Recap: 'Fringe' - 'A Better Human Being'
A strong episode for Anna Torv, but one that also missed some big opportunities
Anna Torv and Joshua Jackson of "Fringe"
Credit: FOX
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Know what? I like me some Anna Torv. I don’t say it enough, so I’m probably overdue in saying it. But watching her play a cool, calm, suddenly whole Olivia Dunham reminded me just how much I’ve missed that character on my television screen this season. So, do you reward a show for giving you what you want, or curse it for making you wait so long for it? That’s the choice before me with “Fringe.”
In reading theories about what’s been going on this season on the show, I came across a variety of pretty out-there takes on what has transpired. I’ve only ever thought about it in a single way. That’s not to say that my take is remotely right, nor that all others are instantly wrong. But I’ve also not especially cared about my theory, since the root cause of my issues wouldn’t go away even if I was incorrect. Some theories have given me nosebleeds upon reading, because they possess a level of sophistication and creative imagination that is staggering yet completely impractical for a television show. Being “right” about a show is such a tiresome way to look at things that I try to do it as little as possible.
In my mind, we never left the two universes on display in the first two seasons. Rather than “Fringe” exponentially expanding the possible worlds at play, I simply assumed that Over Here (OH) and Over There (OT) had their histories rewritten with Peter Bishop removed from the equation. As such, no one physically went anywhere: they just had different ideas of how they got to the place they were when Peter disappeared. Peter eventually came back to the same two worlds that now had different post-1985 histories. “Fringe” spent a lot of time and energy convincing the character that he had to physically return to where he came from, but I never thought the audience was supposed to think anything other than what I just postulated.
But even if I’m wrong, little would retroactively change in my general dislike of this season. No matter what has transpired, I’ve watched a show that displayed theoretical versions of beloved characters. Having this Peter be THE Peter was a breath of fresh air, and a step in the right direction. And getting OH Olivia back into the fold is a great relief as well. But rather than look at “A Better Human Being” as a triumph of long-form storytelling, I look at it as a prime example of how planning for the long-term often impacts the short-term in a negative manner.
I praised “Welcome to Westfield” last week for being an effective hour of television unto itself. “A Better Human Being” functioned not as an episode but a placeholder until we get to what looks like some seriously awesome stuff next week. (Yes, I can dislike what’s going on and still be tantalized by what’s to come. Put the pitchforks down.) The best episodes of “Fringe” push the show’s story along via a case of the week that thematically links to a personal issue amongst the core characters. “A Better Human Being” paid lip service to this structure, but really failed to connect the hivemind-like nature of a set of artificially inseminated children and the newly whole Olivia Dunham. (In fact, as I’ll get into a little later, this episode would have been much stronger had the show just forgone a case altogether.)
Not having the two aspects of the show link up isn’t a crime. But it did make for a disjointed episode. Getting the OH Olivia back felt like such a huge moment in this season that any casework felt unnecessary at best, and distracting at worst. Far be it for me to tell the writers of the show how to organize an hour of their program, but Olivia’s “return,” if you will, felt like the perfect opportunity to take a character-based plot breather before getting to the juicy stuff next time around. There are multiple ways of advancing story, and some of them don’t require a “plot” per se in order to do so. With Olivia’s return, everything needed to stop and address this particular revelation and how it might affect everyone around them. Long-term televised narratives offer the chance to simply have characters interact without the need to actually do anything substantial. Then again, I’d call “finding out what the hell is going on with Olivia” fairly substantial.
“A Better Human Being” did this character work on a partial scale with Peter and Walter. This Walter still has a history to which I cannot relate, but his anger towards Peter for potentially activating Olivia’s empathy in order to absorb Peter’s memories of her still felt like something OH Walter would have done. The shame from trying to keep a version of Peter that didn’t belong to him works for both versions in an equal manner, so this was strong. For his part, Peter got to call upon memories that are shared with the audience: namely, his inability to recognize OT Fauxlivia during the ol’ switcheroo at the outset of Season 3. And every moment in which Olivia didn’t engage in histrionics over her newfound memories was refreshing and surprising. It’s a choice I didn’t expect from either show or actor, but still felt like the right decision when played out on screen.
