We see most of this from the alternate universe side, where Olivia has red hair, Charlie is still one of her partners (or on her team), Walternate seems, well, not only leaner but meaner. He's taken Peter back with him, but by the end of the episode, it seems Walternate's main reason is not to get back his son, but use Peter to build a weapon to wipe out our universe. He is, after all, Secretary of Defense in this reality.
Meanwhile, our universe - somewhat aware of this alt-universe goal via our Walter - fields a team to get over to the other side. Walter is of course also motivated to get back Peter, if possible. Our team consists of Walter, Olivia, and three other "special children" from the Walter and Bell experiment, now Olivia's age.
One slightly strange thing I noticed in our universe - or maybe it was just me - but did our Walter look a tiny bit younger and cleaner (just a bit). If so, why?
But it was great to see our Broyles burst out laughing when he took Walter and Olivia to meet the other three specials. That was a rarity, but thoroughly explicable - one of the three specials has the ability to transfer psychological states to others - a nice power. There's clearly a bit of Heroes here, what with children growing into adults with special abilities, but hey, that's the way it is in television land, where, as I noted last week in my review of FlashForward, there is now also a thread of special children being used for specified flashforwards.
There's lots of good psychological development of characters here. For example, I think Walter's wife on our side committed suicide, because of the doubly awful pain of her original son Peter dying plus she feels guilt over raising the kidnapped Peter. This in contrast to Peter's mother on the alternate side, who at worst only had her son kidnapped, and maybe she knew that Peter was alive on our side. So she had more reason to live.
The odds would be totally against our team having any success on the other side - especially with two of them dead, and the more advanced tech of the other side - but we do have our William Bell, who shows up at the end to help our Olivia and Walter.
One thing's for sure: next week in our universe I'll be watching the Fringe finale.
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 2.16: Peter's Story ... Fringe 2.17: Will Olivia Tell Peter? ... Fringe 2.18: Strangeness on a Train ... Fringe 2.19: Two Plus Infinity ... Fringe the Noir Musical ... Fringe 2.21: Bring on the Alternates
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
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
2 comments:
Hey Paul. I loved this alt universe too! I wonder if you are familiar with Robert Heinlein's story "Lost Legacy" where a small group of people discover that sometime in the distant past everyone had special powers. These people rediscover and try to reclaim their "lost legacy." You say here that "There's clearly a bit of Heroes here, what with children growing into adults with special abilities" but I wonder if Walter's explanation of how humans possessed powers that we no longer have today was a nod to Heinlein's work.
I too will be watching the finale!
I think Clarke is right, this statement about past powers by Walter could be connected to Heinlein's work. I loved how everyone reacted to him suggesting aliens took it from us however. Priceless.
I'm also, maybe, seeing a glimpse into how Lost is going to end with this episode too. Here we have Peter, the key for Walternate destroying the other reality with a power never seen before. Eerily similar to Desmond being the key to unlocking the island's power source to possibly dispose of UnLocke, perhaps into the alternate universe so he can wreak havoc there?
What a finish this week is going to be, with Lost, FlashForward and Fringe all coming to a close this week.
One thing about Olivia, OH MY GOD!!! Can we switch her red-headed self over to our universe, HOOOOOOOT!
Can't wait to see how they overcome!
Post a Comment