Recap: 'Fringe' - 'A Short Story About Love'
The show gives some answers, but also provides a sub-par case of the week
Joshua Jackson of "Fringe"
Credit: Liane Hentscher/FOX
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Well, now we've got two of our real characters back. So that’s a start.
I’m accentuating the positive because I know if you’re still around, you still like “Fringe” and have little interest in reading anything negative. I don’t see a way in which this wasn’t the start of the show’s final stretch, but I really and truly hope there’s a fifth season of this show. Why? Well, for starters, it beats the hell out of another Gordon Ramsey-hosted cooking show populating the airwaves. Second? It might give the show a chance to go out on something besides a 22-episode recovery from a fundamental narrative mistake.
Even putting aside my season-long reservations with the decision to push Peter out of the way, this was a fairly mediocre episode of “Fringe.” “A Short Story About Love” finally put those two epically criss-crossed lovebirds together, and it’s a solid start for this stretch of eight consecutive episodes. But almost everything leading up until that climatic moment was a rote revisiting of the show’s signature moves. I’m all about a case-of-the-week that ties into the emotional state of the characters. Heck, that’s been the show’s MO since it found its groove near the end of Season 1. But when it feels like the show going through the motions rather than employing it as a dramatic necessity, the whole thing turns into a paint-by-numbers enterprise.
I’ve talked about “Fringe” with some friends over the hiatus, and a few of them pointed out just how much the missed the procedural nature of the show. It’s one thing for the show to go all in on its freaky nature. But it’s another to eschew a series of interconnected hours for a 22-chapter tale. I’d argue tonight’s episode had more of a stand-along aspect to its main plot than many of its episodes this season, but it wasn’t really strong. “Welcome to Westfield”, essentially a stand-along haunted town saga, worked wonderfully in comparison to this.
Tonight’s biggest problem? The villain of the week was non-descript to the point of being essentially invisible. Anson Carr was a cipher, not a fleshed-out character. (Pun semi-intended.) This meant his strategy – killing couples in the throes of love in order to concoct a love potion to enable everyone to fulfill their “right” to love – felt like filler more than the meat of the episode. I spent most of his onscreen time wanting to know how he ended up looking like a burn victim. Instead, we got vague proclamations about universal romantic rights. I wouldn’t harp on the lack of a three-dimensional villain, except the show has demonstrated its ability to do so on multiple occasions, especially this season. (Raymond from “And Those We’ve Left Behind” jumps instantly to mind.)
This, naturally, dovetailed into Olivia’s ongoing identity crisis in the wake of remembering things from the old universe. Whereas her memories of this universe once stood in the back of her mind, now they are disappearing completely. Also disappearing completely? Lincoln Lee’s dialogue, as he was reduced this week to making puppy eyes at Olivia and mentally humming Morrissey records to himself. As the two watch over a potential victim of Anson, they listen to her discuss how she’s never been truly able to shift from “being in love with someone” and “actually loving them.” This was the show’s anvilicious way of describing both Olivia and Lincoln. The latter pines for the former, whereas the former truly loves Peter. I think. I was having too many flashbacks to college and girls saying they “liked” me but didn’t “like like” me.
Where was Peter? On a scavenger hunt for September, thanks to Walter using a high-speed imaging capture machine to notice the Observer slipping a little note into Peter’s eye during their psychic confab. (Say what you will about “Fringe,” but what other show’s plot could be accurately described using that sentence?) The scavenger hunt leads Peter to September’s apartment, where he finds a GPS device that leads him to Foxboro. There, Peter finds not Tom Brady but rather a beacon, last seen for real in Season 1’s “The Arrival” (and inside the musical world of Season 2’s “Brown Betty”). Activating the beacon allows Peter to free September from whatever universal purgatory his fellow Observers had placed him in. I love the idea of September building an escape hatch. Nice of September to think ahead of the day in which he might need it, no? (Then again, it’s easy to think ahead when you essentially exist outside of time and space.)