What did not feel right was her continuing to work on the same case even after fully placing OH Olivia’s memories in the forefront of her cortexiphan-laced noggin. You could argue that her professional demeanor kept her working, but that’s the type of “realism” that I can do without in “Fringe.” In this, and all shows, I expect emotional clarity first and practical realism second. It never felt right that it was business as usual for everyone, as it would seem more likely that everything would have ground to a freakin’ halt. So, having Lincoln pursue leads with Walter while poor Astrid hung out with telepathically-troubled Sean all episode divided the team up at the precise moment they should have been closer than ever.
The split-up served story, not character, as “Fringe” needed to get certain characters into the deep bowels of Massive Dynamic in order to finally make progress on a plot that’s been in development all season. In testing Olivia’s brainwaves after the return of her OH self, Walter discovered recently administered doses of cortexiphan into her system. (Thus, Olivia being gassed and injected with needles that led to migraines.) Walter and Lincoln confronted Nina, who took them to the biometrically secured vault to show no samples have been missing. Walter drinks a sample (because let’s face it, in every possible reality, he drinks everything) and realizes the samples are fakes. Cut to a newly kidnapped Olivia, who sits in a cell with…the real Nina. Thus, the Nina all season has been a shapeshifter under the orders of David Robert Jones. So, Season 4 of “Fringe” takes its cues from Book 4 in J.K. Rowling’s best-selling series. It’s “Harry Potter And The Doomsday Machine of Fire”!
In other words, we’ve paid off a storyline in a reality that might eventually be erased. Olivia’s combination of the two memories suggests that the world perhaps won’t rewrite itself, although how that would work for people who died in the OH/OT worlds but are now alive is unclear. Even if people remember how things were, that’s still not how they are. People remember both sets of things that happened, but only one reality remains? Huh? Honestly, it does my head in to even think about, and it’s the type of issue that’s fun to talk about in your dorm room after a bagful of illegal substances, but simply clouds over what should be key in a television series. Talking about how things might be is interesting. Talking about how things actually are is perhaps less interesting but more vital.
“A Better Human Being” without any trace of the hive-mind narrative probably wouldn’t have been perfect, but it almost definitely would have been an improvement. Having a rip-roaring adventure in a town that’s threatening to disappear from existence can be a blast. But it can be equally thrilling to spend time with characters as they work through important moments in their lives. They don’t always need a wormhole in time to affect that. Sometimes, just being around each other at critical junctures in their lives can do the same thing. Tonight was just such a juncture. And yet “Fringe” ran through the intersection without so much as a pause, because it had story points that took precedent over character moments. This almost never happened before Peter stepped into the machine, but now it happens on an alarmingly regular basis.
What did you think of “A Better Human Being”? Coming around on this season of “Fringe,” much like Olivia is coming around to her old self? Did this simply augment your already positive take on the proceedings? Did the Nina reveal surprise you or just make your eyes roll? Sound off below!
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupLoloa
February 18, 2012 at 12:13AM EST Reply to CommentYou are aware that there were OTHER good performances in this episode not just Anna Torv, right?
Jake Collin I think it goes without saying that John Noble is always kick ass. Walter interacting with crazy people is always an interesting expedition.
February 18, 2012 at 12:19AM ESTMolly I wonder if you would be so whiny if he went on about John Noble's performance? I think not. But only talking about the females acting? That's just gross..
February 18, 2012 at 12:36AM ESTryanmcgee LOLOA: I've definitely praised the other actors this season at one time or another. And in general, what's let me down this season aren't the actors so much as the writers. But tonight both combined to make Olivia more vibrant than at any point I can remember this season.
February 18, 2012 at 12:49AM ESTanon Anna Torv & John Noble are exceptional actors and the episode rocked.
February 18, 2012 at 5:20AM ESTObservations Anna Torv again mindblowingly awesome, what she does two blonde Olivia's shifting, the nuances, brilliant.
February 18, 2012 at 9:34AM ESTAnna Torv had to wait years for some credit, she had to play multiuple versions of a character for some credit, Ryan McGeen only gave her some credit in season 3, as he like all people fall for the sentimental crap that Noble and Jackson get as the Bishop Boys.
So for years it was all about them, and if finally Anna Torv gets the recognition she deserves from the pilot, jackson and Noble fans are everywhere sttacking and abusing her.
Even as far as rebuilding IMDB, what a childish bunch.
Just except that what Anna Torv does, John Noble is not able to do.
John Noble had the luck of Walter, the best written character on tv, his Walternate is nothing without the lines.
