Fringe: S05 Ep07 – Five-Twenty-Ten

What happened?

Peter tests his newfound powers of prediction to lay a trap for a couple of Observers. After some trial and error he manages to position two Observers in a room with a suitcase bomb that he detonates. In the meantime Olivia and Walter reunite with Nina to acquire the tech to follow more clues for Walter’s grand plan. Their quest leads them to one of William Bell’s lockers, wherein is found a picture of Nina that confounds Walter’s view that Belly was an uncaring man. As Walter’s own sense of personality is slipping away he confides that he is scared about what he will become and asks Nina to remove pieces of his brain. The team do, however, manage to procure two beacons for themselves to help continue their plan, but Peter has plans of his own to kill more high level Observers, including Windmark.

Thoughts

After such an outstanding run of episodes it was inevitable that Fringe was going to reach a dip in form. Not that this episode was particularly bad at all – it just felt like less of a zinger than the previous few. The kind of episode that keeps things moving, setting up the next big hit, rather than delivering the knockout blow. Definitely no slouch, though, and further validation that Fringe is in rude health and seeing its final season out in fine, fine style.

As I sort of expected from the previous episodes, Peter’s new vision attributes (or upgrades, if you prefer) allow him to see permutations of future events. As seems to be the case by how Peter explained it, he generates his understanding of what will happen by observing and recording things that are happening and seeing patterns that allow him to read the most probable future. I rather like this explanation of how The Observers themselves are able to predict what is happening next, as it makes them a little more fallible and, also, gives more explanation about what the original Observers were doing before the invasion occurred.

Something that did bother me towards the end of the last season was the matter of why Walter had just taken William Bell’s arm and remarked that he had done something terrible to deserve such treatment. That particular plot beat was left unanswered, and I feared that it was basically left to be established that William’s plans to merge universes, and shooting Olivia, were the justification. Not so, and it just goes to show I ought to have had more faith. (Ironically, so should Walter.) It transpired that Walter assumed William must have been working with The Observers for them to have been discovered, prompting them to amber themselves.

I get the impression Fringe is paving the way for William Bell to, somehow, make one last appearance in the show and he won’t be going out on villainous terms. Just like the photo of Nina in the locker proved, he was not an unfeeling monster despite what outward perceptions may have indicated. If William did genuinely sell out his friends then I can only imagine he had a reason for doing so (or Fringe will engineer one). More likely is the prospect that Walter’s assumptions about Belly’s treachery is wrong, just like he was wrong in crushing Nina’s heart when he told her William never loved her.

Much of the episode concerned Peter’s mission to kill Observers, and what a gloriously gruesome death it was when the bomb that first appeared all the way back in the first ever Fringe episode was used against them. The cold-blooded killing of the Observers was, when relayed to Olivia, treated as a terrible act. But The Observers have been merrily killing in cold blood for years and years, decimating the human race (and, with their oxygen depleting plans, set to kill more). I also have to assume that Walter’s grand plan involves mass extermination of them (but on that I could be wrong). I suppose what really hit Olivia was the ruthless, unfeeling qualities Peter possessed when telling of what he had done.

Joshua Jackson’s performance in this episode was very interesting to watch as he slowly developed the mannerisms of The Observers. He’s captured the odd tilt of the head and the over-focused stare very well, and the more monotone delivery of his speech is gently slipping into place – and it seems all the more uncanny when he does it as opposed to when The Observers do it. As I ought to have predicted but just completely didn’t, the episode ended on the sharp moment of Peter losing his hair. Of course he will go bald! They are called the “baldies” and if Peter is morphing into one then the hair has got to go. . .

What the longterm cost for Peter will be seems ominous. There was the moment in this episode when he was in pain, surrounded by white light to indicate the sharp pain in his head that he was experiencing. I anticipate there will be more and more of these and, ultimately, it will get to the point where the tech has to be extracted in order to save Peter’s life.If I were to predict the endgame for that, I’d say that Peter will survive such an extraction and that will see him return to the Peter he once was. Unless Fringe has designs for a bleak, unhappy end for everyone!

Olivia has been a little bit marginalised these last few episodes, and if I have criticisms about the show it’s in how the leading lady has been sidelined and weakened. Clearly there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on with Peter, and to a lesser extent with Walter, but their being centre stage has pushed Olivia aside and made her seem a bit lame. This is not the kick-ass Olivia Dunham we’ve enjoyed over the years. Yes, she is crippled by grief, it’s true – but I’d rather see it bring out the fighter in her than one who leans on others and crumples when their support is found wanting. Olivia is someone to lean on, not someone that leans on others. I’m sure she’ll be back before long. . .

