After traveling into an alternate universe at the end of last season, Fringe returned to our reality -- well, the show's version of it -- Thursday night with a fairly solid premiere.
We didn't learn much about the other Earth, or what Olivia did while she was there, but it was a creepy, suspenseful episode that raised a lot of cool new questions and -- hopefully -- signified that the show is off to a better start in its second season than it was in its first.
As usual, spoilers are ahead, so this is the place where I tell folks who haven't watched yet to stop reading.
One thing I enjoyed about the episode was the way nothing was really explained. There was a shapeshifting soldier from another dimension, and that's all. (One with superhuman abilities, like being impervious to bullets and falls from high places.) The scene where the shapeshifter communicates with his handlers in the other dimension by typing next to a mirror was creepy, but not half as creepy as the scene in the beginning where he rearranges his face.
I also liked the way the episode put Peter at center stage. With Olivia out of commission for most of the hour, he had to fill in as chief investigator (with Agent Jessup, who didn't make much of an impression, as his back-up).
Walter was wonderful, as always. His quest to make the perfect custard for Peter's birthday would seem silly, but we know that there's sadness in the mix, as the dessert was a favorite of the dead version of Peter.
My only real quibble with the episode is that it gave us things to worry about that we knew were never going to be a factor, like the Senate shutting down the Fringe division, or Olivia being on the brink of having her life support system turned off. With an reality making war on this one and a spy among the ranks, there's enough suspense to go around.
Other thoughts and questions:
- Maybe I turned out, but did they ever explain how Oliva went through the windshield long after the impact had happened?
- What was Agent Jessup doing with the Bible at the end?
- J.J. Abrams-produced shows have a thing for impostors. First Alias, then Lost last season, and now Charlie. Does this mean Kirk Acevedo is leaving the show? Not that they gave him a lot to do, but it was nice to have at least one character -- aside from Astrid -- who wasn't touched by the Fringe division weirdness.
Tom Coombe
Posted by: |