"Worlds Apart" is such a good episode, a major step up from "Letters of Transit" in my opinion, which I wasn't crazy about like everyone else seemed to be. We see the two Walters together, finally, which we haven't seen since the season 3 finale, and they have a fantastic scene together near the end of the episode, a memorable scene that reminds us of just how amazing John Noble is as an actor, not that we really ever need that reminder. Two earlier episodes - "Welcome to Westfield" (4.12) (which is one of my favorite episodes of the season) and "Nothing as It Seems" (4.16) are mentioned, and Nick Lane comes back, who is apparently alive in this timeline, which is yet another reason why it doesn't make sense that Redverse Lincoln was still blown up in this timeline. We also have some great scenes between the two Olivias. It's just all-around a great episode, and don't get me wrong; I don't regard it as perfect, as it does have its flaws, but any episode that reduces me to tears at the end is a really good episode in my book, and I approve. I know of someone who went as far as to say that she hated the episode because of the problems that she had with it, and although I am definitely inclined to respect her opinion, it is not an opinion that I share. I know many, like myself, did like it, and, in fact, I know of some people who said that it could have been a finale, and while I do agree with that, I don't think that the ending would have been a proper close to the season, but then again, it may have been better than the actual closing that we got. Ultimately, I give the episode 9.5 goodbyes that "I want to believe" didn't happen. Initially, I gave it 10, but I felt that it needed to be bumped down just a tad because of the minor problems that I have with it.
I'll start with that - the minor problems. First of all, apparently, Nick Lane's birth year is given, and it's different than it was before, which is definitely a continuity error; there's no way that Peter affected that. I didn't notice that, but someone else did, and I have to admit that this series has not been good when it comes to years. For example, as much as I loved Karley Scott Collins and Chandler Canterbury in the roles of Olivia and Peter respectively from the "Subject 13" (3.15) episode, there is no way that she was only six or seven and he was only seven or eight. Age-wise, that was not good casting. Another example is that Olivia's birth year has been shown to us as two different years. Apparently, she was born in 1979 here in the Blueverse and in 1981 over there in the Redverse, which doesn't make much sense. I suppose that it stands to reason that she could be two years younger over there, but I see that as being very farfetched. It's more likely to me that, if it isn't a continuity error (which I unfortunately think it is), the 1981 birth year was issued by Walternate (since we saw it while Olivia was over there brainwashed into thinking that she was their Olivia) as an effort to do everything that he could to take her identity away from her, lead her to believe that she was someone else. I mentioned in an earlier review how Sally Clark is seen on a recording during this episode, and Olivia and Peter are the only two who know her, which means that she didn't go to the Redverse during the time that "Over There" takes place, which means that Lincoln shouldn't have been blown up, but I digress; maybe, he got blown up in a different manner. I also found parts of the episode difficult to keep up with, as it was a little bit confusing as to which Nick Lane we were dealing with at what point and which universe we were in.
My only other problem with the episode is that all of a sudden, the two Olivias come to terms with one another, as do the two Walters, and that's not development that we really got to see happen throughout the season. It was very nice to see; the scenes between the two pairs were excellent, so don't get me wrong, but I would have liked to have seen that development progress throughout the season. Instead it comes off as kind of sudden. We finally learn how Redverse Lincoln knew Nick Lane, and he actually knew the Redverse Lane, as they grew up in the same neighborhood and went to school together (even though Nick was a couple of years behind), and Lincoln dated Nick's sister Kendra. Granted, Redverse Nick mistakes Blueverse Lincoln for Redverse Lincoln, but that's probably because he doesn't know about the other universe; I guess that, in that case, it's a good thing that he apparently didn't hear of Redverse Lincoln's death, which you'd think he would have. Initially, as usual, the two Olivias being together was awkward, but, of course, they certainly warm up to each other by the end of the episode. In fact, we more or less learn that they've admired each other. It's a great scene, especially the "rainbow" line when Olivia tells Redverse Olivia to keep looking up, but like I said, it did seem a little forced just because we didn't see a whole lot of the Redverse this season, and the development wasn't really shown to us. This especially seemed forced between the two Walters; the last time that they were seen together, they looked like they wanted to kill each other. I noticed, though, that the two of them were were wearing the same kind of shoes, which, of course, is a very important, very crucial, observation to have made.
There were a lot of questions racing through my head during the episode, but they were answered. How would Jones escape the two universes collapsing? The answer was right in front of our noses the whole time; he would do exactly what he did during the "Westfield" episode; he would use "the eye of the storm" as it was called, a safe zone. How did Jones get the Cortexiphan subjects to agree to do this? He lied to them, told them that he was preparing them for the war with the Other Side. At first, I thought that Nick was referring to a war with the Observers, and I got excited. Jones was a mentor for Nick, and Nick seemed to have a similar affection for him as Canaan from "Everything in Its Right Place" (4.17) did, but unfortunately, he fell for his lies. I immediately knew that he was going to attack Tim by unloading emotions onto him. I wonder if Tim died; that was never stated. We see Lincoln giving serious thought to staying over there, which was absolutely no surprise to me because I knew from the end of "Everything in Its Right Place" that he was going to stay; in fact, I had initially thought that that confirmation. Throughout the episode, I kept thinking, I hope that they don't have to turn the Machine off. Unfortunately, they did, and the final scene of the episode is so sad. Redverse Olivia says to Blueverse Olivia, "There's a lot of things about you I wish I had," which was totally unexpected, and then Blueverse Olivia says that she was about to say the same. I was really hoping that they would share a hug, but no such luck. Unfortunately, I think that we've seen the last of the Redverse. Seth Gabel will not be a series regular for season 5 (which could mean that we won't see him again at all), and the Redverse is neither seen or mentioned at all in "Letters of Transit" (4.19). Walter's "I had a dream" line reminded me of Martin Luther King, Jr., and I also absolutely love his "Have you ever tried LSD?" I love the look on Nick's face. There are a couple of minor flaws, but overall, this is a great episode.
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