Usually I would dance around spoilers a bit, but this episode has elicited enough nerd rage that I’m going to skip that. Steer clear if you have not seen this episode and want to be surprised. This episode was presented in an ABA format, in that there was a small plot line that book ended the story in the middle and was largely unrelated to it. The “B” plot which made up the majority of the episode was fine. A trio of former marines where trying to conduct a biological attack, and the Fringe team needed to employ the skills of a mind reader to find them. It showed the Fringe team doing what they do best. But the A plot’s conclusion, and what passed for a twist was idiocy.
The A plot starts with Nina Sharp going into William Bell’s private storage room. Seeing this room was a nice insight into Bells mind. We’ve only seen Bell a few times and his possessions round out his character. Amongst various artifacts, prototypes, and books we get a glimpse of a book by Dr. Spock no doubt a shout out to Leonard Nemoy in Star Trek. Bell keeps keeps the most important items in a locked safe behind a hologram. It contains the napkin he designed the Massive Dynamic logo on, a photo of him and Walter, a photo of him and Nina, a toy car, and one of the First People books. Nina takes the book and continuities to analyse it. after the B plot with the bio weapon and the mind reader play out, we return to Nina. She figures out they’re written by Sam Weiss the bowling alley attendant who taught Olivia to walk again, and Nina to use her robotic arm. Sam is a mysterious character who is subject to much speculation on the interwebs. (I’ll probably write an article about it later.) He reveals the machine has either creative or destructive potential, and Peter is uniquely attuned to operate it. His state of mind will determine which universe survives and which is destroyed. If he chooses to be with our Olivia, our world will live. If he chooses Bolivia/Foliva then the other side will live. He doesn’t say why or how he knows this. And thus comes my nerd rage.
When the mind reader reveals to Olivia that Peter still has feelings for h Folivia I groned.
Of course Peter’s relationship with Foliva is going to have emotional fallout, but to make it the end of the universe is extreme. Every hormonal 14 year old thinks their relationship with their crush is the end of the world. Fringe has actually made it happen. I know Joshua Jackson was on Dawson’s Creek, where the main melodrama revolved around a “who will she choose” scenario but there’s no reason to revisit it. If Peter has any lingering feelings for Folivia it should be because he’s angry and betrayed not because he potentially loves her. Folivia is a villain. She’s murdered several innocent people. She knows our world is not at war with theirs, and yet still carried out acts of war against us. She’s even cheated on her boyfriend on the other side with Peter. Olivia’s been with Peter far longer. They’ve mutually saved each other’s lives, forming a surrogate family. I don’t mean to sound like a crazy shipper are start Team Olivia, Team Folivia nonsense but this is stupid. It’s like the writers have completely disregarded what they know about their characters personalities and have jumped at the potential for easy drama.
On top of all that, Olivia is for all intents and purposes a superhero. She has abilities above and beyond the other characters. Olivia has saved thousands of people if not the entire world on occasion. Her value as a character is as a hero. Sam Weiss’s ultimatum limits her potential. She is no longer valuable as skilled FBI agent, investigator, and soldier. Her worth lies in her potential for romance. If she can’t win the love of the ‘special guy’ than the sun wont rise. It would be one thing if Olivia were introduced to Fringe solely as a Lois Lane type, a character who’s there there just to be he the hero’s significant other. In Fringe the hero role is equally divided between Olivia, Walter, and Peter. This is lame and melodramatic. If I want this kind of cheesy nonsense I’ll change channels to the CW!
On a scale of 1 to Epic, (Epic= 10) I’d give it a 4.6 (Come on Fringe you can do better.)