Fringe - Episode and Series Discussion [Spoilers]

If you aren't watching Fringe then fuck you. You're part of the problem. Let me guess you've been in a rut ever since LOST ended and you haven't really found that show that has you hooked. Chances are you are a complete dolt, missed Homeland completely, or haven't heard about Fringe.

You're not getting your in-depth character stories, but you are getting gripping drama that up-front is all sci-fi.

The series has had it's bumps, as they all do, but its mythology has been strong and story cohesive. This season started out really flat, but these past couple episodes have been fantastic. Absolutely awesome. Who else is watching?

Ok the most recent episode "The End of All Things" was awesome if only for the fact that we find out who the Observers are. Turns out we're all hairless in the future. But of course in typical Fringe fashion, one question is answered while a dozen new questions pop up, in particular, what's up with Nina Sharp?

I'm mad that we have to wait 4 weeks until the next episode. I CAN'T WAIT 4 WEEKS. Also there's no way Fringe can end on this season. I hope Fox works things out and doesn't cancel the show.

On the contrary, TOGS -- I think in some ways the character work in Fringe is superior to Lost. I actually care about the characters in Fringe more than the high concept sci-fi, whereas Lost always prioritised mystery (no matter what the creators ever said or intended, the show itself was more about the mysteries than the characters).

THIS POST HAS UP-TO-DATE SPOILERS I GUESS.

I've liked this season a lot, although it makes me afraid for the future, story-wise.

There are two options at this point: (1) We are in a new universe, the "Amberverse", created by the big fuck you space and time machine, and Peter is simply out of place, and must go home to the Blue universe; and (2) We are still in the Blue universe, just in an amended timeline, but the Olivia we've been watching this season has been Ourlivia, not Fauxlivia (or "Amberlivia"). Both are... troublesome.

(1) If Peter simply "goes home", what happens to the Olivia, Walter, Astrid, Nina and Lincoln we all know? Do they cease to exist? Do all the adventures they've had in season 4 just not matter any more? Nothing like the feeling of "nothing you just watched actually happened or matters" to sour a viewing experience.

(2) If we are still in the Blue universe, what happens when the "prime" timeline is restored? Will the above characters be folded together with their new-timeline identities; meaning Olivia was both raised and not raised by Nina (etc) -- much like she is now? That means that these characters will all have fake memories in their heads like hers, or have the old memories overwritten, which is problematic, identity-wise, but doesn't sour the viewer as much as option (1).

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Originally Posted by gwahir

There are two options at this point: (1) We are in a new universe, the "Amberverse", created by the big fuck you space and time machine, and Peter is simply out of place, and must go home to the Blue universe; and (2) We are still in the Blue universe, just in an amended timeline, but the Olivia we've been watching this season has been Ourlivia, not Fauxlivia (or "Amberlivia"). Both are... troublesome.

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I don't see how the 1st option is troublesome. I think a multiverse is preferable to a biverse both on a story and scientific level. The Amberverses wouldn't have necessarily been created by the machine. They could have always existed and Peter merely "popped" into one of them. When the September mentions that he and the other Observers can witness different timelines I'm assuming he means different universes.

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(1) If Peter simply "goes home", what happens to the Olivia, Walter, Astrid, Nina and Lincoln we all know? Do they cease to exist? Do all the adventures they've had in season 4 just not matter any more? Nothing like the feeling of "nothing you just watched actually happened or matters" to sour a viewing experience.

(2) If we are still in the Blue universe, what happens when the "prime" timeline is restored? Will the above characters be folded together with their new-timeline identities; meaning Olivia was both raised and not raised by Nina (etc) -- much like she is now? That means that these characters will all have fake memories in their heads like hers, or have the old memories overwritten, which is problematic, identity-wise, but doesn't sour the viewer as much as option (1).

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I don't think option 1 would necessarily sour the viewing experience. One could argue season 4 helps further develop Peter's character and assuming he still has his memories, there would be a lot of new information to share when he gets back home. I actually personally prefer the former situation to the latter. I think the plot could get too messy if we're still in the Blue universe and characters get folded in upon themselves.

