Fringe S04E02 [US] *Spoilers*

Richard Dower

Ep. 2, mission of the week once again...but it was great!, what sold it was the teriffic scenes with both Olivia's....it was awesome seeing them act side by side, plus some excellent acting from the main guest star, the professor/serial killer....the actor played his scenes superbly with alot of emotion.

While it felt very proceadural in nature i thought it was a strong standalone ep., not much of Walter and just a tag at the end of Peter. No arc progression again this week. My guess is they have a plan for season 4 but are stretching it out a good bit.

Nice also to see at alt agent Lee + Major Broyles! :eek: - he's alive!, woah!, so that's a pretty big change then in the timeline, while i am happy with the series thus far i would like to see more arc progression.

don ramo

Richard Dower wrote: »

Major Broyles! :eek: - he's alive!, woah!,

yeah WTF is up with that, wasnt he sliced up and sent over here, also no mention of altivias baby, so maybe things have been changed a fair bit with peters disappearance, wonder what is gonna happen when he reappears:)

also this is a 22 episode season so theres not much need to burst out of the traps, although i dont really want the peter thing dragging into mid season either,

it was a good episode, case of the week stuff but with a twist, i think the producers have done a great job of blending in cases of the week and the overall stortyarc the last 2 seasons, so its up to us to be picking up on the little details that will make differences later on,

also no mention of the secretary of defence (walternate) has he been replaced, or is he on the run, last episode olivia was talking about him but altivia didnt really lead onto what was up with him,

MOD could you add a poll please,



i think this was fairly obvious, first time i didnt have to try and find him :cool:

You know what?

I love Fringe.

You really have to admire the standards in writing and in acting - the small nuances caused by Peter never existing; Olivia being stand-offish, Walter still being a bit crazy, never really having the grounding effect that Peter created. Hell, even the supporting cast are superb - the professor/serial killer was a great actor.

I think there was a bit of an arc progression here - it's as if Peter is getting stronger: where previously he could only appear in reflections, now his voice is coming through. Over time he might be able to come through as a shimmer.

Interesting that their Broyles is still alive. Though Fauxlivia's baby never was born, due to the fact that Peter never impregnated her, but I doubt they're going to leave the child completely by the wayside.

FreudianSlippers

I thought it was very well done for a filler episode. I guess in a way it progressed the arc in a way; they are obviously going to highlight the differences between Olivia and Fauxlivia and perhaps have them come to some sort of mutual understanding/respect.

I don't think we're going to have to wait long to get Peter back - he's obviously found a way to communicate from wherever the hell he is... (perhaps a 3rd universe?)

ScrubsfanChris

If Peter never existed then that would account for the no mention of Faux-livia's baby.
But Peter never interacted with "other universe" Broyle's, so how come he's not still a head and torso in the back of a van.

I'm sure someone will be along soon to put me in my place.
Walter has now really reverted to how he was in early season one, without Peter in his life.

Richard Dower

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fringe droppped to a 1.2 demo: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/10/01/tv-ratings-friday-fringe-fades-kitchen-nightmares-steady/105631/

ScrubsfanChris

It was always going to happen. Its competing with Dateline and CSI NY for god sake.
This is looking like Fringe's last season.

**Spoilers** A peek at next weeks episode: Alone in the World

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHGB_bfbzXg

tvnutz

Richard Dower wrote: »

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fringe droppped to a 1.2 demo: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/10/01/tv-ratings-friday-fringe-fades-kitchen-nightmares-steady/105631/

Ratings were always low for Fringe,never seemed to deter FOX,if they get really bad it won't get another season but with the way they have treated the show it will be given time to finish,as in if they decide to cancel it they will be told early and enough time to wrap it up. Although its good enough at the moment to go on another season after this so hopefully that will happen.

omniscient_toad

I really enjoyed this episode and to me it summed up why I like the show so much at its best in comparison to the vast majority of shows that could be classed as "science fiction".

You have a story involving alternate universes and the quasi-magical extraction of experiences and pathos and yet this is almost brushed aside to focus on brilliant characterisation and a study of sociopathy and empathy. So much science fiction is lost under the focus on the futuristic/bizarre nitty gritty at the cost of character depth and plot and Fringe like the best of the Xfiles often just leaves the explanation as "it just is/does" and uses the sci-fi elements as they should be used, to drive plot and character development.

For a one off guest star I found the forensic profiler/serial killer enthralling and it was down to the amount of time they gave over to building a character despite him having no future, from the conversation in his office, to Olivia's speaking to him in the serial killers house. In a lesser show this would all have been trimmed down for more pyrotechnics or focus on contrasting the futuristic bits of the "other" side from the forensic psychologists view (a la Demolition Man "seashells" ).

The Black Oil

On the positive side, the actor who played the professor/serial killer was very good and I liked that from a story point of view we stuck with him because most of the time on TV, time spent with secondary characters is pretty limited to keep things moving. I wasn't so keen on the abusive father side (think the last we heard this from Olivia was in the pilot or season 1) of things or that the prof went AWOL...but anyway.

