Recap: 'Fringe' - 'Enemy of My Enemy'
Jones is back, in an episode that would have been a series highlight in another universe
John Noble and Joshua Jackson of "Fringe"
Credit: FOX
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Producing a television show is a tricky thing. There are so many ways to go wrong that it’s a miracle when anything goes right. Starting around the halfway point of Season 1, and stretching through the penultimate episode of Season 3, “Fringe” did almost everything right. Moreover, they did it in a way that gave the illusion that television is in fact quite easy to pull off. Nothing could be further from the truth, and not for a single second would I ever retroactively take back anything positive I had to say about those two and a half years. But this fourth season is a prime example of how quickly a show can go off the rails.
In some ways, “Enemy of My Enemy” was a strong episode of television, if you took out all surrounding context and saw this as a stand-alone episode of an anthology series. All the promise laid out at the end of Season 3 came to a head with the formation of a dual-universe coalition to deal with a common threat. Said threat was a crafty bugger with seemingly endless connections and yet a fatal flaw that gave us hope that our heroes could ultimately win. There were some moments of genuine human emotion laid out amidst vastly complex scientific ideas. But just like this version of David Robert Jones, “Fringe” has a fatal flaw: the entire fourth season is, in and of itself, out of context.
Now, I’ve said this every week. And I’ll keep saying it every week. Why? Because it’s often more instructive to talk about what a show does wrong than what it does right. Talking about the former is a path towards better understanding the latter, ostensibly. That’s not to say that Jeff Pinkner and Joel Wyman will read this and think, “By Jove, that McGee is onto something! Halt production immediately!” Heck no. But there’s a difference between saying, “This show isn’t working anymore,” and, “This is why it’s no longer working.” The latter is what I try to do, since there’s no use throwing up an opinion without back up. (That won’t stop many people. But still.) If you don’t agree with what I espouse, that’s fine. More than fine. But so long as I explain my feelings in words rather than embedding a YouTube clip of a “Footloose”-esque angry dance, then hopefully we can have a rational discussion about our differences.
Here’s the thing: this would have probably been one of my favorite episodes of “Fringe” of all time had it taken place in the reality of the first three seasons. For years now, I have posited that the two universes would learn to mutual coexist rather than one “winning” over the other. Why? Not because I’m smart. Rather, I posited that because I watch the show, and it’s one of the most romantic shows (in the classic sense) on television. I love how big the show’s heart is, and if it occasionally drops into diabetes-inducing sugary sweetness…well, I’d rather err that way than veer into clinical detachment. But that detachment is what I feel anytime someone other than Peter Bishop does anything on this show this season.
Because of him, stuff kept coming SO CLOSE to actually working, only to asymptotically approach the third rail that is this new reality. Let’s take the Over There Elizabeth Bishop* talking with Over Here Walter*. I put an asterisk next to their names because those are still recent creations from our perspective. They walk like ducks, and quack like ducks, but they are not OUR ducks. Even when we got two universes thrown into the mix in Season 3, they were still “ours” in that they belonged to a consistent reality, albeit a different slice of bread in the same loaf of reality. (It’s been a long week. Don’t mind my metaphors.) They were always real. We just hadn’t met them yet. Had I watched THAT Over There Elizabeth and THAT Over Here Walter discuss Peter in this fashion, I would have lost my damn mind from excitement and all of the tears that probably would have flowed.
Instead, all we saw was the emotional aftermath of Peter’s experiences with them. And that’s not nothing, by a long shot. And I do appreciate the way the show is trying to show how Peter is “waking them up,” so to speak. (Don’t worry: I won’t invoke any past J.J. Abrams shows here, even if tonight’s episode dropped numbers like “47” and “16” ever so blatantly.) Scenes such as Elizabeth/Walter, or even Walter/Peter at the end, are meant to make us long for what we at home and those on screen have lost. I get it. I get it completely. But what sounds good on paper doesn’t always translate on onscreen. What we’re talking about here is a concept, and a concept is something you can debate endlessly. But I’m not sure you’d want to WATCH that debate play out over a 22-episode season. You can dramatize a concept over the course of an episode if you’re really, really smart. But anytime you based a season around a concept rather than a character journey, then you’re doomed to fail. I am willing to bet that those behind “Fringe” sought out to make this season a character journey. But that’s not what’s actually happened.