After September appears, Peter begs the Observer to help him home. And here’s where September confirmed what I thought all season: Peter had been home all along, and that the Olivia now in this world in love with him is in fact the one he’s supposed to be with after all. On one hand, sweet: answers! On the other hand: didn’t we all at least suspect this? And if we didn’t, what to make of the final Olivia/Nina scene tonight? Objectively speaking, Anna Torv and Blair Brown knocked that sucker out of the park. Just awesome stuff between them in Nina’s well-appointed apartment. But all of the emotion of that scene is based upon the fundamental lie that is this entire season. How are we supposed to care about two characters about to lose memories of a reality that was never supposed to be in the first place? Shouldn’t we, in fact, be ROOTING for Olivia to not care and let the old memories wash over her?
September’s revelation sets up a myriad of questions about how the rest of the season will unfold. Is it enough that Peter and Olivia have found each other again? Will everyone else start remembering the way things were? Will reality itself start to shift along with the memories of those people? I’m not particularly interested in figuring that out, just as I’ve been generally uncurious about that all season. That I correctly predicted the nature of this universe isn’t something to boast about: It seemed like the logical end-game for this storyline. But having September essentially say, “A LOVE WIZARD DID IT!” seems like some seriously weak sauce. If powerful love could bring things back despite the universe’s desire to have it erased, then “Terriers” would still be on the air, darnit. I watch the show for these characters, and now I have another one fully back in the fold. The future can wait.
As for now, the real-deal versions of both Peter and Olivia are back. And that’s something. I don’t know if it will be enough to save the series from either cancellation or my low estimation, but it’s a start enough as we move through these next two months.
What did you think of the return of “Fringe”? Did The Observer’s revelations surprise you, or just confirm what you thought all along? Did Anson serve as solid villain or just an inferior version of the show’s normally strong antagonists? What do you want to see happen over the next few weeks if indeed this is the show’s final stretch? Sound off below!
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Next 47 CommentsBenS
March 23, 2012 at 11:09PM EST Reply to CommentI realized that I've been a bit dissapointed in this seasons because I've had the sense that it's been done far better before. Like a combination of the weakest parts of the 6th season of "Lost" and "It's a Wonderful Life." Sigh. I don't know why they didn't think we'd know that Peter WAS "where he was supposed to be?"
ML Many people weren't sure whether Peter was home or not. You should read other forums.
March 24, 2012 at 10:58AM ESTI loved the episode. First thought when it was over was how beautiful it was.
I'm hopeful for a season 5.
mesa
March 23, 2012 at 11:13PM EST Reply to Comment"Second? It might give the show a chance to go out on something besides a 22-episode recovery from a fundamental narrative mistake."
I agree with this completely. Most of this season has been a disappointment. With the cast teasing episode 19, I'm not expecting anything good -- or decent, until then.
mcklowry
March 23, 2012 at 11:18PM EST Reply to CommentI like-like this review. Hated this week's monster. Obviously all of the monsters are monsters responsible for terrible atrocities, but they were sympathetic because the actions were rooted in love, tragically so. But without a proper background story this man came off as a horriblly selfish and sadistic human being. (I'd have to do some research, but have we ever had a monster that so directly abd violently took lives? All I can think of is the blue mole thingy that ate people.)
I did enjoy the non-monster scenes, though I question whether Olivia would really make that decision. It just seems to me that this plot line was great for monster of the SEASON arc (Jones), but bad for the characters. September and the producers can keep telling us these are our characters, but they're not. They are out of context.
LoveWizard
March 23, 2012 at 11:43PM EST Reply to CommentWasn't this episode just Perfume (2006) told in a little over 40 minutes instead of the 147 minutes of the original feature?
That Peter was "home" all along was a surprise to me only due to the fact that I thought, "it couldn't possibly be this arbitrary". I for one felt that the concept of alternate timelines was pretty well established earlier this season, so to have September just say "love did it" and then disappear in a cloud of smoke was kind of insulting.
