’ll continue to see the two sides working together, learn more about the Observers, and get more Astrid backstory before another 4 years goes by! A-

Fringe 4.11 "Making Angels" Review

While there were many things I enjoyed about tonight’s episode “Forced Perspective”, after the breakneck pace of the last two Fringe episodes it felt a bit like we hit the doldrums. Don’t get me wrong, I loved that it was something of a character study and was Olivia-centric, but I found myself missing the Other Side and the mythology. That being said, I’m very glad that they devoted the time to exploring Olivia’s reaction to September’s ominous warning, and that we’re finally starting to explore the Observers again.

Being an FBI agent, Olivia has obviously had to face death and her own mortality many times before, yet I imagine having your own death predicted, seemingly set in stone, would give anyone pause. I liked that “Forced Perspective” took the time to examine Olivia’s struggle with trying to come to terms with the dire prediction. As we’ve seen time and time again, Olivia Dunham isn’t a person to simply let things happen to her: ever since she was a little girl, she has fought back, even when the obstacles seem insurmountable.  In this way, among others, the young precog Emily (played by Alexis Raich) is eerily similar to Olivia. One of many questions I have about tonight’s episode is which foreshadowing we ought to believe: like Emily, will the very thing that gives Olivia power be the thing to lead to her death? Or are we to believe that future events are not written in stone, that the future can in fact be changed and tragedy averted? (Although given that it’s Fringe we’re talking about, it’ll probably be some impossibly mind-bending combination of both.)

As a species, humans have the capacity to experience time in a way that is wholly unique: we remember the past and anticipate the future in a way that is very different from that of any other animal on this planet. And even though parsing out how effect can precede cause when we experience time as linear gives me a headache, it certainly makes for thought-provoking debates. One thing I love about Fringe is that even at its most fantastical, the cases are rooted in scientific fact. I’m not saying I believe that it’s possible to see the future, or that future catastrophes send ripples back through time, but I did like Walter’s neurological hypothesis for Emily’s ability.

Speaking of neurological issues, I also wonder why the Cortexiphan with which Nina is dosing Olivia is causing migraines when it didn’t in the original timeline. I suppose it could be the manner in which it’s being administered, since this is probably the first time she’s had prolonged exposure since she was a child; it could just be that the alteration in her neural activity – since we know Cortexiphan acts on the brain – is being interpreted as pain. Although, given that Olivia left the trials early in this timeline, it could be that this latest exposure is finishing what Walter and Belly set in motion all those years ago.

Thus far it has seemed that, in some ways, this Olivia has had things better (except for not having Peter, obviously). Even though she has had to live with killing her stepfather, she isn’t haunted by him every year; and, perhaps most influentially, she gained a surrogate mother in Nina Sharp. I’ve found the shift in Olivia and Nina’s dynamic fascinating this season and I love that the powers that be decided to take their relationship in that direction. And yet I can’t help but despise Nina right now for what she’s doing to Olivia: it just makes her betrayal all the worse, since she’s one person Olivia trusts implicitly and without reservation. That Olivia actually remembers the Cortexiphan trials in this timeline makes Nina’s observation on how much Olivia has been expected to forgive even more poignant, and I think it adds even more depth to the relationship Walter and Olivia now share.

A couple more burning questions I have from tonight’s episode: what are the pills that Nina is going to give Olivia? More Cortexiphan?  Or something more sinister? And how is it that the Machine doesn’t respond to Peter? It avoids one paradox, but introduces another: to my recollection, Walter built the Machine in the future so that Peter could go back in time to save Olivia. (Although I suppose with the deeper relationship between Olivia and Walter, he himself could have been sufficiently motivated by her death to alter the timeline himself.) It also raises the question of how the Bridge between the two universes was created in the first place, without someone to activate the Machine.

