The Fringe story has become one of the most compelling stories in modern science fiction television. Season three has exceeded my expectations so thank goodness Fringe was renewed for a fourth season. …on FOX at that!
This season, we had to deal with stories of both Olivia and Bolivia in each of the universes. Sometimes the story dragged and I wanted the Bolivia subterfuge to just end but the journey in those stories and the many tiny nuggets of information made waiting for that arc to end worth it. I enjoyed seeing the inner workings of the alternate universe. The zeppelins made that universe. The amber and everyone’s ambivalence to tiny black holes in their everyday lives is fascinating. There are low oxygen areas, a golden Statue of Liberty and Massive Dynamic doesn’t exist. I almost wish it was easy for everyone to just move through universes out of curiosity.
On This Side, Peter goes on a shape-shifter murder spree so that he can discover the meaning of the big looming machine at Massive Dynamic. Some episodes seem like filler but always have that one piece of information that links to the destruction of This Side or the Other Side. So far, Walternate is responsible for almost every bizarre occurrence on This Side. To be fair, Walter is responsible for starting the whole mess in the first place. Too much has happened for there to be a happy resolution. Walternate is hell bent on destroying This Side. Walter and Peter want to find a way to save both worlds but if that “noble” position isn’t viable, the Other Side will bite the dust.
The relationship between Peter, Bolivia and Olivia was just on the edge of weighing down the show. Olivia came back to This Side and was overly whiny and gave Peter a really hard time. It’s understandable that she would be traumatized but it was hard to watch. Just as we get accustomed to Olivia’s new grumpy behavior, she made an awkwardly abrupt turnaround. It was almost as awkwardly abrupt as her being cock-blocked by via body snatch by William Bell’s spirit. Olivia being inhabited by Bell made for some great laughs and was a testament to Anna Torv’s acting skills. By the end of the season, after she is free of Bell, Peter and Olivia are as cute as a button together which means that something bad will happen. Peter got into the machine, stopped an alternate future from happening and made a room where both universes could communicate in person.
The stand out episodes this season was ‘Subject 13’. We get to see young Peter and young Olivia interact. It was a fully fleshed out version of 1980’s the Fringe universe. It was a very tender and sweet episode. Another epically geek episode was ‘Lysergic Acid Diethylamide’. Leonard Nimoy isn’t able to act on screen but he voiced an animated episode where he exorcised his spirit out of Olivia. I’d heard the title of this episode and was excited to see it especially since we all know how excited Walter is about LSD. I had NO idea that the episode would be that rich and creative. Broyles response to LSD had to be the most hysterical thing I’d seen this season. More of that please! ‘The Day We Died’ was a proper shock-and-awe fest finale. We got thrown into yet ANOTHER timeline where it was the near future but was also one where the Other Side was destroyed, Olivia gets murdered and This Side is set to be destroyed. In a ghost-of-Christmas-future style, Peter gets into The Machine to erase this future but also erases himself. No one remembers him at all! Joshua Jackson has assured us that he still has a job next season and will be returning as a regular cast member.
I’m excited to see what madness will be pulled out of who knows how many universes and timelines next season!
Fringe will return next season on FOX.