Review - FRINGE 4.16: 'Nothing As It Seems'

Lincoln: I really have to drink that?
Walter: Only if you wanna live.

Now that Pacey Poof has his Olivia back, the show is now ready to tackle the grander story arcs we all love (except those of you who don't love them).

Olivia Dunham, having now become the Olivia Dunham from season 3, is no longer someone the FBI trusts, exactly. So she is essentially put on the bench while they or she figure things out. It seems that Peter has decided to not tell anyone that he is in the right place and that the problem is rooted in what he did in the other timeline.

Why hasn't he told anyone? I guess he likes secrets.

At least we get to revisit something from a previous season, namely the porcupine man who died on that plane way back when. Except this time, he makes it off the plane before morphing into the monster and taking out some TSA agents. So the gang has to figure out what's going on and why things are different.

It's an okay storyline. If you are into this kind of thing. I'm not. And the monster's flying. Somewhere out there, a FRINGE fan is fapping away at this. Whatever is happening with this plot line relates to the grander story arc of this season, but the episode only hints at bigger things to come.

Tossed into the mix is Walter's gradual warming up to Peter, Lincoln's pining for Olivia while transforming into an eating machine after being infected by the monster virus or something, and the FBI's eventual acceptance of Olivia as a capable agent.

What's good about it? Well, the relationships we actually loved last season (and by "we" I mean me, because that's all that matters) are getting closer to existing again. Walter and Peter seem to be acting like father and son again (who is the genius in the writers room who thought stripping the most enjoyable portion of the show away was a good idea anyway?). Peter and Olivia are back together and being a super boring couple again. That's a good thing simply because we've stopped with the ridiculous "oh nos is Peter in da right place and is she the realzies Olivia?!?!?!". Lincoln is still a bitch. His alternate universe half is so much cooler.

If I had to rate this one, I'd give it:

75 out of 100

I am sure there are those of you who love this kind of episode because this is why you watch FRINGE. I need more. Sure, the Walter and Peter getting closer stuff I love. BUT I NEED MORE! There are just a few episodes left. They'd better get their shit together and make torture worth it or I will punch a puppy!

Man, this review sucks.

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Review - FRINGE 4.14: ‘The End of All Things’

"The End of All Things" brings us some answers that we maybe don't need and creates questions that still seem to have obvious answers. I really want to be wrong but the writers keep making me right.

First of all, as I said last week, the whole falling-in-love and Peter going to rescue his dearest love story line was happening way too early in the season and so of course they pulled back on that last night, as if operating straight out of the will-they-won't-they playbook.

Peter's logic is so forced that it feels unnatural. He has never been told he's in the wrong timeline by the Observers, so why is he so confident that he needs to get back there? In fact, in the show's biggest reveal, we find out that the Observers are human scientists from the future (and some timeline or another). Outside of not really needing that much information (I prefer not knowing the details of mysteries like this) it revealed something that should have made Peter think about his in-the-wrong-timeline theory.

September reveals to Peter that Fauxlivia gave birth to Peter's son, Henry, and that it was a product of the Observer's mistake. Apparently Peter was never supposed to have a child with Fauxlivia, but by trying to fix his error, September put into motion a series of events that resulted in the wrong girl giving birth to Peter's love child. It was a nice touch to call back to something most fans thought had been brushed under the rug, but will it have any impact on the grand story line? Unfortunately, it seems to have been only introduced to further confuse Peter's perception that he has to remain loyal to what he believes is his Olivia.

So if September has been trying to correct a mistake and that mistake is the death of Peter, and by correcting that he created the past and present situations, then logically Peter IS THE TIMELINE. He is the constant. If Peter exists, then everyone around him exists. He's not in the wrong timeline. Everyone else is in HIS timeline. And September tells him that the reason he tried to correct things is because Peter is special. So why does Peter jump to conclusions? Why doesn't he just ask September "Am I in the right timeline but everyone else just forgot me when I got erased but I am so important to the future of mankind that time simply keeps reinserting me back in?" Instead he inserts his own theory into what he's being told, even though September has never acknowledged it as being accurate.

It is infuriating. Sure, most people probably won't even think about it while watching the show, but we are now 10 or so episodes into this Peter-needs-to-get-back-home bullshit even though it seemed obvious when it was first introduced that he's IN THE RIGHT PLACE. I would love to be wrong and I will eat crow if I am, but I'm not. And by making it so obvious, the writers make potentially really good episodes, like last night's, into something that ends up irritating me the more I think about it.

Should I even mention how badly they telegraphed that the Nina with Olivia was not the real one? Nah. Let's just let it live on its own.

