'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.

Across the Other Universe

This week's Fringe thriller was exposition for the second part of this 2-part season finale, but it was interesting and engaging and it left me excited for Thursday's conclusion.  We've seen Walter travel to the other universe (via his self-constructed door) to save and eventually keep the other Peter.  We've seen Olivia travel there (unwillingly) to meet with William Bell.  And we know that Walternate took Peter back to his original universe, but seeing all of the characters over there at the same time was thrilling!  Add in the whole doppelganger angle (and near misses with running into each other), and you have a very exciting and fun part one to the conclusion of this season.  So many things are about to go wrong that I have the feeling I'm going to be on the edge of my seat for a full hour come Thursday night.  But, Peter's apparent fate now that he's re-assimilated into his home universe is the most pressing of them all.

Peter Goes Solo

Fringe has been a little all over the map lately (including this most recent episode), but I thought this X-Files-esque outing had enough going on to keep me from dwelling on it.  It was really strange to not have Olivia in most of the episode and almost as strange not to have Walter or Astrid either.  They were peppered in here and there -- mainly for a story line involving Walter trying (and failing) to get by on his own -- but this episode's focus was elsewhere.  It was mainly about Peter's pit stop in Washington state and how it turned into a hunt for a serial killer.  Peter got involved after interacting with a woman who became the latest victim, but it was how he stayed involved that made it interesting.  And that was nothing compared to the shocking reveal at the end.

'Fringe' Vibrations

If someone told me that I'd be watching a scene unfold where an embryonic stage of a shape shifter was dissected and then hooked up to a lot of car batteries to jolt it back to life by continuing it's birthing process in the lab, I'd think that they were nuts. And if I thought for one moment that I would then feel bad for aforementioned shape shifter, I'd think I was nuts! But such is the weekly happenings of Fringe. BTW, was I the only person who thought that jolting the embryo to life was a bad idea? Even if he had lived and taken on the identity of the course (would that have even worked?), he would have been dangerous. As it turns out, this one was not long for this universe and had a conscience that made Walter take notice.

Time Mismanagement

Who knew when the Fringe team started investigating a case with a man who could time travel and accidently killed people as a by-product that it was all just a love story?  The episode was Groundhog Day-esque as the team found themselves reliving the same few hours several times by the time the outing ended.  We're all fascinated with the concept of time travel (hence the reason why there are so many movies and TV show episodes that tackle it), so I didn't wonder too much about why Dr. Peck was traveling back through time a few hours at a time.  I did wonder why all of the people on the train died by "having their batteries drained" and how the show was going to explain Dr. Peck's ability (simply because I love the way this show takes something that seems completely out of the realm of possibility and makes it completely possible with a reasonable explanation).  But in the end it was the why to Dr. Peck's madness, and not the method, that proved to be the most fascinating.

Cancer Stricken

Things were back to normal this week on Fringe. Well, as normal as things can be on this show. The gang was back together and they were investigating a fascinating case involving a cancer-stricken man who was able to transfer the disease to others and temporarily heal himself via an exchange of "chi" or energy between himself and the other person. In other words, great for him and not so great for the other person. It looked like a typical "freak-of-the-week" outing until a not-so-coincidental connection linked the strange cancer deaths to Olivia's classroom in Jacksonville. Suddenly, the crazy cancer tranfer didn't seem so crazy anymore. In fact, believe it or not, it all started to make perfect sense.

'Fringe' Tells the Rest of the Story

It's always interesting when a show explains something you didn't realize needed further explaining because the result is always surprising. Such was the case with the return of Fringe this week. I thought we knew all there was to know about why Walter stole Alternate Universe Peter (his Peter died from an incurable medical condition and Walter was so distraught that he built a door into the other universe to get his son back -- i.e. kidnapped Alternate Universe Peter), but as it turns out, there's more to the story. A lot more and it was exciting and surprising to watch, as Paul Harvey always said, the rest of the story. So in a departure from the usual fare, the show was comprised of mainly flashbacks to Walter's fateful discovery and eventual visit to "the other side." We saw very little of Olivia and even less of adult Peter and Astrid (as in none unless you count the "Previosly on" scenes or the promo for next week). And while I missed the gang, I was so enthralled in Walter's story that it didn't matter. The rest of the story was that good.

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!

No Air

Thursday must have been my lucky day because Fox gave me two back-to-back shows with links to the past.  And being the history nerd that I am, I LOVED them both!  What Bones may have lacked in historical themes (beyond the opening bit), Fringe certainly made up for with an intriguing mystery that took us back to WWII and Nazi Germany.  But before we traveled through history, this one started in the present at a very happy event that suddenly turned very tragic.  When most people worry about something going wrong at their wedding, they envision the wrong flowers or a cake mishap or even the unpredictable weather.  For this bride and groom, all of those options would have been welcomed over what transpired right before the bride was about to walk down the aisle.