With Walter’s long-awaited acceptance of Peter in last week’s “Enemy of My Enemy”, this timeline is starting to feel a lot more like the original timeline, and I loved seeing the Bishop boys back in the lab together. I’m hoping that “Forced Perspective” is a way to ease us into a mythology-heavy episode next week – hopefully with more information on the ever enigmatic Observers. And from what I’ve seen of the trailer for next week’s episode “Making Angels”, it promises to be resplendent with Other Side involvement, so make sure you tune in! B

Fringe 4.10 "Forced Perspective" Review

If you’ve been watching Fringe this season, then you’ll recognize Michelle Krusiec as the actress who played one of the new, human shapeshifters. If you haven’t been watching, maybe Michelle herself can convince you to give it a shot! Michelle took the time to chat with us this week about her experiences on Fringe: covering everything from how the show is like an illicit drug to what it’s like to play a superhuman. Michelle also reveals the previously-unknown “shapeshifter” name of her character. The shapeshifter has been known only as Nadine, who was first introduced in the season premiere, and was seen most recently in last week’s episode “Enemy Of My Enemy”. I will say that I myself am curious as hell about what the shapeshifter name may signify…

And now I’ll let you get on to the good stuff:

TVOvermind: Had you been a fan of Fringe before working on the show?

Michelle Krusiec: I can't honestly call myself a fan prior to working on it, because that would make the real fans pretty upset since they are true fans.  I watched the pilot and I was intrigued, but I'm not an avid TV watcher. Mostly because of time and lack of it, nothing to do with the show itself.  I remember watching Fringe randomly one night earlier this season and I was totally confused by the two Olivias, but still, I was intrigued, and wondered what in the world the storyline was about!

What was it like to work on the show?

I was really giddy with excitement because it's a J.J. Abrams show and my character was just so awesome.  I was told she was a new breed of shapeshifter, but I had no idea what the hell that really meant, in terms of the show's mythology; I got to work and started watching as many episodes as I could. The first episode I was in, I was mostly dead, and since it was raining in Vancouver, I basically watched 36 back-to-back episodes.  I felt like some junkie hopped up in my hotel room.  My curtains were drawn.  I'd watch it in bed, from the bathtub, with room service.  I couldn't stop watching it.  I was completely hooked, and in complete awe of the storyline.

I'm such a sucker for sci fi because my Dad and I bonded over them growing up. Whenever sci fi is at its best, it makes you examine morality, ethics and the human condition: it really brings to light great questions and theoreticals about mankind and behavior.  In the case of Fringe, I was really struck by this notion of how one man's mistakes affect two universes and the people in them.  The way the writers explored these questions while still maintaining a procedural show was impressive to me.  And then to top it off, the calibre of acting on the show was so striking.  I felt like I had won the lottery to be invited onto the show.

What are some of your favorite memories and experiences from working on Fringe?

Some of my favorite moments include getting my face scanned for the digital effects and seeing a 3D version of my face on the computer. And I loved my character's name "Seven" because it's just a badass name.

I loved playing with the guns.  I took that very seriously.  I felt that a shapeshifter would move differently than humans and I wanted to be completely collected when I was operating firearms.  I practiced rolling around on the floor and shooting, which I never did in the show, and the firearms expert even told me while I was doing it, “they probably won’t ask you to do that,” but I’d just keep on rolling around on the floor. Basically, any time I got to kick ass, I was giddy with excitement because Seven has superhuman abilities and you just don't get a chance to play characters like that very often.  I was a little jealous whenever I had to shapeshift into another human being though, because another actor played that part. But it was also really awesome to see how they lined up my face with the other actress Lori Triolo's face so they could shift our faces together.  It was odd how our features were actually very similar on camera.  Who would have guessed I'd have Italian features?

Doing the shapeshifting in and out of characters was more challenging than I expected because it had to be subtle and it’s mostly digital effects so your face is like a canvas. The first time I did it, I just went crazy and after my first take the director Joe Chapelle just said, "Uh, make it smaller." That made me laugh, because I think I may have gone a little overboard with it.  All the other shapeshifters made it look so painful, so I thought I was doing exactly what I'd seen on the show, but I was mistaken. There's a great scene where Seven is injecting herself with the formula to correct her genetic mutation that's preventing her from shapeshifting on command. I loved shooting in that bathroom because it was a small little space and any kind of transformation scene like that for an actor is really fun to do.

I also loved seeing Gene the cow.  I wish I had taken a photo with her now… Can you tell that I had a blast shooting this show?

How did you approach your character?