Look, the episode was enjoyable at times and could have been great, but by giving us an answer about the Observers that isn't all that interesting (much like what the Final Five were in BSG, or what the numbers meant in LOST, no spoilers) and then returning us emotionally back to where we were two episodes ago, isn't something I want to applaud much.

The only real positive movement, if you can call it positive, is that Olivia is now going to be in full pursuit mode to convince her dearest love that she's his. But I don't know how exciting it will be to watch Peter shoot her down over and over while guiltily pining for her as he thinks he's supposed to be with someone else. It feels like something that could wear thin pretty quickly unless you are a 13-year old girl.

I didn't really touch on the rest of the episode because, until we get a clearer picture of what David Robert Jones is up to, there isn't much to discuss. He obviously has a plan and it's probably sinister as hell but this episode didn't leave much meat on that bone. The only thing his involvement did was reveal how much Olivia is affected by Peter and how his presence motivates her power. It's kind of romantic and all but in the end is just part of the general stalling tactic to bring us to Peter's eventual realization that she is his Olivia.

The really big question the episode left out there is: if Peter was so important to his universe that September had to save him, and that his having a child with Fauxlivia was so wrong, then if he wasn't meant to cross over, why is this Olivia his dearest love? Unless Olivia was always meant to cross over to the other universe, meet Peter, and have his babies there. I guess time will tell.

If I had to rate this episode, I'd give it:

78 out of 100

Yes, I did a lot of complaining about this one but there were moments when I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it loses points for Peter's continued refusal to just ask simple and obvious questions either of himself or September. And I wouldn't even mind his idiocy if his behavior was better, more believably, written. Plus, the one step forward two steps back mentality is used like a crutch by every writers room on this planet when running out of good ideas. That worries me that the eventual payoff will fall flat by the time we get to it.

Season 4 has had some good episodes and may end up having a great payoff, but it has been one long stalling tactic and that's rarely a good sign on any show.

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FRINGE 4.08: 'Back To Where You’ve Never Been'

After a much too long hiatus and weeks upon weeks of fans losing their shit about what the writers have or haven't paid off this year, FRINGE returns with an appropriately named episode.

Pacey Poof, who unpoofed back into Peter Bishop a few episodes ago and is now unknown by those he loves, thinks he needs to utilize the machine that saved the day and then poofed him at the end of season 3.

Peter realizes, or believes, that he has to cross over to the other universe to speak to Walternate. He gets Olivia and that dude with the glasses who Olivia is totally going to bang to help him out.

Back in the other world, Fringe Division Fauxlivia and the dude not wearing glasses run into political red tape during an investigation into one of those shape-shifter goons.

Peter and the dude who had glasses but now doesn't... oh hell, I should learn this dick's name.

Oh, Lincoln! I knew that.

So Lincoln and Peter go to the alternate universe to get chummy with Walternate, who is busy dissecting a shape-shifter and hiding shit so he can start a massive war and kill everyone or something. Lee pretends to be Flee (that's what I'm calling the alternate universe Lee now) and brings Poof to Fliberty Flisland (that's what I'm calling ahhh who gives a fuck).

Meanwhile, someone has a fuckin' lightsaber! George Lucas is going to sue somebody!

Back at the opera house, Baltar and Six... err Fauxlivia and Flee are on their own investigation after a breach is registered and the two FD agents ponder whether some dicks came over from the other side illegally. After some sloppy critical thinking, they decide it was a false alarm but do start to discuss the shape-shifter issue.

Seriously. What's the fascination with these shape-shifters anyway, writers? Couldn't you have just made them ninja bunnies? They'd be so much cooler. But I digress.

Fauxlivia actually figures out the whole conspiracy but Flee slaps her down right before he ruins Peter and Lee's plan to penetrate deep into Fliberty Flisland. The illegals are arrested with the promise land in sight. Then, after their driver gets a sexy phone call, he shoots his buddy and then tries to kill Lee and Peter. But the dumbass is stopped by his not-dead-yet buddy and then killed by Lee. The Poofster then bolts with a gun and leaves Lee behind to get caught and raped in jail.

Now, this is actually where the episode gets good, because Peter goes back home, his real home (yes, we are meant to believe that this is actually not the right timeline and Peter needs to get back to where everyone knows him but anyone who is not a total idiot has already figured out that Peter is WRONG and that he was simply erased from ALL timelines so he has nofuckinwhere to go) and meets his MAMA!