And so, we’re left with a plot that’s interesting in theory yet all but dead on arrival. I’m just not sure why we should care that another version of Nina Sharpe* is taking samples of another Olivia Dunham’s* blood so another David Robert Jones* can crisscross two other versions of our two universes*. If the point of “Fringe” is akin to that of “Battlestar: Galactica” (namely, that everything has happened before, and that everything will happen again), then I think they are sorely mistaking the audience’s appetite for that type of show. I’m not watching to see the theoretical replay of every possible permutation of these people coming into contact with each other. I wanted to follow specific people on a specific, and discreet, portion of their lives. I would have been content to eventually leave those people, so long as I had a sense of what might happen after the final credits rolled. Now? I don’t even know if those people will ever come back, what they will remember, and what anything is Season 4 of “Fringe” is supposed to mean. It’s a hellacious shame.
* You get the point by now, yes?
And it’s primarily a shame because if Season 3 simply ended with Peter in between the two versions of everyone, just like he was at the end of tonight’s episode across from Walternate, this could have been an incredible season of television. Had he simply done the work of fusing the two universes, without knowing how to make them actually co-exist, I would have been giddy. “One Night in October” hinted at the possibilities inherent in the show’s newly combined universes. With an easy-to-use bridge linking each one, the show could have had all the fun it did tonight in mixing/matching versions of people as they solved crimes laced with moral and philosophical implications. People coming face to face with the roads not taken might have produced results as powerful as those concerning John McClennan. Instead, no one in either universe realizes that they are on a road that didn’t even exist a few scant months ago. As such, “Fringe” itself is taking us down a long, winding road that seems with each passing week to be leading us closer to a dead end.
What did you think of tonight’s “Fringe”? Are you on board with this road trip, or have you slammed into the wall bridging the two worlds like Olivia? Does the Jones stuff interest you, or are you as distant from the proceedings as I am? Sound off below!
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Next 67 Commentsmesa
January 21, 2012 at 12:11AM EST Reply to CommentI agree completely. I can't get into this season because it doesn't matter. I'm not as strong as you, so I will compare this to Lost: (spoilers for those who haven't seen season 5 onward) I wasn't a big fan of the 2nd half of S5 because it didn't matter to 'our' timeline. The same thing is happening now in Fringe. And just like the Lost showrunners begged in S6 that everything was real, the Fringe showrunners are constantly reminding us it will be worth it. That's to be determined, because right now, it is NOT.
Mark Veruts
January 21, 2012 at 12:22AM EST Reply to CommentRyan, I'm sorry... but you have, for me, now jumped the shark as a TV critic.
Art Deco These reviews are no longer about the show, but about an idealized version of the show Ryan wishes existed. It's as if the showrunners' decision to go down this road has amounted to some kind of personal insult or betrayal.
January 21, 2012 at 12:34AM ESTThis is the show we have, it's not going to change, and next week we'll still be in the alternate timeline. Meanwhile, Ryan will continue to be like Peter - trying to get back to "his world", making it all about him while everyone else has a life (or story) to get on with. In fact, the most bothersome thing for me lately hasn't been the alternate timeline but the fact that everyone in both universes seems to be unusually willing to indulge Peter to try to get him back when doing so is inherently risky and they have their own more pressing concerns (i.e. Jones)
This season hasn't necessarily been my idea of what I expected from Season 4, but I've been able to adapt and enjoy it on its own terms (tonight's episode and last week's have really picked it up). With the ratings making a Season 5 unlikely, it's time to enjoy it while it lasts.
Caleb To Art Deco -
January 21, 2012 at 1:50AM ESTSeeing you objecting to Ryan's reviews (specifically about how it's inappropriate that he's saying this isn't the show he wants to be watching) by asserting that these aren't the reviews you want to be reading is interesting to say the least. ;)
I don't think it's unfair for a reviewer to comment on the fact that we lost nearly the entire cast of characters that we've been watching for years. And the likelihood that this show won't get another season makes their loss more significant.
CR @Caleb
January 21, 2012 at 2:18AM ESTCommenting on it and complaining about it every week are two different things
Crow3711 I don't think any of you read the review, I don't think Ryan is wrong, at all, about anything happening on this show (it's a damn shame), and I think the original post is clearly an idiot for saying "jumped the shark" in this context.
January 21, 2012 at 12:09PM ESTKen Raining I have to agree... Ryan's reviews have now reached the point where he's saying "I would have liked this episode, but it's not MY Fringe any more, so I didn't". It's just beating the same dead horse each week. Either accept that this is the show's continuity at this moment or move on.
January 21, 2012 at 9:25PM ESTNishant
January 21, 2012 at 12:45AM EST Reply to CommentI agree with you that this season isn't as same as the others because we aren't dealing with the same characters we've been attached to in the first 3 seasons. However, this is the turn the show has taken and we need move on with that. Your reviews each week are saying the SAME thing. So, instead of critiquing the new timeline, critique the storylines in each individual episode.
