After waiting the entire season for something to happen, Fringe finally cocked the Chekhov’s gun that’s been lying around forever. The machine activates and starts reeking havoc on our world. There’s been so much build up it was nice to finally get some release, though it did leave me wanting more. Though this episode set the stage for an epic season finale the entire thing seemed only like act one. There were pacing problems and a few logical flaws, that detracted from my enjoyment, however this was still a solid episode.
We start off on the other side, where Brandon tells Walternate that they’ve filtered out Folivia’s DNA from hers and Peter’s son to activate the machine. On our side everything seems normal and we open to Peter and Olivia snuggling. In any dramatic show when two characters appear in a blissful happy moment some bad shit is about to go down. Vortexes start opening up desiccating areas of all life. Our machine activates at the same time. Throughout the episode Olivia sets out to find Sam Weiss, Peter decides to plug himself into the machine to try and fix things, Walter prays to god passionately, Folivia decides to switch sides, and Peter ends up in a coma. Then the episode then ended, leaving me waiting for 7 days to pass my great frustration.
My first complaint was the use of Peter’s child’s DNA to power the machine. If they were able to extract half of Peter’s DNA from baby Henry then logically they should have had the technology to synthesize it. Why didn’t they simply take Walternate, and Elizabeth’s DNA and experiment on it until they found the combination which worked. It would’ve been easier than sending over shape shifters, and creating complex conspiracies. When I expressed my theory to my friends they told me I was thinking about it to hard.
Additionally I though the baby could have been handled better as a plot device. I remember episodes of Star Trek: Voyager where the crew risked everything to save a child who may or may not have been First Officer Chakotay’s. Baby Hera in Battlestar Galactica, was the center of multiple seasons worth of plots and led to the epic season finale. When children are involved parents don’t think about their own welfare. They’re willing to risk everything to make sure their kids are ok. I figured that to tempt Peter to come back to the other side, Walternate would have plugged the baby into the machine, or at least lead Peter to believe he would. It would be an easy way to force some drama. Peter still doesn’t know his son exsists. That is a major missed opportunity
Despite the afformentioned problems, this was a good episode due in no small part to John Noble’s acting chops. We see both Walters at moments of deep reflection. Though Walternate is a cold manipulative bastard, we see some small degree of reflection at the gravity of his machinations. He compares himself to the Oppenheimer, calling himself the destroyer of worlds. It was nice to see an extension of his humanity, and makes someone who wants to destroy our world slightly more sympathetic. Our Walter’s desperate prayer for God to punish him rather than destroy our world was a truly moving.
The first action that happened when the machine activated was a vortex hit a flock of sheep. This might have been a stereotypical “animals know when disasters are about to hit” to create an ominous feeling. When the vortex hits there’s no bodies left. During the episode “Immortality” it’s stated that sheep are extinct on the other side. What if the machine is taking from our world what the other world needs? It might be a stretch but it would be an interesting take on what the machine could do. Also the machine doesn’t seem to be working properly. Maybe it’s because they’re only dealing with a half set of DNA, with no mind operating behind it.
Like I said this episode felt like act one. I still want to know why Peter is so special that only he can operate the machine, how did Walternate find the machine, and what the heck is Sam Weiss. Tough I may have complained about it there are two episode left in the season so, there’s no doubt that this story could be escalated. Hopefully it will resolve some of the mysteries.
On a scale of 1 to Epic (Epic =10) This episode gets a 7.4