A Man. And His Blog.

Well, it seems like a solid season premiere. As long as you don’t think of FRINGE as a full-blown serial. Of course the writers want to go back to the old FRINGE, with stand-alone episodes, usual procedural investigations with all the creepy elements, and somehow try to connect those two elements with the serial storyline, and I always wonder why some people are so creepingly disturbed by it. Yet, the episode wasn’t good, when you look a bit further into it, and bring the knowledge of the first three seasons into this episode. If you do, you will notice that some things just don’t want to fit together.

There is the whole disappearance of Peter, which makes no sense at all in the changed timeline: Basically everything is still back together (even Olivia’s involvement with the Fringe Division), but because of Peter’s disappearance, Olivia and Lincoln don’t know each other? That would be my second problem: Olivia (Anna Torv) and Lincoln (Seth Gabel) don’t know each other. It is perfectly understandable why the writers needed a character, who asks questions, so that he gets the answers together with the audience, explaining the story (the whole reason of Ariadna’s involvement in INCEPTION is nothing but ask questions, get answers to explain the story), but why did they need Lincoln for it? Why was it necessary to use Lincoln for that story, if there would have been a fine possibility to create a complete new character. Why does Lincoln not know the Fringe Division anymore after his involvement in the last season, and how is it possible that his timeline with the Fringe Division was erased, when most of Olivia’s or Walter’s timeline wasn’t erased. Not to mention what the whole erasing actually means in this case: Didn’t Peter exist at all, not even as a kid, in both universes, or was he supposed to die in both universes? Answers are missing here, and I would have wished for the writers to bring some, to explain the background story more. Because I kinda get why September doesn’t want to erase Peter from the timeline, but it wouldn’t hurt to ACTUALLY GET ANSWERS!

The story was okay. The translucent people reminded me of the pilot episode; the fact that the human shapeshifters needed the iron to look normal reminded me of the guy who needed youngblood in the second episode. And then there was the fingernail scene, which reminded me of THE FLY. Basically, this episode was a best-of, better a worst-of, of known storylines and chilling moments. Not really good in my opinion, when the writers already steal from themselves. Though it was great that Olivia mentioned the plane incident and Agent Scott, letting the known audience remember the pilot (if they still can for that matter), the whole thing with Lincoln was disturbing me. I don’t know if it can be considered an unexplainable plot hole, even though the Observers mentioned that Lincoln knew Olivia in the old timeline, and now they don’t because everything chanced, but there is no logic to that. The twist with the human shapeshifters was neat though. It needs more explanation though, since I can’t buy that the bad guys were in fact shapeshifters (they just had the hard drives in their body – doesn’t mean they can change their form). But that Olivia doesn’t trust her counterpart in the other universe now could lead to a great storyline.

Now a few words to the truce between the two universes: Interesting, and I really hope there is a bigger endgame to that. It would be lame when the two universes manage to work together and repair the world at the end of the series. There needs to be a conflict, and there needs to be a bigger one than just Walter (John Noble) not trusting Walternate, and Olivia not trusting BOlivia. For the first episode, the little conflict between the two Olivias was fine, but as long as there’s development in this story, I will continue to like it.

Now to Peter’s disappearance: pretty much don’t care. I loved the flickering moments and the “man in the mirror” thing, but I wouldn’t mind when the writers wait for Peter to return. I didn’t miss him, and FRINGE is doing fine without him. And the writers need time to find a way of how to return Peter to the series. Because it would be cheating, when they use the same way they used in the third season, when Olivia was trapped in the other universe… 6/10

Walter gets to be crazy and disturbed again

Olivia gets to shoot a gun again

Okay, let me correct myself. Peter (Joshua Jackson) didn’t travel through time at the end of the last episode. But I still stand corrected: Peter’s consciousness traveled through time, as well as the rest of 2026 to be the First People. But now a lot of things are somewhat illogical now. The numbers station for example…