'Fringe' Virus

Fringe gets more and more X-Files-ish by the week.  Last week's rural "they're not like the rest of us" outing was straight out of that show's playbook, and this week's virus-of-unknown-origin nail-biter also felt a lot like the former Fox series.  Maybe this is why I loved both of these episodes!  There was even a touch of Duplicity and Outbreak thrown in this week just to make things even more fun.  What wasn't fun, though, was the horrible spraying virus!  The sweating, the weird skin, and finally, the blood-colored spray that spread the deadly virus to anyone who ingested it.  And this wasn't even the scariest aspect of the situation -- that fell to the uber-frightening map that showed the deadly reach of the virus if just one infected person got out of the quarantined building.  There was only one problem: Olivia and Peter were locked inside.  And things were about to get a lot worse.

'Fringe' Opens a Door

This show has managed to make me enjoy a mythology-laden episode as much as one of the case-of-the-week outings.  And this is going to sound even crazier, but the whole bad-guys-from-the-alternate-universe-stole-pieces-of-Walter's-brain-from-the-people-someone-implanted-them-in-and-then-reconnected-the-pieces-with-Walter made perfect sense and I LOVED every minute of it!  It had been so long since we'd seen Frozen Head Guy I had forgotten about him.  And then there was the miraculously healed mental patients (to which I thought, how bad can Frozen Head Guy be?  Huh!), Olivia's pressure-filled decision and the BIG revelation about Walter.  What a way to end things until 2010.

'Fringe' Parasites

Anyone with pets is a little too familiar with parasites: hooks, whips, rounds and so on.  Thankfully, those parasites aren't quite as large as the one infecting the victims of human trafficking in this week's episode of Fringe.  Those parasitic worms did provide something good (a super immune booster that could help with many medical conditions), but the whole incubation part is a bit of a b!tch.  When we first saw one of those things coming out of the smuggled immigrant's mouth, I thought it was some sort of mutant squid.  It wasn't until that lovely scene at the shipyard that I realized that they were more worm-like complete with long slimy bodies.  Yum!  And poor Peter had to hold one without gloves!  Seriously, sometimes I wonder about Walter.  Handing Peter the over-grown parasitic worm when he wasn't wearing gloves wasn't even the craziest thing he did this week.  For that, we have to jump ahead a bit.

Observing August

Today, on Thanksgiving, I am thankful that I have the day off so I can finally catch-up on some of my write-ups! Here are some thoughts on last week's stand-out episode of Fringe...

It pains me whenever I hear the depressing news that Fringe is faltering in the ratings.  But after seeing last week's stellar Observer-heavy outing, it makes that pain cut a little deeper.  This was, hands-down, the best episode of the season thus far and it managed to accomplish something that the other outings have not: it perfectly blended the mythology of the show (even advancing it) while also providing a kickass case-of-the-week!  For the better part of the last season and a half, we have wondered about the man we only know as The Observer.  He was often seen, but hardly ever heard.  Last week, we learned that he is really several men -- all dressed the same, all with the bald head and top hat and all observing time.  One of those men, simply known as August, went from observing to participating.  And that's when the trouble started...

Dust in the Wind

This week's episode certainly brought literal meaning to that famous Kansas song!  As Walter said, the victims were reduced to their most elemental state.  I tend to enjoy the stand-alone/freak- of- the-week episodes more than the mythology-laden ones and I thought this one was especially good.  The special effects alone were worth the price of admission!  How (disgustingly) awesome were those scenes with the remains, still intact, that began to crumble or, in some cases, blow away (thanks to an oscillating fan)?!  I wanted to be disgusted (and I'm sure I would have been had I been the one discovering my loved one like that), but the darn special effects were so good that I found myself in awe of their awesome-ness.  But there was also an intense race against time, a puzzling mystery and lots of pressure on Walter.  And a lot of that dust.

Of course, the dust was only a small part of this intriguing tale...

Dream Catcher

As a viewer who doesn't get overly excited about the episodes that deal solely with the mythology of Fringe (with the exception of last week's answer-fest), I'm always happy to see an outing that takes a break from it and presents a stand-alone story. I like a balance and I think this show strikes a nice one. Some shows (*cough* Lost *cough*) begin to drown in their own mythology as time goes on and leave viewers feeling frustrated and confused. Once again we got a concept that sounds ridiculous on paper, but this show (thanks to the always entertaining Walter) managed to make it seem possible. It's not that I think that there is a sleep disorder doctor running around implanting chips so he can steal his subjects' dreams and feed his own bizarre addiction, but by the end of the explanation, the idea didn't sound so far-fetched. And I'm once again amazed at this show's ability to pull this off week after week.