Alex C " I for one felt that the concept of alternate timelines was pretty well established earlier this season, so to have September just say "love did it" and then disappear in a cloud of smoke was kind of insulting." -- yeah, that's how I feel too. The writers made us an implicit promise for 3-1/2 seasons -- that all plot threads will be compatible with weirdo science -- so for them to say "just kidding! it's magic, not science" makes me feel like they pulled a fast one. Is this _Fringe_ or _Charmed_?
March 25, 2012 at 2:21PM ESTAlex C yes Perfume (the 1985 book and the 2006 movie) shares the central conceit -- the villain figures out how to physically distill a human's essence into a perfume -- but this Fringe episode did a poor job of telling the story so we would understand or empathize with the guy. Maybe they cut out all the expository scenes (like to explain why he's burned?) so they would have more time for the schmaltzy "love wizard" subplot.
March 25, 2012 at 2:37PM ESTBrian Leonard Agreed--this was a poor move. I'm thinking that perhaps at the time they wrote and shot this episode, they thought cancellation was imminent and they had to rush to start wrapping things up. Now, according to Ausiello, renewal is "a safe bet"--but he's been wrong on occasion. (Especially considering the lousy ratings this episode got.)
March 25, 2012 at 3:38PM ESTEgnirf
March 23, 2012 at 11:46PM EST Reply to CommentAnna Torv absolutely amazing, she is a genius, the Anna Torv and Blair Brown scenes brilliant, because of their acting, not so much what they had to say.
And such a shame they did so little with their relationship, they have fantastic chemistry.
And did Olivia really say that she, the amber version is a lesser one then the blue one? And blue was lesser then red last season. Why is it that Olivia has to say those lines?
Especially if nothing is done with her backstory, family, childhood, etc.
Since Westfield I have given up on Olivia Dunham being a real character, and now she has been between two Olivias for 4 episodes, and turns to be the Olivia Peter wants.
So Olivia is more like an Object, being what everyone wants her to be, and I doubt that Nina will take it like this, may be she is the one sending Olivia to the shrink from 3.01 (preview 4.16), another brainwash coming up?
Nina wants her to be like a daughter, so does Walter, what does David Robert Jones want, is Nina so easy because of him?
I am not sure about 4.16, but from what I read on the internet 4.17 and onwards are luckily moving away from Polivia, I am certain Anna must be sick of this needy Olivia girl.
I want my BAMF, strong, independent woman back.
ML She is still BAMF. She lit up that room in the last episode.
March 24, 2012 at 11:04AM ESTI think its important that Olivia made the choice about retaining Blue Olivia memories before she found out about Peter. She wasn't choosing love so much as she was choosing to be someone who remained open to the possibility of love. It was a choice about herself and what kind of person she wanted to be regardless of Peter, but it was also, of course, the choice that made the reunion at the end possible
Sophisticaz
March 24, 2012 at 1:15AM EST Reply to CommentI no longer understand what the eff is going on in Fringe. It's harder than Luck.
Jacob
March 24, 2012 at 1:17AM EST Reply to CommentThis was an awful episode. I slogged through season one because I heard that season two was so good, and it was. Season three was great.
Then came season four. It gets worse as the season unfolds. Tonight, we get the "wizard did it" excuse from the observer who says it can't be explained scientifically. Ugh!
Thanks anyway, but at this point I'd gladly take another Gordon Ramsey show.
ed w
March 24, 2012 at 1:21AM EST Reply to CommentI almost turned it off after the depressing pre credits scene. This episode at times veered into Criminal Minds territory with wallowing in suffering of victims and the death of that woman early on really bothered me and not in a way that draws me into the story.
But at least it wrapped up in a way that gives a little hope the show might get back on track.
If the series does get canceled, they can look back at this season and ask why they featured all season the most boring versions of both Lincoln and Olivia.