… Do you remember the numbers stations? The numbers were coordinates for the machine devices? If this was connected in all ways with the First People (which was the most easy way out of this mythology than anybody could have thought of), then why would they eventually give the message and coordinates for all the doomsday devices? Why would there be numbers stations at all? And the biggest questions; Walter (John Noble) already called it a “paradoxon”: Where does the machine come from? I can actually understand why the First People (a.k.a. Walter and his friends) wanted the machine to be found, but they were scientists – they could have known where to put the whole machine in one spot, where it would never be found, until somebody from DHS or the FBI was able to find it. This way it sounds more logical, especially since the coordinates, which Astrid was cracking in the numbers station episode, could have been cracked by anybody on Earth. Weren’t the First People thinking about that, when they (probably) created the messages for the numbers stations?

Okay, before I go way too deep into all the now-created plotholes, I rather say something about the episode itself. It kinda left me cold. First the whole thing looked like a gimmick to have a future episode, just to see what the world has become after Peter used the machine. Then I was surprised that the future world was left pretty much fast, and there was even a proper reason for Peter’s visit. But the last part of the episode was so small in storytelling, it didn’t leave anything for me except the (not even shocking) cliffhanger. And with it, some other cliffhangers of the series disappear into Nirvana (do you still remember the “He’s alive” from the Observer in the Marionette episode? What was that all about?). I would have wished the writers could have cut some time from the future device, and instead could have spent more time in the present. After all, almost the complete episode is needless, because we won’t see the characters seen here in future episodes. We will never seen the “grown-up” versions of Olivia (Anna Torv) and Peter, how they get to marry, how they lived their lives as leaders of the Fringe Division, and so on. And since I especially started to like future-Ella (Emily Meade) in this episode, I will never see her again. The episode was really just a gimmick to let the viewers experience the future – needless, even more after only Peter’s consciousness traveled through time to be the spectator of that time. The episode would have been much more interesting, when present-Peter could have interacted in this future world. Then the episode could have had some meaning.

With it, Walternate killing Olivia was a lame scene for two reasons. First, it didn’t bring me anything, since it was a future episode. Second, it was the scene, which an idiot spoiled via a production sheet on Twitter and declared it as an April Fools an hour later. With it the funeral scene wasn’t as tragic and emotional as it should have been. With it, the writers could have included Ella even more; giving her more scenes, giving her more to do, since she is part of the family and in Fringe Division at the same time. Lots of opportunities were wasted, together with lots of time.

Well, the episode was only good for two things: the answer of who the First People were (hello, time travel), and the cliffhanger. And the latter was the most interesting part. Now that the alternatives are in the prime universe to fix things (LOST overused this expression), it makes the premiere of the fourth season a whole lot intriguing. I’m already asking myself how long the writers are going to play this doubles-in-the-same-world device, and when FRINGE is returning to some proceduralized, episode-centric storylines in the fourth season. After all, it can’t just change to a complete serial. Okay, it can, when the writers want to, but somehow it wouldn’t look … straight, or aligned with the other FRINGE seasons. Finally Peter’s disappearance didn’t shock me at all. I didn’t even notice that the Walter(nate) and (B)Olivia weren’t noticing Peter’s disappearance, after the Observers were talking about him. and unfortunately the producers were already spitting the information that Joshua Jackson has a contract for season four. Which means the writers are able to bring back Peter in Olivia’s consciousness, like they did, when she was over there.

All in all a very underwhelming season finale. Annoying gimmick, short final act, no thrilling cliffhangers. And I was expecting a lot, after the masked scheduler was tweeting we would talk about the finale all summer long. I sure am not, I know that already. 6/10

Walternate becomes the cold-blooded killer he always was

The Observer convention on Liberty Island runs splendidly

Time travel, huh? Wasn’t I talking about time travel in the comic episode, even though just on a search of some explanation? Talk about that… Okay, there might be no connection at all between the mystery man from Olivia’s mind and Peter landing in the future.

