Fringe - "Brave New World" (Part 2) (4.22) - Season Finale

The second part of the finale is really good, although it's definitely annoying that "Letters of Transit" (4.19) spoils a lot of the revelations. It told us that Bell was alive. It told us that Olivia would be pregnant soon. It told us that the Observers would come for an invasion. It's cool, though, how other questions are answered. For example, we finally know how September got shot, and a stage was set at the end of "Back to Where You've Never Been" (4.08) for a play that is finally acted out now. I was definitely really surprised that Jessica was a baddie; I didn't see that coming, and her "revival" scene was one of the most disturbing, creepiest scenes that I've ever seen on TV. It kind of reminded me of Charlotte going insane before she died. It was almost as bad as the "Marionette" (3.09) scene during which the girl's corpse is made to walk like a marionette. Rebecca, speaking of September, tells Olivia that "he's very concerned about the events in your life." I have been saying for years that September seems to be here to protect Olivia, and it looks like I was right; he is her "guardian angel" of sorts. For the longest time, I couldn't figure out what the nanites had to do with collapsing the universes, but during a recent viewing of the episode, I realized that Jessica must have been there for a reason, and she tells Olivia that Bell had suggested to draw September out by putting Olivia's life in danger, so the nanites may have been a ruse to put Olivia's life in jeopardy. That leads to the question, however, of why Bell wanted to kill September. Does he know about the coming invasion but not understand that some of them are good? Is that why he wanted to create a third universe, to prevent the Observers' invasion?

We also learn from this episode that Olivia is the power source that Bell is using to collapse the universes. That leads me to wonder if she was Plan B or if Broyles was. Did Jones hurt or kill Christopher and/or Diane? Did Christopher's treatments continue with Walter (or someone)'s help, or was Jones the only one with the means to help him? The opening scene of the episode really reminds me of Jurassic Park, and it's really cool. I love Bell's line during this scene. He says, "The Bible tells us God created his universe in seven days. It's taken me considerably longer." There is a blue flash during this scene, which is something that I don't think we've seen for a while. He is absolutely crazy, something that is clearly demonstrated throughout this episode, especially right before Olivia "dies" but will wait to talk about that. I'm really glad that Astrid is okay, and I'm surprised, too. That looked like a fatal wound to me, and she was even left for a little while before being picked up. I thought that the lemon cake would end up being important because it would have to do with saving Astrid, but Astrid recovered on her own. Obviously, Olivia's wound was much worse and much more fatal, shall we say, but I had no idea how Olivia's predicted death would play out, obviously; no one did. The only thing that doesn't make sense is that if September saw her die in the future, why didn't he also tell her at the end of "Back to Where You've Never Been" that her death wouldn't be permanent? Did he fear that he'd risk changing the course of events from happening the way that they're supposed to?

There is a huge revelation that this new universe idea was actually Walter's and that he asked to have pieces of his brain removed so that he wouldn't remember having this idea. That was a surprise, and again, it makes me wonder what Jones' agenda was during season 1. September says during "The End of All Things" (4.14) that it was the same, but if it was initially Walter's idea, how would Jones have known of it? I love the helicopter scene, and Nina uses an interesting choice of words. She says, "Olivia now has as much activated Cortexiphan in her system as the Olivia from the original timeline." She seems to suggest there being two different Olivias, but she uses the term "original timeline" so probably not. It would, in fact, seem that since "A Short Story About Love" (4.15), she has accepted that everyone has indeed forgotten Peter and that Olivia is still the same person. How, though, did Olivia and Peter not get seriously injured? That was quite a jump from the helicopter. When Olivia is shot in the head, I think that Peter's "NO!" was how we all felt. I couldn't believe it; I was in utter denial and was in tears, and I couldn't imagine a good fifth season without her, but obviously, that's where the lemon cake came into play. Josh Jackson's acting during this scene is great. Where did Bell go, and is that the bullet that Etta will wear around her neck? It's interesting that Olivia is apparently not "special" anymore, that using Cortexiphan to come back to life made her abilities void, so I guess that we'll be seeing a "normal" Olivia come season 5. I know that there were some people who voiced that it didn't make sense that she didn't come back to life when Walternate shot her in the season 3 finale, but first of all, she hadn't been recently dosed with Cortexiphan, and second of all, no one got the bullet out (a nasty scene, by the way).

So, Broyles has been promoted to General Broyles, and Fringe Division will now be fully funded. Broyles has offered Head of Science Division to Nina, and I could be wrong, but it seems like they may be an item now. I mean, we saw her kiss him during "A New Day in the Old Town" (2.01), and that has to mean something. Speaking of that episode, that was when Fringe Division was on the brink of being shut down, so things have certainly come a long way. Olivia is pregnant, which was not a surprise because of "Letters of Transit" (4.19), nor was September's warning that "they are coming." "Letters of Transit" (4.19) pretty much spoiled any attempt at a cliffhanger that the finale makes, which is unfortunate. Is there something more to the pregnancy, though? Olivia looked very apprehensive. Anna Torv said that we won't be seeing Olivia pregnant, so I wonder if we will be jumping to 2015 for season 5? I almost feel like we'd have to in order for questions that "Letters of Transit" (4.19) asks to be answered. So, the "X" on the nanites that is the same as the "X" on Mr. X's shirt is something that I want to discuss briefly. It could be that Mr. X wasn't ever meant to be a person but was meant to be the nanites, since they are ultimately what allowed September to be captured so that Olivia could tell him of his warning. It's also possible that since the nanites are connected to Bell, they were used to represent him, since he did technically kill her; at least, it's because of him that Walter killed her. Although it would have left some questions unanswered, such as why Olivia's memories returned, more or less, if it weren't for "Letters of Transit" (4.19) and September's warning at the end, this could have been a series finale. I love how Walter, at the end, is humming "Rock-a-Bye-Baby" since he is obviously excited. Hopefully, during season 5, we'll see Peter in that purple tux. I give the second part of the finale 9 batty Bellys.

Fringe - "Brave New World" (Part 1) (4.21) - Season Finale

"Brave New World" is a great finale, apart from the fact that its ending wasn't anything jaw-dropping since we didn't get much of a cliffhanger, but I'll talk more about that when I review the second part of the episode. Unfortunately, it's spoiled right during the opening credits that Leonard Nimoy would be in the episode, which I hate; I wish that they didn't have to do that. They did the same thing during the opening credits of "Back to Where You've Never Been" (4.08), revealing that Jared Harris would be in the episode. Granted, the promo revealed that, anyway, and I had been convinced for a while that Jones was behind the new Shapeshifters, but still, generally speaking, I wish that they wouldn't do that. Aside from the opening credits, though, they did a really good job of keeping his return under wraps. He was in the "Letters of Transit" (4.19) episode, but initially, the rumor had been that that wasn't physically Nimoy, that he had just been added in using computer graphics, but then, shortly before the finale aired, it was apparently revealed that he was not added in via computer graphics, that Nimoy had actually come in for that, so then, the speculations that Bell would return began to circulate, and seeing them therefore wasn't much of a surprise. What was a surprise, however, was that he was working with Jones; that I didn't see coming, mainly because it had been Jones' agenda during season 1 to cross over to the Other Side so that he could kill Bell. Was he lying, or did he instead find someone eager to form an alliance, since we know that Peter wasn't there to stop him from crossing over? Also, when the team goes to St. Claire's to see if Bell ever signed in, they seem to be looking for his name, but wouldn't he have signed in as Simon Paris?