Mark Veruts Every time Fringe reinvents itself or expands its perspective of its in-show reality, it loses viewers. It's been losing viewers that way ever since they showed us the Twin Towers. But reading these complaints over and over again, in the same rut, is getting to be like reading someone who's aghast that the show has brought on "all this alternate universe shit and I hate it and wish they'd get back to the Monsters of the Week and the Pattern." You either can get your mind and heart around this season's expansion of the Fringe universe, or you can't. After this excellent episode, I don't think there is anything more the writers can do to make you care. I don't think there's an answer for you. This show is not what you were so sure that it was. So maybe it's time for you to leave this cult show to its admiring cultists who are still getting a good deal of enjoyment from it.
January 21, 2012 at 1:00AM ESTBunk @Mark
January 21, 2012 at 2:07AM ESTWell said, couldn't agree more. I've loved this show from the beginning because there's nothing else like it on TV, and the writers do a great job of setting up exciting, creative story archs. This season is no exception IMO, and (with this being the best episode of S4 so far) I think the second half of the season is gonna be a fun ride, as always. As for the negativity, screw em if they can't get on board.
BUNKER @BUNK You're right, there's nothing else like it on TV. There's also nothing else like poop on toast.
January 21, 2012 at 11:15PM ESTSaren
January 21, 2012 at 12:48AM EST Reply to CommentWorst FBI assault team ever. Shows up in 3-4 SUVs, stopping mere yards from an well-armed opposition, armed with mostly handguns and no sniper or aerial support. Oh wait, plot contrivance so Jones could escape easily. This show is has fallen so hard from what it used to be.
B Since when does a large assault team ever show up for fringe events?
January 21, 2012 at 2:10AM ESTJenny
January 21, 2012 at 12:58AM EST Reply to CommentI have to agree with Ryan. Like Ryan said in his recent review of Chuck over on the AV Club (Chuck versus the Bullet Train) that sometimes the showrunners forget that even though the show is called Chuck...the intersect never made Chuck a hero or the show interesting, Sarah did. Sarah's belief and love for Chuck is what got him to get over his past and create a better future. Sarah's presense is what drew in every viewer that ever rooted for the show and drew in thousands of people to Subway to save the show. Sarah Walker is what makes Chuck our Chuck, she gives him the hugs we want to give him, the encouragement, the kind words and the love that we want to give him. When the show forgets that it forgets what is important and reduces its effectivness.
Sometimes the Fringe people forget that this show should not be all about Olivia and Walter but that Peter makes a huge impact on the story. They obviously reset this show in order to shift the narrative back onto olivia and Walter and thus the show is the poorer for it. There was a great story to be told at the end of season 3 and the beginning of season 4. Peter in the machine learning and living a whole life in the blink of an eye. Read the comic books that Joshua Jackson wrote and you see that there is some excellent material that the show has failed to capitilise on on screen. Start season 4 with a Peter arc with him and the observer travelling through time and universes and you have a strong show that knows where it is going. Reset the show without explaining why we are here and why it is important to be here makes it a frustrating albeit intellectual exercise in trickary.
We understand that Olivia and Walter are the leads...resetting the show and throwing out 3 years of investment was not needed to re-establish that. If the show just had the balls to try something new we would not be here.
Paul
January 21, 2012 at 1:27AM EST Reply to CommentI agree with you Ryan 100%. I have been saying the same thing to my friend since this season has started. This is not the Fringe I came to know and love and be hooked into. I dont know or care about these characters other than Peter because he is the only character I "know". As well I have said it before and I will say it again, the Fringe writers better explain everything about the Observers or I will never watch another J.J. Abrams show again. Why create new ideas (Observers meddling with time), unique characters (Observers themselves) or original intrigue (Observer child, everything about Observers) if you never answer those mysteries?
DougMac I agree with this. I still like this season, but it pisses me off that we likely wont get another and all this time is being used on copies of our favorite characters that we've come to care about over the last few years. There were so many untapped stories in the original 2 universes that this was unnecessary, and certainly not worth more than a few episode arc. If we were guarenteed next year, I may be able to enjoy this one more, but as it is I find sorely lacking.
