'Fringe' on Top

Three words: Best. Finale. YET!!!  This was one of those hanging-on-every-word,  glued to the edge of my seat, mouth and eyes wide open awesome thrill rides of an episode that demonstrated how a series should end its season.  At this point, I can't imagine any show other than Lost topping this finale.  We know this show has brilliant writers (how else can we explain the way the show makes the impossible completely possible and even, at times, probable?), but this week, they got to have some fun -- A LOT of fun!!  Twists, turns, fight scenes, romantic scenes, explosions, tense moments and a quest to find Peter and get back to our universe were just some of the things that made this episode so freakin' wonderful.  But it was the final scene that made our jaws drop and left us wondering how the writers are going to fix this huge issue next season.


I'll admit when the explosion went off and William Bell regained consciousness and saw Olivia standing over him, I was concerned that it was the wrong Olivia.  But then, the gang made it back across, so I thought I was wrong.  I know that Walter and Bell's contraption worked as a "door stop" and that Bell used his crazy messed up atoms (thanks to too many trips back and forth between this universe and the other) to provide enough power to keep the door open, but I still thought they needed Olivia's unique ability to help (and I wasn't sure that the other Olivia had the same ability).  When she got back to "her" apartment and started looking around, I began to suspect once again that this was the wrong Liv.  I started to think, "Oh no, oh no."  And then, we saw her: the real Liv trapped in the other universe with Walternate!!  How is Walter ever going to get back over there to rescue her?  Bell is dead, Liv is stuck over there, her classmates are dead and he can't exactly open another door.  I can NOT wait for this show to return in the fall!!

How much butt did that Liv vs. Liv fight scene kick??!!  MAJOR kudos to the film and editing crews who nailed that scene and made it look like the two were really fighting each other.  Props to Anna Torv for playing both versions of Liv and giving them their own nuances.  I was glad we got some answers regarding Bell too.  His alternate universe self is not alive, he stayed over there to prevent a war that Walter's action almost put into play, and he took pieces of Walter's brain because Walter asked him to.  Apparently, Walter did not like who he had become (the experimenting on children, the stealing alternate Peter, and the overall mad-scientist thing) and wanted to ensure that he didn't continue down the same path.  This episode explained what this show is all about: a grief-stricken father with a mind for science found a way to travel to the other universe to save the alternate version of his son before he suffered the same fate as his own son.  He kept the young boy and raised him as his own, but what he didn't know was that that one action caused HUGE ripples in the other universe (grieving parents over there and massive side effects from the door being opened -- how haunting were those "Containment Areas?").  Those ripples caused the other grieving father to take action and that action has led to unfortunate incidents in our universe leading up to, what can only be, an eventual war between the universes.  Whoa, that's a lot of fallout!

Normally, I would have led off this piece with the monumental moment between Peter and Olivia near the end, but it actually paled in comparison to everything else going on during this one.  They KISSED!  I so didn't see it coming!  This certainly throws a new wrinkle into Peter's decisions.  I know Peter felt that he didn't belong in the alternate universe, but I think his feelings for Liv played a huge role in his decision to go back to the universe where he grew up.  This also means that he's going to be quite determined to rescue her when he figures out that she's still over there.  Everyone will be in danger once again.  As I said, I can NOT wait for next season!!

Fringe will return this fall to Thursday nights on Fox. If you missed this week's awesome finale, you can watch it for free at Fox.com.