Saturday, January 28, 2012

Fringe: Season 4 Episode 10 - Forced Perspective


Hello Fringe fandom!  Another solid episode out of the Fringe factory last night.  We were back into "Myth-alone" case mode with the Fringe team tackling a case where the theme tied in very centrally to the current overarching plot of the show.  Lots of Observer talk, Olivia Death talk, Massive Dynamic/Nina drama and Peter stuff all encircling a case about a girl who could vividly see a person's death before it happens.  In my opinion, this is Fringe at its finest.  It's not an episode where the overarching plot takes leaps forward (which it will eventually), but they tell an effective story and keep us invested in overarching plot simultaneously.  And they do this all whilst continuing to have us believe in these slightly altered versions of our favorite characters (excluding Peter who is the one and only).  Pretty darn impressive if you ask me!  Anyway, let's get into it shall we?

Fringe Case of the Week

So, as I mentioned there was a girl we met with "pre-cog" abilities, per Nina Sharp's defining.  No one made her that way, so it was just a case of a girl being born with extraordinary abilities.  So yes, it seemed like the Heroes plot temporarily was assimilated into Fringe.  (Remember Isaac the painter in season 1, anyone?)   So Emily would see a person and all of a sudden get a rush of images and vividly picture a person's death.  She would draw it on a paper and hand it to the victim hoping that they'd get to tell someone they love them before they die.  Meanwhile, she was working on one picture of herself on a park bench throughout the entire episode.  


We learned that Massive Dynamic had previously found interest in Emily's abilities and it sounded like Nina wanted to expose them or experiment on her.  This caused friction between her and Olivia, having gone through the cortexiphan trials as a child.  

Emily had a vision of one guy that seemed to be involved in a massive death, so she decided to work with the FBI (aka Fringe Division) to try and help them find him.  Peter inserted his knowledge of the Walter he knows and loves and told THIS Walter that he has the ability to hypnotise people.   Emily had mentioned that her vivid visions fade over time, but Walter was able to help her recall the vision very clearly.  Through research of Lincoln Lees combined with Emily's vision, they determined that this man was not a victim but someone who was planning a massive explosion at a courthouse to get revenge on a judge who ruled out of his favor for custody of his child. (Wow, that was a long and possibly run-on sentence.  Don't tell my grade school teachers.)  

Peter again inserted his knowledge to help the Fringe division by figuring out the radio frequency that the guy's bomb transmitter was set to.  They were able to block the signal preventing a massive explosion.  But this guy had a backup plan and was wired to explosives himself.  Olivia, who has received death threats from September, was not planning to die today.  She was able to talk him out of it, but in fear of her own demise as well.   So, for one time and one time only, Emily's visions were thwarted and many people were saved.   Her father was proud and she was happy that she was able to serve a meaningful purpose. 

But, during all of this, she knew that her time was limited as well.  That picture of herself she had been working on was of her own death.  Whatever phenomenon in her body that was giving her abilities was also shortening her lifespan.  She accepted what she was able to accomplish in life and died next to her father on that park bench, with Olivia watching from afar.  Just as the picture described.   Just breaks your heart, doesn't it?     