What was the best part?

The scene where Peter finally revealed to Olivia what he had done to himself was a deliciously candid one. Peter had become even more Observer-like, in stark contrast to Olivia’s very humane concerned wariness. Peter delivered the truth without much hint of compassion or, importantly, regret. There was little room for negotiation when Peter spelled out what he had done – committing a terrorist act of cold murder against the Observers and showing absolute intention to continue further. The moment Olivia actually tried to speak to him he then committed that most Observer-like of acts and spoke the same words she was saying at the same time. Just a few sentences of that and Olivia knew her Peter had gone a long, long way down the road from where she could reach him. All she could do was leave to, perhaps, try and gather her own thoughts as well as, most likely, turn to Walter and request his support.

What do I think will happen next?

I can’t imagine Olivia just standing by and allowing Peter to become more and more like the enemy, so she’s going to be pushing for him to become the person he was and remove the tech. Naturally, he won’t want to do that until their war is over. In the meantime it seems that Walter is set to go under the knife to have pieces of his brain removed, so if he is having that done he’s not going to be much help. And amongst all that internal struggling there is still the ongoing grand plan to put into action. The Fringe gang really need to sort themselves out and become a unified unit if they want to take down the baldies!

Fringe: S05 Ep06 - Through The Looking Glass And Walter Found There

What happened?

Walter followed a video clue to a pocket universe where his old self had secreted a young Observer boy. However, all Walter found there was a man who was trapped in the strange place and only when Olivia and Peter arrived did they discover a curious radio before they had to escape from Observers. Peter unleashed new-found powers to battle and kill one Observer before suddenly realising his vision had been transformed into a weird, blue view of the world.

Thoughts

Fringe seems to be hitting quite the good run with these last few episodes, this one in particular being hugely enjoyable. For me personally it's been the most absorbing and entertaining episode of the season and only a slightly disappointing conclusion to the mysterious pocket universe let it down. Luckily it had Peter on hand to turn on his inner Observer to pick up the slack and end things with a flourish.

There were a great deal of sci-fi references scattered throughout the episode, and I am sure they were deliberate. Peter and Olivia viewing the hologram of Etta was very reminiscent of Star Wars, the Princess Leia distress hologram planted in R2-D2. Walter was also later referred to as an only hope, too. Elsewhere there was a clear The Matrix vibe with the Through The Looking Glass exploits (Neo in The Matrix is compared to Alice) and Peter's sudden new vision of the world paralleled with the moment a reborn Neo was able to see the world of the matrix in its true green-coded truth. I suspect there were also other nods here and there (the old woman in the apartment block with the red eye reminded me of The Terminator, for example) though I can't profess to have spotted anymore.

Fringe has made these obvious references before; rather than being subtle about doffing its cap to sci-fi references it shouts them loud and proud. What do they mean? Well, I think they're a way of Fringe and its creators keeping themselves honest (if you acknowledge references you can't be accused of underhandedly stealing from them!) and also aligning the show with the genre family it belongs to. This season more than any is the most sci-fi Fringe has ever known. If previously it was dipping its toe and sifting its hands in the pool of science fiction, this season its gone and took a high dive right in.

This episode wasn't completely devoid of self-referencing, though. In terms of plot there was a recall of the Observer Boy from Season One. Hands up anyone who had kept him in their thoughts over the years and had been awaiting his return. Even if you had been such an ardent fan you must have surely assumed that it was one of those characters once-considered to have potential future plotlines which had since gone by the wayside. I won't go so far as to say that Fringe always intended to have him return in this manner but, whether it was planned or dredged up fortuitously, it's great to have him reintroduced.

Although, of course, we didn't actually get to meet him yet! But I am sure that since he was introduced here then he will form a part of the future direction of the show. A curious thought has occurred to me that the boy may grow up to be September - and I'm not discounting it quickly. I've no more to say about that possibility!

Other Fringe self-references appeared when the glyphs were on the doors within the pocket universe. Here was a hair-raising moment that, alas, fed into my disappointment when it was a revelation that was nothing more than a superficial thing. Glyphs that have appeared throughout Fringe (and filled the screen during what ought to be commercial breaks!) suddenly featured as icons on different doors. Wow! What could it all mean? Well, in this episode at least, we weren't told. It was, as I said, just one of those nice self-referential things.