Jay
March 24, 2012 at 1:32AM EST Reply to CommentThe reception to these season has been really interesting. Even reading different reviews...you either hate it or love it. Some claim they 'broke' this show, but I don't agree. Yes, the love stuff was cheesy at times...but I liked the contrast with the MotW and Peter/Olivia. Was it the strongest? No. Yet, I really do believe they handled the love story well, and that ending made me happy.
txt
March 24, 2012 at 3:55AM EST Reply to Commentyes, the case this week was awful, forgettable and unsympathetic (what was the point?) i was only invested with Peter's part, and the reveal was what a lot of us have been expecting, that this Olivia is THE Olivia.
I'm still on-board with this season's narrative, but like a lot of fans are losing patience. just confused as ever.
guest
March 24, 2012 at 5:15AM EST Reply to Comment"Anna Torv and Blair Brown knocked that sucker out of the park."
couldn't say it better myself
Ken from Chicago
March 24, 2012 at 5:17AM EST Reply to CommentOf course. There were only two options, this wasn't Peter's pair of linked universes--or it was.
If the former, then the whole season has been basically a repeat of Season 3 where Olivia was Over There trying to get back home, or the latter, FRINGE's version of the middle part of BACK TO THE FUTURE 2 where Marty McFly returns to a 1985 that has been altered and he doesn't exist--except we didn't get to see a cool 2015 future where the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, hoverboards, and the hilarious 1980s-theme diners, or in the 1955 past with our heroes in the same scenes with themselves from different angles.
Instead all of this effort this season is basically for FRINGE to get back to the end of Season 3. Unlike BTTF2 where it only lasted 2 hours and we knew time had been altered, with FRINGE season 4 we weren't sure of the setting we were watching. Had this been resolved early on, much like S3 finally sent Olivia back home by the Winter hiatus, the fan reactions might have been different.
Also if the show had been clear there would have been less frustration from fans.
Personally, that this season was set in Peter's time-altered universe(s) seemed the only option to do from an entertainment point of view so we'd care about the characters, otherwise we'd spent the season following characters we'd never see again--without seeing "our" characters all this time (another difference from S3).
There were clues with TPTB saying we were seeing a different side of our characters, but that was in interviews outside of the show, not in the show itself. Plus showrunners and screen writers have been known to lie or be mistaken or change their minds about what's going on in a tv series (e.g., Joss Whedon: No new slayer will be "activated" in S3 of BUFFY--and then Faith showed up).
-- Ken from Chicago
P.S. All this effort just for Peter to be told by September that this is his home and Olivia is his Olivia, that's it? Kind of a let down like September merely stating the Observers are merely humans from "a" very advanced future timeline. Well, at least we can look forward to a very ticked off Lane Pryc-er, Professor Moriar-er Robert David Bruce Bann-er Robert David Jones.
http://marvel.wikia.com/Hulk_(Robert_Bruce_Banner)
Izzy
March 24, 2012 at 5:58AM EST Reply to CommentI don't understand why you are disappointed regarding September's explanation. Surely that is the logical conclusion of the storyline for the season that the writers have been building up to this point?! This is not a brain teaser competition. If the explanation is anything other than what happen, would you be throwing your remote at the tv and angry with the show even more? Why are you still reviewing a show you don't care for? Surely life is too short to do thing you don't enjoy.
dexx Like you, I am satisfied with September's explanation but I think (and I hope that I don't change the subject here too much) this is a perfect example of why it is sometimes best to be able to draw conclusions based on our own theories or given info rather than be given a concrete answer to something and have to accept it as absolute. The Lost method (which in theory could have been used here concerning the observers) would tick of a lot of people but at least those who don't like the explanation wouldn't be stuck with it. Like I said, I agree that it was a logical explanation but I can see why it isn't satisfying to some.
March 24, 2012 at 11:00AM ESTmcklowry I agree with Dexx. The observers are all knowing, or at least they seem to be. Imagine how powerful it would have been for him to simply say that he didn't know. The final scene then would have been able to imply that it was love.
March 24, 2012 at 11:46AM ESTAlex C Dexx, how can you consider "there is no scientific explanation" to be a satifactory explanation in a show about science?