Observe'er'ations  
  • Glyph of the Week - MARCH - When combined with last week it creates "DEATH MARCH".   This could mean all sorts of things.  But if you want to take things literally, they could be saying that a big death will be happening in March.  Who knows!?   And I don't know if it was my local broadcast, but everytime a glyph would show up at commerical time, it seemed to be barely visible.  Like it was choppy and faded.  I normally would just blame the broadcast, but ever since the Sopranos finale, you just never know!   Thanks as always to Fringepedia for the screenshot. 
  • Observer Spotted - He was overlooking Olivia's apartment when Nina Sharp was visiting.  
    • We were just reminded by Peter how the Observers are there at important events in time.  And Nina has been secretly drugging Olivia.  Olivia also has been regularly having migraines which are either caused by Nina's drugging or Nina is truly trying to help stop the Migraines.  Anyway, Nina said she will be bringing a "new drug" they're trying out of her to take.  Stay tuned on this one! 
    • Peter refreshed us on everything we know about the observers.  They transcend time, not experiencing it the way we do.  They were in all times at the same time.  And if September told Olivia that she's going to die, then that's just what's going to happen.  Of course, Olivia didn't tell Peter what the Observer said.  But, I'm sure she wasn't comforted by Peter's words.  And neither are we! The fact that they were able to stop one of Emily's visions from coming true provides us some comfort.  And of course, we've seen September interfere with how events are supposed to play out before.   Some suggest that only THIS version of Olivia is in danger, but I'm pretty convinced that the Zeppelin Man with the X is going to somehow play into this.  
    • We also find out that THIS Fringe team has been investigating the Observers for 3 years now.  But, they really had no knowledge of who they were.  Just that they have been spotted at cases.  It is only because September interacted with Walter and Peter's past that they became well know in our original Fringe-verse.  
    • The blood sample that Olivia ran was INDEED September's and confirmed in this episode.  They couldn't identify him but they did find traces of Spanish Flu anti-bodies.  Olivia said he's at least 91 years old, but we know that's not how it works.   But I'm sure they didn't just Drop that Spanish Flu comment in there for our health.  So, let's just keep that in our pocket for a future episode! 
  • Walterism of the week - "Which reminds me, I can't feel my urine response yet" mentioned after he already electrocuted himself 3 times. Ahh that crazy Walter. 
  • Food of the week - I can't believe it, but I don't recall any references to Walter eating this week.  Hmmm
  • Walter and Peter are briefly seen discussing the "machine" in the beginning of the episode.  Peter makes reference to how the machine in "THIS" version of time is not built to work with him.  Walter discusses needing some Bio-whozeewhatzit to connect the machine to Peter.  So, we don't know who worked the machine in this altered timeline, but at least they're starting to address the biggest question I've had.   I'm still not convinced we're in a "different" universe, but I'll just keep that notion in the back of my head as we move on! 

  • Olivia had asked Emily if she felt anything being in her presence.  It seemed like Emily was beginning to get the "death vibe" but she got distracted by her father showing up.  But, Olivia did end up taking Emily's wishes upon herself.  She went to the person she considered to be like a mother to her and told her that she loved her.  And that person is the incredibly shady Nina Sharp who is in cahoots with David Robert Jones and involved in a massive conspiracy to blow a giant hole in the universe.  Not to mention, she's been drugging Olivia for who knows what end. 
  • When looking at Emily's abilities, Walter makes a distinct comment about how he and Bellie had discovered similar events like this.  He mentioned that traumatic events often echo backward in time.  While this was probably in reference to how Emily is able to see the future before it happened, it may slightly be in reference to how Peter may have sent ripples back in time when he was in the machine.  He certainly experienced a traumatic event when he experienced the death of his future wife Olivia.  And before you know it, he returned to the present day but then before he was done, he vanished and reappeared in a world where he died in the past altering the timeline from the one he remembered.  Surely, this comment cannot be coincidental.  But, it may not tie into the themes exactly as I outlined it in this bullet! 
I'm sure there's more to discuss but those are the big tidbits I got out of the episode.  We can save the rest for our weekly discussion!  And, on a random sidenote, anyone who saw the series finale of Chuck, let's discuss that too.  Because that was a textbook example for how a series should be sent off!  I had a lot of fun watching that show over the past 5 years.  I'm going to miss it!   And let's just hope we don't have to say the same thing about Fringe after this season.  I am optimistic that FOX and WB will negotiate a way to get one more half or full season out of Fringe.  A way to close up loose ends and end this show appropriately.  

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week! 

Note: I apologize for the lack of screenshots this week.  I was having a bit of trouble with my software.  If I get things fixed, I'll add a couple more shots to this recap.  