Olivia's business card scavenger hunt was fun. I loved that the message ended up being "You're gonna be fine." Definitely exactly what she needed to hear after some pretty trying times. Speaking of which, nice continuity this week with Liv dealing with Charlie's death (and feeling like she killed him even though she killed Not-Charlie). This is really eating at her, but it was good to hear her talking about and smiling over Charlie memories. More weirdness this week with Peter. He revealed that he stopped having bad dreams at the age of eight thanks to his father. Then at the end, he had a nightmare of himself as a child being snatched and his father seemed to be the one endangering him. Could this "dream" have been a repressed memory from when Walter traveled to the alternate universe and took the Peter we now know and love? If Peter's on a path that's about to lead him to the truth about his identity, then I wouldn't want to be Walter right about now.

Fringe airs Thursday nights on Fox. If you missed this week's episode, you can watch it for free at Fox.com.

Sorry Charlie

Things are beginning to make sense on Fringe, which means that in a little over a season, I understand a lot more about this show than I do after 5 seasons of Lost! Things were all coming back to Olivia this week and that means a lot of blanks were filled in for us as well. When she traveled to the alternate universe (or rather, when she was yanked into the alternative universe), she met with William Bell. This much we knew, but what we didn't know was what they discussed. He explained A LOT! Like, 10x more than Lost has explained in 5 seasons! When Olivia was a child, Dr. Bell and Walter experimented on children and one of those children was her. They were looking for a saviour -- someone who was strong enough to survive the transition between the universes and could, therefore, counteract the coming storm that Bell predicted. He knew that one day, those from our universe would cross over to the other and build an army of human/machine hybrids who would wage a war with our universe. And according to the Pauli Exclusion Principle, no two objects can occupy the same space at the same time, so one of those universes is going to lose.

Those aforementioned human/machine hybrids are what Olivia and co. have been calling the Shape Shifters (a.k.a. Charlie) and they're on a mission to find their leader. Apparently, their leader's head was being kept on ice in a cryogenics lab in our universe. Olivia knew where, but she couldn't remember. She finally recalled the location, but received a sudden text from Charlie telling her that Nina (whom she was in the middle of conversing with) was the Shape Shifter. She excused herself and met Charlie outside. She, unfortunately, filled him in on the location before she got the text from Massive Dynamic that showed Charlie was the true Shape Shifter. After she killed Not-Charlie, she was racked with guilt. Even worse, the human/machine hybrids got the head and were in the process of re-attaching it to the body. Looks like there's about to be an inter-universe showdown.

Huh? Moment of the Hour: Walter's former test subject reactivated her ability to spot the Shape Shifters (they appear with a light around them) and suddenly discovered that Peter had that same light around him. Walter had mentioned earlier that her ability simply allows her to spot those who don't belong and we know that Peter is really Alternate Universe Peter. Could this be why he was giving off the outsider glow?

Fringe airs Thursday nights on Fox. If you missed this week's episode, you can watch it for free at Fox.com.

'Fringe' Goes Underground

I knew that subtle, yet awesome, nod to the X-Files during last week's premiere was a good omen for the season! This week's investigation into the strange and seemingly unexplainable was straight out of the 90s cult favorite's playbook. Rural area, farm land, creepy (yet secretly brilliant) farmer who seems so helpful, and a freaky human/creature hybrid that was created when an experiment went wrong. That human/creature was so scary! And evil! I actually covered my eyes when Peter turned around and saw it sneaking up behind Liv. And then it grabbed her and pulled her into its underground lair (TM Austin Powers) and I started freaking out. Only X-Files made my skin crawl like that! Kudos to Fringe for bringing back some memories.

I'm also glad to see that this Charlie story line is panning out as well as I had hoped. The magic mirror trick was back, and it said that Fake Charlie needs to make Olivia remember who she spoke with and what he told her. Meanwhile, a clueless Liv is still confiding in Charlie and I fear that it's only a matter of time before she remembers and tells him what she learned in the alternate universe. Walter and Peter have to discover the truth -- STAT! Fake Charlie is a huge threat and he must be neutralized as soon as possible. Poor Liv. First she confides in Fake Charlie and then she becomes creature bait. And, it was her first week back on the job!

It seems that traveling to another universe leaves its mark. Let's just say that it's worse than recovering from a simple case of jet lag. Olivia keeps having bouts of superhero-strength hearing. She could hear the human/creature under the farmer's house, she could hear insects flying and landing, and in her apartment, she could hear through the walls. Of course, this could come in handy at some point. When she went to find Nina's guy, he warned her that the headaches would be starting soon. Oh joy. She's still hobbling around from being flung through the car on her return trip to this universe. Now she has to endure headaches? This is going to be a rough season for Liv!

