Fringe Rewatch

Before the rewatch began last year, I'd wondered if I'd still hate all of the things I hated about season four the first time around or if the passage of time would ease the feeling of betrayal. Long story short, it didn't, and I do. Hate all of the same things.

"That's just the way you are, babe," said idunnoh, my husband and fellow Fringe fan.

"Brave New World" gives us one more Mad Scientist episode to finish out the season. At least they're consistent? William Bell's explanation that Walter might have been playing God, but that Bell himself is God--that's pretty much a textbook definition for insanity.

In a two-part episode filled with Big Moments, the biggest reveal was that William Bell was behind everything. I have to admit, I really did not see that one coming, though in my defense, Bell was supposed to be dead. What is this, The X-Files? Walter's explanation for how he knew that William Bell, rather than David Robert Jones, was the architect of the nanites is beyond my comprehension.

Other things: Olivia and Peter are pregnant. That was telegraphed a few episodes back, and then again when Olivia mentions in part one that she wants their new house to have a nursery.

ASTRID GOT SHOT! I was scared. I was so afraid they'd decided to kill her off instead of renewing her contract.

And then there's the ending:
WALTER: I don't suppose you're here for a sandwich.
THE OBSERVER: We have to warn the others. They are coming.
WALTER: Who's coming?

Especially now that Leonard Nimoy is gone, it's nice to have his last performance as William Bell to look back on. He's a convincing megalomaniac.



Writer: Jeff Pinkner, Akiva Goldsman, Joel Wyman
Director: Joe Chapelle
Originally aired: 11 May 2012

Synopsis: Olivia has been turned into a universe-collapsing machine by a combination of cortexiphan saturation and emotional overload. Weirdly, she looks exactly the same on the outside even while she is busy destroying the universe with her special powers. It's all because William Bell has lost his mind and decided he's God. Walter saves the day by killing Olivia, which makes everything go back to what passes for normal in the Fringe universe. Walter then brings her back to life by removing the bullet from her brain, which then heals itself because of the cortexiphan. It doesn't make sense. None of it, not one word.
Most Memorable Quote:
WILLIAM BELL: Walter, this was all your idea. Peter died -- twice. You hated God. "What kind of God would cause so much suffering?" That's what you said. So much pain. You decided to create a universe that would operate by your rules. And then, when you realized that you were smart enough to do it, you got scared. You asked me to cut out a portion of your brain.
WALTER: No.
WILLIAM BELL: Yes, Walter. We cut those ideas out of your head to literally put 'the Genie' back into the bottle. Then I grew older. I grew cynical. I grew cancer. Then I realized that dosing myself with Cortexiphan would slow it down. But slowing is not stopping. For me, it's just a matter of time. The clock is ticking. Tick, tick, tick, tick. And that's when it occurred to me. You were right, Walter. Walter, you were right, right, right. Every rant you ever went on made perfect sense. Suddenly, I understood not just you - but everything. (profound reflection) God made us in his image. If that is so, if we are capable of being Gods, then it is our destiny to do so.

Links:
Transcript: Part 1 | Part 2
EW: Part 1 | Part 2
Pop Culture Nexus
Polite Dissent

Fanfiction: Yes, quite a bit--for this fandom. Here's a not-quite-random sampling. Please let me know if you have a rec or a self-rec to add to the list.
World of Never-Ending Happiness by tilden
Summary:Peter's off balance, figuratively and literally.
Loose Tonight by beautyofsorrow
Summary: post-Brave New World and demons haunt the air. There's lots to sort out.
Grace by Monanotlisa
Summary: "Or maybe it's not only his doing alone, although following a chain of causality means leaving the realms of logic to enter the realms of ethics. And there, Walter is a stranger and always has been."

So that's it for season four. I guess we'll start up again with season five (which is looking better by comparison). As soon as we figure out a schedule, I'll post it.

I don't have anything much to say about this episode. The theme, that parents will do anything to save their children, even betray their country and put their entire world at risk, is not exactly ground-breaking. I was happy to see Walter making progress toward independence.