A really good episode. It had great moments, character-wise, storywise and in a matter of science-fiction; it went back to long forgotten episodes and abilities Olivia (Anna Torv) had; and it had a neat cliffhanger. But the episode could have been greater, when the Weiss history wouldn’t have been that boring. I was expecting more for the Weiss mythology and the First People history. Basically Sam (Kevin Corrigan) doesn’t know anything, except the history of the books, but that isn’t much in my opinion. In addition, the whole thing comes over as a “We saw the future”-device by the First People. We had something like this before: Just replace FRINGE with ALIAS and replace First People with Milo Rambaldi. There are a lot of similarities between those shows now, and I would wish that the writers wouldn’t have done that. A lot of the story is depending on the audience believing in the fate device, together with having faith in the writers for delivering something explainable. I don’t need to say that the series pretty much changed over the course of five episodes. How can I expect FRINGE to be in the fourth season, when it’s becoming even more serialized than LOST at the moment?

The episode remembered David Jones and Olivia’s telepathy, when she was deactivating the lights bomb – finally some answers are delivered from previous seasons. That shines new light on deceased characters like Jones, he must have known about the First People and Olivia’s fate, otherwise the lights bomb wouldn’t have been a device back then. But then again: I don’t think the writers were thinking about this episode or the doomsday machine during the first season. The episode still scored with letting Olivia play out her abilities again – I got goosebumps, when the typewriter was typing, and even more, when Olivia deactivated the machine and Brandon (Ryan McDonald) over there was in panic mode.

It was just a shame that the episode didn’t focus on some stories over there. BOlivia’s imprisonment, Walternate’s evil plan, Brandon. I can’t imagine Walternate and Brandon sitting around with the activated machine doing its job. Seems kinda silly, but it looked like that.

Only Peter’s (Joshua Jackson) “confusion” was a bit too much for the episode: it was needless all the way. Maybe it was the easiest way to bring some confusion to the watching audience, but that story was so damn small, it was taking valuable time. 8/10

That's how much money the producers had for the end of the world

Sleeping, meditating, mind-controlling - everything's in this screencap

And I thought during the beginning, it would only be a filler episode to the season finale. Thankfully it wasn’t, and it was all about preparing the season finale, getting back Sam Weiss (Kevin Corrigan) into the story, and developing a lot of story “over there”: BOlivia (Anna Torv) is now an enemy of the state, when Walternate (John Noble) could decide. Neat.

It was a good episode, but judging the events of it, I was hoping for a better and bigger outcome. I was disappointed, when the machine wouldn’t let Peter (Joshua Jackson) in (it could have been one big cliffhanger for the final double episode), and I was disappointed that the “man hunt” of Sam was basically nothing. In addition to what was missing, when Sam was in the episode. Something happened in the bowling alley, he knew what was going on, but the audience wasn’t given an answer. He was watching the other side, he knew what was happening, but the audience wasn’t given an answer. And now he knows the machine is active and he probably knows what is going on. But the audience isn’t given any answers and we have to wait for the next episode. Kinda lame. I’m waiting for a bunch of answers in the next episode, because the finale doesn’t need more mysteries. I still have to live with the mystery man from Olivia’s mind.

The only really great part of the episode was Walter letting Peter go. I loved his scene in the hospital church, and I loved when even Peter was ready to take the step into the unknown world and face his fate. The episode could have mentioned the whole fate/destiny deal again, like the writers did three episodes ago, but I was glad how it worked out for the father/son team at the end. Those moments always show that FRINGE is still about the characters within the story, and not the science-fiction behind the two-worlds story device.

Over there, BOlivia decided to live with a free mind and has taken herself into a difficult position. Though I can’t buy that she would leave Henry (of course she would give him his name) to save a world she does not live in (I rather think she wanted to save Peter), I love that the former antagonist of the S2 finale is now the enemy of the current antagonist. And I was already believing Sam Weiss would become the bad guy of the show. Great development, but I’m sad that BOlivia didn’t manage to cross over. I really was waiting for her to crash with Peter and Olivia, telling them she crossed over to save both worlds. Would they have believed her?