End Credits
  • This season I will be recapping FringeTerra NovaThe Walking Dead and Alcatraz
  • Sneak Preview of TOUCH will air after American Idol on Wednesday January 25th.  Once Alcatraz airs it's 12 episodes, Touch will take over and air its 12.  I'm looking forward to this one as well! 
  • Other shows that are being discussed in comments recently:  Sons of Anarchy, How I Met Your Mother, Once Upon a Time, American Horror Story, Dexter, Chuck, Shameless, Mad Men (March!!), Game of Thrones (April 1st!), among others.  Feel free to join in!
  • See trailers for the Mid-Season shows I'm looking forward to: AlcatrazAwake and Touch.   I doubt I'll have time to recap them all but they will most likely be discussed on this blog!  
  • As always, there are other shows that I watch as well and would be happy to discuss with all of you. For a complete list by day, you can check out my "FALL TV" post.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike,
I have to agree with you now about September's prediction applying across all time lines even though I was promoting the "Olivia must die in this time line only" theory last week..,,, Does that mean Feauxlivia must die too?

I thought Peter's announcement that "the Observers exist between all time lines and universes simultaneously" a revelation. I don't think I remember any past episode that made that claim so clearly.

I kind of thought Nina used that "new drug" ploy because now Olivia will be drugging herself with whatever they had to do covertly in the past. It's not clear if what they are doing are for her benefit or not.

Wasn't that also the first reference to William Bell by Walter since the time line changed? Maybe I've just missed it in the past.

It was an interesting and entertaining episode but with the season winding down I was hoping for more advancement in the larger story's arc. Maybe I wouldn't care as much if they were locked into a 5th season already.

Good recap Mike.

Bill B

Mike V. said...

Thanks Bill!

Good question on Fauxlivia. If we consider each parallel universe as technically a different timeline, then I guess Fauxlivia would have to die too. Should definitely be interesting to explore this whole idea on the show! how all these different decisions made still lead to the same outcome.

I dunno...I seem to remember some early braindumps of info on the Observers in season 1 and 2. And I tried to make mental notes of it when I rewatched last year. Plus, why would Peter have this knowledge but not have shared it with the audience before this season? We usually are brought into the loop with whatever our main characters know pretty quickly. Except with Walter, as sometimes things need to jog his memory! lol I'll have to look into Fringepedia to see what we found out in those observer episodes when I have a little more time.

That's kinda what I was thinking too with Nina. But agreed...we don't know if she's doing it for good or bad yet. But we do know Nina is working with Jones and that's never good! lol

I think Walter has mentioned Bell before this season, but I don't remember for sure.

What do you mean season winding down? There are 22 episodes and we just got episode 10! lol With that long hiatus and the World Series, we haven't even gotten to the mid-way point of the season yet. Still plenty of time to advance the story. We just had a major advancement the past couple weeks, so now we're having some "CASES" to deal with in their new situation. We'll move on soon. But even if season 5 never happened, they are not changing their path for season 4. They said their end could act as a series finale if necessary.

Thanks for the comments as always!

MJ said...

Oh Chuck ! I will miss you. But what a great way to go out. Loved the link you had by the way for that interview. I've been involved in so may SOS's but going to Subway to eat on Monday's was way fun.

I had no complaints about the ending at all. And I caught most of the shout outs from the early years - but missed the escape/fight that was supposed to be like Bryce Larson.

Perfect ending though - not 100% spelled out so that we can see our own version of their future - but very happy and hopeful. I see them in that house with the red door personally.

Fringe - Issac the painter - WOW! LOL Season 1 of Heroes was so great, so full of promise. Save the Cheerleader, Save the world. I was so into that show. Then they ruined it. Ah well.

I thought it was a little ridiculous that Peter can say ' you can hyponatize where I come from" and magically Walter is doing it. There is some training and knowledge to that - but I'll go with it.

My Fios was pixalated and the picture coming in and out every time the glyphs came up. Know you have different cable so it must have been Fox itself.