Could Bell be why Porcuman didn't happen three years ago, but just a few weeks ago, in this timeline? Like I said, unless Jones was lying, he and Bell were not in alignment back in season 1, so that could be why that didn't happen then. It's interesting, though, because Jones' endgame was revealed to be to "create a world designed and controlled by him," and September says that Jones' endgame was the same then as it is now, so did he need Bell's assistance to help him do it? It just doesn't add up, because we learn during the second part of the episode that this was actually Walter's idea and he doesn't remember because that was why he asked to have parts of his brain removed, so how would Jones have had the idea first? It seems like Bell would have. I wonder if Jones is gone for good this time. My bet is yes, he is; I sincerely doubt that the timeline will ever go back to its original state, and even if it did, Jones is dead in that timeline, too. Obviously, I was wrong about my theory that the writers chose to pair Colonel Broyles and Jones together because neither should be alive and they'd disappear when the timeline was restored. The timeline was not restored, and I don't think that it ever will be, which is discouraging. All of that character development between Walter and Peter for three seasons is thrown out the window, reset, and at this point, we would be let down either way because if the timeline were reset, season 4 wouldn't have technically happened. It's very frustrating.

For the longest time, I couldn't figure out how the nanites were important, what they had to do with collapsing the universes, but I think that I have an idea now. However, I'll wait and discuss that when I review the second part of the episode. On the computer on which Walter is examining them, they have an "X" marking on them exactly like the "X" on Mr. X's shirt from the "LSD" (3.19) episode, which is odd. That's also something that I'll discuss during the following review. It's kind of annoying, though, how when spontaneous human combustion is mentioned, Peter says, "You know that's just a myth, right?" He and Olivia should both have memories of what happened during "The Road Not Taken" (1.19), yet neither of them mention it, and in fact, what Peter says suggests that it never happened. I was not surprised when I found out that Rebecca Mader would appear in the episode because Mader frequently voices her love of the series via her Twitter, so I figured that it would only be a matter of time, and like I said when I reviewed "Letters of Transit" (4.19), it's kind of cool how we had Desmond in that episode and then Charlotte in the finale. Olivia comforts her, and the lights flicker, which is a cool scene, but not quite as cool as the scene near the end when she uses a "Jedi mind trick" on Peter and controls his body. That was utterly amazing, and I do like season 4 for its effort to show us what amazing feats Olivia is capable of. She can manipulate electricity, can calm people down, and can even make people (or just Peter?) move using her mind. There's more, obviously, but again, I'll wait.

I know of someone who had a problem with Olivia saying that Jessica encountering them almost made a child an orphan, because she knows that the girl has a father, and that is not the definition of an orphan. However, I think that was just being dramatic. Speaking of which, she mentions wanting a nursery in the house that she and Peter eventually choose, which is obviously referencing Etta since we know about her, and speaking of offspring, another name that caught my attention during the opening credits is Samantha Noble. I assumed that she was related to John Noble, and sure enough, she is his daughter. The character's name is Dr. Benlo, which is an anagram of Noble. I think that she kind of looks like Jennifer Garner, and I love how Walter says, "I must say; you're much prettier than your predecessor." That was most likely the writers' sense of humor since she looks like him. Also, I wonder if by her "predecessor," he is referring to Bruce Sumner. It's so insane that Jones was trying to direct a ray of the sun toward earth. That was definitely insane, although a bit unrealistic because even though I'm not scientifically inclined by any means, I would think that that would burn everything around it to a crisp. Near the end of the episode, Walter refers to Astrid using two different names - Atlas and Alex. I love her reaction to being called Alex; she is so funny. I also love how Walter, before leaving, says, "Peace out." I was so surprised when Astrid was shot, and I thought for sure that she was gone, but then, I got thinking about the lemon cake and knew that that scene had to be significant. I was right, sort of, but I'll talk more about that during my following review. I give the first part of the finale 10 regenerative lemon cakes.

Fringe - "Worlds Apart" (4.20)

"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 was 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.

Fringe - "Letters of Transit" (4.19)

"Letters of Transit" is an episode that I honestly wasn't too excited about. Usually, I am really excited about the "out of the box" nineteenth episode, but this wasn't too "out of the box" for me. We've been to the future before, and I didn't much care for that episode, either. I'm honestly not all that interested in futures that might be or could be but that won't necessarily be. Additionally, now that we have seen the entire season, I feel like this episode is a lot better to watch at the end of the season, after the finale, because it pretty much gives most of the finale's revelations away. When I watched the season with my brother, we watched this episode after the finale, and that made a lot more sense to me. It was also frustrating watching it because at the time, we weren't sure whether or not we were getting a fifth season, and there is no closure at the end of the episode; it just ends, and at the time, we didn't know if we ever would get closure. Even so, though, I know many people that absolutely loved the episode. I wasn't too crazy over it, but I do admit that I liked it a little better my second time watching it because, as I said, I watched it at the end of the season the second time, and it made more sense and had a better flow. I gave it 6.5 bullets on a necklace, obviously referring to the necklace that Etta wears, but I don't think that I'm going to bump it up at all because it wasn't aired after the conclusion of the season; it was aired before the finale and gave too much away, so I'm basing my Bunsen Burner rating on when it was aired and what it did for the season as a whole.

Josh Jackson did say that if the series were to be renewed for a fifth season, this episode would open the door for that story, and now, it has been renewed, so I'm sure that a lot of the unresolved questions that this episode asks will be resolved during season 5, but like I said, at the time, we didn't know if we'd be getting a fifth season, and neither did they, so giving us an episode like this jumped the shark a bit. However, I have to hand something to the writers because they really pulled a fast one. I loved "The End of All Things" (4.14) because I thought that we had finally found out who the Observers are and what they want, but then, this episode tells us that that wasn't the whole truth. Apparently, most of them have come to conquer us, and September is a "good" one who tried to assist Fringe Division. When September tells Peter about who he is and what his intentions are from "The End of All Things" (4.14), did he not know about this, or did he feel it necessary to leave out most of the truth? The latter could make sense because it could very well be that he saw Peter as important and believed that he was supposed to be with Blueverse Olivia because it would be Etta that would bring the Observers down, and he may have felt that if he told Peter that, it wouldn't have happened. I immediately figured that Etta was the daughter of Peter and Olivia; it certainly was no surprise when it was officially revealed at the end of the episode, and I think that most everyone felt that way. I remember how Courtney, formerly of the Fringe Podcast, said that there was a big revelation that was on par with the revelation from the Empire Strikes Back when we learn that Vader is Luke's father, and I can only imagine that it was that the Observers are here to conquer us.

Walter is so funny when he first wakes up, before the missing pieces of his brain are placed back inside of him. He tells the loyalist, when he, Simon, and Etta are apprehended, that "these aren't the droids you're looking for" and then to "move along," which is hilarious. Then, however, when the pieces of his brain are placed back in, he is kind of a jerk, which is what "Grey Matters" (2.10) showed us. With the brain pieces, he is more like Walternate. I found it interesting that the weapon that Walter had been designing before the team was ambered is referred to as a beacon because nothing in this series ever seems to be a coincidence, and the machine that we first see from "The Arrival" (1.04) is known as a beacon. Is it possible that, like the Machine, the Beacon was built by Walter, yet he hadn't realized it yet? The holograph of it didn't look the same, but it's just a theory, and it would be quite interesting if true. Another thing that got me wondering is why coffee is a rarity in this future. Two thoughts come to mind. I think that either the Observers forbid it for some reason, or the Observers have damaged the environment just like they did their own from the twenty-seventh century, and coffee, much like it couldn't be on the Other Side, can't really be grown as easily anymore, but they're just thoughts. It's kind of annoying how that was stated but then not explained. I love Fringe, but sometimes, they leave far too much to be explained by us the fans, wanting us to fill in the blanks ourselves, and too much of that isn't good; LOST did the same thing.