If we are indeed still in the Blue universe, another possibility (although I think unlikely) would be the characters simply revert back to their old selves with no memories of what happened in season 4. There's also the possibility that when Peter returns home he is returned to the exact moment he left.

What I hope happens is that Peter leaves the Amberverses and returns to the Blue universe with the appropriate passage of time. That way we could have one episode that kinda goes back and shows what Olivia and the gang were doing while Peter was in the Amberverses (sort of like that episode of Lost all about the tail section)

It is my belief we are in option two, but to be honest if we were told "much of what you saw in the beginning of season 4 never happened" then I'd be okay with that.

Regardless of what we are told, Peter Bishop is the central character of this show. We revolve around him. He is the source and reason for fringe events and we get his father to act as Johnny Explainer and Olivia to act as our love interest. With that in mind we accept everything that happens to the characters around him.

edit: I am extremely tired, and my thoughts on this are not flushed.

Whelp, looks like option 2 is true. I feel like this season is wrapping up the series even though the producers are trying to get a 5th season going.

I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I totally called it.

Wait, wait, waiitttt, "Love" transcends the fundamental fabric of space-time?

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Originally Posted by TheOriginalGrumpySpy

Wait, wait, waiitttt, "Love" transcends the fundamental fabric of space-time?

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He must have been really good in bed.

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Originally Posted by TheOriginalGrumpySpy

Wait, wait, waiitttt, "Love" transcends the fundamental fabric of space-time?

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why not? it worked in blazing saddles lost.

(sort of)

I had an issue with how they "slowed down" that video recording in the beginning. I mean anyone who knows anything about video recording knows you can't slow down a video slower than the frame rate it was recorded at.

I thought the writers got a little on the lazy side for this episode. (Very convenient to introduce the nanny cam after the fact)

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Originally Posted by KT.

I had an issue with how they "slowed down" that video recording in the beginning. I mean anyone who knows anything about video recording knows you can't slow down a video slower than the frame rate it was recorded at.

I thought the writers got a little on the lazy side for this episode. (Very convenient to introduce the nanny cam after the fact)

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It was a little hard for me to let that go, but I had to remember that this is a tv show and the majority of the viewers could possibly believe that doing that was possible.

i thought i missed something during that explanation because i literally did not believe that anyone would write something that unbelievable. i don't let unbelievable science get in the way of appreciation for an episode, but i do dislike laziness.

a lot of the episode was lazy. the mythology stuff was poor, but the emotion was there.

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Originally Posted by gwahir

why not? it worked in blazing saddles lost.

(sort of)

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Perhaps but the mechanism for how LOVE was used and "exploited" was different and so was the implication.

Also, the light thing will get a pass from me mostly because he did cite MIT for this. Which is odd, right, because the whole thing that the process discovered was something that Peter was going to find out "eventually"... so why the hell..

Also, it would be one thing if events hadn't ever changed, but history has literally been rewritten. So how do you tackle that...

i guess history being rewritten, as opposed to just some memory wipe, makes things pretttttty interesting.

So this latest episode was pretty fun. It appears DRJ is part of a larger narrative of this new Evolution group that was, until now, unknown.

I was wondering when they were going to begin planting the seeds for a "next season" narrative.

Desperate Agent Lee: Can't get with your Olivia, go after Fauxlivia.

So it looks hopeful that Fringe will be picked up for a fifth and final season, truncated from 22 to 13 episodes.

What a mind-fuck.

agreed. i loved it.

i can see why, especially so close to the possible series finale, people didn't like it. but i LOVED it.

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Originally Posted by gwahir

agreed. i loved it.

i can see why, especially so close to the possible series finale, people didn't like it. but i LOVED it.

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To me it was so amazing how it was so stand-alone, yet incredibly familiar. It could easily serve as the premiere to a whole different show, it was incredible.

Latest series lacks a 1985 episode. Grrrr.

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Originally Posted by Teelo

Latest series lacks a 1985 episode. Grrrr.

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But it had an incredible jump to the future episode, why complain?