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Recap: 'Fringe' - 'The Bullet That Saved The World'

The episode that truly kicks off the final leg of this show's journey

By Ryan McGee Friday, Oct 26, 2012 10:00 PM

<p>Friday's "Fringe"</p>

Friday's "Fringe"

Credit: FOX

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Even for an already divisive series of “Fringe”, tonight’s episode is one for the books in terms of splitting an audience right down the middle. The show’s last outing, “The Recordist”, was a middling but ultimately inoffensive hour. No one was going to get particularly worked up about it either way. But “The Bullet That Saved The World”? Here’s an hour designed to evoke a response. And not just any response, mind you: It’s meant to evoke a visceral response. There are times in which the show exists in order to get from Point A to Point B. And there are times in which the show blows up the caravan on the way to Point B with an antimatter baton.
 
I’m of two minds about this episode, which I luckily got to absorb for a bit before committing thought to pixel. My initial reaction involved throwing my hands up and punching invisible elves out of anger. I didn’t understand the show’s decision to kill off Etta in the four episode of its finale season. Including “Letters of Transit”, we only got five total episodes with a character that seemed like the focal point for what this show would ultimately be about. Reality was rewritten partially to ensure that Peter had a child with the right version of Olivia Dunham. An unwitting encounter with Fauxlivia yielded Henry, but that child was written out of existence with the show’s reality reboot at the end of Season 3. Even if the show had been slow to flesh out the timeline involving Henrietta, surely such a story would unfold before all was said and done, no?
 
No.
 
And while that seems insane, I also do appreciate the show zigging where many of us expected it to zag. I’m not sure I even had to time to contemplate about whether or not Etta would make it out of the show alive, given the short time we spent with her. If you did think about that possibility, then the show simply zigged ahead of what one might consider an appropriate time within the season. Still, “Bullet” is another it what’s an increasingly long list of television episodes in 2012 that seem to use the audience’s understanding of season structure in order to subvert expectations. This past week’s “Homeland” did this masterfully, unfurling events that could have easily happened in that show’s fifth season. Viewers are simply too savvy about the pacing of television seasons (and by extension, series) for showrunners to hide their hands any longer. So what have some writers done? They’ve changed the game.
 
I admire all that in theory, but I’m left somewhat cold by the developments tonight. Were they shocking? Sure. But did they matter? Of that, I’m less sure. I certainly felt for Olivia and Peter, who at this point seem like they are perpetually tied to kharma’s whipping post. Putting aside the mechanics of this season, which seemed to intentionally put Etta at arm’s length from her parents, it’s still devastating to watch Oliva and Peter essentially close up after their daughter’s death. To go through her disappearance once would have been unbearable enough. To have them go through it just weeks after being freed from their amber slumber could be enough to render them catatonic for good.
 
I’m just not sure the show has earned this misery porn at this point in the series. A recent death early in the fifth season of “Sons Of Anarchy” came at an incredibly early part of that season’s run, but was also the culmination of four plus years of narrative and character work. “Fringe” skipped those steps with Etta, relying instead on our compassion for her parents to make tonight’s episode hurt. Given all the sci-fi kookiness that has populated the show’s run, it’s also felt like a five-season journey towards Olivia and Peter making a life (and ultimately, a family) together. With the universe literally getting in their way at various points, their reunion with Etta felt like the show’s confirmation that love ultimately triumphs science. That’s a corny point, but it’s one that the show earns more often than not.
 
But now? Etta’s run through the show has been confusing at best, and now feels like a wasted opportunity. Without any context for this long-awaited reunion, these episodes retroactively have less meat on their bones. “In Absentia” offered hope that this cipher, made opaque by design, would soon have layers to rival Olivia. But “The Recordist” pushed aside that character work in favor of the fifth season’s scavenger hunt, leaving a single episode for the show to impart as much knowledge about her as possible before shuffling off her mortal coil. Peter gave Etta a new necklace not because of anything we witnessed in their time together, but because the show needed a visual through line to track her doom.
 
Even if Etta’s character remains a symbol more than a three-dimensional character, her death did establish one thing sorely missing from this season thus far: a sense that The Observers are lethal, terrifying adversaries. The first three weeks of this season have painted this still mysterious group as stormtroopers that can occasionally teleport. Outside of Windmark’s brutal mindfrakking of Walter in the season premiere, The Observers have seemed as dangerous as a child with a super soaker. Sure, both might annoy you, but neither will do a lot of actual damage. I rolled my eyes at every scene in which Walter and Astrid loudly burned through the ambered lab to fetch another tape, with Observers all around them completely oblivious to their activity. We were supposed to worry about these bald buffoons? But from minute one tonight, The Observers were omnipresent, overwhelming in numbers and sheer power. Somehow, just seeing Broyles get into an elevator with one felt like the scariest thing I had seen all season.
 