That disappointment did bleed through my enjoyment of the episode. Walter's initial trip to the pocket universe, following his old self (with the mysterious Donald along for the ride) generated an intriguing premise. Then when he ran into the man that had been trapped in this world for apparently a few days, Cecil, I felt certain that there was going to be a surprise or two to come. I thought Cecil would turn out to be more than he first appeared - that he may have even turned out to be Donald himself. The episode and how creepy the pocket universe was just felt designed to be a neat little box of tricks that was harbouring a surprise.

You could argue the surprise was delivered in terms of the Observer Boy being revealed, but for me I was just expecting to be taken by surprise by a real-time revelation in the plot. Instead Cecil was simply killed off quickly and rendered near-obsolete. It transpired by the episode's end that his function was to serve as a barometer of Walter's conscience, and the dissipation of it. Here, to be fair, was a very interesting idea. That since the Observer Windmark disassembled Walter's psyche it had reconstructed itself as it was before Walter had a breakdown and spent time in a mental institute. We've already seen what this version of Walter is like, with Alt-Walter as encountered Over There.

It's not that this is necessarily an evil Walter, but what he may become is a far more ruthless and unsympathetic version of himself. Ironically this may be exactly the man they need to win their war against The Observers, but the cost to Walter and the people around him may be great. And, of course, this is merely a minor parallel to what's going on with Peter. . .

As expected, Peter's transition into 'ObserPeter' is a slow one, though from the evidence here he's a quick learner. His throwdown fight with an Observer was the episode's high point yet served as a precursor to his awakening to a new vision. Quite what this level of sight will allow him to perceive is, indeed, unclear. I can only assume it will allow him to see the world how the Observers do, perhaps on a more multi-layered temporal level (as in he can see the future, or alternatives of it). 

On a final note, there was another huge poster of Etta in this episode carrying the message 'Resist'. A whole slew of these same posters were all over a street in the previous episode. I'm not sure if I am reading too much into it because I suspect it is purely to state that, in death, she is becoming a symbol of the resistance movement. Yet there's something really quite strange about them. Who is putting them up? The smaller posters I could live with, but the huge one? Simply left untouched and unchecked by The Observers? It seems odd. I like them, mind - and I do hope they are the small beginnings of a larger movement taking shape.

What was the best part?

The moment The Observers launched their assault and pursuit the episode delivered a powerhouse sequence. Olivia got her moment of kick-ass cool when, accosted by an Observer, she had the presence of mind to drag him through the portal when she realised her gun didn't work in the pocket universe. Blam blam, down he went. (I do have a mild issue with how easily The Observers are getting taken down by super-speed bullets but, for now, I'll let it slide.) This then segued into Peter's fist fight with an Observer, which served to see him develop the speed and reactions Observers possess to take down his enemy. As he told the captured Observer in the previous episode, if he had their tech he would be far greater than they ever were. On the evidence here he's proving himself true to his belief.

What do I think will happen next?

The quest to track down the radio signal is afoot, which ought to lead the group to either Donald, the Observer boy, or the pair of them. Walter will perhaps have to come to terms with his more mercenary conscience, and Peter will have to develop the skills he is harbouring. What will be interesting is whether Peter tells Olivia about what he has done before she figures out something is wrong with him. I suspect she'll confront him about how he has been able to do something impossible and he will come clean about it. I also suspect she won't be happy about it - but whether she considers it too much to continue with or a necessary evil for a greater good is a tough call. I suspect Peter won't easily relinquish this neck-tech, though, whatever her reaction.

Fringe: S05 Ep05 - An Origin Story

What happened?

Fuelled by a desire for revenge, Peter spearheads a plan to use the wormholes The Observers send packages from the future through. Interrogating a captured Observer, Peter believes he builds a device he can use but the plan fails. In frustration he removes the tech from the captured Observer's neck and inserts it into himself.

Thoughts

Another good episode, which perhaps came as a surprise since it was always going to be tricky following up the devastation of Etta's death. Straddling the difficult problem of having the main characters grieve whilst also keeping the plot and action pushing forward was always going to be challenging. I did sort of assume that Peter would most likely respond with focused rage, though what I didn't expect was that it would take over and pretty much supplant Olivia and Walter's effectiveness. The episode very much painted Olivia and Walter as weaker, more ineffectual, and thus created the need for Peter to take the drastic action that was needed.

They all failed - only Peter took a step to create the opportunity to level the playing field in their war against The Observers.