We obviously had a new opening for the episode, which was cool, and the words seem to be liberties that we currently take for granted - community, joy, individuality, education, imagination, private thought, due process, ownership, free will, and freedom, many of which remind me of liberties that are usurped within Orwell's 1984 universe, and I definitely got the impression that education is deprived of citizens when Broyles said to Windmark, "I can count." The episode is an interesting Dystopian episode, and in that regard, I suppose that it does sort of bend the genre a bit like "Brown Betty" (2.19) and "LSD" (3.19) do, but it wasn't as "out of the box" as I would have liked. I would have preferred a sitcom or a puppet show, something like the "200" episode of Stargate SG-1, perhaps, which I love. We are left with so many questions that I'm hoping season 5 will answer. Where is Olivia? We see from the finale that even though she was shot, she didn't technically die, so why was she not ambered with the rest of them, and what did Bell do to her? Did he kill her for good? Now that we know of Bell's evil plan to destroy the universes and create a new one, why was he with them? Is the bullet around Etta's neck the same one that was taken out of Olivia in the finale? Why did Walter need Bell's hand? Is this future a possible future, or is it destined to happen? Will we return to 2036 at all during season 5? The ending is really sweet, but it just seems to end, and I know that many people felt this way. There is no closure, and it seems like it needs a second part. My final observation is that it's funny how we have Desmond in this episode and then Charlotte in the finale, and only those who are LOST fans will know what I mean. To conclude, this isn't an episode that really did much for me.

Fringe - "The Consultant" (4.18)

"The Consultant" is another really good episode, and we get a lot of answers from it. We finally learn what Jones' jagenda is, sort of, and at first, I was a bit confused. When Walter says that Jones is trying to "collapse" the two universes, I thought that he meant that he is trying to combine them, and I couldn't figure out why he would possibly want to do that, but obviously, I now understand that he was trying to destroy them, and now that we have seen the entire season, I have a clear of understanding of why that is. The funeral scene at the very beginning of the episode is deeply reminiscent of the funeral of John Scott from "The Ghost Network" (1.03) near the beginning of season 1, and I'm sure that that was intentional. Some people were concerned because we see a woman and a man as Redverse Lincoln's parents at the funeral, when the season 2 finale teaches us that Redverse Lincoln's father is dead. Walternate says something to him about his sorrow that he had died because he was a good man. Some countered that that was a different timeline, but I don't think that that is a very strong argument because I don't see how Peter could have affected that; Redverse Lincoln's father supposedly died prior to Peter being brought to the Other Side at the end of "Northwest Passage" (2.20). I see it as being more likely that the man at the funeral is a stepfather; his mother could have remarried. I see that as a stretch because the man seemed to be deeply affected by Lincoln's death the way that someone who had known him since a child would, and it looked a lot to me like he was supposed to be his biological father. Given the fact that Redverse Lincoln didn't mention his father having died in the last episode, this is most likely an annoying continuity error, but I digress. 

The scene near the beginning between Redverse Olivia and Meana reminds me a lot of the scene between Blueverse Olivia and Nina from "The Dreamscape" (1.09) after Olivia speaks to Morales and he tells her that Massive Dynamic is hell and William Bell is the Devil, and I also love how Walter is so giddy about Olivia and Peter being a couple. I do hope to see them get married in season 5, with Peter, of course, wearing the purple tuxedo. Meana says that things are about to get a lot worse, and I don't think that she is directly referencing people becoming "in sync" with one another like they do in this episode; I think that she is talking about the eventual revelation that the universes are going to collapse. She tells Olivia that she doesn't plan on being imprisoned for very long and later says that that's because Jones will come for her. By the end of the episode, of course, after seeing Colonel Broyles locked away and knowing that she still hasn't been rescued, she realizes that she, too, may just be a pawn. She sees that she's in the same boat as Broyles. I knew that Broyles wasn't a Shapeshifter; I was sure that he was being manipulated, but I wasn't correct about how. I had thought that Jones was holding his family or at least just his son, but in reality, he was helping Broyles cure Christopher of what the Candyman had done to him. I wondered what Jones wanted to do to the Machine, but obviously, we now know that he had planned to use the Machine to collapse the universes. When Broyles turns himself in, Blueverse Broyles is there with him, and at first, before I saw that he was turning himself in, I thought that Blueverse Broyles was involved, too, and I was taken aback, but that obviously was not the case. Walter and Redverse Olivia definitely connect on a deeper level than they ever have before, which was nice to see.

Walter calls Redverse Olivia his escort and then clarifies that by that, he does not mean prostitute, which is absolutely hilarious. He wanted to make a casserole for her because he figures that since she is grieving as a result of Redverse Lincoln's death, food would be helpful, but he didn't because it is apparently not permitted to bring perishable food to the other universe. Redverse Olivia even offers to share her apartment with Walter for the night, which is also absolutely awesome. "I'll have to refrain from sleeping naked," Walter says, which is also hilarious. Redverse Olivia, during a scene that follows, drinks and becomes tipsy, and that is definitely a memorable scene. She is frustrated as she tries to look for clues regarding Lincoln's murder. We learn from this scene that apparently, Sherlock Holmes doesn't exist over there, and I wonder if this line was to pay tribute to the Game of Shadows film, since Jared Harris plays Moriarty. I wonder if Dixon Hill exists over there. During this scene, Walter suggests that Colonel Broyles may be their culprit, and eventually, Olivia realizes that he may be right and does something ridiculously smart; she's certainly really smart and resourceful just like Blueverse Liv is. She goes to see Meana and lies to her, telling her that they apprehended Colonel Broyles to see what her reaction is, and sure enough, Meana confirms, saying that Phillip is only a pawn. Astrid brings some more coffee to Kick-Astrid, and at first, I had a silly thought. I thought, if coffee is rare over there, coffeemakers are probably hard to come by and I doubt Astrid owns one, but the container actually looks like it may be instant coffee, not that that really matters a whole lot; it was just a thought that occurred as I watched.

There is yet another memorable line from this episode. Jones points out to Colonel Broyles that even though Broyles knows that what he is doing is against his morals, he can't lose his boy. "Love makes us vulnerable," he says, "but it also makes us human, I suppose." Both sides of that statement are definitely true; when we're in love, whether it be romantically or not, we're vulnerable to hurt and manipulation because our hearts are under control, but that's part of being a human being. It also fits the overall theme of the series, the question of what a person will do, how far he or she will go, for someone that he or she loves. Walter, for example, tore a hole in the universe and stole a child that wasn't technically his to steal and inadvertently started a war. Colonel Broyles now aided a very dangerous criminal and caused the deaths of many, including a beloved agent, to protect the life of his son. This is, in fact, why Walter and Colonel Broyles connect, and Walter asks Redverse Olivia not to judge him too harshly, to try to understand him. We see Jones display his love for tea yet again, just as a side note, as he says that tea is something that he is going to miss. We see characters changing; Olivia shows concern for Redverse Olivia, and I think that part of the reason for that is because she understands the pain of losing a partner. Walter, near the end of the episode, says to Redverse Olivia, "Take care of this universe; I've grown quite fond of it," and I think that the writers were allowing us to speak through him, something that they do quite often, which I love. The episode, as usual, features yet more great work from Chris Tilton; it's a great episode, and I settle on 9 "escorts" as my Bunsen Burner rating.