March 24, 2012 at 6:27PM ESTDexx As Izzy said, and I agreed with "Surely that is the logical conclusion of the storyline for the season that the writers have been building up to this point". I also answered that when I said that sometimes when things are flat out explained, people still get annoyed because the given explanation has to be concrete wheras no definitive explanation avoids that and allows for anyone's idea of why something is happening to be correct.
March 24, 2012 at 11:48PM ESTIzzy
March 24, 2012 at 6:01AM EST Reply to CommentI don't understand why you are disappointed re: September's explanation. Surely that is the only logical conclusion of the storyline for the season that the writers have been building up to this point?! This is not a brain teaser competition to see who is smarter. If the explanation is anything other than what happen, would you be throwing your remote at the tv? Why are you still reviewing a show you don't care for? Surely life is too short to do thing you don't enjoy.
Teproc
March 24, 2012 at 6:30AM EST Reply to Comment"Shouldn’t we, in fact, be ROOTING for Olivia to not care and let the old memories wash over her?"
That's... kindq the point I think. It's Fringe pulling a Sopranos : questioning the viewers desires by showing how problematic they are.
Also, it comes back to the overarching question in Fringe : what makes us human ? The choice Olivia makes here, even if/though you don't car about this Olivia or this Nina, is pretty horrible. As a whole, I agree with your take on the decision that was made this season, but that scene worked for me, because even if I didn't know these people AT ALL it would be emotionally involving.
Chosing to scratch your actual life for one you imagined is powerful stuff.
That being said, fairly weak episode, saved by strong moment such as the aforementioned scene between Nina and Olivia, or the last scene too.
John
March 24, 2012 at 7:28AM EST Reply to CommentAs much as I have serious problems with the Star Wars prequels, to the point of having to sit through Episode I changing my body chemistry, I won't say that George Lucas made a "mistake." he made, in my opinion, unbelievably poor choices, but art is art, and there is no "correct" way of going about creating art, or telling a story. I respect your opinions, though I very often disagree, but I don't understand how you can state the writers made a "fundamental narrative mistake." thre is only the opinion of good choices or bad choices, but thy are th creator's choices, and thy are only ours to enjoy or not. Perhaps I'm arguing semantics, but at least all our venting comes out of a passion for a show we all have loved. However, I don't suppose to know how to write the show better than the creators, and neither should you. Ours is only to agree or disagree with their choices...having gotten that out of the way, I wholeheartedly agree that this played as a mediocre, paint-by-numbers episode.
Riley
March 24, 2012 at 9:21AM EST Reply to Comment"Here, Peter finds not Tom Brady but rather a beacon.." Classic line that made me crack up. Good review.
RileyJMU
March 24, 2012 at 9:22AM EST Reply to Comment"Here, Peter finds not Tom Brady but rather a beacon.." Classic line that made me crack up. Good review.
mesa
March 24, 2012 at 9:50AM EST Reply to CommentThe problem (imo) is Peter disappearing and having the show take a whole season instead of a short arc to get back to the 'present' narrative. In the S3 finale, we saw the future! We want to be heading towards there, or at least a place where the two sides were facing off, or just starting an agreement. Not backwards.
mcklowry I agree. Season 3 was as good as it was because it Resolved the first arc I the season in 8 episodes, and moved on to the consequences and next arc, thea machine. There were way too many unnecessary episodes. If they had consolidated this first arc, maybe so many people wouldn't be disappointed.
March 24, 2012 at 10:01AM ESTI do wonder though, if Olivia is now our Olivia (or will be) wouldnt she, like Peter, want everything to go back to the way it was? Is that their goal moving forward? That and stopping Jones?
egnirf
March 24, 2012 at 10:59AM EST Reply to CommentRewatched:
The Olivia and Nina scenes, especially at the end, so so brilliant, what a shame they did so little with them, Anna Torv and Blair Brown are fantastic together.
Olivia and Walter: wonderful scenes , Anna and John Noble great chemistry, and once again why so few scenes with them after Subjetc 9?
