'Fringe' - 'Over There: Part 2': Pure energy!
Walter vs. Walternate and Olivia vs. Olivia in the season finale
Alt-Olivia on "Fringe."
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There have been questions lately about why I stopped reviewing "Fringe," and I thought I'd take the occasion of the season finale to go into more detail about that - and to discuss the episode briefly, and of course provide you guys with an opportunity to do so. All those thoughts coming up just as soon as I pick a new place to hide my key...
So here, in a nutshell, is what happened with me and "Fringe": because of the Thursday schedule pile-up (and then the amount of time spent on Fridays reviewing what I'd watched the night before), I often found myself getting to "Fringe" days late. Also I found that I had little to say about the episodes that would be worth doing a review the Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday after it had first aired - and I had little to say because the show wasn't doing a whole lot for me.
Even these post-hiatus episodes where the producers have very clearly responded to fan criticism - spending more time on the coming war with Earth-2, and on Walter/Peter emotional stories, than on uninspired Monster of the Week shows - have not, frankly, engaged me on the level they have many of you. I recognize all of the things that "Fringe" does well (specifically, standing back and letting John Noble act), as well as the things it's done better of late, but I don't find myself invested in these characters, their stories, or this world (or these worlds, rather).
It happens sometimes. You can have two shows that, if an objective measurement could somehow be made, would come out rated the same in quality, and one hits me in the sweet spot and one doesn't. I respect what "Fringe" is doing but don't much care about it, and I doubt I'll be writing about it much (or at all) next year.
Still, I was glad to finally get some quality Walter/William Bell time before Leonard Nimoy retired from acting, and the scene with Olivia and alt-Charlie in the car did a nice job of humanizing the Earth-2 characters. Last week's episode made the fight seem far too unbalanced in their favor in terms of their tech and knowledge, but here we see how much worse the fringe events have hit their side than ours, and that they're at least as scared of us as we are of them. The inevitable Olivia-on-Olivia fight lived up to expectations, and as Anna Torv seems to be having more fun playing alt-Olivia, I like the set-up for next season with her impersonating our Olivia while the "real" one is trapped in the dark by Walternate.
So enough of me being grouchy. What did everybody else think?
Props to a commenter in Ryan McGee's more thorough recap for the subject line. If you're not as old as myself or Jared, listen to this song.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupNattyLight
May 21, 2010 at 2:58PM EST Reply to CommentI thought the episode was great, other than the "switch" which was fairly obvious. Guess I am just becoming a sap as I get older and was hoping for a bit of a happy ending with Olivia and Peter.
May 21, 2010 at 3:14PM EST Reply to CommentAlan, did you get a chance to see the episode "White Tulip" with Peter Weller as a time-traveling MIT professor which aired about a month ago? While I've been a fan of the Fringe mythology, this (mostly) stand-alone episode was an extraordinary hour of television and the show's best. Of particular note was the scene between Weller and Noble in Weller's MIT lab, which contained what was probably the most serious discussion of God and Science seen in a network TV show. With the themes of time travel, searching for one's love, and the profoundly moving "twist" of an ending, it was Fringe's equivalent of "The Constant".
Purplemuffin I agree. Alan, I highly recommend seeing ''White Tulip'' too. As Stephen Ferra said, it's a standalone piece, and is a lot like "The Constant", in a good way.
May 21, 2010 at 8:40PM ESTAnd if you have time, check out episode ''Peter'' to.
Overall, I think that you may probably end up writing quite a few pieces on Fringe next year since it seems the Kurtzman and Orci are making a permanent departure from the boring ''monster-of-the-week''/procedural framework the show has been operating on. Ever since the episode ''Peter'', the show has become more and more serialized with each episode being part of a larger narrative. Contrast this to pre-''Peter'' episodes, most of which are completely irrelevant to understanding the big picture and are in no way vital to the story.
Sophisticaz Absolutely right. I found White Tulip incredibly moving. Peter Weller was a revelation. I would say it was miles better than The Constant, sacrilege though it may be...
May 22, 2010 at 2:23PM ESTmcklowry
May 21, 2010 at 3:18PM EST Reply to CommentI really enjoyed the finale and didn't mind that the twist was obvious, it still left me psyched for next season. Tim Grierson at NYMag, discussing Olivia's prison, put it best: "Still, even if the big surprise was anticlimactic, it was impossible not to feel incredibly tense once it was revealed where Dunham is being held in the alternate universe...Truly, there was something primal about the final scene that felt like something out of a nightmare." I can't wait to see how this affects Olivia and even her budding relationship with Peter.