I'm bored and irritated with Agent Lee's story line. Did I mention that one of the things I wish we'd found out was why AltLivia and Frank broke up in this timeline? Without her falling for Peter (and getting pregnant with him) to put distance between the couple, I'm at a loss, except that the writers clearly wanted it to advance their AltLivia/Blu!Lincoln pairing. And an appearance from Charlie Francis would have been a nice touch, especially at Lincoln's funeral. Charlie's absence at that event is inexplicable and he could have been much more of a comfort to AltLivia than Agent Lee, whom she hardly knows. I'm just never going to give him a break, am I?

I was unconvinced by the apartment scenes between AltLivia and Walter. I know I'm supposed to but I can't believe in a friendship between those two characters.

The episode's a placeholder to me, nothing more.

R.I.P. Captain Lincoln Lee. You are missed.



Written by: Christine Lavaf
Directed by: Jeannot Szwarc
Air Date: 13 Apr 2012

Summary: The episode opens with Captain Lincoln Lee's funeral and ends with Colonel Broyles sitting in a jail cell, across the hall from "Meena" Sharp. Not a good year for the Redverse Fringe Division. The Good News: Walter made a trip to the Other Side and nothing terrible happened. The Bad News: It's looking more and more like Blu!Lincoln isn't ever coming home. Oh yeah, and David Robert Jones has something much worse in store, for both universes.

Most memorable quote:
Agent Lee: "You couldn't bring over a casserole, but a severed hand is okay?"

Links:
Transcript
The A.V. Club
IGN
Entertainment Weekly
Polite Dissent

Fanfiction: I'll try to find some this weekend. Let us know in comments if you have recs.

The great thing about rebooting your series timeline is that you can go back and recycle some of your old episodes. All you have to do is tweak the plots a bit. You can even save a little money and reuse some of your old footage from season one. Yeah, okay, so it might be tough to get your audience to believe that the exact same crew is working for the same airline on the same flight four years later. It's going to be even harder for us to swallow that the virus that was being marketed as a bio-weapon to terrorists in the original timeline is now being sold as the opportunity of a lifetime to young couples.

"We'll be like Adam and Eve! We'll be born anew--as hideous, fat-craving, winged human/porcupine hybrids who no longer possess the power of language!"

What? What?

Yep. Just when you thought this season couldn't get any worse, it does. Thanks, guys.



Writer: Jeff Pinkner, Akiva Goldsman
Director: Frederick E. O. Toye
Originally aired: 30 Mar 12

Synopsis:
While Olivia is deemed unfit for FBI duty due to her memories being out of alignment with reality, Agent Lee and Peter investigate the mysterious aftermath of VertusAir Flt 718. Peter's half-recollection and Olivia's memories of a similar case from four years earlier send the Fringe Task Force after a cult whose goal is to direct human evolution--and control our future.

Most Memorable Quote:
EDWARD MARKHAM: Yep, I was right. Here it is. I remember reading it means "renewal" or "rebirth." There's been some rumblings lately about a group out there—a cult, really.
OLIVIA: Okay, whereabouts were these rumblings?
EDWARD MARKHAM: You know, the usual places. Obscure corners of the Internet, conspiracy boards, sub-subterranean chat rooms. Far as I can see, they're just whack jobs. They're obsessed with the guided evolution of man. They want to create a new species...a better species...mutation by design.

Links:
Transcript
The A.V. Club
Entertainment Weekly Recap
Polite Dissent

Fanfiction:
Here's one from the Fringe Kinkmeme:
The Thoughts Your Actions Entertain by Monanotlisa.
Summary: A fix-it for 4x16 "Nothing As It Seems". Goes AU before 4x17. Basically? This is a love song to Lincoln Lee, Blueverse boy (who shouldn't be so blue).

Since I don't ship these pairings or the OT3, it doesn't fix it for me--but it's a popular story by an excellent writer. If there's anything else, let me know, I'll edit it in...

"How about a non-mad scientist who was trying to do good and had something go wrong?" - Wendelah complaining about the plethora of episodes about mad scientists on Fringe.

The moral is clear: be careful what you wish for. This week's episode is a creepy take on that theme featuring a scientist whose attempt at creating a better human being results in a brood of hive-minded murderers. I'd say something went wrong all right. Very wrong.