Anna Torv created Fauxlivia herself, and Oliviain every version has the depth becuase of her interpretation, which is evident as she is able to show those Olivia's like that, without telling me, but showing me.
So Anna Torv is long overdue for real praise and recognition.
jmr1948
February 18, 2012 at 12:51AM EST Reply to CommentAnna Torv was masterful in re-portraying the inlovewithPeterandthusalive Olivia. Suddenly she was so beautiful. Don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. But I do hate the show for making me wait to see what's going to happen to those two crazy kids now that Olivia's been captured.
Observations Yes completely awesome acting, mindblowing, beautiful, and all those subtle nuances, Anna Torv has now all these Olivia's in her head, and you can SEE which one is which, truly brilliant.
February 18, 2012 at 9:36AM ESTH Jon B
February 18, 2012 at 2:00AM EST Reply to CommentSo I guess the Peter season has not started yet? you know? the one where he has a sentilla of an arc?
This is why the ratings suck, Wyman and Pinkner lie through there teeth. They promised something of a Peter arc or Peter season and have failed to deliver.
Idiots.
Observations Peter has been ceter since season 3 episode 10, it was all abo8ut him, his choices, his machine, he being the super super hero.
February 18, 2012 at 9:52AM ESTIt is alla bout him now, Olivia is turning around him, he is super jesus, super man, super hero.
What else do you want?
And with all the media thinking that everyone watches because superstar Jackson, did not happen when he returned, was not the case in for example the finale 3.2, when he was central.
The worst part of Fringe is Jackson in it, most of all because he dominates the media attention, from the beginning at the expense of the rest of the cast.
This season was great but critics all made it that it was not becuase Jackson was not in int, the moment he was back all praise.
I think it is sad that Anna Torv has to talk about Jackson in each and every interview, since the pilot, and with her all other cast memebers.
Observations some erros:
February 18, 2012 at 9:59AM ESTBasically Fox and Warner Brothers and Jeff Pinkner consider Jackson their superstar, he gets the special treatment.
Jackson never is being asked about Anna Torv, he has completely ignored her in near all of his interviews, but Anna Torv is ecpected to talk about him in each and every interview from the pilot onwards.
Becuase Jackson went to the media early season 3 to aomplain the media thinks he is a poor boy, in season 2 he got far more screentime then Anna, season 1 and 2 was about Walter and Peter, Anna had to be a profesional ,
Jackson being the superstar went to the media blamed Olivia , and his fans have been insulting and abusing Anna ever since.
Thom Peter's season will never happen. It was never in the producers' minds and I wouldn't waste time hoping for one.
February 19, 2012 at 4:39AM ESTChristopher
February 18, 2012 at 2:44AM EST Reply to CommentYou are ignoring that Pinkner keeps saying that this is not our(Peter's) Olivia. Or don't you read their interviews? I think perhaps she is channeling Olivia's memories the way the hiveboys were channeling into the kid in the asylum. Real voices from someone else; and real memories----but from someone else.
ryanmcgee Sure, I am ignoring interviews. Because I am reviewing episodes, not interviews. What someone says in an interview has no bearing on what actually transpires onscreen.
February 18, 2012 at 3:23AM ESTCopper Unfortunately I think the producers have led the viewed astray with those interviews. Of this wasn't peters Olivia they would not have built up and included the moment where Peter says that he doesn't want to make the same mistake again by misjudging which Olivia he is with. I'm disappointed with wyman and Pinkner, people put allot of stick in those interviews.
February 18, 2012 at 10:47AM ESTCooper Excuse my terrible autocorrect above. Should be "viewers" "If" and "stock"
February 18, 2012 at 10:49AM ESTed w A show should be judged by what is on the screen, not the interpretation, analysis or in some cases spin producers put on it. A lesson learned from Lost.
February 18, 2012 at 12:10PM ESTcrack3d
February 18, 2012 at 2:46AM EST Reply to CommentHow many times does this make now that some version of Olivia has been captured? Because it feels like a lot.
Christopher A million and two. Plus, injected with something to knock her out and drug her up. That's Olivia's lot in any universe--fall for the one and only Peter Bishop, and then get kidnapped, and injected.
February 18, 2012 at 2:51AM ESTObservations What they have done with Olivia since season 3 especially I dislike, especially after 3.10, when she was reduced to an insecure peters girl, whicj theu have now done as well.