Again, a bit underwhelming at the end, but a satisfying preview for things to come. Now I’m hungry for the finale. And then I have to wait four months for the next chapter. 7/10

That's not a landing site for a spaceship

That happens, when you touch things coming from under the world

Hey, another gimmick episode. After season 2′s halfway-musical, and now the cartoon version of FRINGE, I wonder what the producers will deliver in the fourth season. And I wonder if the writers didn’t want anything to do with INCEPTION, which is why the mythology of somebody’s mind on the world of FRINGE is so … undeveloped. INCEPTION builds from stretch, but I didn’t understand anything what was going on in Olivia’s (Anna Torv) mind.

Just starting with the question, if her mind was built on memories or if she created it herself. Walter (John Noble) and Peter (Joshua Jackson) were starting in New York, but Olivia was hiding in Jacksonville. Why would they have started in New York, and why would the projections (yes, I’m using the vocabulary from INCEPTION in this case) be after the two, as well as Olivia? Somehow I believe it has something to do with the WTF cliffhanger at the end (seriously, Olivia thinks somebody is going to kill her, she accepts it like Christmas, and probably looked into the future while hiding in her own mind? Hallelujah, that is LOST’ish), meaning that the projections were part of the mystery man in Olivia’s mind. There is just the question where he was coming from. An answer would be: Olivia is going completely nuts in a complete unusual way. Another answer would be my little time travel theory. Three episodes before the season finale, and the writers come with that big mystery. On the other hand, it could be just Olivia’s mind playing tricks with her – maybe she really went a bit nuts, when she was about to lose herself in her own consciousness.

Other than that, I couldn’t believe how fast I was liking the cartoon device. Neat idea for some crazy awesomeness, and I liked the style. Maybe because I started to read comics again, or maybe just because I’m open to something special. Though there was no need for the comic style in the matter of storytelling, I didn’t want for it to end, but I did want some explanations for it. Unfortunately it was only a one-shot for FRINGE, and we might never get answers of why Olivia’s mind was working like it did.

Now William (Leonard Nimoy) is really dead. At the end, he was not the superego like Peter suspected, and he sacrificed himself to save Olivia – a nice goodbye for his character, which I liked better than his “death” in the S2 finale. Now Leonard Nimoy can retire for good, and doesn’t need to think about acting anymore, and the Bell storyline in FRINGE is over for good.

Broyles (Lance Reddick) was funny. Of course there was no need for him to be in this episode, and to take one of the sugar cubes, but it was just funny. Together with some of the hilarious comic scenes, it really added up, and Lance Reddick even had a nice acting scene. But then again, there was absolutely no need, and at the end this whole episode was just a waste of time. What did we learn and get from this episode? Olivia returned, and there is a mystery man. Okay… That’s not really much.

But I didn’t hate the episode. Now I would normally wish for some FRINGE comics. Nice gimmick, but unusable for the mythology of the series. As long as it only happens one time per season, I can totally live with it. 7/10

Winky winky to the comic bird

Comiclivia tells you to stop

Back to the other universe, where Olivia (Anna Torv) is giving birth to her son. I’m kinda laughing that she gives birth already, after she learned she was pregnant in her last episode – that’s how you do pregnancy storylines, writers. Though I don’t know what to think of the acceleration process, as well as the final twist.

