Last week we left off with Olivia kissing Pacey Poof and we jump right into the minutes following that moment. And just as anyone should have expected, they don't decide to jump into bed for special sexy time. But there's definitely something going on inside her little brain that is a bit more serious than a headache.
In the case-of-the-week world, a mental patient named Sean has some power that witnesses, or controls, an evil home invasion murder. When the FBI goes to investigate, Olivia continues to experience some kind of residual flash memories about Peter. Or to be more specific, the previous timeline, before Peter got erased.
This eventually brings her back to Peter's place where she continues to demonstrate a greater memory of that world. In fact, she seems to remember everything. So, naturally, Peter thinks something must be wrong because it couldn't be possible that he's in the right world and that everyone just forgot him. And it couldn't be possible that the woman he loves is this woman because then he'd have to bang her right there and then, making this episode awesome!
Instead, they decide to do brain tests on her. Peter looks at her intensely, all serious and shit, while she stares back at him lovingly, the way a woman does when she can't stand being without her man for another second and needs to just go home and BE WITH HIM! Obviously this means something is wrong with her.
Walter questions her about the series of events that led them to work together and she goes through the timeline Peter remembers. Instead of being all "HOLY SHIT! MY WIFE IS BACK! Walter, get the fuck out, I gotsa snog her" he goes for emobitch instead and shakes his head and waxes idiotically about her being wrong since that's his timeline, like some kid who just watched his sandbox buddy steal his crayons and wants 'em back.
So Walter surmises that Olivia is somehow empathizing memories through Peter's need for his Olivia and no one thinks for a second "Hey, you know, maybe it's just that little Pete here got erased and we all forgot him, but somehow returned and oh hell, let's fuck!"
Nope, Olivia is channeling Peter's memories. Or... wait, Walter was about to figure it out when he lost the thought. Is this better or worse than mashing the reset button?
Lincoln shows up to move the case-of-the-week forward, because anyone still watching this show is really just interested in the least interesting parts. But thankfully, before they go off to solve it, Walter tells Peter that he must be enabling Olivia's fake memories, thereby instilling him with guilt and responsibility.
"Chuck, we can't be together. I'm your handler and you're an asset..."
But I digress.
Case-of-the-week blahblahblah, we get back to Olivia and Peter interacting and she finds an excuse to touch his hand (no pun intended, but that was a nice touch by the writers, as I was thinking "if this were real, she would find any excuse to touch him" and then she did) and of course Walter's mental douche seed prevents Peter from letting the moment play out naturally. Not that I would expect the writers to let it happen quickly, but I'm sure it is tough to put up with this kind of stalling tactic if you are very impatient.
The episode so effectively puts the attention on Peter and Olivia that I am barely able to give even the tiniest bag of fucksticks about the case plot as they go to interview some dude. Jackson makes an interesting acting choice in the scene as Olivia interviews the doc, repeatedly looking at her as if studying her behavior, perhaps for any sign of familiarity, or worry about her state of mind.
Back in his lab, Walter tests Olivia's hair, and finds doses of gjkllfindfhtan (like I'm going to even bother researching how to spell it) in her system and runs to Nina to find out why. She plays dumb but Lincoln and Walter demand to see the storage room where Massive Dynamic keeps their supply.
We are then tossed back into Olivia vs. Peter land as they track down something and they continue to talk about their feelings. This reminds me a lot of season 3 when they had their back and forth discussions about Fauxlivia and what their feelings meant. I think the writers handle these realistically, at least in the way they talk to each other, and about what they would say, but as with season 3, there is also an unnatural stall tactic being utilized that deflates the ever growing weight of these scenes. I get that the writers want to nearly burst that bubble before they give the audience what they want to see, and it probably works for the majority of viewers, but for those who are less patient (or see the obviousness of why these scenes play out this way) it can get maddeningly stupid.
Anyway, Olivia has a memory of something that Peter doesn't and he deduces that Walter's theory is incorrect, since he couldn't be projecting memories or knowledge he never possessed. Olivia seems very enlightened and willing to just let this wave of emotion wash over her, while Peter continues to scowl at the thought of his own potential happiness. Before they can discuss it further, they are attacked, but survive because they are badass. Unfortunately, the doc that has something to do with the pointless part of this episode isn't so lucky and gets pillowed to death.
I guess the case-of-the-week is over, I looked away from the screen for five seconds, but Peter and Olivia get back to talking about their relationship and Olivia wants him in a bad way. And Peter wants his Olivia wet and naked (I am projecting). And yeah, the angst is up to like Chuck and Sarah waking up in each other's arms in the motel room level (can I make more CHUCK references in this review?). Finally Peter admits that he's been afraid of betraying the woman he loves, like he did during the Fauxlivia portion of season 3, but that he knows in his heart that this Olivia is the right one and they kiss. Awwwww.
Olivia responds by running to the bathroom. No one should be surprised when this turns out badly.
At MD, Nina, Lincoln, and Walter find that none of the oblugfffffinfan is missing. But when Walter drinks some like it's fruit-punch, he exclaims it's fakery! Oh nos! The stuff I can't spell has been replaced!
Back at the peepee gas station, Peter discovers that Olivia has gone missing. And soon we discover that she is tied up somewhere with Nina. The real Nina?! Ruhroh, what's real anymore? PRESS THE RESET BUTTON, KIDDIES! We going on this ride again!
If I had to rate this one, I'd give it:
90 out of 100
This would have gotten a 95 if not for the fact that I knew at every step of the way that something was going to get in the way of whatever progress we were getting. Mind you, I think this is probably a smart move by the writers. It gives Peter something to fight for and the audience knows that Peter and Olivia have accepted their love for each other in this world, or something. Part of the lower score is also my sense that this is still way too early to play out this rescue story line and that we will get some kind of reset of their feelings (or timeline) before long. So, call it an apprehensive 90 that could have been a 95 if not for the plotting being too obvious and my belief that they have to backtrack on this progress soon.
However, if they don't backtrack, I will return and boost this score up to a 95! Woohoo!
What did you think?
