Fringe - "The Bullet That Saved the World" (5.04)

The action-packed "The Bullet That Saved the World" is such a huge step-up from last week's episode, three points up, in fact, since I gave "The Recordist" 7 Carson Beckett tree people and give this episode 10 spongy doughnut holes. We were promised a massive episode, a turning point, and that is what we got, and I remember Josh Jackson teasing that this would be a massive turning point for Peter's character, as well, and I definitely think that we're going to see that, not just in regards to him but also to Olivia. The opening of the episode is fantastic, although I was admittedly expecting the blast that Peter narrowly misses to have a bigger effect, which it did not; it hardly affected him at all, for that matter. Peter gets a chain for Etta's necklace, which is awesome, and the scene when he gives it to her is very touching. Peter says that they (as in the Observers) seem to always be two steps ahead of them and that he, therefore, doesn't know how they're going to beat them, and from this, we then learn that Etta's ability to block the Observers' mind probing isn't because of Cortexiphan but because she taught herself to block, something that she says she will teach them and something that we eventually learn she taught Broyles to do, as well. We finally learn why Etta keeps Olivia's bullet around her neck; she found it in their old home, figured that it must have been important, and decided to hold onto it as a way of remembering them. Olivia says that Peter used to refer to the bullet as "the bullet that saved the world" but says nothing more than that, doesn't explain where the bullet came from or why she had it, which is annoying, especially because of how the episode ends.

I love how Walter calls Astrid "Astrif" in this episode. How would you even accidentally say that? As I have said before, I think that it started out at the beginning of season 1 as non-intentional mistakes but that he now does it on purpose to get under her skin. One of the coolest scenes of this episode is when we see that Walter has kept remnants of every Fringe case that they ever worked in a room underneath the floor of the lab. I initially found it really weird that no one else, not even Astrid, knew that, and Olivia eventually addresses that, asking Astrid if she had known. Astrid says that she never would have slept if she had. It is interesting that Walter says that he has a healthy distrust of the government because I think I remember Peter saying in "Unearthed" (1.21) that he is a conspiracy theorist, so Walter is, perhaps, where he got that. Walter gets really excited when he sees the porcupine-man and calls Olivia's attention to it, which was really funny, but it is incredibly disgusting when he finds that twenty-one year-old (at least) doughnut hole, especially since he tastes it. I love his line: "There was a time we solved Fringe cases; I think it's time we created a few of our own." Much to my delight, the case that was chosen was the "Ability" (1.14) case, and I say that because that is my favorite season 1 episode and is one of my favorite episodes of the series so far in general; that, in my opinion, will always go down in Fringe history as a monumental episode. I wonder, though, if that is further evidence that the original timeline has been restored. The team encountered the sealed orifices because of David Robert Jones, whom, in the new timeline, they had not encountered that early.

The photo that we see of Olivia and Peter is so adorable; that really warmed my heart up. I also love the beautiful scene when Olivia, Peter, and Walter are reunited with Broyles, and we learn that Etta had already been in association with him but didn't say anything in case they were read. I wonder how big a part Broyles will ultimately play in bringing the Observers down. Since Windmark (at whom I had to laugh when he plays with the color game), more or less, seems to trust him and Broyles is a member of the Resistance, it would seem as if he will play a very major role. Just when people (fans, that is) weren't trusting him, it is revealed that he has been in association with Etta, a nice twist to the story. I especially love it when Olivia, overcome by happiness at seeing Broyles, clasps her hands together and simply says "Phillip" before hugging him, an incredibly touching scene. This scene finally reveals how Etta became a Fringe agent. I wonder how Olivia will react when she is reunited with Nina, especially since she told her in "Enemy of My Enemy" (4.09) that if she ever forgot the relationship that she had had with Nina, she wanted Nina to try to establish another relationship. Did that happen? How close were they when the Fringe team was ambered? I hope that we will see that soon because we are now moving into the fifth episode, and we still haven't seen Blair Brown, something that has really frustrated me, especially since, as far as I know, she is still considered to be a series regular.

I love how when the Fringe team finds the paper inside the tube and Walter says that he doesn't understand it, he says that it's Greek to him and that that's saying something because he actually reads Greek; that is funny, and I'm kind of hoping that the Fringe Podcast nominates that for Quote of the Week. Windmark is informed of what the Fringe team did to all of those people, and he, interestingly enough, says, "Barbaric." I find this to be interesting because he outlaws that as barbaric (and I'm not going to disagree with him; it is) but apparently finds a way of justifying what Observers do to people whom they mind-probe. Take what he, himself, does to Walter in "Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11" (5.01), and I would like to know how he justifies that, how he is able to refrain from seeing that as barbaric. To discuss the episode's very sad ending, I honestly saw it coming, but not until this episode. The episode, in my opinion, is very heavy-handed when it comes to foreshadowing Etta's death, between the touching scene between Etta and Peter near the beginning of the episode and the scene between Etta and Olivia when Etta tells Olivia why she wears the bullet and asks Olivia if she wants it back, I was very worried about Etta, was sure that she was going to die, very likely by the end of the episode. We also see Peter smiling in the episode during a scene in which the team sort of seems to be happy as they're listening to music, so, again, I knew that this was going to happen. I wonder if the episode title doesn't just refer to Olivia's bullet but to Etta's death, as well. Will her death somehow lead to victory? I have been complaining that Georgina hasn't been a series regular even though Etta has pretty much had center stage, and now, I know why that is. What's weird, though, is Georgina is listed as a guest-actress for 5.06, but until "An Origin Story" (which looks really awesome) next week, stay on the fringe.