January 21, 2012 at 1:41AM ESTed w
January 21, 2012 at 1:35AM EST Reply to CommentI had a hard time staying awake. There were no stakes. Other than Peter I don't care what happens to all these characters, they are just strangers, dopplegangers. The only bright spot was 50 year old Orla Brady once again proving she's both hotter and a better actress than most of the twentysomething women on tv.
bchova1
January 21, 2012 at 2:14AM EST Reply to CommentYou are assuming that Peter is in a different timeline or universe. I believe that Peter is in his original timeline but his existence has obviously been replaced, therefore nobody remembers him. And yes the character's roles and personalities have changed but isn't that the reason we watch the show. It's challenging and thought provoking.
Ken Raining Yeah, that's what I think too, and I don't really get why so many people are having a hard time with this notion.
January 21, 2012 at 9:23PM ESTMatt It's not challenging and thought provoking. It's easy and mindless. They're different characters, no matter what timeline they're in. They behave differently and have different backgrounds and memories. All the history that had been built is gone. Who cares about them? It's like if on the last season of Cheers, they went to an alternate universe where Norm was a serious-minded, single guy who preferred club soda to beer.
January 21, 2012 at 11:07PM ESTBob
January 21, 2012 at 2:27AM EST Reply to CommentBut wasn't last season a concept too? We got a new universe with new versions of our people? That was by all critics a great season. This season is a new universe with new versions of our people. And yet it's hated. What's the difference?
I don't think any of this won't matter. They're not the last season of Lost. I have faith the writers know what they're doing.
ed w There were alternate versions but they were an extra, we still frequently touched base with the core original characters. Original Recipe Olivia, the central character of the series, hasn't been seen so far this season.
January 21, 2012 at 2:35AM ESTBob @Ed: But of course we'll go back to her and to all the others. We'll do so in this way, with this plotline intersecting the old one. Imagine if this reset didn't exist but a third parallel universe did, and it showed all the same stories we've seen this season. Again, what's the difference. At a certain point, if the critic likes the episode as an episode but not the setting, then that becomes faulty possibly. It'd be like not liking The Dark Knight because it's not the same people as Tim Burton's Batman. The furniture shouldn't matter if everything that makes up a good Fringe episode is still there. And really, how different are this Olivia and Altlivia from their originals? The Broyles are different, as are the Walters. But to me, that just means a creative way to show different sides to them.
January 21, 2012 at 3:11AM ESTed w A better analogy is it would be like being frustrated with Vampire Diaries if that show became about Katherine and not Elena. But that show is too savvy to make such a fundamental mistake.
January 21, 2012 at 3:38AM ESTBob I believe criticism is the argument for or against a work using the evidence of the work, of what's there, on screen. The screen defines everything. I can't fault Jaws because it's not about Sheriff Brody's busting of criminals. I can't fault the Artist for not having sound. The thing that is not the story cannot be used to criticize the story. That's not fair. What is given is up for debate, not what is a subjective ideal or wish in the reviewer's head. I can use how the story's told in an argument. I can't use what's lacking because there's no proof for it, and my feeling may not be shared by others who see the same work. Objective vs. subjective criticism. This is the nature of the story so far. Criticize how it's told using the evidence of the telling, not what what the reviewer would like it to be. That's taste, and taste, in my opinion has no business being in criticism because it's completely subjective.
January 21, 2012 at 4:05AM ESTBob To clarify further: the qualities of the work are what we should be judging not the qualities it doesn't have, and we have to use the evidence of those qualities not come up with a fault or praise that is outside the work. Eggs are eggs; they're not fish. It's late and I am tired, so forgive the errors and repetitions.
January 21, 2012 at 4:13AM ESTfuzzyjefe
January 21, 2012 at 2:39AM EST Reply to CommentI'm thoroughly enjoying the ride. This show has been pretty consistent in pulling the rug out from under the expectations of the viewer, while providing a pretty clear hurdle for the protagonists to overcome. I can understand the perspective that says this is a negative, but I find it stimulating and exciting.
I'm in it to win it.
Will
January 21, 2012 at 3:01AM EST Reply to CommentI take it from the Walter viewpoint, where Peter is still Peter, and is still worth caring for. They are stil fundamentally the same people even though they have changed.
Or just imagine that the old characters from season 3 played their last high school football game and went to college/jail.
david
January 21, 2012 at 3:28AM EST Reply to Commenti have a question, didn't they use credits or something similar, usin the show-me id, in the alternate universe instead of money?
Jared K I'm afraid I don't remember if they are able to use their show-me's as a kind of credit card, but the alternate universe definitely still has cash. Remember in the Season 2 finale (the first episode where we crossed over), the alt-Fringe team found one of the former Cortexiphan kids dead and opened his wallet. When they saw the $20 bill with Andrew Jackson on it, Agent Lee pulled out one of his own for comparison - their $20 features Martin Luther King Jr.