Daniel
May 21, 2010 at 3:26PM EST Reply to CommentApart from a few missteps like the leftover episode from the first season and arguably Brown Betty (the semi-musical fantasy episode), I Fringe has come into its own this season. I like the occasional monster of the week but like another favorite Supernatural it should be tied to the overall story arc. The finale was pure gold in my view and incorporated everything I would have wanted. You SHOULD watch next year!
Meilichos
May 21, 2010 at 3:36PM EST Reply to CommentFringe has become my favorite show ever, starting last season with "In Which We Meet Mr. Jones." This is when both the mythology and characters came alive for me. My only disappointment is that this show is not one that Alan blogs about. I like the final, am excited about the coming season, but have to agree with Stephen Ferra below that "White Tulip" was most extraordinary show of the season.
globetrotter
May 21, 2010 at 3:39PM EST Reply to CommentWrite a comment...
globetrotter
May 21, 2010 at 3:41PM EST Reply to CommentI too hope that you'll at least watch next year and maybe ease back in to reviewing if the show ever wins you back (or just review the clear standouts). I gave up on the show sometime during season one due to similar frustrations to the ones you cited, but caught back up between seasons and then stuck with it as the show (in my opinion) really found its stride in recent weeks. I'm excited to see where it goes next year.
gin_in_teacups
May 21, 2010 at 3:46PM EST Reply to CommentI keep loving Fringe more and more. And I'd actually given up midway through last season, and only starting watching again once Leonard Nimoy did his guest spot. But I'm SO happy I decided to follow this season. I didn't think the finale was as good as last week's episode (possibly because I was such a sucker for the emotion moments between Peter and his mom) but I'm still really excited for next season.
yyz
May 21, 2010 at 3:46PM EST Reply to CommentLast season, I wasn't totally invested with the characters either. However, during Season 2, that changed and "Fringe" has become a must-see show for me (one that will, hopefully, fill the void that will be left by the ending of "Lost"). Hopefully, you'll give it another chance next season and decide to write about it again.
yyz P.S. Nice "Pure energy!" reference ala the sampling of Nimoy/Spock by the group Information Society.
May 21, 2010 at 3:49PM ESTBen
May 21, 2010 at 3:53PM EST Reply to CommentAre you planning to keep watching Fringe next season, and just not writing about it, even though you don't really like it?
Occam's Toothbrush
May 21, 2010 at 3:54PM EST Reply to CommentWait a minute. Did anyone else notice the HUGE plot hole? The entire reason that Olivia was able to go over to Earth-2 was because Bell and Walter Bishop subjected her to the cortexaphan trials to bring out her abilities. So if that's true, how was Fauxlivia (hat tip: Chuckbassismybabydaddy over at NYMag.com's Fringe review) able to switch places and bring Walter and Peter back to Earth-1? Did I miss that? Don't get me wrong, I love me some Fringe and I loved this episode, but how did that plot hole slip through? Any thoughts?
mcklowry She didn't bring them back. They used the same "door" our Olivia created in part 1, but used Bell's energy to send them through.
May 21, 2010 at 4:00PM EST7s Tim Maybe they just haven't revealed that Bell or Walternate had done some trials over there in the mid to late 80s? Maybe The trials had just unlocked the ability Olivia could have had in either universe, and the various events in Earth-2 had triggered the same in Fauxlivia (like the name, but it's clunky to write). Maybe they will explain it next year, but the already obvious twist would have been too transparent to work had they spent time to delve into it this time?
May 21, 2010 at 4:38PM ESTnimd4 7s Tim, check out mcklowry's post (the correct answer :)).
May 21, 2010 at 5:32PM ESTEightiesologist It's not a plot hole when so much of what happened clearly won't be explained until both the resolution of the finale and next season. It all just happened, you can't expect it all to be explained in a season finale.
May 21, 2010 at 6:08PM ESTIf you need an honest example of plot holes, check out Lost Season 6.
Seraldo
May 21, 2010 at 5:04PM EST Reply to CommentI know you've never been very fond of Fringe, but I'm still pretty surprised you've found the show less entertaining (the last 5-7 episodes especially) than the egregious mess that is S6 of Lost. smh
Just the same, thanks for at least addressing why you stopped doing write-ups on the show
nimd4
May 21, 2010 at 5:28PM EST Reply to Comment"All those thoughts coming up just as soon as I pick a new place to hide my key.." Nice, I love it! Hey, btw., you've got EXACTLY the same opinion on Fringe - from what I can gather from this short text ("Monster of the Week," being like the X-Files with, perhaps, more gore - I argued, something along the lines of "must we go through it").