Ah, yes, Broyles is back, and he may or may not save the show’s reputation this season. (Hey na, hey na, my Broyles is back!) Hearing him say “Agent Dunham” for the first time brought an undeniable lump to my throat. Lance Reddick has always been criminally underused on the show, and the idea that he’ll be part of this now morose band of insurgents gives me hope that there will be a new dynamic in the show’s weekly routine. Broyles has always existed on the periphery of the show, outside of the two or three episodes that put his family into focus. I’m still not sold on the scavenger hunt itself, but I appreciate the show demonstrating how difficult it will be to execute it fully. Having them re-enact the fringe event from Season 1’s “Ability”, releasing a gas triggering hyperactive growth of scar tissue, was both a nice callback but also a statement of purpose. No more, Mr. “Fringe” Nice Guy.
 
Just because I haven’t the slightest idea where this is all headed is my problem, not the show’s problem. “Fringe” has always been a show about family, first and foremost. And that, above all, is why Etta’s death is so shocking. It’s cold in a way that show usually doesn’t operate. The story of “Fringe” is the story of this family, and this family just experienced a huge loss while trying to save humanity as a whole. Olivia and The Bishops may eventually triumph, but that victory has already had a cost that may make the entire endeavor ring hollow. That’s certainly a more realistic approach to fighting such an uphill battle, but the show has always favored romanticism over reality in cases like this. (Again: the show’s explanation for how Peter Bishop came back from oblivion in Season 4 was basically “A LOVE WIZARD DID IT.”)
 
What remains to be seen is how much this death actually sticks. Remember, Over There Broyles died helping save Olivia Dunham before Peter got into the doomsday machine and The Observers rewrote reality. Would “Fringe” try to have a grieving Peter try and reboot reality again in order to have his daughter back? It’s possible. It would distract from his current mission, which is exactly what Windmark hoped to effect by killing Etta. Even if Windmark doesn’t understand the concept of love, he’s seen how much can be done in service of it through the insurgents’ recent successes. Killing Etta helps take the wind out of the sails of the freedom fighters, both physically and emotionally.
 
But rebooting reality in order to get her back just means the show would have found a way to exploit time travel in service of cheap sentiment. If Etta returns to the show alive in anything other than flashback, then we witnessed a cheap parlor trick designed to make fans batty. There’s no need for me to reiterate how much I loathed last season’s reality reboot, and there’s certainly no need to express how much another reset button would have me punching AND kicking invisible elves. Even if I didn’t like the execution of Etta’s death, I’m impressed that the show went there, and I’m curious to see how this event shapes the program’s end game. What felt like a 13-episode geotagging excursion has turned into something much different. Whether or not that’s a good thing is yet to be seen.
 
What did you think about tonight’s episode? In which camp do you fall concerning Etta’s death? Did the show give us enough reason to care about her departure? How does this change your opinion about this show’s post-apocalyptic fifth season? Sound off below!
 

  

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  • Default-avatar

    buckbeat

    Good recap, Ryan. I'm surprised :P

    I was thinking Etta was using an amber bomb, that way when everything was said and done they could come back and save her as she woke up (its 2033...a gut shot shouldn't kill you right?).

    PS...when you get advanced screeners and write an article ahead of time it might be worth letting someone proofread first. Just saying.

    October 26, 2012 at 10:12PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      buckbeat "kill off Etta in the four episode of its finale season"
      "“Bullet” is another it what’s an increasingly long list of television episodes in 2012"

      October 26, 2012 at 10:21PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Fringe504

    Agre with most of your review, surprise?

    Best scenes were the Olivia/Etta talk, despite me not liking the adult Etta storyline, Anna Torv is brilliant in the Olivia having to deal with that situation.

    And Broyles and Olivia, Anna and Lance fantastic together, I wished they had done more with their relationships during Fringe.

    I do not care for adult Etta at all, everything they wanted to achieve with her could have been done in 2016, and more interesting.
    So we are now going to get angry Peter creating havoc because of her,
    not caring at all for others, and other lives lost.
    Blind revenge, and Olivia being put in the spot Elisabeth had with Walter, woman behind her man, yuk.