Also, I like how Walter's distress isn't the main focus at the moment, allowing it to unfold too quickly would remove some of its impact.

VinLieger

Great episode but the confusion over how the hell alt Broyles is alive ruined it a bit for me.
Ive thought about it over and over and i cant see how his death would have been affected with Peter disappearing, he still would have had to help Olivia escape and Walternate would have killed him to return Fauxlivia to over there.

Wasn't the reason Olivia was there in the first place was to rescue Peter? So if she didn't go over there to rescue him, then he didn't die?

don ramo

Deleted User wrote: »

Wasn't the reason Olivia was there in the first place was to rescue Peter? So if she didn't go over there to rescue him, then he didn't die?

yeah but then why did olivia go if not for peter??

this will not end:P:D

expectationlost

i think i was little confused at the end of the last season when people were saying peter never existed, when actually it means older peter never existed.

but still what about the baby?

i was kinda sick of these episodes where some freak has to kill people to extract something theyre missing or need more of in their bodies, but then the episode changed direction with it being about bringing him over to the other side.

Mr E

Poll added.

Deleted User wrote: »

Over time he might be able to come through as a shimmer.

He already did that in episode 1 (near the start).

I preferred this to the season opener... needs more arc progression though. If the end is going to be Walt hearing/seeing Peter for the next 9 episodes, its going to get boring quite quickly.

VinLieger

Deleted User wrote: »

Wasn't the reason Olivia was there in the first place was to rescue Peter? So if she didn't go over there to rescue him, then he didn't die?

But its been confirmed she went when Olivia and Fauxlivia had the argument in the bridge room in ep 1

Killme00

Why is there amber in the other universe if Peter never existed?

Olivia was kidnapped by the other universe. Did she still escape and if so, how because Broyle's is still alive?

Walternate?
Nina Sharpe?
Spock?

opr

Killme00 wrote: »

Why is there amber in the other universe if Peter never existed?

Olivia was kidnapped by the other universe. Did she still escape and if so, how because Broyle's is still alive?

Walternate?
Nina Sharpe?
Spock?

The answer to all that stuff is we don't know. Its kind of like the show has been rebooted. History has changed.

Opr

FreudianSlippers

They key to Colonel Broyles must be because in this episode (I think) Olivia said she was kidnapped from the blue universe whereas in the previous timeline it was Peter who was kidnapped and Olivia had to go to the red universe to save him.

That small difference could have meant that Olivia never interacted with Broyles and he wouldn't have died. I don't think they need to fully explain it any more than that tbh.
They were subtle about the difference and we've probably missed many many differences; this is just the most obvious.


Is it possible that, somehow, Peter was transported to yellow universe? Maybe when we see the observer buying the parts to make that machine, he is in yellow universe at the time?

Was Peter not born at all, or was it a case that he died in the ice lake, which is where the Observer's actions altered the course of history? If this is the case, then the amber is there because Walter did still cross over, damaging the Other Universe.

FreudianSlippers

Deleted User wrote: »

Was Peter not born at all, or was it a case that he died in the ice lake, which is where the Observer's actions altered the course of history? If this is the case, then the amber is there because Walter did still cross over, damaging the Other Universe.

IMO Peter was born and died in the ice. I'm not sure blue Walter caused the damage anymore... I think it may have been yellow Walter or someone from the yellow universe.

FreudianSlippers

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

Deleted User wrote: »

Was Peter not born at all, or was it a case that he died in the ice lake, which is where the Observer's actions altered the course of history? If this is the case, then the amber is there because Walter did still cross over, damaging the Other Universe.

IMO Peter was born and died in the ice. I'm not sure blue Walter caused the damage anymore... I think it may have been yellow Walter or someone from the yellow universe.

But didn't our Walter cause the damage by going over to the other side to kidnap their Peter after our one died as a child from that illness?

FreudianSlippers

Deleted User wrote: »

But didn't our Walter cause the damage by going over to the other side to kidnap their Peter after our one died as a child from that illness?

That's what we've thought before. It's likely that is still the case, but maybe it wasn't blue Walter after all.

Elohim

In episode one the observers were talking about Peter "bleeding through" to this universe.
I bet that sneaky observer that is always breaking the rules just stuck him somewhere else where he can obviously interact but just has no physical presence.

Antar Bolaeisk

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

That's what we've thought before. It's likely that is still the case, but maybe it wasn't blue Walter after all.

Didn't Walter make some comment about Peter dying twice? Maybe I imagined it.

FreudianSlippers

Isn't that Fauxlivia's fiancé on the serial killer's wall? Are these people he's already killed, or...

I could have sworn that Fauxlivia said "Frank likes the red" when she was putting on the wig, maybe it's a different Frank?

FreudianSlippers

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

Didn't Walter make some comment about Peter dying twice? Maybe I imagined it.

Yeah, I was thinking blue Peter died of the disease, Walter crossed over and took red(orange whatever) Peter, but the observer didn't intervene and stop red Peter from drowning.