January 21, 2012 at 1:06PM ESTmonkeytrap
January 21, 2012 at 3:33AM EST Reply to CommentThe fact that the author long ago made up his mind that he didn't like the story foundation this season is built on, and is allowing that to prevent him from appreciating any of the sincere character moments and great acting that are happening on this show — because, golly, these aren't the REAL characters — means that HE is the problem, not the consistently excellent work that the creative team is doing on this series. His conscious decision to block himself from surrendering to the storytelling — because, after all, these aren't the REAL characters — is preventing him from connecting with the genuine human emotions, and some big philosophical questions, that are being explored in the stories. He's like the monkey with his hand stuck inside the gourd because he won't let go of what he's holding on to so tightly.
Trunkymap Nah, he's a human being who felt a connection to some characters that no longer exist, but have been replaced by mockeries.
January 21, 2012 at 11:09PM ESTNia
January 21, 2012 at 4:20AM EST Reply to CommentSeason 4's episodes are becoming more and more pathetic with every passing week..
Guest
January 21, 2012 at 4:59AM EST Reply to Commenttonight's episode was outstanding
7s Tim
January 21, 2012 at 5:39AM EST Reply to CommentThey really could have accomplished any parts of this season without abandoning their original narrative thread. This is Mutant X compared to UXM. The show I liked first ended it's story back in the spring. This is a new version, a spin off with one retained character. I enjoyed the last two episodes (and especially tonight's) more than any since about March. Really tight, really character driven. I wish they had used the characters they had back then. All episode I wondered what the advantages of this "reality" were, and how it could be preferable to the original one. Really can't think of one way the new shape-shifter arc is better served in a world where you have to reestablish emotional connections. Love the last two episodes, but really confused on why they made these choices.
Max
January 21, 2012 at 6:02AM EST Reply to CommentI wouldn't be surprised if the original cast, and original alternate cast, made their way back into the story within the next two episodes. I feel like it's building to that. This Nina Sharp is from Peter's universe, not this current *other* alternate 'verse.
What's she up to? Olivia clone? Does this have anything to do with Olivia's relationship to the machine (which this David Robert Jones doesn't know about, but Peter's Nina Sharp does)?
I think the show's heading back soon. Sit tight.
AMBER IS REAL
January 21, 2012 at 7:00AM EST Reply to CommentIt's understandable that Peter thinks he's in the wrong universe, but we know he's not - he's in a different timeline. A timeline that is NOW what actually happened. There is no other universe and the timeline he remembers never happened. Meanwhile, THESE people are now the only real ones, and if somehow the timeline is reset, THESE people we, and Peter, are coming to know, would all disappear.
That gives us two choices - become reconciled to the "deaths" of the people we used to know, and we've already had half a season to mourn them; or, wipe out yet a second pair of people we are getting to know, for the sake of getting back to the old ones. Nice choice? How do two pairs of wrongs make a right? Isn't the termination of one pair of universes enough? Having had no choice in the original termination, and having seen how awful it is to lose a pair of universes we'd come to love, would we deliberately wish for it to happen again knowing this time what it would mean? Can we not grow to love an adopted universe or two?
Peter does seem to me to be slowly becoming integrated with these people. He likes the new Walternate (who is a better man than Peter thought he'd be), his relationship has just turned a corner with the new Walter (who is turning out to be just the man he expected he'd be), Walter has just ventured out from the lab back to his home to help this Peter, saying "I used to live here" which made Peter chuckle... This version of Peter's mother is possibly the most sympathetic and admirable of the 3 versions we've met so far. And most tellingly, when Olivia thanked Peter for saving her at the quarry, was there not a flirtatious sparkle in her eye and a toss of her hair?
In sum: I think Peter is becoming a part of THIS timeline. I predict that's where it's going - all the important relationships will re-emerge, and the theme will be that love can overcome even the obstacle of being wiped from existence.
Walter may eventually discover that there is no alternate universe to return to, but that Peter is from an alternate timeline of this universe, and the choice offered to Peter will be for him to regain everyone he once knew but in so doing virtually wipe out the existence of two timeline universes full of others he is now coming to know as real people he is growing to care for.
How could Peter deliberately choose that? He didn't choose to wipe out the other timelines. If he learns that getting back to them means destroying all of these people, would he seriously choose to be so selfish? I hope not! So far he is ignorant of what "getting back" might mean; once he learns (and I think he will eventually learn), he will not choose it. It would make him a deliberate murderer. Utterly wiping out two timelines, and deliberately so, would make him a far bigger monster than his father, who only accidentally weakened the structural walls dividing two particular universe, and did it only to try to save someone, not strictly and entirely for himself.