Anyway, huh, I forgot what I was gonna say (lol). The numerous problems with Fringe writing and/or script is what's making it bad (IMHO); in contrast to (another sci-fi show) Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, where the casting/crew is what made it pretty much suck (I don't mean the main characters, for the most part, mostly :)).
Just a quick note then, since I've gone blank (dang you, Walter Bishop Syndrome)... Belly's (Bellie ?) explanation of being dead - so it's ok to cross over without consequence and the whole gun-fight scene: it's like a different writer, from the rest of the show; something's missing, it's just too shallow. It's like the highs and lows, but they can really stoop down to way below any level what-so-ever. Suddenly we're watching a Kazakhstan-written soap-opera. Olivia calls in for the Fringe division and the call is cut short, but no one will notice that?.. & so on & so forth.
P.S.
The ending, ridiculous. Good bye, Fringe.
Kujo
May 21, 2010 at 6:03PM EST Reply to CommentI saw the twist ending coming a mile away. It's disappointing that it appears that alt-Olivia is evil (something I predicted). It's entirely possible that she's being totally manipulated by Walternate, and may end up on the good side.
In all, season 2 was strong. Better than season 1 overall. Some of the monster of the week eps were weak, and I absolutely hated the "Brown Betty" ep. Not only was it poorly written, but I thought it was inexcusable placing that ep so close to the end of the season.
Eightiesologist
May 21, 2010 at 6:15PM EST Reply to CommentSo Fringe gets a fairly apathetic review while melodramatic idiocy like Grey's Anatomy continues to have its altar bowed to? Phooey. It's much easier to play up to an audience's emotions by parading out every melodramatic contrivance in the book and jamming it into one ridiculously unrealistic episode then it is to construct elaborate genre mystery like Fringe does, with constant pay-offs, a focused mythology, high quality cinematography, and endearing characters. Which one of these things is more fresh and unique to television?
And Fringe is doing a much better job at introducing science fiction concepts and never backing off of it, unlike Lost which dabbled this kind of stuff for seasons only to inexplicably abandon it for biblical gobbledy gook this season. Fringe runs into its mysteries head on.
Melissa I agree with pretty much everything you said.
May 21, 2010 at 10:28PM ESTOne of the best aspects of Fringe is how they answer questions. For instance, the question of why Bell lobotomized Walter. If this was Lost, or The X-Files for that matter, we'd have to wait for years to know the truth, if they even remembered to answer the question.
james couldn't have said it better myself. alan is usually on point, and i wasn't a big fan of s1, but after the fantastic closing stretch of this season it's a joke that fringe gets shat on while the praises of such trash as glee and grey's anatomy are sung
May 22, 2010 at 12:21PM ESTsepinwall First, I'm not a fan of "Glee" and haven't written about it in forever.
May 23, 2010 at 8:37AM ESTSecond, the "How dare you like Show B and not Show A when Show A is empirically better?" argument is silly. Different shows work on different levels, and connect to different people in different ways. It's not (with apologies to Mr. Nimoy's most famous role) logical. It just is.
And if saying that the show is obviously much better but still doesn't emotionally connect to me is me shitting on it, well... I invite you to go read some of my Grey's Anatomy reviews from a couple of years ago, or my entire run of Studio 60 reviews. *That* is a show that I shat upon, early and often.
mkr
May 21, 2010 at 8:10PM EST Reply to Commentfringe has become one of my favorite shows ever. the writers are clearly having a great time and the acting is superb. leonard nimoy in a shoot-out! with a model 77?!? outstanding.
anonymous
May 21, 2010 at 10:54PM EST Reply to Commenti thought the finale was great... even though the Olivia switch was obvious it sets up a lot for next season and pretty much guarantee more alt-earth interaction. i hope the monster of the week was just to setup an eventual running plot for the series as a whole (or at least season by season). What i think this episode did so well was not resolving the conflict in some crazy over-dramatic way with peter in the machine and the real Walter and Olivia trying to save their reality. i really thought that this season was an upgrade and that they should make the observers and alt earth as the main focus of the show instead of being subplots to monster of the week episodes.
mmmike
May 21, 2010 at 10:57PM EST Reply to CommentI always tuned out during X-Files mythology episodes, and I'm beginning to do the same with Fringe. Maybe it's because monster-of-the-week episodes allow for a greater number quirky plots and guest stars (not that I'll ever complain about Leonard Nimoy...).
J
May 22, 2010 at 2:04AM EST Reply to CommentAs long as this show fails to coax a script out of Darin Morgan, it's useless to me.
