I fell for the hype from the preview for this week's finale of Fringe. And yes, I understand that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. It's not as if the finale didn't have it's shocking moments, but it just felt a little flat. Blame the over-hyped preview or the show's recent stretch of strong episodes, but I was expecting something more. I wanted a finale of Lost proportions. I wanted epic events. I wanted more than 30 seconds of William Bell (I mean, how hyped was Leonard Nimoy's blink- and- you- missed- it guest spot??)! So, as a finale, this one was just ho-hum. But as an episode, it kinda rocked -- A LOT!!Portals into the "road(s) not taken" (a.k.a. alternate universes)??!! Walter remembering where he hid the whatchamacallit??!! Nina working with the FBI in order to vindicate her boss??!! And how about the revelation that Peter is from one of those alternate universes? I kinda figured that one out when Walter told him about the coin. He said that he may not remember this and followed it up with a seemingly throwaway line about when Peter was sick and dying. I listened sorta half-paying attention since it didn't seem too important and then he threw in the whole "sick and DYING" bit and a HUGE lightbulb lit up in my head. Suddenly, that talk about Walter wanting to travel to an alternate universe to retrieve someone to replace the version he was losing in this one all made sense. I had originally attributed that story to the alternate being his wife. Plus, I assumed he wasn't successful. Shows what I know! So Peter isn't really Peter. Well, he is, but he's not the original Peter, if you will.
The whole "window to another world" story was pretty awesome, and I'm not even a sci-fi fan. It was just cool (and scary at the same time) to imagine a glimpse into a life that might have been. Of course, the slicing you in half part (or diagonally for that poor soccer player) wasn't so cool. But hey, at least we don't have to worry about creepy bandage-wearing teleporter guy anymore. That dude was harboring a serious inferiority complex! I'm kinda glad it wasn't William Bell activating his soldiers as the conspiracy nut suggested during last week's episode. And speaking of William Bell, it seems that he is hiding in an alternate universe where 9/11 never happened. Am I the only one who felt a great sadness come over when the camera zoomed out of his office and it became painfully apparent that he and Olivia were standing inside the former Twin Towers? Yup, that one still hurts just as much to this day.Overall a very intriguing, entertaining, original, fun and exciting freshman season for a show that seems to have endless possibilities at its fingertips. I'm very excited to see where it takes us next season. If the preview is a window into what lies ahead, then September can't come soon enough. Oh, there I go again! Oh well, just call me INSANE.
If you missed last night's season finale, you can watch it for free at Fox.com.
5 comments:
I wasn’t disappointed by the season finale. Nimoy’s visit was VERY brief, but I already knew that.
I figured out Peter was an alt world Peter when Walter said he developed alt world travel to get a replacement for something he lost. I made the leap to Peter because Walter long ago made some statements (to Olivia I think) that implied there was something not right about Peter (I assumed he had been experimented with and, I guess, in a manner of speaking he was). Shouldn’t the FBI (and others) know that Peter isn’t Peter? This world’s Peter was buried, which means a death certificate and thus an official record.
As for alternate worlds, this can be a great story telling device, or it can become a crutch like time travel becomes in some shows.
I am really looking forward to next season.
Good catch with the Peter story line. I had just assumed that he had been experimented on as well, but now that you bring it up, it all fits together.
I, too, am excited to see where they go next season.
Early in the season there was a chase of a bad guy through a cemetery and they briefly showed a headstone. I remember at the time there was a discussion about whose grave it was. I don't remember the name, but seem to remember that it was a Bishop. Do you remember if this was Peter's grave?
I can't remember, but I bet that was a clue. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Peter's.
I found the episode recap on TWoP. It was episode 4. The grave was not Peter's. It was - Robert Bishop: Aug. 21, 1912-Dec. 11, 1944.
However, later in the episode there is a discussion about Peter and Walter going the ice when their car left the road.
""You remember the night of the accident when you were young?" asks Walter. Peter starts in with the eye-rolling. Thanksgiving dinner, Peter and Walter driving. The car went off the road onto a lake? Pond? Onto some ice, anyway, which held the car for a couple of minutes, and then broke, plunging the two of them into the water. "And then you swam to shore and saved us both," says Peter, clearly tired of this story. Walter says he wasn't able to control his limbs in the icy water. "I was incapable of saving you myself. We were dead, Peter, you and I, until someone grabbed me and we were going up." He says they were saved by a man they'd never met. Who could it be? Bald with no eyebrows, you say? "As he set us down in the snow, I recall his stare, standing there in his suit, seemingly indifferent to the cold." "
I wonder if this is when the real Peter died?
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