I really developed Seven with an animal in mind. You're probably laughing, but I took this role very seriously. I felt like it was a great opportunity to work off of the pre-established mythology, and since Seven is a new breed of shapeshifter, I wanted to see what my imagination could come up with.  Since I had three weeks off in between episodes, I developed this idea that Seven is a super soldier but with empathic capabilities.  As a soldier, she has a direct mission objective she has to follow, but since she's also part human, she uses her ability to experience human emotions to convince Malcolm Truss to help her.  I tried to find moments in the episode where she could emote like a real human being and play "Nadine", her human form, but then switch back to shapeshifter Seven.  A lot of those moments didn’t make the final edit, because there’s just so much info packed into these episodes, but I had fun prepping it.

What made her different from other characters you’ve portrayed?

What makes Seven different? She gets to scale walls! She pokes guys’ eyeballs out! My stunt double, who was amazing, had to do wire work to scale that wall and I would have given anything to try the stunt myself: being superhuman is pretty much every kid's fantasy.

Was there anything you’d hoped to see explored with her that we didn’t really address? Given that characters never really die in Fringe, it’s not entirely beyond the realms of possibility that we might see her again someday…

I’m always fascinated when robots have emotions.  I'm really intrigued by that.  I had hoped that she would continue to work for David Robert Jones, but then begin to show signs of empathizing with the humans and switch teams.  I also wondered what would happen if she and Olivia ever got into a bitch fight.  Two badass women squaring off?  That's a season finale, come on!

What was it like to be a rather central “baddie” this season?

I wanted more. I was very sad when I read that Seven gets shot. I think I went right into mourning, but what was really incredible was being introduced to the Fringies.  I had no idea there were such loyal fans out there.  I really didn't want to let them down.  Although, having become a fan of the show myself now, I understand the addiction and the loyalty.  There’s really nothing quite like it on TV.

What’s next for you? Are there any projects you’d like to mention?

I just wrapped a comedy called Nice Girls Crew. I'm waiting to begin work on the feature Relative Insanity, and I'll be guesting on Touch next.

Many thanks again to Michelle for taking the time to do this interview, and for the thought-provoking answers! I always find it fascinating to hear inside perspectives on my favorite show, and I find it rather wonderful that she turned into a fan after working on the show. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post below! You can also reach Michelle on Twitter here: @michellekrusiec.

Fringe: Michelle Krusiec Talks Her Shapeshifter Role and the Show

It's time to start biting your nails, Fringe fans. Talks have begun between Warner Bros. and Fox regarding the renewal of the J.J. Abrams sci-fi series, which has been flagging in the ratings for years. The show has a strong (but small) fan base, and with the series appearing to have reached its low point for ratings (it's been steady for a few weeks at about a 1.1 in the adults 18-49 demographic), things are really up in the air.

Season 5 would bring the show to the 100-episode mark, something that would be incredibly helpful in its prospects of syndication. In fact, a thirteen-episode fifth season would bring the number of episodes out to exactly 100, which might be something the networks discuss. After all, Fox is looking for a way to bring Fringe back by cutting how much they pay Warner Bros. per episode to air the series. The fate of the show rests on whether they can work out a number.

"We remain hopeful that Fringe will be able to continue," J.J. Abrams tells TVLine. Abrams indicated recently that he would "do everything in [his] power" to direct an episode of the fifth season if the show is renewed.

Executive producer Jeff Pinkner is similarly hopeful, though he promises fans an upside to a possible cancellation. “Worst case scenario, if this were the last aired season of Fringe… we know what the end of this season is going to be,” he told TVLine, "and it can function as a series finale."

I'd much rather have a season 5. We'll keep you posted on what goes down with Fringe.

Fringe airs its next episode, "Forced Perspective," January 27 at 9/8c on FOX.

Fringe Season 5 Renewal Talks Begin

Last night’s Fringe launches us into a new chapter of season 4. We finally see the two universes really, truly working together to achieve a common goal – and it was fascinating. One of my favourite scenes of the episode (although I did have several) was when the members of both Fringe Divisions were all sitting around the same table, trying to figure out their action plan for combating David Robert Jones. I’m beyond curious to see where this takes the characters in the coming weeks: we’ll have an uninterrupted string of new episodes now until the end of February, which is something of a relief after the numerous hiatuses so far this season.