The good news is, at least according to IMDB, that Mrogan's supposedly written an episode of a live-action (?) series called "Tower Prep" he's producing with his brother for The Cartoon Network. So maybe I can stop watching this space wondering if I missed Fringe's Darin Morgan Episode yet.
Screendoor Slams
May 22, 2010 at 7:09AM EST Reply to CommentAm I correct in surmising that the Fringe 'Opera house' was in fact the BSG Opera house ? If so then I am truly a nerd.
mmmike Yep, it's the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver.
May 22, 2010 at 11:05AM ESTSophisticaz
May 22, 2010 at 2:27PM EST Reply to CommentI believe that, alongside Justified and Chuck, Fringe has become one of the best shows on TV right now. This season opened incredibly strongly and has pushed the arc really deeply which has been a joy. Alan, a few weeks back I posted on your old blog that I was worried Joshua Jackson wasn't up to the demands of playing Peter, especially in John Noble's shadow. Evidently I was wrong.
Kim
May 22, 2010 at 7:19PM EST Reply to CommentLOVED the episode, but I have a question. When Fauxlivia walked into the apartment, was that Olivia's home? On the one hand, it seemed so because of how she found the key. However, I thought Olivia lived in a brownstone. And where were Rachel and Ella?
BrettAlan Olivia must live in a different place in the alt-world. The key wasn't necessarily in the exact same place, but the same part of the door frame.
May 25, 2010 at 12:58PM ESTAnd there was dialogue that established that alt-Rachel died in childbirth.
I suppose there's no need to put up a separate post with my general thoughts, so let me just say that I think Fringe is the best show on TV right now, and the latter part of the season was tremendous. I'll also add to the love for White Tulip; probably the best hour of TV I've seen since Aaron Sorkin was writing TWW. (Of course, it appears that the alt-world is still getting TWW, the lucky bastards!)
Dezbot
May 22, 2010 at 8:24PM EST Reply to CommentI really enjoyed it and think it's a great set-up for the next season, even with the obvious switch at the end. I wonder if Walternate is what Walter would have been if he hadn't asked Bell to take out parts of his brain?
SWG
May 22, 2010 at 9:22PM EST Reply to CommentI liked it a lot, lately this show has given more more meaningful drama and suspense than Lost has. The only thing I didn't care for was the final twist involving Alt-Olivia for two reasons. It was predictable and it will mess up their chance to have many monster of the week type episodes for the first part of next season, till they wind down that arc and get real Olivia back. And even then it's hard to see how they will be able to go back to regular cases. Plus with everything Olivia has gone through it would have been nice to end this season with something going right for her. Make that three reasons.
Medrawt
May 23, 2010 at 1:42AM EST Reply to CommentThe Olivia switch wasn't surprising, but I'm not sure why people seem to be disappointed that it wasn't surprising. I think it's *interesting* - if Olivia-2 has to maintain cover, she needs to work with Peter and Walter and Broyles. If the writers aren't dumb, they're going to have her realize that while the damage done to her universe is real, these people are not as malicious as Secretary Walternate led her to believe and that while her side didn't start the problems (however unintentionally) they've been the aggressors. I think that'll be interesting.
Plus, the image of "our" Olivia in a corner in a cell took me back to the episode where they visited the site of the cortexiphan trials. The implication, iirc, was that a sufficiently frightened Olivia could be responsible for some serious damage. So I hope they pay that off as well.
Melissa Thinking about Olivia in that cell made me wonder if Walternate has any idea about Olivia's abilities. In theory, would she be able to move herself to the other side on her own? I'm guessing if she's under enough emotional stress, the answer is yes. That cell was definitely putting her in emotional distress. I agree with you that the switch was interesting, not shocking, and sets up for a great season premiere. Personally, I'll take interesting over shocking any day.
May 23, 2010 at 2:24AM ESTDavid
May 23, 2010 at 9:32AM EST Reply to CommentWhatever one might say about Fringe, and I love it, warts and all, it's still better than 95% of the trash of prime time. It's not a hospital show, of which there have been about 212 billion, it's not a cop show (412 billion) and it's not a teen or young people's ensemble show (not sure how many.)
While it may not be completely original, compared to the stick-a-fork-in-it, derivative garbage we find most nights, it sticks out like a particularly photogenic sore thumb.
My favorite moment from the this season-ender: the scowl Walter gives to Bell before climbing into the back seat of the SUV. Their bickering like toddlers fighting in the sandbox was precious. Just wish there was more of Peter's mom. She's lovely.
Can't agree more with Seraldo about the "egregious mess" that is Lost. My wife wants to watch it, so I watch it, and I just can't see the point. It's gone so far from where it started, with the writers obviously pulling it out of their butts...