Fringe - "Everything in Its Right Place" (4.17)

"Everything in Its Right Place" is a good episode, and I ultimately settled on 8.5 cornered vipers. At the beginning of the episode, we see that it is apparently "Grazing Day" as Gene is dressed in an FBI robe and is being prepared to be taken to her favorite pasture because Walter thinks that she is depressed due to the fact that she hasn't gotten enough sunlight. This is actually a good point, as I wouldn't have thought that a cow would be happy being inside all of the time like she is. I love the look on Broyles' face when Lincoln mentions "Grazing Day" to him, as if he is unaware of the idiosyncrasies of the Fringe Division team. It's really sad, though, when we learn that Olivia's memories are continuing to be lost to her, that is, her memories from the new timeline, and it's sad because it's obviously drastically affecting Lincoln, since he cares a great deal for her and is losing the relationship that he had established with her. She brings an emblem that he had previously given to her, something that his partner Robert had given to him, and it represents making the right decisions throughout your lifetime to make it to the center of the maze, which is home. He ends up giving it to the Shapeshifter Canaan (who is interestingly a Shapeshifter vigilante), who only accepted Jones' "help" because he felt like he didn't have a purpose, and he does so even though he doesn't explain to him what it means. This nicely parallels Lincoln's current path because ever since Peter returned, he hasn't felt like he belongs, something that is shown during the previous episode when Walter says that he loves having a family as he gazes upon everyone but Lincoln. I like this episode because I really like Lincoln, and I strongly consider this a Lincoln-centric episode, and that is ultimately in regards to both versions.

For starters, we learn that Lincoln's middle name is Tyrone, of which Redverse Lincoln is apparently not proud. I love that scene. Redverse Olivia asks Blueverse Lincoln what his middle name is, he tells her, and then, when she meets up with Redverse Lincoln, she says, "What's up, Tyrone?" The two Lincolns also have a discussion about their lives as Blueverse Lincoln tries to determine why it is that Redverse Lincoln is so much more confident than he is, and while there doesn't seem to be an ultimate determination, there seems to be a discrepancy that I know has bothered some people. It's mentioned during their conversation that both of their fathers opened up a hardware store, yet in the season 2 finale, we learn that Redverse Lincoln's father was some sort of government official who was killed during a Fringe event. My explanation is that it's quite possible that the hardware store was opened earlier during his life, or even while he worked for the government. The hardware store could have been a side job or even a hobby. There is also another discrepancy, and this one kind of does annoy me. We learn from this episode that Batman apparently doesn't exist over there; in his stead is Mantis. However, the season 2 finale shows us a Batman comic book that is unique to the Redverse. My only explanation is that he does exist over there but that he just isn't as popular and neither Redverse Olivia nor Redverse Lincoln is familiar with him. Speaking of Batman, though, the Blueverse Fringe Division is apparently regarded as heroes now that the Redverse is healing as a result of the Bridge having been opened, which shows us that things have certainly changed, and when Reynolds approaches Lincoln to thank him, I totally thought that he was going to hit on him, not that that is directly related at all.

Although, as I said, the two Lincolns don't seem to come to a definite conclusion as to why it is that they're so different, there are two possibilities. The first is what Redverse Lincoln suggests, which is that somewhere along the line, he chose to be a different person, as he doesn't believe that we're strictly victims of our environments. The second possibility, which is what I think is more likely, is that Redverse Lincoln was exposed to Redverse Olivia's confidence. Obviously, it's not just Lincoln who seems to be more confident and carefree over there; the same is true of Olivia, and Redverse Lincoln has had Redverse Olivia in his life. This possibility was never directly stated in the episode, but it is indirectly suggested. Blueverse Lincoln tells Redverse Lincoln that he is still getting used to being around the kinds of things that he is around, and Redverse Lincoln says that it took him a while to get used to it, too, but that Olivia, "she's the tough one." This suggests that in Redverse Lincoln's eyes, she is the "tougher" out of the two of them, and the fact that Redverse Lincoln says that he may have just chosen to be a different man somewhere along the line strongly suggests that he remembers a time when he was more like Blueverse Lincoln. Redverse Olivia is more confident and more carefree than Blueverse Olivia because she didn't have the rough childhood that Blueverse Olivia had, so it's funny how we affect one another like that, which is ultimately what this season's theme as a whole has been centered on. The look on Blueverse Lincoln's face when the head of the body snaps off, though, is priceless. Also, is it me, or does Blueverse Lincoln seem thinner than Redverse Lincoln? It's not the first time that I've noticed it. Obviously, they're both played by the same actor so it isn't really possible, but it definitely seems to be the case, which I rest.

I love how Redverse Olivia says to Blueverse Lincoln, "Come on; you're with me." She does so knowing full well that Broyles hadn't officially given him permission to assist, and she certainly has a spine. There is also yet another possible discrepancy in this episode. Redverse Lincoln says that he had exploded before and ended up being fine, but that shouldn't have happened in this timeline. We learn from "Subject 9" (4.04) that prior to Cameron James, the team had never encountered a Cortexiphan subject before, which means that Blueverse Sally Clark would have had no business being over there, and we know that Walter didn't cross over like he did during the previous timeline because he hadn't left the lab (except, for some reason that was never clarified, to be at Liberty Island at the end of the third season). Additionally, three episodes later, during "Worlds Apart" (4.20), Olivia and Peter are the only two who remember Sally Clark. Lincoln does bring up a good point, though; he did survive being burned to a crisp before, so it's interesting that now, he doesn't survive a gunshot wound. I have a potential theory, but I warn you; it's farfetched. Okay, here goes. The "Os" (3.16) episode teaches us that some Fringe events are scientifically impossible but happened because of the condition of the universes making otherwise physically impossible events occur. When Redverse Lincoln was burned to a crisp, the Redverse was in terrible shape, but it has since done some healing, so is it possible that his survival was a Fringe event, something that otherwise would not have been possible? It's just a theory and, as I said, a farfetched one, I admit. For a few minutes, I thought for sure that it was Blueverse Lincoln that was going to die because I thought that he was going to be sniped while he was talking to Canaan, but thankfully, that was not the case, which is not to say that I am happy that Redverse Lincoln died, but I prefer Blueverse Lincoln.

Redverse Lincoln's death is definitely foreshadowed when Blueverse Lincoln successfully tries to convince Redverse Olivia to allow him to speak to Canaan for five minutes. He says, "If it were your partner, you'd do the same." I love how Canaan says, "There are these people you come across, these bright, bright lights. They drift through life effortlessly, unforgettable." I love that line, and it's so true; those people are special to us. It's really sad when it's revealed that Redverse Lincoln has died, and the look on Redverse Olivia's face is yet another example of what an amazing actress Anna Torv is. His death was a sacrifice, though, as the title of the episode tells us. He had to die for everything to be in its right place. Blueverse Olivia and Peter are supposed to be together, and now, they can be without it hurting Blueverse Lincoln because now, there is the possibility for something to develop between him and Redverse Olivia. Now, Lincoln has a place where he belongs, and much like Peter once said that Blueverse Olivia gave him a place to call home, Redverse Olivia has given Blueverse Lincoln a place to call home. It was cool seeing Meana again, and I was not expecting her to be apprehended so quickly. I really expected her to play a part in the season finale. Canaan is an interesting character, but I don't understand the disgusting chord-like object that comes out of his mouth. Is this a new method of shapeshifting? I also unfortunately doubt that we'll ever see Canaan again. I also wonder why he doesn't have a number as a name like Seven (Nadine Park) did. Maybe, he was given a number as a name but doesn't use it. The ending of the episode is really sweet, and, as is usual, Chris Tilton's score is absolutely beautiful. Blueverse Lincoln says that they now have a way of finding all of Jones' Shapeshifters, so have we now seen the last of them? Season 5 doesn't show any promise of having anything to do with them, so I'm thinking so, but if they found a way to shut all of them down, then, that isn't necessary, I suppose.