So, it was all a scheme from Walternate (John Noble). Two reasons of why he was doing it: The first one is because of Peter and what his fate might hold in the prime universe, as well as what it might hold for the alternate universe – and since Peter has a son now, who knows what happens with blood related family members. It could basically be the next step in the science-fiction story of the series. The second reason would be that Walternate just wanted to be a grandfather as soon as possible. So he accelerated the pregnancy to not wait for nine months and to neither lose Olivia nor his grandson during childbirth. Sounds kinda selfish, but on the other hand very romantic. Walternate was saving his grandson…

The other plot, Lincoln (Seth Gabel) and Charlie (Kirk Acevedo) realizing that the Olivias from both worlds switched, was nice too, and I hope the writers have something big in mind with the revelation. Charlie was curious about Olivia’s behavior earlier on, and now he got the answers. And now Lincoln, who has a crush on Olivia, knows what has happened. There is the question, if both of them will be going against Walternate in the future, or when Walternate’s real plans are revealed. Suddenly, the story is very intriguing and I can’t wait for it to be continued. And there are only four episodes left this season – call about teasing the season finale.

Other than that, Henry’s (Andre Royo) return was nice, as well as Olivia’s relationship with her mother Marilyn (Amy Madigan). I actually loved those scenes, as I loved the Olivia/Rachel moments in the first season. I wouldn’t mind for a continuation of the mother/daughter plot, especially with the grandson in the world now. And I’m waiting for Peter to learn all about this…

It wasn’t really a good episode, but a promising one for the future of the series. As if this episode was just teasing the upcoming conflicts between the characters, like the last red episode was working to get to the pregnancy at the end. 6/10

That was before Olivia was about to give birth

We welcome Henry into the world of alternatives

It was a very interesting episode with a very interesting topic and a very interesting cliffhanger. While I had difficulties to get William’s consciousness being in Olivia’s body, I grew closer to that story device, and it actually became very entertaining. The relationship between Oliviabell (Anna Torv) and Walter (John Noble) was hilarious, and I loved how they necked and laughed with each other. Especially since Walter finally had some reason to think about something positive.

The story with Dana (Paula Malcomson) was a nice take on fate and destiny, though it would have been better to bring this topic up a bit earlier in the episode, and not as a final answer of all the events at the end. I just missed an answer of why Dana was successful helping more than 30 suicide patients during her time, when she was always trying to hitch the ride to heaven, as well as why she continued to try throughout the months, even though she must have realized it is not working. For example: Why didn’t she just drown, why didn’t she throw herself into fire, or why didn’t she try out bombing herself  to pieces? The scientific explanation said something of her biology being extra magnetic and holding together, but I just can’t imagine how she would hold together, when her head was cut off by a train, or her body blew to thousands of pieces during a bomb explosion. Asking exactly that, I wonder what would have happened when she put her head under a train – would she be beheaded by the train’s weight or would the train literally ran over her and derail? Anyway, her ending was quite touching, and I loved the destiny part of it. Though it reminds me of LOST, and I don’t like when TV shows go that way in a story.

Other than that, the episode didn’t have much else to offer. I was already hoping for more Oliviabell/Astrid scenes (I loved when Astrid [Jasika Nicole] put her awkward-face on, when Oliviabell put the necklace on her hand), and I was hoping a bit more with Lincoln (Seth Gabel). First it was a surprise to see him in the prime universe and that he is able to return; second I really wanted Oliviabell somehow to remember Lincoln from Olivia’s consciousness. But at the end I was just happy Lincoln had his introduction in the prime universe, and that he got the complicated science part of Fringe Division real fast and was open-minded. It was a treat to see Peter and Lincoln investigating together, and I hope for more in the future.

Good episode with a good case, nothing more to add. 7.5/10

Clark Kent is welcomed into the Fringe world

Gene needs to be loved too, you know

The FRINGE writers have to live with a curse during the middle part of the third season: They have built so much momentum for awesome serial television in the science-fiction genre, but they still don’t stop to tell proceduralized storylines. It especially hurts, when the series has a whole lot of potential and/or forgotten storylines sitting in the background, waiting to be used. Who still remembers Olivia’s super-hearing in the second season? Who still remembers that Peter was affecting the doomsday device a couple of episodes back? Who still remembers that there is the existence of a universe at stake, but nobody except Walter seems to care…

The episode was alright, and the ending was ridiculous at first. The fringe case of the week was rather boring, at the end even a bit illogical, while the ending couldn’t grab me at all, and where I was thinking if FRINGE officially jumped the shark now. I don’t know what to make of Bell’s “return”, and I don’t know what to expect in the next episodes. It looked like a LOST-ish cliffhanger, just to tease the next episode, but I have to see what they did with it in the next episode to fully appreciate (or hate) the twist.