I am sure someone could easily argue that there is no fuckin' way this chick should recognize an adult version of her child but I'm willing to let it go. She does and she has an instant love for him. This is a much better episode for them than the last one where Peter met and then abandoned his REAL MOTHER with no trouble at all.

Her reaction to him and her willingness to help is very well performed and the two actors play off each other expertly. When a quick-reaction force arrives to arrest Peter, she stands up for him and makes them bring the two of them to Walternate. The meeting between father and son brings the show back to its expected level of performance and intensity as Walternate demonstrates his willingness to help Peter by frying one of his own, exposing his shape-shifting.

Walternate and Peter discuss the shape-shifter problem and Poof agrees to help his father (who he thinks isn't his father) so that he can in turn be helped with his own problem. Back in Fleelivia world, the FD agents try to figure out what to do with Lee, who they have hidden away in a closet, as they start their own investigation into the potential conspiracy. It is here we discover that the bossman is da evilz and he is working with the shape-shifter big dog who we've seen before (watch the episode for that spoiler).

Finally, Olivia is just chillin' back at the transportation hub thingy when she is visited by an Observer who tells her some startling news. Go watch!

If I had to rate this episode, I'd give it:

86 out of 100

It had a lot of Peter and that's always good. Some really good scenes between his parents and him. Also, a few tense scenes that weren't totally predictable or lame. It's not one of my favorites but also a couple of times better than the last episode.

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FRINGE 4.06 - And Those We’ve Left Behind

I had sworn earlier this week, on Twitter, that I wouldn't write any more FRINGE reviews, but here I am.  Why?  Because I was so impressed by the latest episode that I couldn't help but write about it? I guess we will find out together. Read on.

One of the first things that struck me was that it took the writers SIX episodes to realize that they NEEDED a Peter and Olivia moment that demonstrated their love, even if as a dream. It is strange that there wasn't an awareness of the need for such a scene earlier. In any event, the scene works well to set up the entire Peter issue and the problem Walter has with his son, and the lack of emotional investment in him from Olivia (though, as I said in my last review, this makes for a weak narrative device). At least we get a scene of Peter enjoying his time with Olivia, taking time to stare at her longingly even as she seems annoyed by him. Or Olivia catching her Pacey-Poof-from-another-time being kind to strangers in his dreamy hot ways.

However, by this point, I realize that the biggest satisfaction, like in season 1, is going to come from the Walter/Peter interactions and this is where things still work. Even though Walter is trying his best to ignore Peter, the crazy chemistry between the two actors/characters is inescapable. It is actually funny how good Noble and Jackson are even as Walter calls Peter "the subject" and "it" as a way to avoid identifying with him.

The near joy Walter experiences when Peter questions his reasoning, is a perfect touch that in a matter of seconds deals with the excitement, sadness, confusion, guilt, and reality of what Walter feels about this man who is in the form of his grown-up son. And that, if I may harp one more time, is my problem with how Olivia is being written. We know Torv is capable of layered performances, but right now all she is being given is the Dumbham of season 1. Annoying!

Alright, back to the story. Apparently the Peter-problem is bigger than just being forgotten. Seems like there is some space-time continuum issue and Peter may be the cause! Ruhroh! I still maintain that all of this will end in either Peter having to kill Walter, or Walter having to kill Peter to save the universe, but I digress. So, just as Olivia begins to question why she was once having dreams about Peter, her future dearest love interrupts them and Peter starts time-jumping. Though Peter thinks this could get annoying, I dig this shit! And when we are introduced to the event instigator, I am totally in the pocket of this show again.

You don't need me to give a point-by-point of the episode but I will say that I truly enjoyed the case-of-the-week yet again, because it was performed and written well. Unlike the "you're a stranger what would I feel" moment between Olivia and Peter that felt like it was written for a shitty fan-fic. It seems that every week the writers are going to try to accentuate the love two people have for each other, as long as those two people are not the two the season is about (since Peter seems to be in the "wrong place" and needs to get back to it or some shit-that-you-know-isn't-accurate).

Otherwise, an excellent episode that represents the things I really dig about the show. Humor, heart, drama, space-time continuum, time displacement, Pacey Poof, Walter, and the apathetic look of the woman you love(d). Well, minus that last thing.

If I had to rate this episode, I would give it:

92 out of 100.

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FRINGE 4.05 - No Ovation

So this is the first REAL episode with Pacey Poof back and all totally reconstituted and looking dreamily handsome in the way only he can. Now the show can get back to being awesome! Yeah!

Maybe not. So. Fast.

