You know, even a great Fringe episode can be quite bad, and this one is definitely one of those episodes. It’s a shame, but at the same time, it’s quite understandable that they did this the way they did.
It’s the episode we’ve all known was coming; Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) had to come back sooner or later, and it turns out that it was sooner. I was actually fully prepared to go an entire season without him in the new universe, maybe having an entire episode dedicated to his perspective and displaying the limited ways in which he can affect the world and try to break through the barriers that separate him from us. But then they decided to hand him to us in episode four.
The overall plot of this episode was quite weak. Olivia (Anna Torv) wakes up to blue energies that burn her skin and attract metal, and Walter (John Noble) decides that this must be caused by one of the children from the previous cortexiphan trials. They look him up, find out that it wasn’t him, realize that it’s somebody or something else, do something to this blue energy and – boom! Peter shows up in the lake he drowned in at the age of four.
Now; the main story was very weak. Lincoln Lee (Seth Gabel) doesn’t appear at all, despite the show runners building him up as a character during the last three episodes, and we’re only treated to a quick cameo role by Nina Sharp (Blair Brown), for whom Walter seems to have a deep hatred. The extra in this episode was quite unimpressive, at least when compared to the guest star of the week of the previous three, making it even more obvious what an amazing actor John Noble is. In this episode, he realizes that there is a risk that he’ll be sent back to the mental ward, so he does everything in his powers to impress upon Olivia how independent, strong and well-adjusted he is, which includes leaving his lab for the first time in three years and going out into the field. Naturally, things don’t go as well as he’d hoped, but he has a lovely moment with Olivia in a diner as they drink a root beer float together.
So; the episode ends with Peter being back in the show. He’s now in the third universe he’s ever been in, technically, and is set to affect some very interesting changes down the line. The big question is; will the ‘orange’ universe be destroyed by the end of the season and we return to the universe we were introduced to in seasons one through three, or will this be the new universe for us to follow? We’ll just have to wait and see, hoping that the showrunners have some good plans for us!
The one question I’m left with at the end of this episode has nothing to do with Peter or Walter, however. It’s how chummy Olivia and Nina were when talking, and what Nina’s speech (quoted below) might be referring to for the future.
Nanotechnology — the bloom is not off the rose. Because of the far-ranging claims that have been made about potential applications of nanotechnology, a number of serious concerns have been raised about how this will affect our society if realized. And what actions, if any are deemed appropriate, might be needed to mitigate these risks. This is not Massive Dynamic’s concern. We create technology. How it is used is not our concern. We just own the patents.
How did you like Fringe – Season 4, Episode 4?