Fringe - "Nothing as It Seems" (4.16)

I can't say that I'm absolutely crazy about this episode because while it does have its redeeming qualities, all of which I will discuss, it just didn't make the headway that I was expecting it would make, and it wasn't as good as I had expected it to be. When I saw from the promo that Porcuman was back, I was immensely excited because first of all, I really love "The Transformation" (1.13), and secondly, it meant that even more effort was being made to pay off those who had been sticking with the series since the beginning, and don't get me wrong; I do feel that there was a lot of resolution. We now have confirmation (even though I think that I more or less already knew) that Porcuman from season 1 was Jones' doing, and we have a much better understanding of why. I can't fully explain it, but there were just aspects of the episode that were off, and I thought that Porcuman having wings was a bit silly, even though I do fully understand its purpose within the storyline, especially now that the season is over and we have seen the finale, but I won't really talk about that until I review the finale. I do know some people that immensely enjoyed this episode, and although I can't say that I'm one of them, I don't hate it, either. I ultimately gave it 7 Jeepers Creepers, so I guess that I would ultimately consider it an average episode.

The very beginning of the episode is nearly identical. Some shots are slightly different, and there is dialogue that is cut out, but it is nearly identical. People are wearing the same clothing and everything, and it looks like a lot of the footage was directly lifted from "The Transformation" (1.13), which I'm sure saved a little bit of money. However, it doesn't happen the same way. Marshall Bowman (which, I reiterate, is a combination of Marshall Flinkman and Carrie Bowman, an Alias couple) doesn't transform on the plane and instead transforms in a bathroom near an air marshal's office. Peter says that it stands to reason that some of what happened during his timeline would also happen in this timeline, but why didn't it happen three years ago in this timeline? How did Peter affect that change? I hate that no asks that, and it isn't even addressed. I have a theory that it could have to do with who we now know was working with Jones, but I'll hold off and talk about that when I review the finale. I also wonder if Olivia remembers the woman she speaks to near the beginning of the episode? We know her from "Olivia" (3.01), the season 3 premiere, because the Redverse version of her tried to convince Olivia that her believing that she was from another universe was delusional. She doesn't tell the woman that she remembers a different version of her, and she doesn't mention her to anyone else, but then, Olivia might not.

We learn from the scene between Olivia and Broyles that follows the scene between her and the psychiatrist that Rachel and Greg never divorced and proceeded to have a second child named Eddie, and Olivia says that Eddie was their grandfather's name. A lot of people seemed to be troubled by this because they couldn't see where Peter would have had anything to do with this, but I totally disagree, and with all due respect, people who can't make that connection weren't paying close enough attention to season 1. During Rachel's struggles with Greg, she was spending a lot of time with Peter. They were talking on the phone and whatnot, and you could easily see that it was making Olivia jealous. There was also the scene during which Peter held Ella on his lap, and Rachel said something to the effect of, "You would be really good at throwing parties." To me, it's obvious that she saw a good man in Peter and saw that she could do better, so she didn't make any effort to work through whatever problems existed between her and Greg. In this timeline, she didn't have Peter. Speaking of parties, we see Walter give a whole bunch of gifts that he had collected for Peter over the years, pretending that he was still alive, and although I would have preferred that it had actually been Peter's birthday, that is a really touching scene, and you can tell that Peter is deeply heart-warmed. I love how there is a porn magazine and an old bottle of beer; you just have to love Walter, honestly, and I say that like a broken record.

I feel so sorry for Lincoln during this episode. He doesn't feel like he belongs, and that's obvious that that's why he has been a little cold toward Peter lately. Peter suddenly showed up literally out of nowhere and took his place, and we see just how rejected Lincoln feels when Walter sees Olivia, Peter, and Astrid working together happily and comments how much he loves having a family while Lincoln sits in the sidelines. Walter tries to comfort him, telling him that he has never met a better match for chess, but Lincoln doesn't seem to feel too comforted, and of course, this all plays out in later episodes, but again, I will refrain from jumping ahead. The following episode, "Everything in Its Right Place" (4.17), is a great Lincoln-centric episode, and I'm looking forward to reviewing it. When I showed the episode to my brother Cody, he really loved that episode, and yeah, I have to give it credit. It has a lot of action, shows us somewhat of a relatable shapeshifter that we're more apt to like, and, of course, like I said, we get insight into Lincoln, and it's interesting how the two Lincolns don't really come to any conclusion as to why they're so different. I know that some people said that Redverse Lincoln had Redverse Olivia in his life, and I think that that might be hitting the nail directly on the head.

Seeing Markham in this episode (as pictured in the photo included with this post) was really nice, since, unless I'm mistaken, we haven't seen him since "6995 kHz" (3.06). It's so funny how even though he has never met Peter or Olivia before, he is still hitting on Olivia, and, as Olivia says, she is still taken. I love how when we first encounter him, she tells him what she's reading (he is the book expert, after all) in response to his attempt to guess what's on her nightside, and she says, "I keep it next to my gun." We learn a lot from this scene, such as more about what Jones' endgame is. It would appear that part of what he's trying to do is create an advanced breed of life; he certainly has a God complex much worse than Walter's ever was, and this is foreshadowed in "A Better Human Being" (4.13), something that I didn't fully notice until my second time watching that episode. Of course, again, we now have a clear understanding of how that fits with the Westfield incident and whatnot, but again. I will wait. Again, I thought that Porcuman having wings was kind of silly, but at the same time, it was definitely unexpected, and my jaw did drop. That was definitely insane. I love how when Olivia finally fills Broyles in on the fact that she disobeyed orders and assisted in the case even though she was told not to, she says that Broyles told her that he would deal with her later, and I love that because I can actually hear him saying that in his deep, stern voice, but I'm happy that he changed his mind about her and decided to allow her to stay on board. The very ending of the episode, the very last scene, that is, is really cool because it makes sense of episodes that we had previously regarded as "stand-alone" episodes, such as "Unleashed" (1.16) and "Snakehead" (2.09), and the ship sailing away with the creatures on board really reminded me of the "Vienen" (8.18) episode of The X-Files. Again, "Nothing as It Seems" is not a terrible episode, but it's nothing special either; it's average.

Fringe - "A Short Story About Love" (4.15)

"A Short Story About Love" is an episode for which I was really excited because I (like most everyone, I'd imagine) have been itching to find out what the Beacon is since the fourth episode of the first season ("The Arrival"), and finally, we find out what it is. Those of us who saw the promo at the end of "The End of All Things" (4.14) knew that the Beacon would make an appearance, and I was really excited. I can't say that I'm wholly satisfied, and that is for a number of reasons; firstly, I'm guessing I was expecting a bit more of an expansive answer. For example, if the Beacon was now used to trap September outside of the universe, what was its purpose back during the first season? If it had the same purpose, who were the Observers locking outside the universe? What does it mean to be locked outside the universe? Does that mean outside of all universes, or just the Blueverse? I would think all universes, because they don't seem to have any problem crossing between universes, at least not the Blueverse and the Redverse. Does it mean back to when the Observers come from? Where was September during his entrapment? Was he out of phase? Who is Mosley, and why did he have an interest in the Beacon? What is the science behind the Beacon? There are so many unanswered questions still remaining.