As the great American counter-culture poet e.e. cummings (that's how the man liked it written) once wrote:

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

And that is essentially how I view this back and forth relationship between Peter and Olivia. Once upon a time, Olivia was trapped in another universe whilst Peter sluttied it up with a version of her, who also fell for him but was different. And Olivia and Peter both agreed that he should have known the difference because love transcends time and space.

So now the writers have flipped the switch and it is Peter who is fully aware and Olivia who is clueless about her feelings. Shouldn't her love for him transcend time, space, realms, and reality too? Shouldn't her love for him be an immediate attraction, much like the two cylons in BSG (I will try not to spoil this for those who intend on watching some day) who could not be kept apart? Or the individuals in DOLLHOUSE who had an attraction to each other that trumped the technology, so that even when they weren't aware of it, they were simply drawn to each other as if perfectly tuned to magnetically attract.

If I am to be sold on this great love between Peter and Olivia, shouldn't there be a fuckin' electric charge going off inside both their naughty parts the second they see each other? Seriously, I don't need them to get together anytime soon. But give me a break here, writers. Don't try to sell me on Olivia, a trained and very intelligent field agent who sees very strange things all the time, NOT BEING IMMEDIATELY AWARE OF THE OBVIOUS! That she is Pacey Poof's dearest love, and he is hers.

Instead the writers are going to try to make us believe that Olivia has to discover this and then somehow fall in love with him again while (most likely) developing feelings for her partner and eventually falling for him.

Now, I am no shipper. In fact, I like to hunt shippers like they are demons and I am Dean Winchester. I like to kill them, then piss into their eye sockets, and then shit in their mouths while eating a burger and drinking beer. So this isn't about some shippery need for those two kids to be together. In fact, I would have done even worse things to keep them apart. I would have had her happily married when the 4th season started... with kids! Yeah, with fuckin' kids. And she would have thought her life was perfect and then... oh shit, she would take one look at Peter and her entire universe would cave the fuck in.

GO!

But no. That won't happen. Oh well.

As for the episode, it was good. The stuff between Pacey Poof and Walter was good. Walter's inability to allow himself to feel happiness is something I can buy. It is within character. Peter kind of having some fun with what he knows and how others don't know him, while also feeling the frustration of what that would be like, is believable. Though, there are definitely some logic problems with the way he is being treated, but I will let others dissect those.

I also liked the case-of-the-week, mostly because much of its weight was handed to a capable actor who was able to deal with the various emotions the character should go through. Granted, the end of the story was way too predictable and you would think these professionals would make sure that any survivor of an attack by a fuckin' shape-shifter would be secured by ten 250lbs super agents.

My major issue is the Peter and Olivia one and only because I think it could become even more lame than Jackson said he thought it was prior to the end of season 4. Sure, the writers may impress us down the line but I don't feel any great weight to the relationship right now.

My second biggest worry is that the Peter existing in this world issue will be swept under the rug for 10 episodes, or more, instead of dealing with it head-on and diving into a solid narrative for the whole season without the need for these cases-of-the-week.

If I had to rate this episode, I would give it:

88.44 out of 100.

The imprisoned Peter factor was enjoyable and the case-of-the-week was executed well. Walter's inability to allow himself to be happy was a nice touch. But the the Peter and Olivia issue wasn't as thrilling as it should have been and that brings the episode down for me. And yeah, since you know someone is going to comment on it, I know the name of the episode is "Novation." Figure it out on your own.

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FRINGE "Witness the Return" Trailer

I think it is safe to say, Pacey Poof is back.

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FRINGE 4.04 - Pacey Poof part 4

If you haven't seen the latest episode of FRINGE, stop reading NOW!

OK, so... Pacey Poof, aka Peter Bishop, is still missing and baddaboombaddabing... an episode happens!

Let me just start off by saying that I am a fan of this type of episode. There is no case-of-the-week and instead we happen onto a case based on something related to the characters. This is of course something that half of season 2 and most of season 3 was full of and why I am still watching the show. Therefor, I am predisposed to digging this one right out of the gate.

Walter and Olivia are both invested in discovering who this man is they are either seeing or dreaming about, especially when Olivia is visited by a blue orb or energy that arm rapes her. Meanwhile, there is a bullshit side story about whether or not Olivia will fuck Walter over and toss his limey arse back in the nut house. She won't. Spoiler?

Anyway, so the main story takes Olivia and Walter onto some ridiculously convenient path that results in some dude with the EXACT FUCKIN' POWERS NECESSARY TO BRING PETER BACK to be mistakenly thought to be the cause of the blue orb arm-raper phenomenon. He reveals he is not the dude causing the blue shit but that he is happy to wax emo about what Walter did to all the super duper special kids way back in the olden days of 1998 or some shit, when cell phones, the Internet, and handheld computing devices hasn't been invented... (or had they?! tune in next week!).