Olivia was the heart of the story. Seen at the beginning lying in Etta's bed, symbolically laid out by her grief. Only towards the end did she find the courage to face the video made years ago (though much more recent in her memory) of Etta's birthday. She voiced the pointlessness of it all - that they had survived their encasement in amber and found their daughter after such a long time only to then lose her all over again. Why?

Well, of course, there is no real reason why. Death is often as pointless as it is arbitrary. Though this episode did introduce the concept of wormholes that can allow time travel so, you know, I haven't entirely abandoned the notion that Peter and Olivia won't find a way back to their daughter after all. (Quite how they would manage such a thing and avoid a paradox could be overcome by travelling back in time to another universe. . .! Hey, this is Fringe, nothing is really off the table for this show!) I would be surprised if these wormholes are not used as a plot device in a future episode - possibly even to fulfill the 'First People' concept. It's an interesting card ready to be used, whatever the way of it.

Altogether far more interesting is Peter and what he is going to become. The episode title of 'an origin story' does suggest that we really have witnessed the birth of a whole new persona, which does have powerful connotations. There was a sense that Peter and Olivia's greatest threat now was in losing each other, and that Peter was risking his life. Walter certainly feared it, though like him we were all supposed to think that meant in the literal sense of losing his life. I didn't expect that he would just upgrade himself into more of a machine and therefore erase the old Peter. Although, of course, the erasure of Peter is also something that has occurred before. He is consistently conjured up as a wildcard element in the mix and here he is once more behaving as such.

I'm definitely fascinated to see what he becomes and what he does next, although I know it's going to have a terrible wrench on both Olivia and Walter as, I predict, they see his humanity slip away as he becomes more 'Observer-like'.

There's no question he could be extremely useful. As I said, the episode painted Walter and Olivia has more ineffectual than usual. Walter was baffled by why his plan to use the wormhole to create a blackhole on The Observer's side failed, and Olivia (save for a little bit of ass-kicking action) confessed to hanging on by a thread (even Astrid indicated she didn't need her around) and, by the end, was pleading for Peter to return when the Peter she knew had sacrificed himself for a greater vengeance. I believe it was deliberate, to facilitate that sense of need Peter was feeling justified his drastic action.

The captured Observer was quite the convenient deus ex machina but it was a welcome one. I liked the revelation that they are mostly 'tech', allowing us to imagine how it is the human race eventually developed into these near-omniscient, omnipresent, unfeeling beings. If they didn't behave so dastardly (ruthlessly porting back oxygen-stealing machinery for their own benefit) then there would be something tragic about what became of them (and, by extension, us).

I'm not quite sure how it is The Observers are avoiding creating their own paradox by going back in time and changing the world to suit them - unless they come from a future where this always happened. . .

An odd kind of question is that since the Fringe team are ostensibly battling against what it is human beings eventually become, is there a fight the future kind of plot being put into play where they twist humanity away from that fate? Again, once time travel gets involved and the notion of changing anything gets introduced, paradoxes constantly become a real problem. I have major doubts that Fringe will manage to outwit the same plot entanglements so many other time travel shows and movies have runaground on.

What isn't a real problem is how Fringe has gone from strength to strength in two episodes. Last episode took the bold step of killing off a character you would have probably considered as safe as anyone, and this episode took a main character and has effectively paved the way for having the person they were be overtaken by something else entirely. Brave moves and, with Peter's latest conversion, highly enticing ones. What Peter does next will be fascinating and how Olivia and Walter react to it equally so.

What was the best part?

I really enjoyed the mental skirmishes between The Observer and Peter, particularly the speech about how The Observer considered human activity no more than we would consider the comings and goings of an ant colony. That speech did a lot to explain the level The Observers pitch themselves at and gave me a better grasp of how it is the Fringe team exist in their frame of reference. Peter did remark that The Observer was a liar and I suspect he probably was bluffing a little about humans' unimportance, but still I liked the interplay between the two of them and the payoff towards the end, when it transpired Peter's confidence had been misplaced, was a nice touch.

What do I think will happen next?

It very much pivots on Peter and what kind of capabilities he gets. I still believe that the team will actively pursue the fulfillment of Walter's plan and I also believe that whatever transformation Peter experiences won't be a rapid, sudden shift. In a perfect world Peter will retain his mental faculties and simply become augmented with new skills and abilities that will aid Olivia and Walter in their plan. Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if that was what happened for the next episode or two. But then I fear that Peter's humanity will become eroded, dulled - and whether that slide is preventable or reversible could become a key question.