DJariya

By djariya at 2011-09-13

Synopsis:



Episode 14 of 22

Possibly the final 8 episodes ever. The last report was FOX is still negotiating with Warner Bros for a possible 13 episode 5th season.

Raul3

I'm so fucking mad! I can't believe they did this!

I want MY Walter back! I want my EVERYONE back!

This is bullshit.

Yeah, I feel better now.

Setzer

Yeah I'm pissed too.

Josh-da-man

Actually, I'm not surprised that this turned out to be Peter's universe.

Remember the ending of last season, when Peter disappeared in front of everyone and nobody noticed? This season is a direct continuation of that scene. His universe without him.

Seemed pretty obvious that Olivia will be getting her Peterless memories replaced by her old memories.

I'd wager that something similar is happening with Walter as well because he's been acting differently (more like seasons 1-3 Walter) ever since Olivia started regaining her memories. Since other characters like Lincoln, Broyles, and Astrid don't have the depth of the relationship that Peter had with Olivia and his father, they're probably won't be effected in the same way. Same with Nina; though she's different in that in the Peterless timeline she has had a deeper relationship with Olivia than she did in the S1-3 timeline. Looks like she'll keep her memories of Olivia...

SuckaMC

Glad Peter and Olivia sorted that out. I'm curious to see how much of the bleeding universe will come through.

Orbi-Wan Techno

I actually liked these developments. I'm not in charge of the story, I'm just along for the ride!

hahn

This episode was a little anticlimactic for me. I had been going on the assumption this entire season that this was Peter's own universe, just without him. I didn't realize that this was supposed to be a big twist.

Still, nice to see everyone's on the same page now. Wonder what's next.

RoadToPerdition

Pretty good episode compared to what else they've been putting out there this season (though the last 3 episodes or so have been strong). I liked the monster-of-the-week story, too.

windom

Well, Fringe hit a new ratings low last night.

cdoug57

I feel the same way!

Doug

DJariya

Good episode.

So judging by what September said to Peter, this is actually the "Blue Universe" then Right?

I interpreted that Peter was only partially erased when he disappeared at the end of last season and remnants of him were still in everyone's minds. So now Olivia remembers everything.

For some odd reason, I don't recall Olivia and Nina ever being this close. They seem to have a really close mother-daughter like bond. In the previous "Blue" Universe before Peter was erased, they had a more professional relationship from what I remember.

at Walter eating a potato chip after his bare hands touched the corpse.

Anyone notice that he was watching Scooby Doo?

I know I said I don't care about the ratings anymore, but it boggles my mind how Fringe gets such shitty Live overnight numbers. Is everyone watching on BD now and forgetting the broadcasts week to week? Better yet, where the fuck are the 10M+ people who watched Fringe live on Tuesdays a few years ago?

Gunde

No, Nielsen is just doing it wrong. It's a pathetic system. A sample of 0.02% is not enough for reliable statistics. It just isn't.

rw2516

Yep. It's A Wonderful Life, Fringe style. Only people with a strong emotional attachment to Peter are being affected by his return. Olivia and Walter. They were the only ones seeing ghost images of Peter before he returned.

hahn

#1 I didn't see any promotions to remind people that it returned after its 4 week break. I don't have cable or OTA TV and I suspect I'm not alone (esp in the demographic that would watch Fringe), so Fox needs to get the word out through web ads, of which I saw none.

#2 I would count Hulu viewership to be a more valid sampling than the completely obsolete Nielsen for any and all TV shows (that are showing on Hulu obviously).

Deftones

In one of these universes, Nina raised Olivia and her sister rather them go into foster care. That's why they appear to be so close.

DJariya

The problem with your logic here is FOX doesn't own Fringe. Warner Brothers does. They pay a licensing fee to air it on their network. Any revenue earned from the Internet streaming like Hulu or ala carte like Itunes or Amazon goes directly to Warner Brothers pockets. FOX has no incentive to advertise the show on the web for geeks like you who watch everything off Hulu. Serious question, HDTV's are so cheap now, how do you not have one and at least watch OTA stuff? Unless you subscribe to Hulu Plus, Fringe is on an 8 day delay and is only in 480p on regular Hulu.

hahn

I knew that WB owned Fringe, but didn't know that Fox doesn't benefit from people watching it on Hulu. Yet, doesn't Fox decide whether or not a show is to be made available on Hulu? Regardless, if Fox wants people to watch it on TV, they still need to get the word out that it's back on. Whenever, American Idol is about to start, I hear it and see it everywhere - billboards, radio, internet, tv, newspapers, magazines, etc.

I have an HDTV - it's a Pioneer KRP-500M. If don't know what it is, it's essentially a monitor - no speakers, no tuner. And where I am, hooking up a tuner would be useless, since I can only pick up ABC, and even then, only when the weather is perfect (which it never is in Portland). But I don't really care, because between Netflix, Hulu, and CBS.com, I can watch pretty much everything. I do have Hulu Plus, but even if I didn't, I wouldn't mind an 8 day-delay. I'd simply avoid spoilers by not reading online threads like this one.

PhantomStranger

It's a serialized drama that mostly caters to smart science fiction fans and broadcasts on a Friday night. Almost every fan by now is recording the show on their DVR and skipping the broadcast. Nielsen does count DVR viewers but they don't count for nearly as much as a live viewer. As for the lost viewers from the early seasons, many people have a hard time committing to a show like Fringe that requires some effort on the part of the viewer. One could easily get lost in the byzantine universe changes if a key episode is missed one week.

The episode itself was amazing, I got a strong X-Files vibe from the nature of the case. At the end I kept thinking back to Lost and probably its most famous episode, The Constant. Olivia is Peter's constant.

marginal

I'm surprised to hear so many people saying they liked this episode so much. I wasn't crazy about the writing, and I'm with the folks who saw the "revelation" as more semantic than anything else... but my biggest problem was with the direction. I just kept thinking, "My God, did they just pull someone off the street to direct this?" EVERYTHING about it seemed off... the way scenes were shot, the pacing (especially the pacing), and to some extent the way the actors played it, which I'm assuming had to do with the director's input.

I noticed J.H. Wyman listed as the director as I watched it, and I know he's been involved with the show for quite a long time as a writer and producer. I couldn't understand why this episode would suddenly be so crappy after the guy's been involved with the show for so long... so I just looked on IMDB, and this appears to be his first "directed by" credit. In my mind, that explains it.

philo

I dug the stuff with Peter finding the Observers gear and the reappearance of the weird beacon thing. I wanted to see more of that. I prefer the cool techno mystery to the Peter-Olivia romance. Actually I think Lincoln's unrequited affection for Olivia is more interesting.

nintendospy

Loved this episode. But then again, I also love every episode. Such a great show.

Ayre

They telegraphed this with Lincoln's long looks at Olivia and since they didn't resolve it this episode, I would expect them to resolve it soon.

Great episode. I love the slow pace and am fine with the resolution.

CKMorpheus

I am curious how they plan on tying that plot up. Do we expect Lincoln to do something drastic or harmful to Peter or Olivia? Do we expect Olivia to be torn between the two? They really could take it anywhere.

redrum

hmm good episode but now what?

there's really nothing major that needs resolving now

JayDerek

same here...I honestly thought that would be a larger plot line from the very start of the season. For them to pick it up NOW when we're a couple months from potentially the very end of the series seems like a waste of time