Peter's journey is from not caring about these people, to caring about them. From having no stake in their fight, to joining their fight. And, his journey is to come to a point where he can choose to allow them to live, rather than deliberately "kill them" to resuscitate the other timeline that is already gone. His journey is from selfishness to love; his journey is from being an outsider to becoming an insider. From rejecting these people to loving them.
That's our journey to. It may not be possible, and they probably bit off more than they can chew, but the writers want us to fall in love with these "imposters" too. To let go of what's gone and embrace what's here now. Thye're trying to make it easier, by showing us a better Walternate, a softening Walter (whose resistance to Peter in a way echoes our resistance to this universe, and whose softening we are probably supposed to follow), a very loving and endearing Elizabeth Bishop, and an apparently flirtatious Olivia.
I see no reasonable journey back to the old timeline, and I think we'd feel like murderers at this point if we did. This seems to be the course the writers are on, and while I would agree that it was probably a mistake that looked better on paper, at least they are trying something interesting. Wouldn't be the first time a Bad Robot production sent a universe or a cast to heaven or a church or non-existence or an altered timeline (Star Trek anyone?). Seems like Bad Robot + anything = altered timelines. So this is what we have, and I obviously predict there is no turning back. Jack died at the end on the island. We lost a couple of universes in a timeline course correction. We have to get over it. We don't have to go back. We don't have to go back!
DotDot
January 21, 2012 at 8:18AM EST Reply to CommentDump Peter central, reason you feel nothing is because of him.
This episode showed once again how important Anna Torv is as the central actor/character. She takes people in, engages, you feel with and for her.
So please bring Olivia Dunham back to the center if you want to end Fringe on a high note.
Scenes Walter/Walternate Elisabeth Boring, Noble does his poor Walter routine, and Elisabeth is the only woman they write those scenes for , a guest part. Must be because she is a Bishop.
I am sick and tired of hearing that Walter saving and losing Peter story, and Elisabeth and viceversa,this episode alone 3 times, and we have NEVER had a scene for Olivia Dunham talking about her mother and we are in season 4.
Peter versus Jones nothing going on, compare that to Olivia versus Jones in season 1 , great tension, the reason why everyone remembers Jones.
This episode was made by Jared Harris, Lance Redick and especially Anna Torv.
And this episode showed that Walter is 50% writing , Walternate even more, only the rest is John Noble.
Olivia Dunham, and Alt-livia, is 90% the work of Anna Torv, her amazing acting has made Olivia such a great character.They do not write for Olivia at all.
Finally: seeing evil Nina working Under Jones, women always behind the man Fringe?, and their convo:
Since they do not write for Olivia Dunham, and now have turned her in the ultimate victim, it may be that they go the route of Olivia being a creation of Jones and Nina, not human.
If this is true , no matter how few viewers you have left by then Fringe, be prepared for an outrage by Olivia fans that is nothing compared to te Lost outrage.
It would be an insult to a great much loved character and most of all to the brilliance of Anna Torv.
Guest You again? We all know you Patty/tweener/teenymarie etc. Stop pretending you are Anna's fan, your hatred for the other actors from Fringe who are not J.J. is well known. You bash them all the time in other sites. What you are doing is outright childish.
January 21, 2012 at 9:22AM ESTDrenami It seemed to me that Nina was in charge of Jones, not the other way around. But, I think you might be on to something with the whole Olivia being a creation of Nina. Perhaps she is the baby that Nina lost and this entire series has been about trying to save Olivia. It wouldn't be fair if Walter could cheat to save his child, but Nina couldn't do the same....
January 21, 2012 at 11:19AM EST
January 21, 2012 at 5:54PM ESTrdomolky
January 21, 2012 at 8:42AM EST Reply to CommentFirst of all. Great writing! Keep up the good work. That being said, this may be the best point yet by Art Deco "These reviews are no longer about the show, but about an idealized version of the show Ryan wishes existed." I thought this week was a fantastic episode. Very smooth pace and right combination of new & old, action and soap opera. I was starting to think this was becoming a Lost-style soap opera but this week got me back on the edge of my couch. Ryan needs to appreciate the complexity of this show and the relationship to real science. These guys are spoon feeding us an example of a very complex and theoretical several other dimension view of the world. That is not easy and to keep viewers interested. The last scene this week was genius because it really gave us a weigh point where the "planets" could be aligned for a moment before all chaos breaks out again. I may have underestimated the producers. As an aside, I do agree with you that the first season was the best but it is now a television series rather than multi-series made for tv movie so that just goes with the territory. You can't have your childhood back either. Deal with it!
