Fringe: S04 Ep19 – Letters Of Transit

What happened?

In the year 2036 the world has become enslaved by The Observers, with humans divided into those that are subservient and those that are staging a rebellion. The crippled Fringe department functions to maintain law and order over the rebellion, but in Etta and Simon there is still hope for a better future. The discovery of Walter encased in amber reignites that hope.

Together the group return to Peter and Astrid, encased in amber, and Simon sacrifices himself to rescue them. Walter also finds William Bell in amber, but only cuts off his hand due to what he once did to Olivia. Etta introduces herself to Peter, revealing that she is his daughter, Henrietta.

Thoughts

Wow. Right. OK then. Just when you were foolhardy enough to think you knew what an episode of Fringe would hold in store up it comes and delivers a leftfield turn that throws everything out of whack. My instant reaction to the episode was a mixture of shock, delight, confusion and a quiet sense of worry that this was all just a little bit too much.

If ever it felt like my understanding of the Fringe universe needed a refresher course – a feeling this season has had me pondering a number of times – then this episode really hit home the requirement. Let’s start with the first major piece of confusion: what timeline is this? I have to assume that this 2036 is a direct future from the timeline we’ve been staying in during this entire season. If that isn’t the case then I really am lost, so we better stick to that.

The next question then becomes: what universe are we in? Is this the future Over There, or Over Here? Again, I have to assume it’s Over Here since this has always been the primary universe. Though I don’t recall there being any mention of an alternate universe at all. That makes me wonder if Mr. Jones’ plan, potentially, to eradicate Over There may have succeeded and produced this singular universe. I did speculate that he might have even been engineering a plan to collapse both universe and form one universe out of it, which sounds utterly preposterous but, hey, did you see what happened this episode!? Preposterous is not out of the question.

There was the small detail made between Simon and Etta about coffee – with Simon remarking about how he used to recall drinking the stuff. That leads me to believe that we are still Over Here (since coffee was a rarity Over There), but naturally there’s been some blight to this universe that has stopped even coffee from common availability. The Observers apparently have a predilection to water (liked the exchange between Broyles and The Observer, Windmark (I think he was called!) that birthed the remark that water just hydrated Broyles and nothing else).

I suppose the how and the why of the universe set up isn’t massively important (at least in relation to this episode) but it would be worth clarifying if the alternate universe did still remain. If the next episode remains with this future timeline then perhaps that matter will be addressed. For now I am going to assume that there is one timeline, and it’s the timeline we know as Over Here. And the general gist of things appears to have been that the Fringe team saved the world once before (perhaps that was the deal with Mr. Jones that we are yet to see), and then The Observers showed up. Walter managed to concoct a plan to remove them but was forced to Amber himself, Peter, Astrid and William Bell before he could unleash it. Olivia, it appears, died at some point earlier. And for at least four years Peter and Olivia (for whatever time she was around) raised Henrietta. Most of that is relatively straightforward, except for the surprise that William Bell was around!

It would seem that during this entire season’s universe it is one where William Bell remains, alive, although he has not been seen or mentioned. It would make a certain kind of sense since we have only seen him die in a universe that has since ceased to exist. Still, you feel a man of his presence ought to have at least been given a mention before this point, but perhaps that too is something that comes with a lot more revelation and explanation.

After the brilliance of the opening scrawl, and seeing Etta confront The Observer (who apparently could not read her mind, most likely a latent talent she possesses as a product of being a daughter of Olivia) Fringe did a great job in presenting a disconcerting, threatening world. It actually made perfect sense that The Observers could rise up to be this all-controlling force. With the powers they have they make for a near-unbeatable enemy. A major question I have is how much of their foresight and changing of the future may effect their existences? It seems like a massive paradox that they could arrive from the future and hijack the past without them creating ripples in time that would wipe out their own history. Sticky point. These paradox issues do threaten every single time travel plot you ever encounter so they really ought to be taken into account these days!