Writer: Robert Chiappetta (story), Glen Whitman (story), Monica Owusu-Breen (teleplay), Alison Schapker (teleplay)
Director: Joe Chappelle
Originally aired: 17 February 2012

Synopsis: When an institutionalized schizophrenic patient describes a recent murder in detail, the Fringe team investigates. Olivia now remembers her three year relationship with Peter in vivid detail—except she's really only known him three months, so what's up with that, Fringe writers? Peter now believes she's his Olivia, too, which is convenient for all. Meanwhile, Walter and Agent Lee discover that the Cortexiphan stored at Massive Dynamic is missing—and that Olivia has recently been dosed with the drug.

Most Memorable Quote:
OWEN FRANK: (regarding his attempt to create a better human being) Can you imagine that? The hubris of trying to improve upon God?

Well, yeah, because it's a major theme of the series. This episode foreshadows the upcoming William Bell arc.

Links:
Transcript
A.V. Club
EW Recap
Polite Dissent

Fanfiction:
Worlds on Fire by kerithwyn

"Making Angels" is notable for finally creating an episode in which Jasika Nicole gets to showcase her talent. Other than that, it's a particularly stupid variant of the Fringe mad scientist run amuck scenario.

I enjoyed it. Astrid was sadly underutilized during the course of the series. Unfortunately, this episode did not signal a course correction.

Yeah, I've got nothing. Edit: except fic recs! And I'm late with the post, too.



Writer: Akiva Goldsman, Joel Wyman, Jeff Pinkner
Director: Charles Beeson
Originally aired: 03 Feb 2012

Synopsis:
After the death of her father, the Other Side's Agent Farnsworth visits Astrid in this universe to talk about family issues. A former MIT professor, turned TSA Agent, uses his intellect, and an Observer device left behind by September at Reiden Lake, to play God with the lives of others. The Observers finally notice that September didn't follow orders. Peter isn't erased from existence. Whoops. I guess they've been busy mucking around in the future.

Most Memorable Quote:
ASTRID: Olivia told me about you. But it's nice to meet you personally in the flesh.
AGENT FARNSWORTH: (deadpan) All personal meetings are in the flesh.
ASTRID: Yes, I - I suppose they are.

Links:
transcript
A.V. Club
Polite Dissent

Fanfiction:
1. Not exactly a post-ep, but an AU Astrid-centric fic that I wish had been longer. I think it was written for a comment ficathon.
The Air There Breaks by ALC Punk. Summary: Astrid is magic and gets to save the universe.

2. Also not a post-ep but it's Alternate Astrid-centric. It features a rare pairing I happen to love.
Fraternization by kalisgirl. Summary: Astrid has always been different, but that doesn't mean she can't have what everyone else has.

3. A Yuletide fic from way back in 2010.
everything in its right place. How about that title, folks? This is Redverse Astrid. Summary: In the alternate universe, Astrid notices some changes in Agent Dunham.

I'd forgotten how plot-heavy the episode is, chock full of significant meetings and partial reveals. Peter sees his parents again for the first time. Agent Lee has his first, inauspicious meeting with Alt!Livia. "Who the hell are you?" she asks Peter, the father of her child in the other timeline. The face-to-face meeting of the two Lincolns is a fan favorite.

More timeline differences surface: Colonel Broyles is compromised and working for David Robert Jones, but Walternate isn't as bad a guy as Peter had originally thought. Both governments are being infiltrated by the new alien/human hybrids human/shape-shifter hybrids; moreover, Walternate isn't the genius behind them this time around. Charlie is still nowhere to be found--is he still on his honeymoon? There's no hint that the Other Side's Lincoln has feelings for their Olivia, but the one on this side is already mooning over ours. Well, we know how that turned out. Olivia has never tried to crossover to the other universe and as far as we know, she can't.

If you've found other changes in the timeline, please leave them in the comments.

There's one other meeting worth a mention: Olivia's fateful encounter with September. See most memorable quote.