February 18, 2012 at 9:43AM ESTOne of the reason I like the beginning of this season, is that Olivia was allowed to be strong again, but with peter back and him being made ahero since 3,10, gone is that.
I hope that she will save herself in 4.14 but Pinkner had decided that from 3.10 onwards Peter is the hero saving Olivia, so lets hope at least Fauxlivia remains strong and independent.
Looks Like Lincoln with glasses returned a shapeshifter, working with Nina , this version? altversion? And we will we now learn what Jones wants of Olivia?
Guest I'm sick of it as well crack3d. It's like the writers don't have any other ideas lately. What about all the plot points which have been dropped so far in the series. Surely they could expand on a few of those.
February 20, 2012 at 3:24AM ESTWhy haven't we seen more of Broyles? Looks like they are trying to give Astrid more to do which is great. They should be giving her alot more of Olivia's duties as an FBI agent out in the field. They have shown that a little bit more now and I like it and want to see more Astrid and less Olivia please.
I'm hoping this is the last season, as it's gotten too repetitive and there are way too many versions of the same characters now.
@ GUEST Astrid is fine in small doses.Keep in mind that Olivia,Walter and Peter are our main characters.You are hoping that this will be the last season?Really?If you don't like the show just change the channel.
February 20, 2012 at 11:13AM EST@ "@ Guest" Just because someone wants a story to wrap up does not mean she or he dislikes the story. Drawing a good story line out too far can be detrimental to quality of the show. This is one reason I tend to like British TV with shorter but intense plots.
May 2, 2012 at 6:09AM ESTJC
February 18, 2012 at 4:30AM EST Reply to CommentQuestion for any Fringe fans that might be slightly more attentive to detail than I am: Is there an alternate universe Nina Sharp? The review speculated that one of the Nina Sharps was a shapeshifter; is it at all possible that she's simply the "over there" version? That was my first instinct, but given Jones' involvement, shapeshifter might make more sense.
Lou Well these new shapeshifters can replicate the subjets exact DNA, so the Biometric Scanner that Nina accessed could be done by alt over there nina or a shapeshifter.
February 18, 2012 at 5:58AM ESTPlus is the Nina who is bound along with Olivia our alt Nina or over there alt nina or another shapeshifter their to manipulate Olivia? or it can be a host of different possiblities because there are infinite amount of universes out there and Fringe likes to play fast and loose with its material to keep the plot going even if a thousand questions get left behind in the process.
Oh to be an average show with no respect for fans.
fringefan108
February 18, 2012 at 6:57AM EST Reply to CommentAnyone else think that the Nina at the end of the episode alternate Nina acting like the Nina Olivia's known?
jmsax1138
February 18, 2012 at 9:20AM EST Reply to CommentI wouldn't be so quick to assume that he Nina that Walter and Lincoln went to see in MD is the shapeshifter Nina...I'd like to think that that Nina is the real Nina, working with September to restore things back to the way they were, holed up securely within the security of MD where David Robert Jones can't get at her, and where she can access Cortexaphan and use it to dose Olivia and bring her (and her memories) "back." The Nina that is locked in a basement with Olivia would then be the shapeshifter, planted by DRJ there to falsely convince Olivia that her newfound memories are all just a trick, implanted memories ala Blade Runner, when in fact, they aren't. And of course, Olivia will come to realize this because of her love for Peter, because in Fringe, love conquers all. And this is the rare case where, if I'm right and I have it all figured out, I won't be angry with the writers for not coming up with something I didn't see coming, but glad that this season has actually transpired in our beloved OH/OT universe, with the characters we've all loved simply mass-brainwashed. And if you still think that this season has been a huge misfire at that point, then I'll have no reason to read any of your columns again.
ed w
February 18, 2012 at 12:14PM EST Reply to CommentThis episode was an improvement but the scene in the truck near the end was the biggest romantic anti-climax I've seen in ages. "I have to pee." Really, writers?
Brendan D
February 18, 2012 at 1:15PM EST Reply to CommentI sometimes feel like I'm a rarity among "Fringe" fans. I have loved the majority of this season because the show has done precisely what I prefer a show to do: use week-to-week installments like chapters of a book. I know a lot of people prefer their serials a little less serialized, and I get why people have had such an issue with the storytelling this year, but I, frankly, have loved it. I liked seeing Peter as a fish out of water for a change rather than in control and in charge like he always is (he was getting a little too Captain Kirk for me last season). I've enjoyed seeing the motherly side of Nina, the fatherly side of Walter not limited solely to his interactions with Peter, and basically anything involving Lincoln (who, by the way, is so many billions of worlds better than John Scott ever was).