March could also be an Observer - but I think you are right with your guesses on that.

Well - we all know that Olivia won't die - or at least STAY dead. LOL And September has shown himself to be very willing to not do what he should.

Hey - Nina's meds could have something to do with saving Olivia in future. Freaky when Olivia told Nina she loved her. While Nina looked surprised and thrilled she did not say it back. But just weird for Olivia to say it.

I am also hopeful that we get one more season where they know in advance that the end is xx date. I love when shows get to have true closure. And the fact that this season 'could' serve as a series finale fills me with confidence that our Peter and our Olivia will be back where they belong right around May. LOL

MJ said...

My word verification was whanso - the hanso reminded me that I just saw Widmore in like 2 different things lately. LOL House of Lies - and i can't remember the other.

Everyone up on Once ? We finally got more ont he Queen/Snow story background.

Meant to ask last week but never did get around to it - any one know of any fairy tales to do with writing ? Just wondering of the typewriter guy is representative of a tale - or just there to highlight that things are changing if he is just a visitor.

I'd love to know how he got that book. I admit I was tired last night - but i was surprised that mr Glass was a double agent. Guess I just wasn't watching with clues in mind but just watching to relax and enjoy. Sometimes I don't want to think and figure stuff out - that's where my TNT and USA shows come in.

TVD seems like it's gotten owfully complicated lately. LOL

Mike V. said...

CHUCK - Couldn't agree more. I'm always a big fan of coming full circle in the final season/episode, which is why I loved Season 6 of LOST and the finale so much. Chuck had so many call-outs in that final episode, it didn't matter how contrived it all was....it was just perfectly "CHUCK-Y" lol The weinerlicious, the mexican restaurant, the cat suit, the tango, getting Jeffster to save the day and perform one more time. (had to be A-ha's "take on me"...they saved the best 80s song for last. lol) And of course, the final subway reference. Hysterical!

Having Sarah forget her relationship with Chuck was the perfect way to bring back that romantic tension between them like the earlier seasons of the show. And it showed her falling for him all over again. I kept thinking they'd resort to the "magical kiss" that Morgan suggested. They definitely left it open for interpretation at the end, but as my wife said...they KEPT kissing. So it wasn't like a one and done kiss....so you could interpret that that her memories all came back and yes..they went and got that house. Couldn't have asked for more in a finale. Loved it. OHH and duh...Chuck got the intersect back! I knew he had to have it at least one more time. So did we ever find out if Sarah had the intersect removed? And what about Chuck? Is he just going to spend his days with government property in his brain or did he have that removed? I don't remember references to either of them getting rid of the intersect, but I may have missed it.

I will miss Chuck, and maybe one day there will be some kind of reunion. There is no show better suited for that type of thing to happen down the road. But, we'll see!

FRINGE - Season 1 of Heroes was fantastic...all the way up to that season finale (which was such a letdown). And then it never recovered. I'm hoping Tim Kring has resolved his storytelling issues and has come into TOUCH with a better idea of where he wants to go with the show. Open-ended is a good direction for any show, but a high level roadmap isn't the worst thing in the world!

Oh totally agree that Peter just assuming this Walter can hypnotise because of where he came from is a stretch. But, I'm still watching the show with the frame of mind that Peter is "NOT" in the wrong place and that somehow Walter being able to magically hypnotise someone is because somewhere in his subconsciousness he knows that he has done it before. Could be me reaching, but that's how I took it.

Actually...I have Fios too. LOL So maybe it was a Verizon issue??

Hmmm....didn't even think about March being an observer! That's a great "observation" lol

Well, if we are indeed in another timeline, Olivia might certainly die. But then maybe for the rest of Fringe, Peter will end up trying to save Olivia in various timelines and she keeps dying different ways. (very groundhog day'ish. lol) I'm mostly kidding there as I think that would be an awful way to go! Agreed on September. He has a soft spot for the Bishops and Olivia. I'm sure he will be involved somehow in this plot again.