One thing I’ve found simultaneously intriguing and frustrating about this new timeline is trying to figure out where and how things would have changed without Peter’s influence. Fascinating because who doesn’t love a good thought-experiment; frustrating because sometimes I just can’t see how certain things would come about without Peter.  That being said, the fact that David Robert Jones – a bad guy Fringe Division killed at the end of season 1 in the original timeline – is still alive makes more than a little sense. One question I’d had about Jones was how he’d never crossed paths with Olivia: surely he would have still been fixated on the Cortexiphan kids, and it was through his actions that Olivia found out about her involvement in the trials in the first place. Although in the original timeline, Olivia didn’t remember the trials at all, whereas she certainly does in this new one.

I should have known that this question would be answered, and it becomes obvious at the end of the episode that Jones most assuredly knows who Olivia Dunham is, which now makes me wonder if we can expect the return of some of the other Cortexiphan kids. I have to admit, even though I was half-expecting Nina to be working with Jones, I was still rather shocked. I don’t understand how she could betray Olivia after raising her. But nothing is ever simple and clear-cut in Fringe: I wonder if, in some twisted way, Nina thinks that she’s helping Olivia, somehow. It also brings me to the question of Alt-Broyles’ alliance with Jones – somehow the explanation that he himself is a shapeshifter is almost too simple, but I suppose we’ll find out soon.

Ever since the season 2 episode “Peter”, where we saw exactly what happened the night Walter crossed over to take Peter, I’ve hoped to see a reunion between Alt-Elizabeth and our Walter. We finally got to see that reunion in “Enemy Of My Enemy”, and it was well worth the wait. The search for absolution has been a recurring theme with Walter: in our original timeline, he has managed to make some sort of peace with it. Helped, I think, by the fact that he has living, breathing proof in Peter that his actions were in some way worth the consequences. The Walter in this new timeline had no such tangible evidence, and has lived the last 25 years believing that he deserved every punishment. Orla Brady and John Noble have been great together in every single scene, but in last night’s Fringe they were phenomenal. Elizabeth is probably the only person who could give Walter absolution, and I love how much it says about her character that she has forgiven him, even knowing that her Peter didn’t survive.

The other scene I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention was the one between Walter and Peter: I mentioned in last week’s review that the scene between Walternate and Peter assuaged some of my longing for the relationship between the Bishops that we’ve come to love these last 4 seasons. But last night’s Fringe finally, finally returned to some of the dynamic we’ve come to expect between the father and son. Nothing says it better than Peter’s statement to Walter that he’s not at all surprised to find out that Walter is exactly who he thought he was. I can’t wait to see what happens next, now that Walter is committed to trying to help return Peter to his own timeline.

I can’t help but wonder, though, if it’s even possible for Peter to return “home”. I have yet to make up my mind as to whether this universe is “our” universe rewritten, in which case these are all the people Peter loves, but different, or whether it’s another universe entirely. That being said, I saw them filming a bit of Fringe this week, and something I saw makes me think that we’ll get a definitive answer on that question sometime soon. (No, I won’t give any details.)

The only thing that disappointed me a little was that Michelle Krusiec’s shapeshifter “Nadine” was killed: I found her character intriguing, but I also got a kick out of hearing my own name on the show. Although as we’ve seen with Jones, no one ever really dies in Fringe! From the promo trailer for next week’s episode, we’ll get to delve into September’s ominous statement from last week’s episode that Olivia has to die. And speaking of Observers, I’m intensely curious as to whether Astrid will find anything in September’s blood sample that Olivia asked her to test. The writers and producers have said several times that we’ll learn more about the bald-headed enigmas this season, so I can’t help but hope that some answers will be forthcoming.

All by way of saying that I thoroughly enjoyed this episode of Fringe, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Things certainly seem to be picking up speed: all we can do is hang on for the ride. A

Fringe 4.09 "Enemy Of My Enemy" Review

Fringe's fourth season is picking up speed. After last week's stellar episode "Back to Where You've Never Been," the momentum continues with "The Enemy of My Enemy," which airs January 20 on FOX.