So yeah, I'm still hooked, and I'll continue praising the show. I'm sorry you, Ryan, and so many others have been so disappointed by it.
Ken Raining I'm with you, Brendan.
February 19, 2012 at 12:10AM ESTOldDarth Ditto. It is like two people looking at something using a pair of binoculars and asserting that the other one is using the wrong end.
February 19, 2012 at 9:18AM ESTDetermining the nature of the puzzle of the season is secondary in relation as to how said puzzle is going be resolved.
The writing has been as strong as always for me this season.
Next week's episode looks epic.
Sophisticaz
February 18, 2012 at 2:22PM EST Reply to CommentI like the photo you chose to accompany this post. Hey, Peter, is that a torch in your pocket?
shutupobservations
February 18, 2012 at 2:26PM EST Reply to CommentCAN SOMEBODY PLEASE BAN THIS ANNOYING ASS ANNA TORV! SHE IS ALWAYS ACCUSES PEOPLE OF ABUSING ANNA BUT SHE KEEPS ABUSING JOSH, JOHN AND JASIKA! SOMEBODY SHUT THIS BITCH UP!
guest take your meds patty
February 18, 2012 at 3:05PM ESTshutupobservations Of course as per usual, MY POSTS get attacked while this Anna Torv/Joshua jackson hating poster named observations is allowed to spread lies and hate towards Josh. This site is banned. I hate observations.
February 19, 2012 at 6:47AM ESTRoberto
February 18, 2012 at 9:03PM EST Reply to CommentA couple of corrections... Pretty sure Walter found the cortexaphan in the hair sample, but that's minutia. Also, don't be so sure bad Nina is a SS. It could be altNina. Couldn't agree more that this is still a different reality. In some ways a much better one. No baby momma, no smashed Altverse, no Walter Wars. Again, it wasn't as if Peter's Olivia was pining away for him somewhere. This IS his Olivia minus knowing him for 3 years and the step dad thing. Wouldn't put it past Walter to drink the cortexaphan. He probably has before. But he could also have spit it out had it been the real thing.
Thom
February 19, 2012 at 4:50AM EST Reply to CommentThe case of the week was really lame, I concur, but the rest wasn't half bad. Seeing two Ninas was a shocking reveal and now I'll spend the time till next episode wondering, which Nina is the alternate one. I don't think any of them is a shapeshifter.
MGR
February 19, 2012 at 1:20PM EST Reply to CommentI agree with the author's theory--this is the same OT and OH with different histories post 1985 and we, the audience, are supposed to know that. Only Peter should be confused. Olivia's memory and Walter's personality changes reflect the self-correcting resulting from Peter's return. Now I will read the rest of the recap, which I may or may not agree with :-)
MGR
February 19, 2012 at 1:42PM EST Reply to CommentOK--read the rest. I think the cortexiphan sped up Olivia's memory return, but I believe we are already seeing it in Walter and will in Astrid and Broyles as well. It is the ripple effect. Those closest to where the rock landed in the body of water (Peter) will be most affected, and as the ripple speads it will lessen in impact. Those closest to Peter will start to remember and will have to struggle with integrating memories of the original timeline and the rewritten timeline, but most of the 2 worlds will remain unaffected in the new timeline.
SpyTV
February 28, 2012 at 1:04AM EST Reply to CommentI've watched every Fringe episode, and I like the overall arc of this season, but the "Bee" story of this episode seriously sucked. I have no complaints about the acting, and I like the recovery of Olivia's memories, and the alt-Nina angle, but I've never seen a case of the week (even if they were trivial) botched as bad as this one. I've been to a bunch of websites, and no one knows or cares what happens (I don't mind not caring, but a show needs to be at least comprehensible!). So the brothers kill the father, and.... what? They disappear? the hive is dissolved? He wanted to die, or not? Why even bother with the case? It's too bad, because Astrid had a nice scene with the mental patient. Even though it advances the story a bit, I agree with this review. It felt like a placeholder that largely wasted my time, with another poorly edited penultimate scene (Olivia suddenly has to pee, then is in a vault?). I hope I like next week a lot more, definitely the worst episode of the season for me.