To some extent, I'm not sure why I hadn't seen that coming because as much as I love Fringe (obviously), that does tend to be the case; if and when we get answers, they are through foggy glass, not an open doorway through which we can easily walk. The answers are a bit unclear and don't always explain everything, and I don't know if that's because they want us to make some inferences on our own, but at any rate, I'd be glad to give a couple of examples other than the Beacon. We had been wondering who Sam Weiss for a very long time, and when we finally did, it was disappointing; the explanation doesn't explain why he and Nina had a strange connection or how Bell knew him, and it certainly doesn't explain what he meant when he told Olivia that he's older and taller than he appears (and it's annoying that she never questioned him about that). Unfortunately, I don't think that we're ever going to see him again, either, but we'll have to wait to see; it's plausible. Another example, of course, is the Observers, but I went into pretty detailed discussion regarding that during my last review ("The End of All Things"), so I won't bore you again. Is it possible that "The Arrival" is directly linked to this episode, that Mosley was hired by the Observers to prevent September from freeing himself? I don't think so, but I'm just throwing it out there.

I love how at the beginning of the episode, Nina refers to Meana as "that woman" as if she is a stranger. Don't get me wrong; she essentially is, but I still find it funny, as it's certainly not that often that we have the opportunity to refer to different versions of ourselves as strangers, and, of course, as is reasonable, Olivia hasn't always been too warm and fuzzy with her double, either. I love how, during this scene, Olivia says that she just wishes that time would move a little bit faster, and Nina says, "Well, that's a coincidence because we just found a patent on that last week." It's unclear as to whether or not that's true or if she just said it as a joke, but either way, it's pretty clear that she was trying to be funny, which isn't like the Nina that we used to know. It is now that Nina realizes that Olivia is losing her memories of what she and Nina used to have, and she seems to be scared, unwilling to let Olivia go; I'm still not sure if there is an ulterior motive, but if so, she's definitely doing a good job of concealing the truth because she seems to genuinely love and care about Olivia. On a somewhat similar note, we're definitely seeing Walter becoming more like his old self, as it is clear that he is developing fatherly feelings for Peter. "All I care about is what he [September]'s done to you," he says to Peter. A few months ago, that wouldn't have mattered as much to him; he'd be more invested in the mystery.

That leads me into a question, one that I'm wondering if anyone else has asked. Why does Walter seem to trust that September isn't leading Peter into some sort of trap? Peter is a grown man and doesn't need Walter's permission to go to the address afforded him, anyway, but Walter doesn't even voice any protest, and it was my understanding that Walter didn't know the Observers in this timeline. Are his memories starting to resurface, too, and he's not telling anyone? The character Tommy/Timmy (I can't remember which is correct) makes a comeback from the premiere episode, and since I can't remember if it's Tommy or Timmy (I think that it's Timmy), I'm not sure if Walter gets his name wrong (but I think that he does, since he calls him Tommy). We also see Walter watching Scooby-Doo, which is a really neat reference to our beloved Fringe team investigating "weird" cases. I love the scene during which Walter has Astrid smell the scent of roadkill, especially because of Astrid's response; then, it gets even better when, later, Lincoln wonders whether he should smell, and Astrid says, "Uh-uh." My last observation directly involving Walter is whether or not he and Walternate gave up on the Machine because that seems to be the case; Peter tells September that there is nothing that anyone can do for him and consequently begs him for help, so if they gave up on trying, why didn't we see them tell him that?

When Lincoln says to Olivia that if she needs anything, he's there and she says that she knows, I was totally reminded of the scene from "The Dreamscape" (1.09) during which there is nearly identical dialogue between Peter and Olivia, and I'm willing to bet that that is identical. We've all seen what road Peter and Olivia have gone down, so maybe, the writers are trying to show us that Lincoln truly loves Olivia in a way similar to the way that Peter loved her then, meaning that had Olivia and Lincoln been allowed to pursue a relationship without the interference of Peter, they would have had something special, too. Near the end of the episode, Olivia waits at the wrong woman's house for the killer, and she listens as the woman explains that she and her husband didn't love each other, that they were ultimately just best friends, and this seems to awaken Olivia. Initially, I was wondering what she learned from this, but she tells Nina that she doesn't want to be like that, doesn't want to give up on love, which makes perfect sense to me. "I could see myself in her," she says. "I didn't like who I was." Nina looks like she is going to cry, and it's actually kind of heartbreaking.

I'm not sure if I totally understand the "case of the week" of the episode, though. Michael Massee (whom I know best from FlashForward and Rizzoli & Isles) guest stars as Anson Carr, a serial killer who seems to be severely burned, due to his appearance. He targets straight couples, seemingly in an effort to secure the love of the woman by using the pheromones of the man, ultimately killing both, but I don't understand why. We can infer that he lost a woman to whom he was very close (due to the photograph at which he looks), but why does he kill the woman? Is it because he wants to end the pain that is undoubtedly similar to what he feels? At first, I was wondering how he wasn't scaring the living daylights out of his female victims, especially since he is so disfigured, but then realized that it was probably because the pheromones of their loved ones being on him. When I first discovered that Michael Massee was going to be on the series, the article that informed me said that he would be a very compelling baddie of the week, but I can't say that I agree, as I'm not very invested in him and don't care about him at all, which is another reason why this episode didn't live up to everything that I was expecting. When I saw that Beacon in the promo, I was expecting a killer of an episode, but it's just a letdown in a lot of ways.

I'm also annoyed because this episode would have been the perfect opportunity to feature a LGBTQ character, and that kind of opportunity was once again wasted; this episode is about love, and it only focuses on heterosexual love, doesn't even mention homosexuality; in fact, Walter speaks of attraction as if only male-female attraction exists, and no one cares to ask how homosexuality factors into his explanation. A lot of people were creeped out when Carr tells Olivia that he can smell that she's in love, and yes, Massee was really creepy on Rizzoli & Isles, too. "We're not meant to be alone," he says to her. "It's every human being's right to know love." I love this quote, but I can't understand why he would tear couples apart if he values love so much. He says that he didn't just do it for himself, and I can't make sense of that, and I fear that maybe it's because I don't fully understand just what he was doing. The very last two scenes are absolutely beautiful, when Peter frees September, they talk, and Peter then reunites with Olivia as they run toward each other and embrace after September ensures Peter that "she is your Olivia," that he has been home all along, which is pretty much what I have been saying all season. September tells Peter that he suspects that the people that he loves couldn't let go of him and he couldn't let go of them and that that's why he wasn't erased, but I'm wondering why he doesn't seem to be considering the fact that he didn't hit the switch on that machine near the beginning of the season; that is why he was locked away, after all. At any rate, I'm very happy to have heard the "Man in the Mirror" theme, and I've said it before, and I'll say it again - Chris Tilton is a genius. Overall, I give this short story about love 7.5 love-stricken Hoyts.

Fringe - "The End of All Things" (4.14)

I am really happy with this episode; it is quite possibly the best episode of the series so far (next to "Over There") because finally, we find out who the Observers are and why they're here, which is something for which I have been anxious since we first personally meet September in the flesh. Speaking of which, is it just me or does one of the Observers look like the Child from "Inner Child" (1.15)? I am referring to the one who first speaks to December, asking if they know why September didn't erase Peter like he was supposed to; I don't see how he could have aged so quickly (the character that is; I know that that is not the same actor, obviously). I'd also have to watch the scene in "Neither Here nor There" (4.01) to find out if the Observer that's credited as January is the same actor because I know that we speculated very early on that the Child may have been January. This episode has so many rewarding aspects; obviously, we have Jones once again, and he and Olivia have some really rewarding scenes together, such as when Olivia says that they've already met, and Jones seems amused. I also adore the scene during which Olivia causes all of the lights to spark, and when Jones asks her what she's doing, she says, "I'm doing what you wanted; I'm turning on the lights." You have to love her.

