The Fringe finale recap
// May 13th, 2009 // fun
About a year ago at this time, I was excited for the possibilities of two new shows coming in the fall: Dollhouse and Fringe. Both sounded intriguing, but the idea that J.J. Abrams was behind Fringe made it seems even more likely that it would be a hit.
And it is. With me at least. And everyone I know that watches it.
It took it about 6-8 episodes to find its stride. Those first chapters were mostly standalone stories that made it seem like it would be more of a “monster-of-the-week” like The X-Files would do when they weren’t trying to find Mulder’s sister.
But then suddenly it got good. Real good. The character of Olivia Dunham evolved and developed to the point where she was no longer just investigating this stuff…she was part of it. Which always makes it more interesting.
How boring would The X-Files have been if Mulder wasn’t linked to what was going on?
Fringe became a show like Lost and American Idol where I had to watch it the night it came on, instead of letting it sit there for days like I do other shows.
And now the first season is over. And it’s already been renewed for next season. I already can’t wait!
***SPOILERS***
For those that watch it along with me and my wife, let’s talk about whattheheck happened on the season finale!
To begin with, I wanted to kind of look at the whole genre of science fiction and how those of us who get a steady diet of it are more likely to figure stuff out than those that don’t.
Case in point…when the truck and the soccer player had parts of them sliced off, I knew right away that it was obviously some kind of portal and somehow those two subjects were caught on both sides of the portal when it closed, essentially “cutting” them in half.
But for Jina…who is NOT a sci-fi fan (but somehow likes this show anyways), didn’t get it until the guy at the end got cut right in half when the portal was closed. “Ah, that’s why those others were like that,” she said.
I think I always figured stuff like that was “obvious”…but it’s not. You kind of have to be trained in the “arts” of sci-fi to pick up on stuff like that as if it’s second nature.
ANYWAYS…
Peter Bishop
Walter Bishop is called by The Observer to find something…that Walter can’t remember. But for some reason, he visits a graveyard first before heading to his beach house.
He finds the portal closing device (I’ll talk more on that later), but in the process of doing so, he and Peter have a moment where we find out that he used to collect coins as a kid to help him cope for something that happened.
Yet Peter has no memory of that. Didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but it definitely was a HUGE CLUE.
I’m not sure if other clues have been dropped along the way that I’ve missed, but that was the last big one.
The second time Walter visited the graveyard, I suddenly KNEW it was going to be Peter’s name on the stone. Especially after all the portal stuff happened.
My theory: The Peter we know in our world is either from the OTHER SIDE, or Walter himself is from the OTHER SIDE.
It makes more sense that it’s Peter, since his grave exists in our world. But how did he get over here without knowing? Although we kind of see how easy it was for Olivia to switch to another one without realizing it…
The Portals
The only beef I had with the whole portal thing that guy was trying to open (Sorry I can’t remember his name at the moment), was how Walter was supposed to be there to close it.
When Olivia showed up…wouldn’t it have been easier to just shoot that little Portal Camera thingie instead of the men trying to open it?
Obviously would have ruined the plot, but it seemed like a nobrainer to me. Or perhaps The Observer knew it would be opened and someone needed to close it because once it was opened, the equipment didn’t matter.
Maybe when the door to the other place is opened…it stays open? Otherwise, Olivia could have just destroyed the camera thingie and closed it herself?
Olivia Dunham
So Olivia has played a big part in all of this. The previous episode or two, we’ve seen her get glimpses of the Other Side a few times. The medication they injected her with back when she was a kid has given her this gift.
I am wondering if one of the gifts she has is being able to have a deeper understanding of things. For example, she was able to “see” a pattern in the events on that map, even when a bunch of analysts from Massive Dynamic couldn’t figure it out.
But the real question is “how does Dunham fit into all of this?” Because Massive Dynamic pays special attention to her, and now William Bell is doing a personal interview with her…
William Bell
Wow, was anyone else floored by that final scene of the Twin Towers? That was spooky and chilling…did not see that coming.
The question that comes to my mind is how Olivia got there. You may think it was the elevator, but I think it was while she was driving. That car that comes out of nowhere…it was like she didn’t see it at all until it was too late…like it had just “appeared” there.
Because when she’s in the restaurant waiting forever, Nina Sharpe is “out of the country.” Perhaps she really was, because Olivia was now in an alternate universe.
The key to that is the flashes she gets in the elevator…she’s suddenly with people and then without. I think she was flashing back to her own world for a second there.
Questions
Now… the questions for next year are WHY is Bell there, what part does Olivia play in the whole thing and what is up with Peter and Walter??
On a side note, what the heck was with that hat Charlie was wearing??? —>
What did you guys think of the episode? Did you see anything I missed? What questions do you have?
15 Responses to “The Fringe finale recap”
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I’m going to give this another chance when it comes to DVD, I think.
Good point about when Olivia flipped over into the other world with the near-miss car accident. I had assumed it was the elevator, but I think you might be correct. I agree – seeing the twin towers again was creepy as everything. And I liked Charlie’s hat!
Here’s what I wrote on my blog last night about Peter…
Okay, here’s my theory about Peter. I think it was the episode where the baby grew into a full man in less than a couple hours, and they talked about genetically engineering and growing soldiers. Walter made a few strange comments about Peter (and I think his eye color?) which made me think “Oh, wow. Peter wasn’t born. Walter ‘made’ him!” I knew something wasn’t right there. There have been other comments too, about Peter being special.
Well, tonight we had our answer, and I wasn’t quite on target, but I wasn’t far off. As soon as Walter started talking about the coin, I knew. His real son, Peter, died from an illness when he was 10. Driven by his grief, Walter found a way into a parallel universe and brought the “other” Peter back to replace the one he’d lost. That’s why Peter didn’t remember the coins. That also explains the headstone.