Agreed on Nina. Still tough to tell if she's trying to help or hurt Olivia. Guess we'll find out! And yeah, the whole "LOVE" stuff was bizarre!

Mike V. said...

Yeah...I think this "altered timeline" we're in is the major plot for this season, and their goal was always to return to "normalcy" (or something else) by the end of it. Whether that's fixing this current timeline or getting Peter home, remains to be seen. But, they also said that they weren't changing their plans for season 3 regardless of renewal either and that ended on a massive cliffhanger. It did resolve a lot of season 3's stuff in the process though so maybe that's what they mean. We'll always be left wanting more but they resolve a lot of what has been going on. Guess we'll find out. But yep, definitely hoping for a 5th season! But they definitely should target that one as the final season based on the ratings.

I'll get to your next comment next!

Mike V. said...

Nice on the HANSO-ish word verification! He plays a fairly big character on ONCE in Fairy Tale land. He's Charming's father or the real charming's father or something crazy like that. I am caught up on ONCE. Definitely got more Queen/Snow stuff as well as the Magic Mirror/Gus Fring/Genie backstory. Very interesting stuff. It would seem that the Queen is a bit jealous that Snow is the daughter of the king's first and most beautiful wife. Which makes sense...considering in the actual fairy tale/animated movie the only reason the Queen hated Snow White is because the mirror told her that Snow White was the fairest one of them all. If I recall correctly. But maybe there's more to this hatred on the TV show. Guess we'll see.

I didn't even see your comment yet but I was going to comment on the WRITER. It would seem that the big theory going around right now is that this writer is the guy who wrote Henry's book of fair tales. It makes sense since he alluded to being there before and that he's very interested in the place, and of course that he has the book by the end of the episode. The book had to come from somewhere!

Naaa...I didn't pick up on Glass being a double agent either, but by that final flashback, I assumed she still had her hooks in him. Pretty good twist!

TVD - still good show, but yeah...definitely complicated. We had a week off last week, right? I always have a hard time remembering what happened from episode to episode. But I do know Elijah is back. Should be a good time!

All caught up on Shameless too. Definitely some interesting and controversial stuff going on as always! lol

And the Game of Thrones season 2 trailer aired on HBO yesterday before LUCK (recorded didn't watch). (trailer is on ew.com) Looks awesome! I'm 50% through Clash of Kings (book 2 which season 2 will be based off of). We have some intense stuff and lots of masterful manipulations coming up. Can't wait!

Also, I've heard so many things about Downton Abbey, my wife and I finally watched the first episode on netflix and started recording season 2. I have a feeling we'll be hooked soon enough!

MJ said...

Monster mania is back in Cherry Hill Mike. Last year I went and they had Andrea from TWD as well as Amanda from Nikita and another show that we watched - can't remember now. LOL
http://www.monstermania.net/MMC21_GUESTS.html

Yeah - in a way I wanted the intersect destroyed. They left all that open though with Chuck having it and never showing if Ellie got it out of Sarah.

Oh - I thought youhas satellite. My bad.

It def would be interesting if you are right and Peter is in the right time and it's everyone elses memories that are off.

Funny you should say that about 'groundhog' day cause Supernatural did that ep where one of them just kept dying over and over in different ways - strangely it was one of their funniest eps ever and my husband said that about Olivia - that they'd groundhog day her like Dean on Supernatural. BUt he was only joking

I saw that GoT trailer ! Thanks god it's not til april.

Have heard good things on Downton - but I can't afford any other shows. Besides all we discuss here i watch Being Human - brit and american, plus just started sampling Lost Girl. And TWD is coming back a week after my team wins the Superbowl. LOL - couldn't resist.

Yes - TVD did have a week off.

I have not watched last night's Shameless yet - but was rolling on the floor from previous week. When Frank had her taken off the donor list my jaw dropped. But - the line between Lip and Karen when the were having sex ! Wowsa. Have also been watching House of Lies - which is hysterical.