I was expecting a bit more, when defying gravity was a part of the story. But I was disappointed with the result at the end. Just because Dr. Krick (Alan Ruck) wanted to help his disabled son, he brought innocent people to death, and didn’t even stop there. Though the story reminded me of various other FRINGE episodes, and shows again that the villains in the series are acting out of their emotions and feelings , I didn’t like that there was no other reason besides Krick working on it, because he is an aeronautic scientist, and because he wanted to help his son. The latter information came too late in the episode, and felt like the writers needed a more proper reason for Krick to be the villain in this episode. But at least the case brought some creepy scenes, for example the fake-out beginning, which I liked, as well as the closing stunt of Peter trying to bring the last guy back to the ground, before he floats into the atmosphere.

Okay, now the ending. I don’t mind when the writers tease the soul magneting in the whole episode, just to execute it at the end, but I don’t know if the writers are clear in what they have written here, and which way they are going now. FRINGE already had “undead” people in the first season, a foetus growing to an old man within a couple of hours, and even alien forces in the second season, but now there is William Bell in the body of Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv)? Together with Olivia talking like William with the hawking voice? And all of this, when Peter (Joshua Jackson) was closing in on Olivia, telling her all his secrets and his investigation about the shapeshifters (nice that this topic was brought back, I was about to forget it)? I really don’t know what to make of this story now, and I have to see what the next episode will be all about (considering that it won’t be focusing on the alternate universe again) to appreciate the story, or to hate it.

The episode was alright at the end. The hilarious moments between Walter (John Noble) and Astrid (Jasika Nicole) in the middle, and Walter and Nina (Blair Brown, she gets more screentime again – very happy about that!) at the end of the episode couldn’t save the best management of 43 minutes of wasted time. And I hope that the writers have thought about their cliffhanger here, and planned ahead. Or it could be the most laughable storyline in a science-fiction show, emphasis on science. 6/10

There's a lot of blood for Astrid to get rid of

If you don't know, you'd think there would be something going on between the two

Hello, ladies and gentleman. I hereby think that the FRINGE writers made a big mistake in having another flashback episode telling the story of how the two universes eventually started crashing together. Either the writers were forgetting that Olivia didn’t know Walter during the series premiere, or they expecting us to believe that something happened between the events in this episode and the pilot.

First off: I love – LOVE – the retro intro. I almost wish to have another flashback episode, just so I can see it again. Second: I can understand why the episode looked like produced in the 80s, but the producers overstepped the boundaries – the blur, the imaginary dust in the room, the bright lights which seem to fill the whole screen, it really hurt my eyes, and it destroyed the fun of the episode. Third: The episode build on some character backgrounds, which were completely missing in the 57 episodes before this. Why are Peter and Olivia not remembering that they had an encounter when they were children? Why did Olivia not recognize Walter in the pilot, even though she intensely took part in his study in 1986? Why was Peter in the first two seasons not remembering that he was from the other universe, even though he was realizing the difficulties, even though he was always talking about Elizabeth (Orla Brady) not being his mother for two whole months? Somehow, the whole background story shown here doesn’t fit with the background story already known from previous episodes. Of course I could explain those things with brain washing or simple forgetting, but in Olivia’s case, she has a photographic memory, so why did she forgot the events in this episode?