Olivia and Lincoln, loved them ,I prefer any olivia with any Lincoln,
Wich is because I do not like how Peter has been made the superguy Olivia has to be dependent on, or needy for, or that every Olivia has to be how Peter wants her to be, but all the different versions of Olivia fall for the same guy???
Anna Torv, truly awesome. Through her acting the entire memory loss story is so powerful, could she please be at least nominated for an Emmy?
Fringe Questions:
Why is Olivia the one who has to erase herself knowingly? Bigger sacrifice then that of Peter.
And is actually Anna Torv doing all the hard work in finding home.
Is it because they had wrap up teh story quicker, as J.Jackson thinks making a film is more important then working hard on Fringe? he gets his season, and then they have to rewrite and reschedule for him, probably teh reason Over There has been used so little, only will be back when he was away.
If Peter has to find his way home, why did I never get the feeling he did do something otherwise then telling?
Wy is the strong , independent, FBI agent, someone who stood up for herself even as a child, made so dependent of one guy, so that Olivia's only storyline since Firefly last season has been Peter?
Why have they never done anything with Olivia Dunhams past: abuse, stepfather, motehr, father, and this season sister, we did not get a seasons 1-3, this season we got a bit with Nina, but that she has to give up for Peter.
March 24, 2012 at 12:44PM ESTguest katie holmes? dawson's creek? wtf?
March 24, 2012 at 1:37PM ESTCESAR
March 24, 2012 at 12:12PM EST Reply to CommentI didn't realize we weren't suppose to know that Peter was in the original universe. I thought the question was, when will everyone realize it?
He linked the universes, then disappeared. He comes back with the universes still linked. What was the confusion (question)?
Cesar
March 24, 2012 at 12:14PM EST Reply to CommentWrite I didn't realize we weren't suppose to know that Peter was in the original universe. I thought the question was, when will everyone realize it?
He linked the universes, then disappeared. He comes back with the universes still linked. What was the confusion (question)?
Shaun
March 24, 2012 at 12:37PM EST Reply to CommentRyan, I've hated your low opinion of Fringe this season, but I have to give you credit here since your opinion of this episode is pretty much exactly the same as mine.
I still disgree with you mightily about the entire nature of this season, and I've enjoyed pretty much everything up to this point, but "A Short Story About Love," had a pointless MOTW (I too wanted to know how he came to be so hideously scarred) who decided he wanted to feel love, and even "market" love, but brutally kill people piles of people to do it? WTF?
September's speechifying about "love" was cringeworthy, and I really didn't get what was up with the clue left in Peter's eye... So the other Observers essentially jail September, but also leave Peter a clue to find their little frat house and ultimately find the beacon to free him? Or did September leave the eye clue? Since he was dying on Walter's table, I'm guessing not.
I still love the show, and I think season four has been great up until now, but I understand the questions about what purpose everything had if Peter came back to where he should've been all along (which I'd suspected all along). What happens to everybody else's memories now? What about "over there"?
Ultimately, I think an altered timeline was the way they were able to bring David Robert Jones back. That's a good thing, and I hope there will be more intrigue, and purpose, in the final seven episodes of this season (series?).
Torquil
March 24, 2012 at 3:09PM EST Reply to CommentI assumed that - given the show's habit of the procedural mirroring the character's personal lives - the villain's reason for being in the episode, and doing what he did (love and attraction are biological, chemically based emotions, and therefore can be manipulated) was to give credibility to the idea that the love between Peter and Olivia would actually be enough to start altering reality, or in Olivia's case, reverse the affects of reality being altered. Which kinda ties into there being a machine that interfaces with a person to allow them to alter reality in a multitude of ways. I think that's a good continuation of the end of season 3 - it just took SO LONG to get there.
One thing I want to know - the drawings of Peter and Olivia that showed them operating the machine in unison: were they made by Walter and Peter from the possible future, then deposited in the past? Or were they drawn in the past? I was a little confused as to why they would be hand-drawn, in a Da Vinci-ish sketch form. I know that's from a long time ago, but this all reminded me of that. That and the complete fail in not making Sam Weiss anything other than a plot dead end. That scene where Broyles tells him he's done? Worst scene ever.