But I digress. So, Walter brings them to some power station blahblahblah proper-amount-of-suck and PETER IS BACK!

This is actually where the episode gets really fuckface interesting and I realize just how much this show blows poo-bubbles when Pacey Poof isn't around. The second we have even a hint of him, the show is awesome again. And then it fuckin' ends!

Next week, why doesn't anyone remember Peter and how will they finally remember him? I promise you one thing, we won't find out next week (since there is a two week break). Oops, that's like a fuckin' paradox, yo.

COMMUNITY rocked Thursday with SEVEN timelines! FRINGE had a bit of trouble with one this week, but in the end, it was mostly satisfying to see my hetero-life-mate return.

Were I to rank this episode, I would give it:

84 out of 100

It could have been better if not for the terribly contrived plotting that brought Peter back.

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FRINGE 4.03 - Bored to Death... returns to HBO this Monday!

There comes a time in every young man's life when he asks himself "Do I give a shit about this shit?"

What does that have to do with the latest episode of FRINGE? Probably something but I forgot where I was going with that. More after the jump.

Whatever that means.

I have always found the case-of-the-week bullshit on FRINGE to be at worst holy-fuckin-shit-stupid, and at best almost interesting. So the fact that this season has delivered three wholly useless COTW's, means I find myself slowly disconnecting with the entirety of the grander arc.

Sure, I was happy to see Peter's imprint on the world was still around in episode 1, and to see him literally affecting someone in that world in episode 2, and I was also excited about the affect it was having on Walt in episode 3. But in all those episodes the thrill of this story arc hunt was kneed in the ballzies by filler COTW junk. And I can only take so much of that before it grates on me. In seasons 1 and at least half of season 2, I found myself fast forwarding through episodes because of this issue, but it mostly stopped in season 3 when they found a nice mix of barely dealing with any more COTW's while diving head-first into actual kick-ass too-cool-for-idiots story shit.

And so episode 4.03 made me fast forward... and I don't like to fast forward because eventually my time shifting catches up to live and then I have to watch fuckin' commercials. And when I have to watch fuckin' commercials, that might mean somewhere in the country a Nielsen viewer is watching a commercial too and then I am indirectly responsible for keeping this show on the air!

Fuck that.

If CHUCK has to die, then FRINGE has to die too. It's just the way it has to be.

So... what did I think of this episode that I can qualify numerically for an overall score? I liked the kid actor in the crappy COTW. Usually child actors suck hardcore. But he didn't and it is unfortunate his talents were wasted on this yawnfest of a story. I enjoyed Noble's performance but found Torv to be tiring me out, mostly due to the sequences in which her character served to forward the COTW. That other dude who plays her partner... this must have been his pro bono week since he put zero effort into it. Finally, I did like a few of the Peter flashes and such but why wouldn't Peter realize he was doing that much damage to his father and stop messing with the nutbag, especially while someone was talking to him? I mean, in mid fuckin sentence Peter is interrupting Walter, making him feel extra bit of craycray? What the fuck kind of erased-from-time son is that? What an ungrateful blinky shit! I miss my Pacey Poof but I am put off by him for being such a crappy douche.

Were I to rank this episode from zero to one hundred, zero being pretty shittin' bad and one hundred being kind of awesome, I would give this one....

78 out of 100

Not good enough to watch again. Not bad enough to pretend it never happened.

At least next week we get what no one told me is the best episode of the season so far.

P.S.

I wrote this in a great deal of pain. Feel sorry for me, assholes.

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FRINGE Spoiler: Pacey Poof

A source of mine from the old CHUCK days (so... 3 months ago), has come across a pretty huge spoiler about another WB geek show that loves living on the bubble of renewal or cancellation.

At the end of season 3 of FRINGE, Pacey Poof, aka Peter Bishop, was apparently erased from history. Or that is what the Observers standing outside of the Liberty Island location said. However, this source says that isn't accurate.

Peter existed until he died as a child from the sickness the show revealed in season 2. And while this may be a spoiler on its own, what the source said next is the juicier bit.

"To all these characters, an adult Peter never existed and so they are going through their lives without him having been in it. Or so the audience is meant to believe. See, when Peter departed the world he left behind a trigger of sorts. This trigger will start the ball rolling as the characters begin to realize that something isn't right."

So what do you think it means? How will Walter and Olivia get Peter back? And what is this "trigger"? Discuss! If this generates enough interest, maybe this source will feed the spoiler beast some more.

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