Fringe airs Thursday nights on Fox. If you missed this week's episode, you can watch it for free at Fox.com.

'Fringe' Returns

I'll admit -- I was a little behind the curve when this premiere started. For some reason, I had put this show out of my mind over the summer (not maliciously, just because I was focused on other stuff) and I should have reviewed the season ender before watching this season's starter. It kinda snuck up on me, though. So, I spent the better part of the episode trying to recall everything that had happened last season (like Olivia's travels to the alternate universe, the revelation that Peter is not the original and Nina and the FBI's special connection). Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode.

I wasn't sure how they were going to resolve the "Olivia is brain dead" story or how they were going to keep her alive once she came out of her brain dead state. I kinda saw the Charlie twist coming, but it didn't make it any easier. As bummed as I am to see that Charlie is dead, I think it was necessary because it put into motion this pretty kickass set-up. Fake Charlie (who is some sort of solider ordered to kill Olivia) was able to convince his cohorts that he's the real Charlie and he killed the shape-shifting soldier. So, no one is looking for the shape-shifter and Olivia will trust Charlie giving him full access to her. Things are going to get dicey really soon.

Right now, Liv can't remember where she went, who she met with, and what that person told her (except, everyone's life is in danger and there's something important hidden somewhere). So, she safe -- for now. But, she's going to start remembering bits and pieces and when she does, she'll share them with Fake Charlie. Yikes! I'm counting on Walter to discover Fake Charlie's real identity before it gets to that point.

And then we have the new agent who managed to hack into the fringe division's files. I can tell that she's just as intrigued as the rest of us, but I'm not sure whether her involvement/knowledge of the division is good or bad. Can Peter and co. trust her? And what was with the matching the cases with the bible verses at the end? That was very interesting!

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the awesome-ness that was the subtle homage to a former great FBI/freaky happenings Fox series: X-Files! That one shot of the victim's television tuned into the show made me want to yell, "I believe" and "Trust No One." Great stuff. Overall, a strong start to the sophomore season of a show that carries the X-Files torch beautifully.

Fringe airs Thursday nights on Fox. If you missed last night's episode, you can watch it for free at Fox.com.

'Fringe' Travels to Another World

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.

'Fringe' is on Fire

You know it's an interesting episode when the only person who seems to know what he's talking about is the conspiracy theory nut who believes that he is the son of Spock (which incidentally, is an inside joke for those who are up on their spoilers). From all of the intimations throughout the hour, it seems that this conspiracy nut's story about William Bell "activating" his test subjects to see who is suitable for a super army to fight some sort of impending evil is a very plausible explanation for the overarching story of this show. Walter inferred as much at the end when he told Olivia that something bad was coming (unfortunately, he doesn't know what exactly). Whatever it is, Olivia should prepare herself because she was a test subject of Walter and William Bell's, thus, her activation must be coming at any moment (or possibly, it has already come and that is why she was seeing "the road not taken" this week). We also had Nina warning Agent Broyles that The Observer has been spotted frequently and we all remember what happened the last time he made this many appearances in such a short time (except we don't and now I'm on the edge of my seat trying to figure it all out). And just to add intrigue to interest, we saw Walter leave with The Observer ("Let me just get my coat") just as he found the original manuscript which supposedly clears William Bell of any wrong-doing. We'll see. Who is The Observer and why was Walter so willing to go with him now that it's "that time?"

I'll admit that I didn't see the Harris shocker coming, like, at all. I never liked the man and I wondered which side he was playing for, but I didn't anticipate his involvement in these recent "activations." When the kidnapper showed up at Nancy's door, I assumed he was working for Massive Dynamic -- figured the phone call was to Nina or some Massive Dynamic drone -- but I never imagined it was to Harris. Guess he got his, though, at the end.

Normally, I praise this show for making the ridiculously impossible seem possible, but this week's melted- glass- is- like- a- record- and- it- absorbed- the- emotion- and- burned- it- into- grooves was a bit much... even for me. I'll usually go along for the ride and give the show some creative license and the benefit of the doubt that while most things are possible, they're probably not probable, but you- made- a- strong- case- so- it- works- for- me. Not this time. It was interesting, but I couldn't buy into it. Oh well, the rest of the outing was awesome (as usual), so I'm highly anticipating next week's season finale. Bring on the twists and turns!

The season finale of Fringe airs next Tuesday on Fox. If you missed last night's episode, you can watch it for free at Fox.com.