Back in season 1, Jones wanted Olivia to turn the lights off, not on, but it's possible that that is another way that the writers used to signify differences in this timeline, although I think that it's a lot more possible that she can turn lights on and off. I am so happy that we see the light box again because unless I'm mistaken, we haven't seen it since "The Road Not Taken" (1.19). It's clear that Jones is taking advantage of Olivia's empathetic strength, which reminds me a lot of ALIAS; if you've ever seen that series (which if you haven't, you should), then you know that Sydney also had a high propensity to feel empathy toward others, and the bad guys would sometimes take advantage of that; they knew that she would sooner cooperate if they tortured someone else (even if it was someone she didn't know) than if they hurt her. Jones tells Olivia that every creature needs incentive and motivation to accomplish a task, so that makes me wonder what that was back in season 1; did she have one?

Olivia, in this episode, is so good, and I don't mean good as in the opposite of evil; I mean that she is immensely clever and resourceful, and saying that Anna Torv is an incredible actress is a serious understatement. She talks to Nina, asking her to help her remember their relationship, and we learn later that she suspected that Nina wasn't Blueverse Nina, so she tested her, and she manipulated her and Jones so that she could have Peter there to help her escape. I knew very early on that Nina was not Blueverse Nina; the writers love pulling fast ones on us, so I strongly suspected that the Nina in the Blueverse that was being interrogated by Broyles and Lincoln, swearing up and down that she was innocent was telling the truth, and I was right. I find it odd, though, how Nina says that there is no other explanation regarding her implication than that there was a Shapeshifter involved because they're aware of the Redverse; the Shapeshifters come from there, and obviously, there are doubles over there. Don't get me wrong; they've never encountered Meana (named by Blair herself) before, so they may have assumed that she didn't exist, but that, to me, seems like a premature assumption, and I'm very surprised that no one suggests the possibility, especially since it had happened before to Olivia.

Like I said, Anna is a superb actress; when she pretends to ask for Nina's help remembering their relationship, Nina says that eventually, while she was still a child, she stopped calling Nina Ms. Sharp and started calling her Nina, and we find out later that that wasn't true, that she stopped calling her Ms. Sharp when she graduated from high school, and when Nina says this, you can clearly see the look of disappointment in Olivia's eyes as she realizes that she was right about Nina, that she isn't her Nina. After this is all realized and before Nina and Jones escape, Jones says to Olivia, "Your love for this man must be something quite profound," so I wonder if they will try this again, try igniting Olivia's emotions by threatening Peter. The ending of the episode is heartbreaking, but I told people not to worry; I told them it was bound just to be a temporary obstacle, that the two of them would be back together soon, and now that we have seen "A Short Story About Love" (4.15) and "Nothing as It Seems" (4.16), we know that that is true. It seems sort of like a reversed "Marionette" (3.09) scene, except Peter is calling it quits with Olivia instead of the other way around, and, of course, the situation is different, and Lincoln is now angry with Peter because he's interested in Olivia, and he's losing her; he must be really angry because Peter once told him that he will not be a problem because that is not his Olivia.

We were thrown a bit of a curveball this week because the screen showing the mental link between Peter and September identifies September as Mr. X, and Ari Margolis threw that curveball to us, as well, since he showed us that clip in the promo, leading us to believe that the notorious Mr. X from "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide" (3.19) would be a factor in this episode, something that is not true; it's most likely just that Walter, not knowing what to call September, identified him as Mr. X. I absolutely love the scene between Peter and September within September's mind, and this is when we finally learn who the Observers are; it seems to be part of a ship, and since we now know that the Observers are from the future, it's possible that they travel through space, much like the Star Trek future, which is only a few centuries forward. We learn that the Observers are a group of scientists that come from a possible future of humanity that are trying to observe their beginnings. Ultimately, I'm satisfied with that explanation, but I definitely still want more. Why are they hairless? What is the weird code in which they write? How do they catch bullets? Is the Child from "Inner Child" (1.15) an Observer? If so, why was he abandoned, and why didn't he age? Why don't they taste much of anything? How is Mosley connected to them? We still need those answers, and I really hope that we get them.

We also learn that Henry being born to Redverse Olivia was not supposed to have happened, and that leads us to wonder why. Does (or did, for that matter) Henry have (had?) special powers? Is Olivia technically the first Observer, with Henry (or whatever his/her name should have been) being the first lineage to the Observers, or are the Observers an anomaly, the result of Henry having been born to Redverse Olivia? Are the Observers willing to sacrifice themselves, everyone other than September, that is? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense because Redverse Olivia doesn't have superhuman powers, but I don't know how else to explain the Observers wanting to get rid of Peter. September definitely has different motives than the other Observers, as he tells Peter that Peter needs to be with Blueverse Olivia, even though if he had never intervened (which he apparently wasn't supposed to have done), they probably never would have met; depending on which interference you refer to, either Peter would have been cured and would have lived his life over there, or he would have died in the lake. September says that the Observers can travel within and outside of time, and I'm not sure what that means, and apparently, Walter, in Peter's original timeline, told Peter that the Observers have the same physiology as humans, which I don't remember; in fact, he definitely tells Peter near the end of "The Firefly" (3.10) that they are not human, and I don't understand why September thinks that Peter is important even though the other Observers apparently don't. I'm so happy that my VHS/cassette tape analogy was right on the money, and I may treat myself to a sprinkle sandwich (but not really); I give this episode 10 territorial Lincolns.

Fringe - "A Better Human Being" (4.13)

"A Better Human Being" is yet another really great episode of Fringe, and this is where it's becoming obvious to me that this season is going to end up being, overall, satisfying, possibly even on par with season 2. Before this episode even aired, I had a suspicion that Olivia would find out about the Cortexiphan injections, and that was for two reasons. Firstly, I knew that Nian was going to be in the episode, and secondly, I knew from the press revelation that Olivia was going to encounter "some shocking revelations" (the press releases are almost always extremely vague to the point of not really even being pertinent to the specific episode). However, while Olivia doesn't discover the truth, exactly, Walter and Lincoln do, so I guess that I was sort of right. It's funny, too, because at an early point during the episode, I was wondering why the Cortexiphan wasn't showing up on the brain scan, since early during the third season, Walternate and Redverse Brandon detected it on a brain scan, and don't get me wrong, I know that the technology is further advanced in the Redverse, but you'd still think that it would show up, and I was a step ahead of the episode because sure enough, it does show up later in the episode, which made me happy.

I think that at this point, we can include "The Ghost Network" (1.03) and "Unearthed" (1.21) as yet two more episodes that probably didn't occur in this timeline since no one mentioned the similarities in "Forced Perspective" (4.10), and still, no one does, but then again, Olivia's memories have returned, so one would think that she would say something. As for Peter, like I said after "Wallflower" (4.07) first aired, his not voicing that the white hair reminded him of the "Dream Logic" (2.05) case could just be that he didn't want to say something that wouldn't mean anything to anyone else, and that could be the case here, but you would definitely think that Olivia would say something, to Peter if no one else. Walter is continuing to leave the lab, which is nice to see; now, more than ever so far this season, Fringe is feeling like its old self again, and that is such a great feeling. It's so funny that we see him as the "disapproving father" figure in this episode, and it's difficult to tell whose "father" he is; is he Olivia's (we have seen from episodes such as "Subject 9" that he sort of has a father/daughter relationship with Olivia) or Peter's? Is he both?