Gen
March 24, 2012 at 3:10PM EST Reply to CommentWhat I don't get is WHY they set up the question of where/who. What was this diversion for? Was it just another excuse to do more versions of Olivia and Walter? I'm not sure what purpose in the overall story it served.
HitFix
March 24, 2012 at 4:36PM EST Reply to CommentI am most definitely unimpressed by this season and will not follow it as passionately as I did if it gets renewed. I think they just made a complete mess this year. The worse thing for me is seeing all the fans go on twitter exclaiming to the showrunners how every episode is the best thing they have ever seen while privately grumbling about the plot, the mythology, characterizations and the stand alone cases. Is it any wonder the showrunners think they are dong a stand-up job, when they have fans singing their praises?
Jay Well actually there are critics who enjoyed this episode too. Maybe...read more than one review. At the end of the day, the showrunners felt this was the direction they wanted to go. Was it a mistake? Maybe. Maybe not. If you were on board with this 'reboot', then there was a payoff. If you didn't feel anything with these characters, then no matter the resolution, you'd be much more indifferent.
March 24, 2012 at 4:51PM ESTtxt
March 24, 2012 at 5:05PM EST Reply to Comment"Fringe can be a little ham-fisted when it comes to emotions. The show handles complex scientific concepts with ease but delicate matters of the heart can be a little tricky. I was left scratching my head after Olivia explained to Nina at the end about how listening to a wife talk about her husband who was having an affair made her realize that she wants to pursue her love for Peter. Seemed like a bit of a stretch. That doesn’t mean I’m any less excited to see how it plays out."
This paragraph from LATimes' recap sum up my feeling about this episode too. I'm getting impatient, but I'm still on the ride for how the writers want to resolve this season.
Tausif Khan
March 24, 2012 at 5:15PM EST Reply to CommentAgreed.
I disliked the episode for only one scene. The answer scene. I felt that September should have said nothing more than "You are home". If he was to explain anything he should have just reminded Peter that this is what he wanted when he stepped into the machine.
Either this or after September said "You are home" they should have done a visual montage of key points of Peter with his family to evoke feelings of love and close and notice making us understand sympathetically that Peter is home.
I liked the additions of the close relationships Lincoln Lee and Nina Sharp had with Olivia. I liked Astrid's expanded role. They shouldn't lose those things because it made the show feel more real and whole. It made the show better.
I was very unhappy with this episode and it does not make me look forward to the conclusion.
TVDIVA
March 24, 2012 at 6:04PM EST Reply to CommentThe theme of the whole series is love - Walter's love for his son, Peter's love and forgiveness for his father, Peter and Olivia's love for each other - and the small family created with Walter/Olivia/Peter and by extension Astrid/Broyles/Nina (in the rebooted timeline). While I prefer stronger episodes like Welcome to Westfield, I thoroughly enjoyed the last ten minutes of tonight's episode. Did I think we should have gotten there faster - like say by episode three? Yes, but I am not writing the series so I have to take the episodes as they come. I think September is a descendant of Olivia and Peter. I also think we still have the Observer's prediction that Olivia must die no matter what timeline she is in to deal with. If that means Walter and Peter are raising baby Henry alone I will not be a happy camper. But again, we have to wait and see what happens when Mr. Jones and Meana (Blair Brown's nickname for Alt-Nina) stir things up in the last seven episodes.
Alex C
March 24, 2012 at 6:24PM EST Reply to CommentSo which is it? Is love more powerful than psuedoscience (according to the Observer) or is pseudoscience more powerful than love (according to the villainous pseudoscientist of the week)?
This episode completely deflated whatever benefit of the doubt I was still giving the writers this season. If they need to resort to a deus ex machine (or as you put it "love wizard") to write them out of a narrative corner then I have no pity for them.
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