Brian Ryan is doing a terrible job with these reviews because each week he utilizes the same exact conceptual framework to critique what he does not like and applies the details from the episodes. We get it, you do not like this framework, be creative figure out another way to review these episodes in light of that.
January 21, 2012 at 11:53AM ESTAmrit
January 21, 2012 at 12:49PM EST Reply to CommentRyan McGee did a podcast with Mo Ryan, Todd Van De Werffe and some other critic. In that podcast they said when it comes to a show and what choice would they make: character versus plot....they would choose character every time. This season is a prime example of the plot controlling the characters and not the other way round. Critics will always be against this and that is understandable. Ryan is not the only critic who says this, Myles McNutt, Mo Ryan, Alan Sepinwall, Dan Fienberg, etc have all raised concerns over the path this season has taken.
A guest critic over on the av club who reviewed this episode said that with them taking on this plot choice that they have written themselves into a corner and there is an awful lot riding on them sticking the landing in what is most likely a series finale in may.
A show like this consists of infinite possibilities because life is made up of millions of choices. If the show tells you that characters can change on a dime on one decision then what investment do we have if everything can be wiped away because the show decides to live in that different decision? If this show is all plot then critics will never support it or value it.
That may be a shame but it is understandable. Critics love long stories that are built up on excellent characters that have history.,,the problem is fringe is not a character show but a mystery show that has characters living within those mysteries.
This show will always divide just like lost. Mythology versus characters.
KLG1
January 21, 2012 at 12:52PM EST Reply to CommentBeyond having a difficult time loving these characters (because our original characters have now been replaced), there are important story-lines started in the previous seasons that will never be continued/brought to their reasonable end. One such story is Folivia's child she had with Peter and Walternate's evil plot with the baby. We never found out just what he was planning and Peter never found out he was a father. There was so much the writers could have done but instead they decided to make things far more confusing.
I still live this show, but I'm waiting for the moment when I feel all this hullabaloo has been worth it.
On the upside, Jones is a great bad guy. And this Walter is finally coming around to Peter.
Jesse They lost control of the serialisation and were knocked out of their comfort zone and thus had to reset everything in order to go back to what they know. This show is not the most nuanced show where every characters actions can be understood and if they continued with the story they had they would be stuck dealing with issues that they are not capable of telling. This show is all about A to B, the episodes and overall seasons are simple compared to better shows. People have already picked up that they simply got lucky for 8 episodes on season 3. This show is a procedural at best and does not even try to aim for better.
January 21, 2012 at 1:06PM ESTKLG1
January 21, 2012 at 1:15PM EST Reply to Comment**Edit** I forgot the DNA from Peter's child was used to power the machine. But, even still, if the baby was never born, and if Peter never existed, how were the machines on either side powered to begin with?
Gepap
January 21, 2012 at 1:59PM EST Reply to CommentI simply don't understand why people say this season doesn't matter, or why they would think the previous 3 did if this one doesn't. The main plot, the overarching plot is the entanglement and subsequent destruction of the universes we have seen, and trying to stop the destruction of at least one, if not both. We saw at the end of season 3 that just saving one universe was impossible - if one went down, they both go. The way out was Peter's sacrifice, or so the observers seemed to think. Seems they were wrong, that losing Peter completely wasn't going to be able to fix things. So Peter is back, but of course his choices had consequences, and we get this new universe. I think the reviewer and many of the fans here have fixated on specific versions of characters that they like, and if they don't get those versions, they pout. That is unfortunate, but I give the showrunners kudos for moving the plot forward in the face of the complaints. The characters we got to know were a dead end, literally. NOw, perhaps, we are seeing what they needed to be to finally move forward to a point where the universes both survive. I doubt that the show will be able to show us that, that it will be cancelled and the character-centric fans will be the ones that drive it to exitinction because they aren't willing to give these characters the chance that they gave the show back in season 1 (like when people thought Olivia was bland and boring? OR when people hated fauxlivia in the beginning of season 3....). Sad.
Jesse It is not the fans fault...it is the failure of the show runners. You are giving the show runners credit for moving the plot forward, but are they not cowards for abandoning the plot be ause it got too difficult for them to handle? Why were the season 1-3 characters a dead end? As Ryan said those same characters could exist in this timeline without dissappearing Peter.
January 21, 2012 at 2:44PM ESTI think I finally get it...neither Josh Jackson or Anna Torv liked the Peter and Olivia relationship and so they got rid of it. That is why the previous characters could not exist...the actors do not want them too.
ed w That's possible, Jesse, and would make sense. I also think it's possible that simply the best writers left to go work on other Abrams projects like Alcatraz.
