When Worlds Collide

I love me some Fringe, which is another reason why "Winter Finale" is my new least favorite phrase.  April feels even further away after seeing this stellar hour from the always-excellent Fringe.  Things had been leading up to this moment this week: the stage had been set and the secrets unlocked from inside Walter's head, so this pivotal episode was crucial.  The show had taken a little hiatus from its overarching story (not a bad thing for me since I enjoy both the mythology and the case-of-the-week episodes), but we were thrown right back into it this week -- in a BIG way.    So, what exactly happens when two parallel worlds collide?  Well, we found out this week and it was frightening!

Walter had opened the door to the other universe when he went in to steal Other Peter, so all the bad guys had to do was steal that knowledge from Walter's brain and bam! they were able to open the same door.  This week's Winter Finale proved that they had done just that and the results were not so good.  We all know that two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time, so causing the two universes to collide at the site of that building in NYC made for a freaky result, especially for one gentleman working late.  His alternate universe self combined with his this universe self and they both perished (and that was after they collided into a mangled mass of extra limbs and two heads).

Walter knew from past experiments that the universes seek balance, so whatever disappears from one has to be replaced by something of equal mass from the other.  Since the first collision brought a building from the other universe, that meant that a building from this universe would soon be swallowed up into the alternate one.  But which building?  That was the question that had Olivia, Peter and Walter racing against the clock to answer.  Walter knew that Olivia could tell him because the host of experiments he had done on her as a child were designed to prepare her for such an instance.  Unfortunately, she couldn't remember, so he took her to his old lab down in Jacksonville.  After undergoing a scary drug-induced obstacle challenge, Olivia still wasn't able to tell which objects came from the other universe (they give off a glow and the building would give off the same glow).

In the end, she was able to find what triggered the ability and she found the building in time.  But there were two interesting developments this week that were outside of the pending catastrophe that the gang was desperately trying to prevent.  The whole question of Walter being a force for good or bad was in play once again.  What he put Olivia through was terrifying, so I can only imagine how horrible it must have been for the kids he worked on.  Then again, he was trying to prepare for the events we see unfolding now.  I'm not saying the ends justify his means, but it might for him.  Therefore, he may view his work as saving mankind rather than terrifying little children.  Whatever helps you sleep at night, I suppose.  Secondly, Peter tried to KISS Olivia!!  I'm surprised he was so bold and I might be even more surprised that she wasn't that surprised.  In fact, she was knocking on his door (dressed nicely) to go have drinks with him when the episode ended.  But then something happened that was sort of inevitable: she saw the glow around Peter.  She knows that he is not of this universe.  Oh boy, Walter's got some splainin' to do!

Fringe returns with all-new episodes in April on Fox. If you missed this week's episode, you can watch it for free at Fox.com.