Of what, though, does Walter disapprove, and why? Well, he doesn't approve of the possibility of Peter and Olivia hooking up, and that is primarily because he doesn't want Peter making the same mistake that he did - that is, trying to hold on to someone who isn't his to hold on to; I think, however, as I said, that there is something else possibly at work, too. He knows Olivia very well, and as I said, probably even thinks of her as a surrogate daughter; on the other hand, though, he barely knows Peter, so he may be afraid of Peter breaking Olivia's heart and/or hurting her somehow. Peter doesn't seem to want any part of this, though; it's obvious that he learned from what happened during the third season. He doesn't want to open his heart to Olivia because he doesn't think that she's his Olivia, and if she isn't, he's afraid that he'll break his Olivia's heart again when he finally gets back to her. "Oops, I did it again to your heart; got lost in a different Olivia." Throughout the episode, he looks pin-pointedtly disturbed, while Olivia, on the other hand, looks so at ease, quick with a smile (interesting how their roles reversed), and I knew, I just knew, that because of that, something bad was going to happen to her by the end of the episode, and I was right, unfortunately.

This episode is yet another episode of which I love the ending, and I certainly did not see it coming. Like I said, I figured that something bad was going to happen to Olivia, but I didn't know what, and I certainly didn't expect to meet Redverse Nina, and that seems to be the case. It would appear that Blueverse Nina and Redverse Nina switched, but since we've seen "The End of All Things" (4.14) at this point, we know that's not really the case and that the Nina that is seen being held captive with Olivia at the end of this episode is really Redverse Nina and that Blueverse Nina, while insisting that she doesn't know anything about Olivia being injected with Cortexiphan, is probably telling the truth (Walter and Lincoln say so much via their mere facial expressions during the scene in which they confront Blueverse Nina about the Cortexiphan injections, since they know that she is involved), but I'll get more deeply involved in that discussion during my "The End of All Things" review. I'm wondering how Peter got that scar, since he previously hadn't seemed to remember anything that happened to him during the time that he was missing, so I wonder if I'm missing anything.

I also observed that we once again see Astrid highly skilled at comforting people, as she comforts Sean (whom I think is really good-looking). I love how the episode picks up where the last leaves off, I love the LSD quote near the beginning, I love the song that Walter listens to in the lab ("The Ghost Who Walks" by Karen Elson), I love the storage shed scene (reminiscent of the pilot episode), and the second to the last scene, the car scene, in which Peter concedes and says, "When I look into your eyes, I know it's you," and Olivia soon says, "I just have to go pee" before being abducted, and I'm actually going to briefly talk about that before coming to closure, since "The End of All Things" does not answer this question. Was Olivia being tracked? How did her abductor know that she was going to be at that specific gas station, and where and when was she abducted? Surely, Peter saw Olivia enter the store, which, mind you, is very small, yet the guy working claims to have not seen Olivia when Peter asks. Perhaps, a family member of his was being held hostage, or he was paid handsomely to assist in the abduction and then keep quiet about it; either way, I don't see how he wouldn't be suspected, and it's surprising that Peter doesn't, at the very least, say so. At any rate, as I've demonstrated, I really like this episode and give it 8.5 mind-boggling/blowing cliffhangers; stay on the fringe.

Fringe - "Welcome to Westfield" (4.12)

I actually really love this episode and can't help but give it 9.5 FINALLYs, which, of course, refers to the closing scene of the episode, about which I was and am really thrilled. The episode reminds me of the X-Files and The Walking Dead, which is awesome because they are both really great shows. The writers had previously said that the episode was inspired by The Twilight Zone (which is definitely the case because there is an episode of The Twilight Zone called "Welcome to Winfield"), but I have yet to see any episodes of that. The opening scene is a bit annoying, though, because I am so tired of episodes beginning with dreams; don't get me wrong because I think that that dream was a memory of what happened after the conclusion of "6B" (3.14), but still, it was a dream sequence. I don't think that this is the first time that she has had a dream about Peter, either, which means that she was indeed lying when she previously told Peter that she wasn't having dreams about him, and I had suspected so because she said that she wasn't having dreams about him without actually saying that she wasn't having dreams about him. She said that he was a stranger to her, so why would she be having dreams about him?

In this episode, we see Walter becoming more like himself, and even Olivia says that he has been more open lately, and I would totally agree with that. I think that that has to do with the ending of the episode, although I know that there are others that would not agree with me, but I'll talk more about that when I discuss the ending. This episode brings our team to a town called Westfield in which people are going crazy, completely losing their sanities, seemingly moving back and forth between one set of memories and another, and for whatever reason (it's never really clarified), they can't leave Westfield (which totally reminds me of Once Upon a Time). "Johari Window" (2.11) immediately came to mind, which is funny because that episode is even mentioned in this episode, and we learn that that is yet another episode that did not happen within this timeline. I'm wondering if Teresa reminded anyone else of Bootstrap Bill from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, as she repeats something that she already said without realizing it. It was also kind of cool to see Walter being attacked, since that isn't something that we see too often ("Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sleep?" comes to mind), and he reacts so quickly, which is also cool to see.

About halfway through the episode (possibly even sooner), I had a theory that ended up being right; I suspected that the two universes were coming together within that specific town. I then immediately suspected that Jones was behind the situation, which also ended up being the case, but we don't know why yet, have no idea what he was trying to accomplish. However, I now have an idea regarding why the writers chose to pair Jones and Colonel Broyles together, which also ties into the ending of the episode, so I'm obviously going to have to talk about that at this point. Okay, so, the ending of the episode shows us that Olivia is finally (hence my Bunsen Burner rating) coming around, is finally reverting back to her old self, finally displaying memories of her former life, and I am so happy that that is finally happening. I think that the timeline is reverting back to its original state, although I'm not really sure why; it could be because Peter is a variable that this continuum doesn't understand, so the only way it knows how to deal with him is by writing him back into itself. If you think about it, Jones and Colonel Broyles are the only two currently alive characters who should not be alive, the only two alive characters who had previously died within the previous timeline, so I think that they will "die" by vanishing like Peter did at the end of the third season, when the timeline fully reverts back to its former state, which is why the writers chose to pair them together.

Like I previously said, I think that Walter becoming more like himself has to do with the ending, and that is because I suspect that, like I also said, the timeline is reverting back to its original state, which is how Jones and Colonel Broyles will eventually cease to exist, and if I'm right, that would explain characters beginning to become more like themselves. Near the end of the episode, in fact, it's apparent that he is really beginning to like having Peter around, as when he's reminded of the Machine, he seems very sad to have been reminded. People have accredited his change in character (such as leaving the lab and working in the field) to Redverse Astrid having said to him that he should think of Peter as his son so that he can be happy, and I would say that that may be a factor, but I don't think that it's the factor. Additionally, some people have said that it's only Olivia who is experiencing the reversion due to the Cortexiphan injections, and again, I disagree; I think that she is the only one who is experiencing it fully, but I don't think that she is the only one who is experiencing it at all. This episode, due to the two universes coming together, really reminds me of "Jacksonville" (2.14) and "The Man from the Other Side" (2.18), both excellent episodes, and one of the people on the bus whose two egos converge looks, at first, deformed like the people of Edina. I love how Peter says of Olivia that "she gave me a place to call home" because that's so consistent; he stayed in the Blueverse even after he discovered the truth because of her. Stay on the fringe for now.