It's taken awhile to happen, but Fringe has finally found its voice.
Of course, to do so it needed to plunge into a parallel universe populated by doubles of all the major characters, but still. Since the home-stretch of last season, Fringe has felt like a different show. Playing up the "other side" angle of its mythology allowed it to both raise the stakes and drive wedges between its characters.
And now, with Olivia A.) trapped on the other side and B.) robbed of her own identity in a frightening, reverse-Shutter Island move, I get the feeling the show is about to become even stronger.
By having "our" Olivia and their Olivia investigating cases but still playing out their separate story lines, Fringe will get to have its cake and it too, at least in the short term. It can still do monster-of-the-week episodes (in both universes), while continuing to tell a larger story.
And it gives some of the cast the chance to play two versions of their characters. John Noble is the most obvious example: he spent most of this episode as the cold, tyrannical Secretary, although he also got a glimpse of the sweet, goofy, still-a-little-crazy Walter we're used to. I'm not sure yet how much difference there is between Anna Torv's two Olivia's, especially now that Olivia 1 thinks she's Olivia 2, but she did a nice job tonight, essentially having to carry the episode with Andre Royo (AKA Bubbles from The Wire).
No monsters this week, and not a lot of grossness, aside from Lincoln's* make-up effects. But a very solid episode in what will hopefully be Fringe's break-out season.
Other thoughts:
- I'm going to watch this again tomorrow**, if only to pick up on all the little differences between universes. Among the things I noticed tonight: Dogs! is a popular Broadway show, people can fly to the moon, and JFK was named to some new post by President Obama.
- Did anyone else think of Royo's character as "Bubbles, 10 years later"? He alludes to a rough past that could've involved mental illness or criminal behavior, but it also could've been the sort of addiction that Bubs struggled with.
- Massive Dynamic's all-purpose-scientist makes his alternate universe debut, this time as a sinister version of himself working for Walternate.
- I'm not sure which nickname I like better for the characters' dopplegangers: Walternate, or Fauxlivia.
- Speaking of which: she takes center stage next week, as we switch back over to "our world." See you then.
Tom Coombe
*Initially, I called this character "Nick," but I was thinking of the finale, in which he and Nick Lane -- the "empath" Olivia brought with her -- seemed to know each other.
** A second viewing revealed Martin Luther King and Eldridge Cleaver Park (slogan: We have a dream), where a man rode one of those old fashioned bikes with the giant front wheels.
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