    The preview was too much him but Olivia seems to say that they have a mission, glad she remembers.

    my big question is:
    What have they done to Olivia Dunham since midseason 3?
    Since Firefly her only storyline is running after Peter, and being nothing without Peter, Peter the God, and savior, and superhero (why does he have 2 guns, macho?)

    They have spent too much time setting up adult Etta, giving her more backstory and importance than Olivia Dunham.
    Olivia Dunham was once the Chosen One, the savior, all gone?
    And if they really are going the route of via Walters plan rebuilding that machine with God Peter being the savior again,
    I will be totally disgusted.

    Wyman (and Pinkner) have a fantastic character in Olivia Dunham, and an awesome actress in Anna Torv, do something with her.
    But Anna is not going to the media as Jackson does, he had no problems with S1 and S2 when Anna was the go-between for him and Noble, but she got the first half of season 3,
    and she is still paying for that.

    BTW:
    Charlie dying in season 2, and the way they did that, was the worst death on Fringe.
    First make him evil as the shapeshifterversion, and than have Olivia being forced to kill him.
    At least AltBroyles was somewhat heroic, although they never did anything with that afterwards,
    to busy writing for Peter and Walter.

    October 26, 2012 at 10:57PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      Ettabishops Peter and Olivia lost their damn daughter TWICE. So shut up you annoying ass Anna torv fan!!!!!

      October 26, 2012 at 11:05PM EST
    • Default-avatar

      bob Amen, the AnnaTorv Psycho Fan chimes here EVERY freakin' week and WE DON'T CARE that you have an unhealthy Stalker Psychopathic "love" for her...give in a rest nutbar!

      October 28, 2012 at 6:06AM EST
    • Default-avatar

      Crazy Anna Torv Stalker Fan Don't you ever change, Crazy Anna Torv Stalker!

      October 29, 2012 at 6:36AM EST
  • Lostmesaiconv3_talkback_profile

    mesa

    This episode was good, I just didn't feel much for Etta. More so for Peter and Olivia. I'm not so sure they will beat the observers in the end now. Danger is good.

    October 26, 2012 at 11:01PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    ides

    This is a rare case where I could see good drama come from finding a way to bring her back at the very end. I hated last seasons tortured machinations, but as a final act it could make a certain amount of sense for Peter's journey to parallel Walter's original quest to rescue some version of his son. I'm not saying that this is the direction they should go, but this is a rare case of having a certain amount of track already laid if they choose to go in that direction.

    For the record, I liked Etta, and given the show's focus on family (in whatever version) she always seemed part of the natural endgame of the show. Whether she returns or not, I just hope that whatever happens doesn't involve soul magnets (*shudder*).

    [Minor "Lost" spoiler in this rambling paragraph] It reminds me of the last season of "Lost," where one of the common theories about the alternate timeline was that one character had somehow created it to save her son, which was a very interesting possibility while it lasted. . . at least that version would have been more rooted in character and arguably more interesting than the more arbitrary "explanations" we ended up with (I'm looking at you, "Across the Sea"). I don't hate the end of "Lost" - it's just not all it could have been. Part of my problem might be that I hold every series finale up to "The Shield," and in that light they're all lacking.

    A strong episode, though it's hard to see how it's going to hold up without seeing the rest of the season. Some lovely images - Etta's memories when Windmark scanned her, her death under the arch, and Olivia's understated but deeply emotional reaction to seeing Broyles all stood out.

    October 27, 2012 at 12:06AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    YodaSize

    But what if an attempt by Peter to reboot reality (certainly within their grasp since he did it before, and he remembers it was done) actually gets us back to the ORIGINAL timeline with a better solution and foreknowledge of the Observers upcoming invasion? Then it all ties together... and we can wrap it up that way.

    October 27, 2012 at 1:55AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    July Tinlywh

    Every week we don't know what Fringe might bring us, but we sure can count on Ryan McGee to give us ridiculously bad written reviews. You seem to have the writing capacity of Brittany from Glee. "Punching invisible elves"? What the hell. Sometime I wonder if you give these reviews for your dog to write, but then I remember that some dogs are really smart and probably would do a better job.

    October 27, 2012 at 4:07AM EST Reply to Comment
    • Geekfurious_avgf_3d_3_talkback_profile

      Razorback Is this the same person who told me to go jerk off in the comment section of my review?

      October 27, 2012 at 5:46AM EST
  • Geekfurious_avgf_3d_3_talkback_profile

    Razorback

    I hated the episode. I wrote a review of it but... let me sum it up here: I felt nothing because I know it is a cheap trick.

