The Fringe Season 4 finale promised to answer some big questions and it did. We see how September got shot, and, even more important, that his dire words to Olivia that she dies in all possible futures is true.
But, of course, she doesn't die, and therein resides a couple of problems with this episode. Not that I wanted her to die - quite the opposite - or that something in the story if truly followed obliged her to die. No, it was rather the way she died and then didn't die that didn't work. Shot point blank in the head by Walter - a powerful scene - but Walter is able to bring her back to life by removing the bullet, which allows her Cortexiphan drenched brain to quickly regenerate. Although this was logical enough, it seemed more like a gimmick that a profound development. And a one-time gimmick at that - Olivia ends the episode with her Cortexiphan powers depleted.
And there's also this: We knew Olivia had to survive, because we met her daughter in that excellent future episode a few weeks back. If Olivia had died last night, she and Peter could not have had a daughter.
Still, there were some good touches last night. It was great to see Bell and Walter interacting - and, in fact, I liked this Bell better than the one who took his leave of us a few seasons back. He seemed more vibrant. He walks out of our reality on the assumption that Olivia is dead - I assumed to over there, in the alternate reality?
I was glad that Astrid did not die, and the set up for next season was good. Broyles promoted to General, Nina working in Fringe, and the nice increase in funding that Fringe received. These elements almost seemed liked happy endings for a series that was concluding, and they likely were.
But Fringe will be back for one concluding season, as our heroes fight the Eternal Bald Observers, and I'm looking forward to more great television.
... Fringe 4.2: Better and Worse Selves ... Fringe 4.3: Sanity and Son ... Fringe 4.4: Peter's Back, Ectoplasm, and McLuhan ... Fringe 4.5: Double Return ... Fringe 4.6: Time Slips ... Fringe 4.7: The Invisible Man ... Fringe 4.8: The Ramifications of Transformed Alternate Realities ... Fringe 4.9: Elizabeth ... Fringe 4.10: Deceit and Future Vision ... Fringe 4.11: Alternate Astrid ... Fringe 4.12: Double Westfield / Single Olivia ... Fringe 4.13: Tea and Telepathy ... Fringe 4.14: Palimpsest ... Fringe 4.15: I Knew It! ... Fringe 4.16: Walter Likes Yiddish ... Fringe 4.17: Second Chances ... Fringe 4.18: Broyled on Both Sides ... Future Fringe 4.19 ... Fringe 4.20: Bridge ... Fringe 4.21: Shocks
"As a genre-bending blend of police procedural and science fiction, The Silk Code delivers on its promises." -- Gerald Jonas, The New York Times Book Review
"Daddy, this the best book I've ever read!" -- Molly Vozick-Levinson, age 12 at the time
"cerebral but gripping" -- Booklist
But, of course, she doesn't die, and therein resides a couple of problems with this episode. Not that I wanted her to die - quite the opposite - or that something in the story if truly followed obliged her to die. No, it was rather the way she died and then didn't die that didn't work. Shot point blank in the head by Walter - a powerful scene - but Walter is able to bring her back to life by removing the bullet, which allows her Cortexiphan drenched brain to quickly regenerate. Although this was logical enough, it seemed more like a gimmick that a profound development. And a one-time gimmick at that - Olivia ends the episode with her Cortexiphan powers depleted.
And there's also this: We knew Olivia had to survive, because we met her daughter in that excellent future episode a few weeks back. If Olivia had died last night, she and Peter could not have had a daughter.
Still, there were some good touches last night. It was great to see Bell and Walter interacting - and, in fact, I liked this Bell better than the one who took his leave of us a few seasons back. He seemed more vibrant. He walks out of our reality on the assumption that Olivia is dead - I assumed to over there, in the alternate reality?
I was glad that Astrid did not die, and the set up for next season was good. Broyles promoted to General, Nina working in Fringe, and the nice increase in funding that Fringe received. These elements almost seemed liked happy endings for a series that was concluding, and they likely were.
But Fringe will be back for one concluding season, as our heroes fight the Eternal Bald Observers, and I'm looking forward to more great television.
... Fringe 4.2: Better and Worse Selves ... Fringe 4.3: Sanity and Son ... Fringe 4.4: Peter's Back, Ectoplasm, and McLuhan ... Fringe 4.5: Double Return ... Fringe 4.6: Time Slips ... Fringe 4.7: The Invisible Man ... Fringe 4.8: The Ramifications of Transformed Alternate Realities ... Fringe 4.9: Elizabeth ... Fringe 4.10: Deceit and Future Vision ... Fringe 4.11: Alternate Astrid ... Fringe 4.12: Double Westfield / Single Olivia ... Fringe 4.13: Tea and Telepathy ... Fringe 4.14: Palimpsest ... Fringe 4.15: I Knew It! ... Fringe 4.16: Walter Likes Yiddish ... Fringe 4.17: Second Chances ... Fringe 4.18: Broyled on Both Sides ... Future Fringe 4.19 ... Fringe 4.20: Bridge ... Fringe 4.21: Shocks
"As a genre-bending blend of police procedural and science fiction, The Silk Code delivers on its promises." -- Gerald Jonas, The New York Times Book Review
"Daddy, this the best book I've ever read!" -- Molly Vozick-Levinson, age 12 at the time
"cerebral but gripping" -- Booklist
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