Mike V. said...

Awesome on Monster Mania...Don't think I'm going to use one of by "babysitting days" for that but I appreciate the heads up! lol But wait...Michael Rooker, Darth Vader (David Prowse), Alex Winter and Pam from True Blood are gonna be there? Hmmm.....nope still not worth a babysitter! lol

CHUCK - Yeah, they definitely left it open. But I kinda like that. It allows for adventures to continue someday, or for fanfiction to take over or comics or whatever. There was still closure and callbacks to the entire show. We didn't even mention Jacob showing up in the beginning as he was part of Fulcrum way back when. lol Loved the episode!

FRINGE - Yeah, I just keep thinking back to that season 3 finale where Peter just vanished. And then this season where the observers kept talking about how traces of Peter still exist and then Broyles adding in another episode saying that when emotional ties to other people are that strong, they just can't go away or something like that. It just seems like they're setting everything up for a twist down the road where Peter finds out he's not in the wrong place at all. But of course...how would we explain Jones returning then? Unless he is also a shapeshifter like Alterna-broyles, brought back to life by Nina Sharp or something crazy like that. I guess there are ways of getting around stuff like that.

Pretty funny that we're all referring to Groundhog Day though with the Olivia stuff. lol And I'm sure it was a funny ep of Supernatural. lol I keep waiting for that show to show up on netflix but it's not there yet.

GoT - Why Thank God? Because there's too much on right now? Or because I still have 50% of the book to read? lol Or some other reason I'm missing?

OTHER - Yeah, didn't get on the Being Human bandwagon and for the same reasons you're bringing up. Just no time for other shows. (Which makes me question why I'm even looking into Downton. Probably because they are short 8 episode seasons). But yes, TWD will be back in a couple weeks! I'll probably be pushing Shameless off to another day when that happens. And then Mad Men will be coming back once TWD is over. Can't wait for that! It's been far too long.

SHAMELESS (last week) - Yeah, when I watch that show, whenever I think in my head "Surely, they're not going to go there"...I take a second and then realize "that's exactly what they're going to do" lol It has to live up to the name of the show afterall! Love it. And yeah, the Lip/Karen stuff is heartbreaking but hysterical at the same time. And the boyfriend/fiance guy is hysterical too. Wait until you see this week (that's all I'm saying). House of Lies...I caught the first few minutes of the pilot ep, but did not invest. I'm sure it's funny but I think I'm gonna pass now and regret it later! lol

MJ said...

GoT - nope - thank god cause there's too much stuff now.

Oh yeah ! How could we forget Jacob on Chuck !. He's been on so many things lately - even one of those TNT shows, and he still crops up on Supernatural once in a while. Jacobs brother is on something I watch - but what show is eluding me right now. Hmm.

Shameless - well I watched the new one last night. I will never again be able to play This Little Piggy with a child again. LOL So who's the daddy - Lip or Frank ?? And Deb Pelt actress gets to play another jealous phycho !

Mike V. said...

GoT - Understood! But I'm just excited because I can try to finish the book! lol

MIB (Titus Welliver) has been on everything lately. He was in Touch most recently that I know of.

SHAMELESS - LOL on Little Piggy! That was pretty rough. Did you catch the landing gear falling out of the sky at the end? I love how they always throw big scenes in after the credits start. lol As for who the father is, I don't think there is any doubt that it's Lip. Last season took place during the winter, and now they're in the middle of summer and Lip seems to have been going at it with Karen(?) this whole time. And we know "Chodey" (lol) hasn't done anything yet. I guess there's an outside chance it could be Frank which would be hysterical and fitting, but I think she'd be showing a bit right now if that was the case. I'll take your word for it on Deb Pelt, because I have no idea what that is! lol

Mike V. said...

This week's Fringe sounds like a good time! Astrid-Centric and all!

http://www.tvline.com/2012/01/fringe-season-4-episode-11-astrid-video-spoilers/