Writer: David Fury and Graham Roland
Director: Jeannot Szwarc
Originally aired: 13 Jan 2012

Synopsis:
After being given the brushoff by Walter, Peter asks for Olivia's help to visit the Other Side. Peter wants Walternate's help to get back to his own universe. Olivia and Agent Lee put in a requisition to get Walter's quantum mirror out of storage at Massive Dynamic to use for an unauthorized reconnaissance mission/Peter's visit with his father. Worst idea ever, people. Doesn't our Fringe division know about the Show-Mes in this timeline? Doesn't Peter? You can't take a taxi or use public transportation without swiping your I.D. first.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that the same device that was responsible for damaging two universes when Walter used it? What possible reason could they put on the req to Massive Dynamic that wouldn't put up a massive red flag?

Most Memorable Quote:
THE OBSERVER: (strained) I have come to tell you something... Olivia.
OLIVIA: How did you know my name? How do you know my -- (holsters weapon. looks at his chest) you've been shot?
THE OBSERVER: I came to tell you... I have looked at all possible futures... and in every one, the result is the same. You have to die.

Links:
transcript
More links coming in the morning.

Fanfiction:
About that. Use the search engine and put in Lincoln Lee/Alternative Lincoln Lee.

"And Those We've Left Behind," is the inevitable time loop episode, with a Fringe-y twist. The best known example of this science fiction trope is "Groundhog Day," but the concept dates back to science fiction stories from the forties. The X-Files episode "Monday" is another well-known example. The Fringe plot is a reworking of an old episode of Stargate SG-1, "Window of Opportunity," in which a scientist creates a time machine to see his dead wife. In the process, the scientist inadvertently traps the inhabitants of 14 different planets in his temporal loop. Raymond Green, the engineer in "And Those We've Left Behind," has a similar motive: his wife, Kate, was a brilliant theoretical physicist who is dying of early onset Alzheimer's disease. Raymond uses her ideas and his knowledge of electrical engineering to build a machine to return them to the time before she became ill.

This episode works well when it's focused on the plight of the Greens. Raymond has no idea of the damage he is doing to the world. He just wants his wife back. Even when confronted with the evidence, Raymond is too consumed with grief and guilt to do the right thing. Fortunately, Kate understands what is happening, to the world and to Raymond. To prevent her husband from moving house and rebuilding the machine, she erases all evidence of her scientific breakthrough, leaving behind only this note: "Raymond, I love you. How you repay me... Just love me and live your life."

This is a compelling, gut-wrenching scenario, and I was moved by how the writers worked out the Raymonds' fate. Their story certainly fits into the Fringe thematic continuum: Walter crossing universe to save Peter, Olivia crossing universes to save Peter, etc. But I don't see how the romance of Peter and Olivia is in any way comparable to the suffering of this ordinary, middle-aged couple. It's almost like Peter and Olivia haven't earned it yet. Don't get me wrong--I like Peter and Olivia just fine, as a pairing and as individuals--but so far, I can't see them as an epic romance, let alone one that literally transcends time and space.


Writer: Robert Chiappetta and Glen Whitman
Director: Brad Anderson
Originally aired: 11 Nov 2011

Synopsis: The Fringe team investigates multiple time anomalies that are causing destruction and panic in the greater Boston area.

Most Memorable Quote:
RAYMOND GREEN: I can't go on without you. I don't want this for us. Kate, when you got sick, it happened so fast. And all the things that you were for me and all the things that you did for me... I didn't have a chance to be that for you. I thought we'd have more time.

KATE GREEN: This isn't living, Raymond. Living is what's beyond this room, beyond this house, out there in the world where you're supposed to be.

Links:
transcript
EW Fringe Recap: Bursting Bubbles
Polite Disent

Fanfiction:
Leave suggestions in the comments.

The part of the plot for Subject 9 which concerns the fate of subject 9 himself, Cameron James, is deeply unsatisfying to me. We don't find out much about the Cortexiphan trials themselves. We don't learn why they were being conducted in the first place. This is the first Astrid has even heard of them. We do learn that Olivia set fire to the lab, just as she did in the other timeline. Subsequently she ran away and never went back. Is this because she'd already killed her stepfather? Or is it because she didn't meet up with Peter in the tulip field?