    October 27, 2012 at 5:44AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Ken from Chicago

    Ryan, one thing that stuck in my mind from my favorite writer (of original genre fiction but also within pre-existing universes and is excellent at getting the "voice" right for characters), Peter David, once said about writing for audiences:

    Give them what they want--but not what they expect.

    I don't know if he was quoting someone else, but that stayed with me in reading and watching genre fiction.

    Now he didn't mean not killing off beloved characters, because he has done that in his work, but writing those deaths to have impact and consequences, while respecting the characters, the stories and the audience.

    FRINGE definitely has given us what we didn't expect, but how they follow up Etta's death will shape whether it is something that we, the audience, in retrospect want (e.g., the brave sacrifice of Over There's Broyles) or something we hate (e.g., waiting until around episode 15 of Season 4 to explain that Peter was home, Over Here, with "his" Olivia, but that the timeline had been altered--had that revealed that say by episode 4, TPTB might not have so many fans who just gave up on the series since they didn't know setting and Setting is far more important in speculative fiction than any other genre).

    That all said, if the Plan involves time travel, to stop the initial Observer arrival in the past or stop the initial Observer departure from the future (i.e., travel to the 27th century and prevent them from leaving a devastated Earth in the first place). Of course upon returning to the "Present", one of the effects of removing the Observers from the timeline is Etta lives, but, of course, altered, since she was NOT hardened by growing up in an Observer dominated world.

    That could be a way the show could eat its cake and have it too.

    -- Ken from Chicago

    October 27, 2012 at 7:28AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    garyc

    Figure they would have given Etta more episodes but are condensing storylines for fit everything they want to do into a short final season. Would not be surprised to see, or hear of her again, in some way, even if only through flashbacks or anecdotes from other resistance members.

    I am enjoying how straightforward this season is. They almost lost me by the end of last season. Don't think the show could have handled another reality reboot; at least not until the show finale.

    Agree with earlier poster about the Shield finale. Still get the creeps picturing Shane's wife and son lying on the bed together.

    October 27, 2012 at 8:46AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Rachel

    Seems likely this is an opportunity to resurrect motif of parents doing something awful with science to save a doomed child. So far all season I have been skeptical the endgame was to remove observers from future/present. It would mean that even sucess would be pretty apocolyptic: the world as we know it gone, Etta's childhood gone, world in a shambles environmentally, economically, politically. My guess would be time travel used to defeat observers in past, before Etta's disappearance, then reset with our heroes happily living in our present.

    October 27, 2012 at 11:24AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    supreme83

    the show is about a time loop. and them having to go back or having already gone back, depending on how you look at it, to avert this. william bell called it in season one and two if you rewatch

    October 27, 2012 at 12:15PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      Sandy I'm curious about this time loop because we already have clues that something more is going on. Olivia's memory of a missing persons poster with a date written as 2033. Olivia remembering different coordinates than Walter.

      October 27, 2012 at 4:01PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Elliot Lake

    Excellent. Agree almost 100%, with this one caveat: what September said re: Henry being the wrong child, was not that Etta herself was important, what he said was "the child from which your shared future will spring". So it was that the shared future was with Realivia, not Faux. Otherwise, you are so right--esp. on the karmic whipping post and misery porn, both of which I assume are Joel Wyman's own demons, as they flow from him. It will be interesting to see how much time they spend on Peter's loss of child journey = Walter's loss of child journey-- guessing not all of this middle act of the final season. I like the amped up action finally, it has been very sluggish, and the peacefully safe lab, where they are as loud as they want, is odd, glad someone besides me noticed.
    So... besides revenge, what is Peter after? It's not clear from the promo if he does the capturing or steals it, but it looks like he's going to the source, which is about time. So, good move Fringe.

    October 27, 2012 at 12:40PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Harry_lime_talkback_profile

    odessasteps

    between modern comics and moffat era Dr Who, I never expect a science fiction death to be permanent.

    October 27, 2012 at 2:34PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Carlos

    I'm probably late to the party on this one, but it just occurred to me that a Henrietta was being played by a Georgina. She's been girlified-boyname typecast! :D

    October 28, 2012 at 12:14PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Img_1603_talkback_profile

    Peter_the_Gr8

    I would like to see a buddy detective thriller/comedy series called "Walter and Broyles". I care so little about everyone else on this show. Etta? Didn't get time to know her so how could I possibly care that she's dead? I miss when this show was about face melting and Peter Weller building a time machine. I know even miss the whole war of the parallel universes (which I used to think was pretty dull.)

    October 31, 2012 at 2:04PM EST Reply to Comment

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