So, when the episode wanted to deliver answers, it instead delivered even more questions, as you can see. Either the writers have planned something big for the rest of the episodes to close the gap, or… I don’t know. But the rest of the episode was exceptionally good. I actually loved the idea to have young Olivia (Karley Scott Collins) in the focus of the episode, showing how she came to possess the ability of crossing universes. And it explained what happened in Jacksonville. Especially the video recordings showing Olivia alone and somewhat scared was creepy as hell, when she suddenly burst into flames (though I wonder how young Nick Lane (Liam Smerchinski Mackie) survived the fire without burn marks). There really was a goosebumps moment, when the picture was suddenly flickering. And it was sweet to see that young Peter (Chandler Canterbury) helped Olivia to her “right path”, finding her, helping her.

Even more great things: The episode connected some additional information from previous episodes. I always wondered when Olivia’s step-father (Chris Bradford) was appearing in the series, after she got a birthday card during the first season. And the white tulips returned, as well as aforementioned young Nick. Not to mention that Karley and Chandler completely rocked this episode and had no troubles to carry the episode by themselves, even though Walter (John Noble) was mostly in the focus of the story, even when the episode was jumping to the other universe, telling the story of Peter’s disappearance, as well as Walter’s and Elizabeth’s troubling marriage from their point of view (which was actually more interesting than anything else shown here.

The ending was nice too. So, it was Olivia who brought Walternate to the idea of the existence of an alternate universe. Another little creepy scene, when Olivia was realizing that something wasn’t right. And when Walternate had the answers he was looking for all these months.

With the exception of the questions I asked, it was a great episode. But since I can’t understand why the writers intentionally made the roads of Peter and Olivia very much bumpy, I can’t say that the episode was great. It was filled with expendable mistakes. 5.5/10

Rocking the world of young Peter: young Olivia

Both worlds rocked in one night: Peter giving comfort

I don’t know what to make of it. It felt like a special Valentine’s episode of FRINGE, and I don’t know if it was epic or just plain horrid. I loved that the episode was all about connecting the two universes, I loved the conflicting moments of Walter’s (John Noble), I liked that the writers focus on the relationship between Olivia (Anna Torv) and Peter (Joshua Jackson) without bringing it over the edge too often. But at the end, the whole ghost story (and it wasn’t even a ghost story) was just … blah.

I was somewhat annoyed of the mirroring of the relationship between Alice (Phyllis Somerville) and Derek (Ken Pogue), as well as Olivia and Peter. Of course the writers would heavily rely on showing the same kind of relationship with two very different couples, but it didn’t work for me well. I liked the emotional drama behind Alice’s loss, and that she was hanging on her memories without wanting to lose it, but at the end I was disappointed that she was basically throwing her Derek-ghost away, after he told her that her two kids are missing her. The conclusion the the vortex being closed was just not reasonable for me – everything went too fast, and I have a big problem with the mythology behind the closing of the vortex (and how it even opened).

So, here’s the problem I have: Is the vortex thing only connected with emotions and feelings? Olivia showed that she can recognize things from the other universe through her emotions; the episode told us that the vortex was about to open, because of the same emotional feelings on both sides, and even Walter and Peter seem to believe that the whole thing is because of emotions. But what is with Olivia’s flashes in “The Road Not Taken”, which were clearly coincidental and not connected to her emotions? What is with Olivia’s “superpowers”, which actually brought her into the other universe and back home? And how are the holes created in the other universe? I see a lot of inconsistency here, and I kinda want to have some clear answers about the topic.

Walter’s state of emotional mind was really good though. I absolutely loved how the writers are stating again that Walternate is just a person, who was grieving about his son’s loss, and has the means to save the world from going down the black hole. And now that Walter faces the same difficulties and decisions as Walternate does, I love the connection between the two universes even more. Sadly, it was the only good part of the episode, where I wasn’t able to see horrific things in it.

Because the rest was between interesting-and-epic and epic-but-idiotic, and I don’t know how to handle this episode. And I still don’t know what to make of the story that the fate of the two universes relies on Peter’s choice, connected with the relationship between Olivia and Peter. It was an average episode, but I would wish that the writers would write more clearly and stop building in the inconsistencies. 6.5/10

Meet the ghost

It's all about Amber