Our second episode in not-Vichy France. Somewhere in my first trip through the season I read a comment that the fifth season is in some ways best enjoyed as a standalone AU, the show writing its own fanfic... oh, here it is. When I watched 4x19 I said "I want to watch a whole show of this." And then they gave it to me! S5 is a totally different thing from what came before, I'm in basic agreement with the people who've said they regard it as a fanfic AU of Fringe, but it is a really great fanfic AU and the actors are totally on board. I'm still trying to adjust to this new "universe", complicated by the very limited time the viewers spend here.
While I appreciate that Fringe took pains to resolve what happened to Simon, I'm sad we didn't get more Simon-and-Etta (or Etta/Simon, if it strikes your fancy). I'm not thrilled by the horrific and creepy variation on Fringe's long history of not letting death get in the way of questioning suspects, but I'm appreciative of a moment of thematic continuity that goes all the way back to the pilot.
With 5x04 and Peter's Batman arc in mind, his words to Etta - there will be a time for vengeance and a time for grieving, but it is not now. They'll pay for what they've done, I promise - take on, how to say it? Irony?
The betamax plot coupons tapes. The TVTropes page seems highly relevant to discussing what a lousy idea these were. It's a blatantly artificial plot device which does not serve the needs of a season that really needs to hit a lot of emotional, thematic, and plot resolutions on its way out the door. Watching our protagonists watch recordings of Walter strikes me as time that could better be spent doing things. Having parent-child angst and 2036 culture shock. Ferreting out parts of The Plan. Giving Astrid a plot line. It would be easier to make peace with the tapes as a plot device if I liked how they were used, but the execution didn't strike me as terrifically brilliant, or the sort of trope-with-twist work that Fringe can do so well.
On the "humanizing your opponents" side, we've got... whathisface. Manfretti. Who we never see again, see "thirteen episodes". Fringe isn't a great inventor of new tropes, but what it does it use existing tropes in new and interesting ways. But Manfretti's "collaborators are people too" thread didn't quite take off for me.
Trivia:
"Sometimes Belly and I would wear swim trunks and Speedos." Walter, we're surprised you kept even those on. Naked Tuesdays, remember?
Is that a CGI betamax recorder in CGI amber?
I was convinced Manfretti's eye was coming out. This is Fringe, more problematic actions have been perpetrated by Walter. Good fakeout, show.
While I appreciate the drama of Walter smashing the laserdisk player, isn't it more in keeping with the postapocylaptic scene to disassemble it slowly and keep the components?
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Date: 2015-04-25 01:39 am (UTC)While I appreciate that Fringe took pains to resolve what happened to Simon, I'm sad we didn't get more Simon-and-Etta (or Etta/Simon, if it strikes your fancy). I'm not thrilled by the horrific and creepy variation on Fringe's long history of not letting death get in the way of questioning suspects, but I'm appreciative of a moment of thematic continuity that goes all the way back to the pilot.
With 5x04 and Peter's Batman arc in mind, his words to Etta - there will be a time for vengeance and a time for grieving, but it is not now. They'll pay for what they've done, I promise - take on, how to say it? Irony?
The betamax
plot couponstapes. The TVTropes page seems highly relevant to discussing what a lousy idea these were. It's a blatantly artificial plot device which does not serve the needs of a season that really needs to hit a lot of emotional, thematic, and plot resolutions on its way out the door. Watching our protagonists watch recordings of Walter strikes me as time that could better be spent doing things. Having parent-child angst and 2036 culture shock. Ferreting out parts of The Plan. Giving Astrid a plot line. It would be easier to make peace with the tapes as a plot device if I liked how they were used, but the execution didn't strike me as terrifically brilliant, or the sort of trope-with-twist work that Fringe can do so well.On the "humanizing your opponents" side, we've got... whathisface. Manfretti. Who we never see again, see "thirteen episodes". Fringe isn't a great inventor of new tropes, but what it does it use existing tropes in new and interesting ways. But Manfretti's "collaborators are people too" thread didn't quite take off for me.
Trivia:
"Sometimes Belly and I would wear swim trunks and Speedos." Walter, we're surprised you kept even those on. Naked Tuesdays, remember?
Is that a CGI betamax recorder in CGI amber?
I was convinced Manfretti's eye was coming out. This is Fringe, more problematic actions have been perpetrated by Walter. Good fakeout, show.
While I appreciate the drama of Walter smashing the laserdisk player, isn't it more in keeping with the postapocylaptic scene to disassemble it slowly and keep the components?