Additionally – do you remember Walter’s story about the first time he met the Observer? Walter said the Observer “saved them from the ice after a car accident.” I’m thinking that’s partially true. Since we know the portal was above that lake, I wonder if the lake was iced over, and when Walter came back with Peter, the ice gave way and the Observer saved them. He was probably watching what Walter was up to anyway, since he was ripping a hole in reality.
I tend to read your blog most of the time Davina, you must have written that awhile ago???
Wow, amazing theory about the lake and why they fell through the ice…holy crap!
Yeah – my original Fringe posts were back in May 2008 when there was talk of JJ Abrams new show and in October 2008 when the show first started.
I love doing my LOST posts, but it seems like I only have time for one blog post a week, so I’ll secretly be happy when LOST is over, so I can at least post about other stuff.
Great, great finale! Freaking loved it. Deb totally called that Peter was brought back from the ‘other side’ before I did, which with Peter not remembering the coins and other clues totally makes sense, but was chilling in a Pet Semetary kind of way. My guess is there has to be some downside from doing this.
I thought Olivia crossed over in the elevator given the shimmer we see before the door opens. Also, wouldn’t she be freaked out about entering the World Trade Center? Not sure, but I loved that ending. Totally amazing. Can’t wait for fall.
Deb summed it up best…Fringe is suddenly better than Lost. Wow!
Woahhhhh….no one said it was better than Lost
Tell Deb to calmmm down 
You guys will probably watch Lost tonight and then change your minds about what the best show on TV truly is
LOL. I’m not sure it’s better than Lost…yet, but here’s where it is a bit better. It gives us information as we go. We’ve been watching Lost for years and have only one season left, yet we still know relatively little about what’s going on. I think the payoff will be huge, but week to week Fringe pays off better.
Okay, I know what you are saying in a way, but I think we know a TON about Lost that we didn’t before, it’s just that there is a big “answer” out there that we are waiting for…but to me, we’ve learned almost all we can aside from Jacob, the Smoke Monster, the Statue, Why they are there, and a few other things.
I dunno…I see your point, but Lost is still #1 in my book. I’m sure after tonight we’ll all agree
Wow! Lost vs. Fringe… reading these comments sure made me think a bunch.
I don’t think you can ever tell how good a show is based on one season (i.e. Heroes)…. the real test is can it stand the test of time in multiple seasons and still feel fresh, intriguing, and “must-see”. Lost has done this like no other show I know. People have seriously huge expectations going in to each season premiere and you never hear people talking after the premiere saying “it wasn’t so great after all”.
In my opinion, Lost wins… hands down. But hopefully, Fringe will keep being good, and we will really be able to debate them against each other after a few more seasons.
Neither is better than BSG… =P
Lost is close… season Finale 2 hours tonight!!!
Okay, i went back and checked out the elevator scene, etc., to try and figure out where she exactly flashed over.
1. The little near car accident can’t have been meaningless. Why did she almost hit it? Not paying attention, or did she suddenly appear on the other side?
2. Suddenly Nina is “out of the country.”
3. She is going down the elevator empty, suddenly it has people for a flash of a second, then it’s empty again. To me, if she had gone through a warp there, those people would have been in the elevator on the way down, THEN disappeared.
I think she was just getting one of those flashes from the previous episodes where she saw the burning building or the burnt body on the ground.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it
Wow, I thought you were a Star Trek fan… a ‘trekkie’ and you didn’t even give honors to Leonard Nemoy starring as William Bell! Maybe I’m wrong… pardon moi.
Lots & lots of stuff to look forward to to season 2. I’m still not convinced of your theory about the Peter Bishop possibility… maybe Walter brought him back from death at one point? Walter FINALLY redeemed himself in my eyes with this finale… as I’ve been saying all along, “… the show could do without Walter.” I couldn’t stand his character and I hadn’t thought him believable (or likeable) until the ending (well… as far believable as sci-fi can be).
Ummm… good catch on the twin towers — I didn’t recognize that part (I just saw high rises). Okay… NINA SHARPE’S ROBOT HAND??? What the…??? I understand that they took the ‘chip’ thing they needed… did they take her entire arm from the elbow down? And did they replace it with the robot arm? If so, why bother? That part I did not understand at all.
Now back to LAST week…. seems Olivia’s sister got some good aire time/subject line… with her husband filing for custody… I wondered why she got some solo story line last week, and nadda to tidy it up. I know this is a minor part of the show… but???
Cristi, you are right, I loved Nimoy being in it, but I kind of already knew that. Should have mentioned it though.
Second, Nina has always had a robot arm…in the first episode I’m pretty sure they showed it.
Yep. In the first or second episode – whenever it was that we first meet Nina, she peels back her glove to show her robotic arm to Olivia, to flaunt the genuis that is Massive Dynamic. I think she said she lost her arm to cancer.
I think I called Peter not being from this reality way back when Walter made mention that he had wanted to create a way to teleport in order to save Peter who was very sick.
As for which is better Lost or Fringe, both are so different that there can really be no contest. What makes both shows so great is the extra work in building a universe external from the show.
Abrams really knows how to use the internet and it’s communities to build buzz, create speculation and offer extra information to keep rabid fans satisfied or at least to toy with them enough to make them want to watch more
.
Cloverfield is another excellent example of how he is able to manipulate his audience to create a strong following. I think I was still reading and contributing to theories about where Clover came from and what happened after the end of the film months after the movie closed in theaters and was released on DVD. Abrams not only creates a universe on the screen but also off screen and he does it masterfully