I haven't seen the episode, so how do I know it will be so good? That's simple: look at these clips. Three preview clips from the episode have been released. One of them features the triumphant return of David Robert Jones (Jared Harris), who popped up briefly in the last episode. He's totally intimidating and watchable as he proves a point to Altlivia and Alt-Lincoln.

The second clip features typical Walter hi-jinks -- this time he's liquifying meat to create the perfect recipe. As Astrid and Olivia both note, things don't exactly work out for the meat; it's pretty disgusting.

Finally, we have the third clip, which shows Peter and Lincoln arguing about what to do next. Peter wants to return to this universe, while Lincoln wants to stay and investigate the shapeshifters that killed his partner. Things seem to be resolved fairly quickly when Altlivia and Alt-Lincoln walk in with a handcuffed David Robert Jones, who Peter instantly recognizes. After all, Peter did kill him, once upon a time.

Fringe airs "The Enemy of My Enemy" tonight, January 20, on FOX.

Fringe: Three Clips from "The Enemy of My Enemy"

J.J. Abrams operates in a way that's similar to the deists' perception of God. He simply creates something, winds up the spring, and lets it go how it will. Sometimes, as with Undercovers, the clockwork is wound too tight and it breaks. But Abrams has a tendency, as he did with LOST, to wind things up just right, and then step away. He did the same thing with FOX's Fringe, one of the most creatively brilliant shows on television right now.

In a video released by FOX on Thursday, Abrams chats with Fringe marketing special ops Ari Margolis about why exactly he loves the show that he helped to create, pointing out how the show is a wonderful mix of the scary and the heartfelt, pointing to Walter Bishop (John Noble) as a prime example.

While Abrams realizes that viewership isn't great and that chances of a fifth season aren't great, he certainly sweetens the pot for FOX to renew the series; he's willing to once again wind up the clockwork. "While I don't know what the schedule is, it has been my desire since the pilot to direct an episode," Abrams says. "I would say without question that if Fringe comes back, I would do anything in my power to direct an episode. I would love it."

Fringe will air Friday, January 20 with the episode "Enemy of My Enemy" at 9/8c on FOX. Watch it live.

Check out the video below.

Fringe: J.J. Abrams Wants to Direct an Episode in Season 5

Fringe returned tonight from an interminable hiatus with “Back To Where You’ve Never Been”. It quickly becomes apparent why this episode was supposed to be the winter finale (before it got delayed by baseball): the episode is jam packed with mythology, character development, the re-introduction of a familiar enemy, and an ominous Observer visit. One of my favourite aspects of Fringe is when new developments cause everything to begin to coalesce into a clear image of where the story is going, and tonight’s episode had some fascinating revelations.

Fringe’s winter finale “Wallflower” left us with a cliffhanger of sorts, with the revelation that Nina Sharp, Olivia’s adoptive mother, is actually the one responsible for her escalating migraines. My guess is that Nina is dosing her with Cortexiphan, presumably in an attempt to activate Olivia’s powers. As horrifying as the breach of trust is – it also makes me question this new Nina – I do hope that something comes of it: the topic of the Cortexiphan kids and their powers has always intrigued me. It’s clear that Olivia really has no idea what she’s capable of, and I can’t imagine that it would be something the writers would ignore. I assume that Nina’s motivation is much the same as Walter and Belly’s was originally, that she is “preparing” Olivia for the coming threats. I doubt Olivia will take it much better than she did in the original timeline, however, especially considering that the person she trusts the most is the one dosing her.

Speaking of breaking trust, I was rather disappointed in Olivia for deceiving Peter and instructing Lincoln to use the trip to the Other Side to steal information on Walternate. Not that I can really blame her, but it just serves to highlight again how different this new timeline is. I miss the dynamic between Olivia and Peter – well, between all of the characters, really – and I’m torn between what I want this new reality to end up being. That is, whether “our” characters are in the original universe somewhere frantically searching for Peter who can indeed get back there somehow, versus this being “our” reality rewritten. There seems to be support for both, and I can’t get past the fact both Walter and Olivia clearly have some sort of connection with Peter, which wouldn’t make sense if this were an “alternate” universe of sorts. As we saw in “One Night in October”, there are people who leave a mark on us, whether we’re conscious of it or not. If it truly is the original universe rewritten, I’d love to see Olivia, at the very least, start to remember what things were like before the Observers erased Peter; perhaps the doses of whatever Nina has been giving her could facilitate such a shift. I think it’d be fascinating to see Olivia trying to reconcile memories of the original reality with the relationships and experiences she’s had in this new universe.

