Fringe 2.17: Will Olivia Tell Peter?

That's what the new, excellent episode of Fringe - 2.17 - was mostly about:  will Olivia tell Peter that he is from the other reality?   Olivia knows this because of the shimmer she saw around Peter in 2.15, and the great, presumably true story Walter told her about Peter last week, in 2.16.   Knowing all of this, and feeling bad about withholding such crucial information from someone she cares about, Olivia tells Walter she will soon tell Peter the truth.  Walter pleads for a little more time to get his thoughts in order about this.   Olivia reluctantly agrees.

But she decides in the end not to tell Peter.   She has had several conversations with the guy in the bowling alley, a guru of relations between the two worlds.  More important, Olivia goes to see Nina Sharp, who knows the truth about Walter and Peter.   And Nina talks Olivia out of her intention to tell all to Peter.

Yet, when Olivia tells Walter she's decided not reveal Peter's true identity to Peter, Walter says he thinks it's long since time that Peter is told the truth.

So, what starts as a story about Olivia ends as a story about Walter, more particularly his growth as a human being, his coming back to full life, which is the story of so much of Fringe.   And it's a good, riveting story indeed.

Meanwhile, the proximate story in Fringe 2.17 is pretty good, too - cancer that can be spread by just a touch, involving people who were kids experimented upon by Bell.   This includes Olivia, and there's a strong scene between her and the infector.

Fringe continues, in its past few episodes, to be top-notch, intelligent, science fiction - a blend of Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchchock Presents, animated by a powerful, ongoing story.

See also Top Notch Return of Fringe Second Season ... Fringe 2.2 and The Mole People ... Fringe 2.3 and the Human Body as Bomb ... Fringe 2.4 Unfolds and Takes Wing ... Fringe 2.5: Peter in Alternate Reality and Wi-Fi for the Mind ... A Different Stripe of Fringe in 2.6 ... The Kid Who Changed Minds in Fringe 2.7 ... Fringe 2.8: The Eternal Bald Observers ... Fringe 2.9: Walter's Journey ... Fringe 2.10: Walter's Brain, Harry Potter, and Flowers for Algernon ...  New Fringe on Monday Night: In Alternate Universe? ... Fringe 2.12: Classic Science Fiction Chiante ... Fringe 2.13: "I Can't Let Peter Die Again" ... Fringe 2.14: Walter's Health, Books, and Father ... Fringe 2.15: I'll Take 'Manhatan' ... Fringe 2.15: Peter's Story

See also reviews of Season One Fringe Begins ... Fringe 2 and 3: The Anthology Tightrope ... 4: The Eternal Bald Observer ... 7: A Bullet Can Scramble a Dead Brain's Transmission ... 8. Heroic Walter and Apple Through Steel ... 9. Razor-Tipped Butterflies of the Mind ... 10. Shattered Pieces Come Together Through Space and Times ... 11. A Traitor, a Crimimal, and a Lunatic ... 12, 13, 14: Fringe and Teleportation ... 15: Fringe is Back with Feral Child, Pheromones, and Bald Men ... 17. Fringe in New York, with Oliva as Her Suspect ... 18. Heroes and Villains across Fringe ... Stephen King, Arthur C. Clarke, and Star Trek in Penultimate Fringe ... Fringe Alternate Reality Finale: Science Fiction At Its Best

Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, eHarmony, eMusic

---

---

The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book