Fringe: Meet the Beetles

After two sort of underwhelming episodes, Fringe was on track again this week with an hour that was all Over There, all the time.

We've seen episodes that followed Fauxlivia in our world, and episodes that took place on Earth B but featuring the Olivia of this world, but this is the first time neither element of our original starting point was in play. "Immortality" asked us to spend an episode with people who are ostensibly the villains of the show, and we're more or less comfortable with them.

And this is a hallmark of how strong Fringe has become: we're no longer sure who to root for. Yes, our Walter is funny and cuddly, and his doppleganger is angry and authoritarian. But Walternate may only be the way he is because of the actions of Walter in 1985. (And he won't experiment on children, something our Walter had no qualms about.)

Over There certainly has its share of home-grown villains, like last night's Doctor Silva, so investing in achieving a Jonas Salk level of scientific fame that he turned people into incubators for a long-extinct species of beetle. Kind of a standard (well, standard for Fringe) storyline, but one that leads to an important revelation: Other Olivia is pregnant with Peter's child, meaning Walternate now has a new way to get his son back home.

Other thoughts:

•  I would purposely infect myself with spiders if it meant the Adorable Bug Expert would flirt with me the way she did with Charlie.
• I suspect how much some of you liked this episode is based on your tolerance for insects. They tend not to bother me...although that doesn't mean I want them chewing their way through my neck.
• Joan Chen -- who must have some sort of Dorian Gray thing going on -- was kind of wasted in this role, don't you think?
• Next week: Back Over Here...then the week after that promises to be a sequel to last year's landmark "Peter" episode.

Comments

[Manz]

Was a great episode!

I really like thinking about the irony... that Walternate won't experiment on children, yet if Walter hadn't, Walternate would not be in a position to be conduction his experiments. That's great writing.