One of my absolute favorite moments in tonight’s episode was the scene between Peter and Walternate. In some odd way, Walternate actually reminded me a bit of Walter as he was at the end of season three, at least in terms of his relationship with Peter. I’ve been missing that connection between the father and son that was such a cornerstone for the show. I love the decision to alter Walternate a bit, but I do wonder what precipitated the changes. I assume that Peter’s death as a boy would change the Other Side far less than Our Side, because he disappeared when he was just a boy anyways.

If I had to hazard a guess, it would be that David Robert Jones is responsible for some of the changes we see in Walternate. Near as I can tell, since Peter wasn’t around to prevent Jones from crossing over at the end of season 1, he made it to the Other Side as he had originally intended. Evidently, he’s been up to no good ever since, given the humanoid shapeshifters we’ve been seeing. If Walter had been suspecting a new threat for quite some time, it could have diverted some of his ire away from Our Side: he’d be too busy fighting on another front at home. I also wonder if some of Walternate’s fury in the original timeline stemmed from jealousy or bitterness. Not only did Walter kidnap Walternate’s son and trigger a cascade of detrimental effects to his universe, but Peter himself kept choosing to side with his own father’s enemies. I can’t imagine that would be easy for anyone to accept.

As always, I’m intrigued as hell about where the story will go from here. I love the idea that the two sides will have to work even more closely together in order to combat a common threat. Not to mention the ominous warning from September, our friendly neighbourhood Observer, to Olivia regarding her own death. And how does a man (I use the term loosely here) who can catch bullets end up getting shot, anyways? September has always seemed more human than the other Observers, and I assume it’s due to his continuing involvement with the Bishops and Olivia – he has let himself become invested in them, and for someone who is only supposed to observe, he does an awful lot of interfering.

Between the reappearance of David Robert Jones, the new threat to both universes, Lincoln and Peter remaining Over There, Walternate’s new status as “not a bad guy”, Peter’s deepening involvement in this new timeline, threats to Olivia’s life, and Walter’s continued instability and denial of Peter, I have no doubts that “Back to Where You’ve Never Been” is only the beginning of what promises to be a fantastic back half of season 4. A

Fringe 4.08 "Back To Where You've Never Been" Review

As I’m sure many of you know, Fringe returns tonight from the winter hiatus with the all-new episode “Back To Where You’ve Never Been”. As was mentioned in an article we posted earlier this week, back in October, TVOvermind visited the Vancouver set of Fringe and spoke with some of the stars about season 4. When the interviews occurred, only the first two episodes of the season had aired, so the actors were understandably vague about much of what was to come. However, tonight’s new episode was the one being filmed during the set visit, so some of the hints are now coming to fruition.

Given where Fringe has gone this season, something on everyone’s mind was how the two universes can coexist relatively peacefully, considering the fact that they had basically been at war. The tension between the two sides is tangible, and it’s clear that none of the characters trust their alternates – especially after the revelation of a new breed of shapeshifter. As Olivia is quick to point out, Walternate was behind the previous generation, and this technology looks incriminatingly similar. Lance Reddick – who plays two versions of Phillip Broyles – discussed the fact that although the two sides have been working together, the tension has been building.  He also pointed out that "there’s potentially a third element that will be a danger to both universes that’s going to force them to work together". Jasika Nicole, who plays agents Astrid Farnsworth, went on to say that as crazy as things have been before, the dangers posed by this new threat will be even more severe.

Along with some tantalizing hints of what is to come, Mr. Reddick discussed some of the intricacies of working on a show that regularly shoots scenes with doubles of their characters. The short answer, which doesn’t do his answers justice, is that it’s incredibly complicated, but also rewarding and fascinating. He did note that one of the joys of playing alternate versions of characters is that it offers the opportunity to explore more of the backstories for each character. While he hopes to see more of this, he did note that he “[doesn’t] know if there’ll be time, because there’s just so much story happening!”

