Fringe: S04 Ep18 – The Consultant

What happened?

Both universe’s Fringe departments worked together when cases on one side were being effected by events on the other. Behind the matter was Mr. Jones, merely using test subjects at random to apparently prove something for himself.. He delivers a threat that he is harnessing the power to potentially collapse both universes in on each other.

Lincoln and Alt-Olivia also work together to try and establish the identity of the potential mole in their department, though it is Walter who clues Alt-Olivia in to the idea that it could be Alt-Broyles. Before he can be apprehended, Alt-Broyles hands himself over to his doppelganger and admits that he has been working for Mr. Jones all along. He is imprisoned in a neighbouring cell to Alt-Nina.

Thoughts

Right. Time to hold my hands up and admit I was wrong. Where did I get the idea as certain that Alt-Broyles was a shapeshifter? I guess it’s just something I figured had happened purely because I didn’t believe he was a man that would work for Mr. Jones if he was himself. As a consequence I thought that the trackers Lincoln had uncovered were going to lead them right to Alt-Broyles. It turned out that Alt-Broyles was eventually rumbled this episode but it had nothing to do with him being a shapeshifter, because he wasn’t a shapeshifter!

Silly me, really, for just wholeheartedly believing in something that had not yet been verified.

I preferred the fact that he wadn’t a shapeshifter, mind. That he was working for Mr. Jones under duress, and because he had cured his son of the terrible blind condition he had been afflicted with, made more sense and helped create a far more satisfying climax. It would have been tedious to see the likes of Lincoln and Alt-Olivia chase and gun down shapeshifter Broyles when he  realised he had been found out. No, the ending here, which pointed to that kind of finish was a lot more elegant – with Alt-Broyles handing himself over to a version of himself. Presumably this was so that Broyles would be inclined to ensure the safety and survival of Alt-Broyles’ family. But it also occurs to me that Broyles could now stand in for Alt-Broyles and try to get to Mr. Jones directly by pretending to be his alternate.

I don’t imagine the wily Mr. Jones is going to fall easily for such a trick, of course. He’s never anything but the epitome of controlled confidence, and everything appears to be happening perfectly how he intends it do. Which, as seems to be the case so often these days, opens up the question of what it is he is planning. The good thing is that the likes of even Walter can’t quite figure it out so I’m at least in good company!

The revelation that Mr. Jones is potentially capable of collapsing worlds sound impressively drastic. Surely if he were to collapse both worlds then he would, ultimately be killing himself as well. It’s not much of a masterplan. I suspect his plan is to perhaps annihilate Over There (a world he seemingly has less affection for) and maybe assimilate it into Over Here. What I suppose I am saying is that he plans to collapse them both together, making a new kind of unified whole.

God knows how that would work, what it would be like, or how anyone would survive it. But it’s the closest thing I have to an inkling of a suggestion about what Mr. Jones is up to. If his experiments with people have generally been about messing with their DNA genetics to produce different and ‘better’ versions of humans then perhaps he is tackling the same ideology but on a larger scale – the largest scale you can think of – taking two universes and merging them into a new and improved oneness.

If one side is capable of surviving such a merging and it would be a world with unique benefits then I can see why that would be a viable endeavour for Mr. Jones to invest everything in. It does all sound rather grand and far-flung, but from a show that’s had one of its main characters take a visit inside the mind of a scientist from the future where they observed the big bang then grand and far-flung is something Fringe is more than acquainted with.

It was good to see that the world of Over There picked up from where the previous episode left it and we didn’t just skip back to the other side. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Alt-Olivia and Walter – from his snide remarks about her personality to eventually realising that he was rather fond of the alternative universe after all. The only major character we haven’t seen in a while is Walternate – given how prominent a figure he is Over There and how much of a big deal this issue with Mr. Jones is then it seems strange that he’s not been included lately, but I guess there’s only so much time and space per episode to handle all the characters and do them justice. I’m happy that Lincoln has been kept in good focus so I won’t be too mealy-mouthed about what’s not present.

The case of the week was interesting, especially how it was depicted on the Over Here side. So we saw the mean old businessman guy suffer an airplane crash in his boardroom, and the poor woman endure a car crash plunge into water from the confines of a supermarket (very odd that she also coughed up water – was that water from another universe!?). That these incidents were all just random tests didn’t come as much of a surprise to me (I was more surprised that none of the main characters didn’t at least consider that) but it’s exactly fitting in the Fringe world for this to be the way of things so it works well.

Lincoln’s relationship with Alt-Olivia is being well-handled, too. The strange quality of being at Alt-Lincoln’s funeral whilst he waited in the car had a surreal, emotional quality. I did wonder if there was going to be some awful moment where Lincoln would confront the parents of Alt-Lincoln. Presumably, since they shared such a close history, they wouldn’t be too unlike his own parents. In effect he got to see what his grieving parents would appear as should he have been the one in the coffin. Very odd indeed. Yet at least there’s no sense of forced romance, or sudden character change, between Alt-Olivia and Lincoln.

There was that awkward moment between Olivia and Lincoln, briefly, which did seem a bit curious since really she had no reason to feel awkward at all, but I suppose she’s smart enough to figure that Lincoln has distanced himself into an entirely different universe for strong emotive reasons. And, also, probably Peter has filled her in a little on what is going on with him. All good, quiet moments in the characters, though. Bringing them to life. Making them feel like they exist and interact and aren’t just cypher’s for the next weird case or major revelation. Though since there’s a season finale on the horizon (maybe even a show finale?) I expect big revelations to be hitting soon.

What was the best part?

Alt-Broyles giving himself up was the best part, mainly because of the build-up as we revealed who he was and what he was doing. The near-confession of conscience he delivered to Walter was enlightening, with the reveal that he was doing all of this for his son stirring up echoes that resonate across multiple universes. Yet the final surprise that, rather than commit an act of potential world-threatening terrorism, he handed himself over to himself was just brilliant. I do wish we could have witnessed how that conversation had played out, though!

What do I think will happen next?

How many different ways can I make lame suggestions before collapsing and admitting that I don’t really know? What will happen next is that Mr. Jones’ plan will be unveiled as it takes effect and the Fringe team will do all they can to stop him. Does this mean he will succeed? Hard to say. The fact is, he might. Does it also mean that The Observers may intervene again to try and stop him? Don’t know, but it doesn’t seem likely they will, yet it seems equally unlikely that we won’t at least see or hear from September before this season is finished. I’ll hedge a predictive bet that this season ends with the destruction of Over There, and that there will be one solitary universe left standing. (And if I turn out to be right on that I won’t even consider myself smart – it’ll be a mostly fluke guess!)