January 21, 2012 at 7:29PM ESTThom If it were true, that the characters we got to know were a dead end after only three seasons, it would tell me a lot about the writers' capability. It would tell me they ran out of ideas and it would tell me that S3 was indeed the end of the story. I think they had plenty of plots and room for more character development for the original characters, but they are too enamored with the concept of multiple universes, so that's what we're getting. The characters don't matter anymore.
January 22, 2012 at 3:32AM ESTPeople just didn't wait around patiently to see a change in the writing for Olivia. There were other elements that kept them watching.
dwexley
January 21, 2012 at 3:00PM EST Reply to CommentThis episode totally worked for me. The scene between Elizabeth and Walter was beautiful. It's high concept but for me as someone who's invested in the characters of the Fringe-verses it made me choke up.
That's what I find so baffling about these recaps is the insistence that all of these "character" moments ring hollow or false. They're just not quite up to snuff.
As others have already said, if you don't let yourself go on the journey with a show then you're obviously not going to enjoy it. There are so many alternates and universes that it's hard to keep track of sometimes but the one thing that isn't hard to follow is that all the iterations of these characters care for each other. They all have the same humanity and compassion that hooked me on the show in the first place.
I think it's pretty awesome (as a scifi nerd) that a show with these concepts even gets to make it onto network TV at all. At it's heart though the show is still about families and how they care/love one another. None of that has changed, I feel bad that Ryan can't see that anymore.
Cooper
January 21, 2012 at 3:22PM EST Reply to CommentI enjoyed this episode but I wonder Ryan have you noticed a shift in Anna and John's acting? It's awfully exaggerated this season. I barely recognize Altlivia, she's like a bouncy, jazz hands cartoon character than a real person. And, if they give John Noble another soliloquy where he gives unnecessary pregnant pauses and draws out his scenes ad nauseum, I may hurl. The sheer brillance of Orla Brad's acting only highlights the flaws in Noble's work this season. It's a shame, I was bowing at the alter of Torv and Noble last season, singing their praises. What went wrong?
Marcelo
January 21, 2012 at 4:41PM EST Reply to CommentBrazilian Fringe fan here. What worries me is that this S4 "reset" is feeling a lot like a mere cheap trick to create excitement IRL and save the show from cancelation, like everything in Lost past season 2 of that show, and not something carefully planned by the writers so there is a payoff to reward the viewers at the end. I agree with Ryan, it's painful that "our" Olivia, "our" Walter are gone. If, when everything is said and done, we find out there is no good narrative reason for them to have been "killed" in the first place, it's going to be very disappointing.
JonEwaD
January 21, 2012 at 7:34PM EST Reply to CommentI hate filler episodes & this is a filler season. All the build up we've had & investment into characters for 3 seasons is all on hold until Peter returns to that "universe." There are still so many questions to be resolved in that universe. If this is the final season then what a waste to spend it else-where. The beginning of this season should have been Peter returning to his OWN universe not 5 episodes until PETER RETURNS to the wrong universe to have more episodes of when will Peter return. I'm a huge Fringe fan & I find myself caring less & less each week.
Elliott Lake
January 21, 2012 at 8:51PM EST Reply to CommentTotally agree. It was heartbreaking to see scenes that should have happened with Elizabeth1 and ourWalter happen with these versions. I just don't give a cr** about the non-originals. It may be a fun intellectual exercise for Pinkman, but it's a constant reminder of what we've lost. They will likely return us home, but then there will be the repairs needed the same way P/O needed repairs after the producers wrecked Peter & Olivia's relationship with Fakey. And oh, what a wild and great season this would have been if as you say, they had jumped to the two original unis working together!
Que lastima.
Matt
January 21, 2012 at 11:01PM EST Reply to CommentRyan, you are absolutely right with your take on this show. I thought the show had been pretty uneven throughout, but the storyline through seasons 2 and 3 kept me interested enough to keep watching. There were great moments, and some great episodes. But this season is an absolute mess. I don't understand how they can just do away with the original versions of characters we came to know and love for this long of a stretch, and expect anyone to enjoy the show. I must admit I did not watch "Enemy of my Enemy." I gave this show 8 episodes worth of my time this season, and I feel that I've been ripped off. Every moment of every episode of this season was an exercise in frustration for me. I will not watch again. I wonder, if you didn't have to review it, would you bail on the show? I can't imagine spending another 14 hours of my life on this pointless drivel.
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