Jasika Nicole also had some thoughts on character backstories and relationships. She noted that both her and Anna Torv, who plays FBI agent Olivia Dunham, always found it a little strange that we never really got the opportunity to see the friendship between Olivia and Astrid in the original timeline; I definitely agree with her when she says that she thinks it’s "long overdue" that we’re finally seeing aspects of their relationship in this new reality! I also think that Ms. Nicole had a very good point when she pointed out that "[Peter]’s not there anymore, and so Astrid has sort of become Olivia’s confidante." Not to mention the fact that the two women have had shared custody, so to speak, of Walter Bishop since the unlikely trio joined Fringe Division, and I imagine they’ve had more than enough to bond over.

That being said, it’s been apparent from the beginning of this new season of Fringe that Walter and Astrid don’t share the same relationship in this new reality. My first thought was that in the absence of Peter, Walter should be closer to both Astrid and Olivia. We’ve certainly seen how Walter has come to rely on Olivia, yet Walter and Astrid’s relationship seems to have gone in the opposite direction. I assume that the main reason for this shift is because she isn’t entirely lab-based in this new reality. Since Astrid has had to function as Walter’s eyes and hands outside the lab, I guess they simply haven’t forged the same connection forced by close proximity for the past 3 years.  As Ms. Nicole pointed out, "that was the reason Astrid was there, was to be there for Walter when he needed her." And if that’s not her role in their little family any more, what is? Ms. Nicole was quick to state that "[Astrid] has to be a piece of this puzzle", and that according to the writers, we’ll see more of where Astrid fits in in the new timeline.

One thing I found particularly interesting was when Ms. Nicole pointed out that Astrid is "always trying to convince Walter that Walternate is not evil, that his world is just as important as ours...that he’s not the enemy." In some ways I think Astrid serves as the voice of reason, trying to keep Walter and Olivia on an even keel , as neither of them are particularly level-headed when it comes to their alternates. Ms. Nicole also noted that she thinks that her character "tries to see the best in people all the time", and I think that’s a trait that seems intrinsic to Astrid – at least for the one on Our Side.

As far as portraying Alt-Astrid, particularly in regards to the fact that she’s autistic, Ms. Nicole discussed how she tries to take what she knows of how autism affects the brain and therefore communication and behaviour, and bases her portrayal of the alternate agent on that. She tries not to model any one person in particular because she never wants it to seem that she’s making light of autism – something that’s particularly important to her because her sister is autistic. After observing that Alt-Astrid has been rather static so far because we only see her at work, Ms. Nicole stated that she "would love to explore what other facets of her personality there are". When it comes to the possibility of the two Astrids interacting, she mused that "these two women are fundamentally different, and I wonder what their common ground is, besides their having the same body".  Personally, she thinks Astrid would be fascinated and want to get to know her alternate, while her doppelganger would be rather oblivious to their connection. Personally, I’d love to see a confrontation between the two Astrids.  Actually, I’d like to see an exploration of Astrid’s backstory in general. I’m hoping that it’s something we see at some point in the back half of the season.

Now, fair warning, in case you want to go into tonight’s episode without any specific spoilers, I’m going to discuss a bit of what was seen of the scene of Fringe they were filming during the set visit.

The scene being filmed was obviously taking place Over There – so it looks like we’re finally going to get more than a glimpse of what’s been going on in the alternate universe in this new timeline. A group of people were standing outside of a transportation depot – in Vancouver, actually a horsetrack – when a bus comes speeding by only to have a shapeshifter jump on top of it. The alt-world citizens see the commotion which brings Olivia Dunham and Seth Gabel’s alternate Lincoln Lee to investigate. In the banner below, you can see one of the posters that urge citizens Over There to "Be Vigilant". It never ceases to amaze me, the amount of detail that goes in to every scene; the set decorators on Fringe are consistently fantastic.

The only other thing I’ll say about tonight’s Fringe episode is that I loved it, and I hope you all tune in tonight to watch it LIVE on FOX at 9:00 pm EST!

Fringe: The Stars Talk Doppelgangers, New Realities & Tonight's New Episode