( long entry is long )

One last question and then I'll shut up. Did the episode mean to imply that Olivia was creating the electro-magnetic fields herself and that she's responsible for pulling Peter out of limbo? This honestly never occurred to me until I read the transcript.

OLIVIA: This isn't me. I am not doing this. (inadvertently creating the anomaly with her latent Cortexiphan abilities)

Was this the fandom's consensus? If her abilities were latent until being triggered by Jones later in the season, how could she do anything with them this early?



Writer: Akiva Goldsman, Joel Wyman, and Jeff Pinkner
Director: Joe Chappelle
Originally aired: 14 Oct 2011

Synopsis: Olivia is being pursued by an entity that turns out to be an electromagnetic field. That field was somehow being generated by Peter's disappearance and reappearance in the timeline. Also, Olivia decides Walter isn't crazy enough to send back to the mental institution. We also meet one of the Cortexiphan subjects, Cameron James.

Most Memorable Quote:
CAMERON JAMES: When I had my first experience, I thought something was coming after me, too... until I realized I was doing it to myself.
OLIVIA: You think I'm doing this... that I'm bringing this on myself?

Links:
Transcript
The A.V. Club
Den of Geek
Ken Tucker (of EW)
Polite Dissent
Sarah Stegall

Critical opinion was divided on this one.

Fanfiction:
Double Exposure by Icepixie
Triptych by Monanotlisa

I'm sure there's more out there but there's no time! Leave suggestions in comments--especially if you wrote something. I want to read it.

I suppose I should make a confession. I started this rewatch because I needed to research the series for a long crossover fic, which is set during season four, post-"One Night in October." I still haven't written past the opening chapter but now that we've reached this point, maybe that will get me writing again.


The episode fits well into the overarching themes of Fringe. Because they are working the same case, we get to compare and contrast the two Olivias. We find out another divergence from the original timeline: this Olivia Dunham didn't just shoot her stepfather, she killed him. This timeline's Olivia was kidnapped and replaced by the Other Side's Olivia but now I'm wondering if she was experimented on, or if she was, was it in the same way. On rewatch, it's not clear to me if she has a prior history with their Fringe division. Maybe she wasn't brainwashed into thinking she was their Olivia and was simply imprisoned the entire time? Please, discuss. Help me out here, folks.

Since Sarah Stegall's website is offline, I'm just going to use the quote from her SFScope review that's in Wikipedia.

In what may well be the best-written episode of the entire show, Fringe brilliantly exploits its own alternate-world structure to show us the transformative power of love, a power so strong it can redeem the dark impulses that drive a fiend. And it does so with verve and heart, without sappy sentimentality. There is madness and love and tragedy and horror here, all seasoned by some fine performances and top notch writing.

What she said.

Writer: Alison Schapker and Monica Owusu-Breen
Director: Brad Anderson
Originally aired: September 30, 2011

Synopsis: The Other Side asks for the assistance of Fringe Division to catch a serial killer by bringing over his double--who happens to be a college professor and criminal profiler--to their universe, in the hope he'll provide new insight into the psyche of the murderer. All does not go as planned...

Most Memorable Quote:
PROFESSOR MCCLENNAN: (to Olivia) You know what they say. That even when it's the darkest, we can step into the light.
OLIVIA: (privately. walking the corridors) He knows what she taught him, but he can't remember who she is. How is that possible?
BROYLES: At the risk of sounding sentimental... I've always thought there were people who leave an indelible mark on your soul. An imprint that can never be erased.

Like Peter, perhaps? Subtle writers are subtle.

Links:
Transcript
LA Times Recap
Entertainment Weekly
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 2.0—Fringe's "One Night in October". Sarah Stegall.
Thank God for the Wayback Machine.

Fanfiction:
Intersection by Kerwithyn. Two Olivias in one place is a lot for Lincoln to cope with. This is part of a series.
Threat Assessment by yours truly. Crossover with The X-Files. Hired as a consultant, Mulder meets with Special Agent Olivia Dunham to get some answers about John McClennan.
put your quarter down on me by monanotlisa. This-our- Olivia may play her cards close to the chest. But know this: she does play.

Please leave other suggestions and I'll edit them into the post.