I liked Etta's character. I figured she was an offspring of Olivia reasonably early on, but I don't consider that a failing, I consider that a triumph in the casting. And whilst Broyles' ageing make-up looked a little weird it was good to see him on the frontline, standing firm. Also good to see Nina, who has successfully managed to straddle the grey area between trustworthy and duplicitous since the very beginning. Here she came across as sympathetic, gladly pleased when Walter managed to fix her arm for her. In the main she's ultimately a good person, but she's been bad in the past!

The sidetrack plot matter of Walter’s grey matter felt like an unnecessary and clumsy stupidity to drag out events. Walter waking up in a dumb but happy mode only for there to be established a quick fix to return his memories and demeanour felt rather silly. Did they really have to create such an obstacle with such a ludicrous resolution to make this episode work? Why couldn’t Walter have just awoken with faint memories that eventually returned and there be all manner of other things preventing them from getting to his ambered allies? It all felt wasteful and farcical and, since Walter’s mind was returned to full functionality at the finish, ultimately it didn’t take proceedings anywhere meaningful. All it did was slow down the process of getting somewhere meaningful.

Simon’s sacrifice felt similarly wasteful. I mean, couldn’t they have somehow suspended the amber at height, then blasted it, allowing the incarcerated to drop out with gravity? Again, it felt like Fringe didn’t realise it had created this astounding world that could easily sustain an episode running time and so threw in a whole bunch of diversions and tangents that needn’t have been there. If we never return this future plotline anytime soon then why did Simon have to die in it? It didn’t really add anything too powerful since his was a character that barely had time to bed in and show us what he was about (even though he did come preloaded with goodwill since it was, after all, Desmond – and what better guy to have around in a time-hopping plot!).

I don’t mean to be too harsh; an episode that is a brave and startling as this deserves credit. I certainly had my attention latched all over the screen in a manner that recent episodes haven’t been able to muster. And, moreover, I’ll definitely be tuning in enthusiastically for the next episode. The question is whether or not this future plot will be continued or if we’ll be returned to the ‘past’ and the matter of Fringe versus Jones. I suppose we do have to see them save the world, but since we know they all make it then it seems somewhat redundant. And if the present day plot concerns somehow averting the terrible future of The Observer-ruled world then it rather makes this episode feel a tad redundant. I am thinking of that portion of the last season’s finale build-up when Peter took a trip to the future. . . Does that still count or did that all get erased? I’m a little sketchy on that front.

Anyway, all in all, I’d rather be confused and enthralled than bored by routine, so I am all for Fringe taking these major leftfield turns so long as it can assure me it know what it’s doing, where it’s going, and that all the bits and pieces it’s carried along with it so far have all been considered and looked after.

What was the best part?

It has to go to the opening scrawl of writing that just about smacked me sideways across the face and left me agape, rapidly trying to absorb this sudden twist of plot. The manner of it reminding me a little bit of The Terminator, which I am sure was intentional. It was the sheer wow factor of starting another episode of Fringe in such an unexpected way that had me bolt upright in my seat, eyes wide. I can’t remember the last time a TV show managed that in the very first second!

What do I think will happen next?

It’s the usual way of things that Fringe leaves me confounded for good ideas about where I think it is going. But this time it has outdone itself. I don’t even know if the next episode is going to continue in this time frame or whether we’ll return to the ‘present’ day and the matter of Mr. Jones and all the rest of it.

If the next episode is going to sustain this future plot line then I’d fully expect there to be some clarification about what happened to Olivia. I can’t see the show going more than two episodes without having its leading lady! So either she’ll have survived somehow in the future, or the next episode will reveal something terrible happened to her and she didn’t make it (seems most likely) – which might lead us on to the prospect that something must happen in the past to prevent this terrible tragedy from occurring.

As ever, I don’t know what will happen next. And I don’t mind. Fringe works best for me precisely because I don’t know where the hell it is going to take me next!