(S02E04) "Momentum can be deferred, but it must always be paid back in full. As I always said to Walter, physics is a bitch." - William Bell to Olivia, on the dangers of jumping universesCryonics, frozen heads, worm juice, mercury blood, shapeshifters, and Leonard Nimoy were all featured in this episode, and I loved it all.
Let's start with the worm juice. Olivia must have been seriously craving her William Bell memories to drink that awful stuff. And what a trooper that she was able to keep it down, too. I guess it must have worked. She got some of her memories back, along with some help from the bell -- both the bell they chimed during Rebecca's psychedelic adventure and William Bell. Or Willem, as Olivia used to call him.
Is she right not to trust him? Could he have started the war? It's certainly possible, given his mysteriousness. He said for reasons she might understand later, he couldn't come back to this universe right now, possibly never. Why? What's he doing over there? Is he the one building the army? Is he being forced to? Will he and Walter face off eventually?
Well, we know the shapeshifters need their devices, and without his, Charlie was dying. "You've been in this body too long," his shapeshifter buddy told him. "You're dying. You need to get back home and get fitted with a new conversion device."
Fortunately, Charlie never made it back home. He ended up on the losing side in his smackdown with Olivia. But unfortunately, not before he was able to transmit the information that Olivia told him about the head being at Laston-Hennings Cryonics. What a mess. Now the shapeshifters have the head they need with the weird symbol on it that Bell told Olivia about.
I'm still a little sketchy on Massive Dynamic and their role in all of this. And downright surprised that their scientist would be sort of fishing around for answers. I'd have thought they'd have an entire team of people who knew everything there is to know about alternate universes, shapeshifters, devices, and all.
Walter's got a girlfriend! I had this urge to start chanting: "Walter and Rebecca ... sittin' in a tree..." I hope we haven't seen the last of her yet. She seems just freaky enough to "get" him. And darn, she was just about ready to spill something about Peter before she went into her psychedelic haze: "I met you once before. You were just a baby, but I swear I saw ... " I'll finish that sentence: I swear I saw you in the other universe!
Other Stuff:
- Shapeshifter Charlie sounded like Rorschach from Watchmen.
- Peter and Olivia discussing Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I like that they're getting more chummy, but don't necessarily want them to hook up.
- I remember accidentally breaking a thermometer when I was a kid and being deathly afraid of being poisoned by it. I cringed a little when Charlie drank the mercury, even though I knew he was a shapeshifter.
- I enjoyed Walter being the kid, asking Peter for money and permission to ride home with Rebecca.
- I loved that graffiti on the wall where Olivia and Charlie fought. Anyone know where that is?
- Joe Chappelle directed this episode; he was a co-executive producer on The Wire, among other shows and films.
- "A little cannabis before bedtime does wonders." - Walter to Shapeshifter Charlie, on how to get better sleep
- "Why are shapeshifting soldiers from another universe looking for frozen heads? - Broyles to Olivia (just because it's a cool quote)
Here are several quotes William Bell said to Olivia, during her flashback of their time together:
- "You'll have to forgive me. The method by which I brought you over here was crude, and I'm sorry, but there were people trying to prevent our meeting. This is not at all the kind of reunion I envisioned."
- "You're out of sync ... most people who cross dimensions are simply torn apart."
- "You're just coming into your ability ... a war is coming ... we knew that we had to prepare a guardian, someone to watch the gate ... between this side and yours... they've designed hybrids, part part organic tissue, part machine that can do things humans can't ... they can change shapes, taking the form of human beings, but here, they call them the First Wave."
- "This building is still standing because different choices were made"
- "A storm is coming, perhaps the last and worst storm of all. And when it's over, I fear there will be little left of our world. The shapeshifters on your side are looking for someone to open the door between universes. and if they find him, there will be no stopping them."
- "Of all the children that Walter and I prepared, you were the strongest. You were always the strongest."
- "Tell it to Peter. You're going to need him on your side. Tell it to Peter. He'll know what it means."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-09-2009 @ 7:16AM
CRVBOY said...
I used to say the same exact thing in college when I was taking Physics. It really is a bitch!
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10-09-2009 @ 10:48AM
Chris said...
I thought Rebecca was going to say she saw Peter die.
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10-09-2009 @ 11:16PM
ryan said...
That's definitely it -- she either saw Peter die or knew Peter was dead. I thought that was pretty obvious, but the reviewer had a different take.
10-09-2009 @ 10:59AM
Schwack said...
Some are saying there are some "easter eggs" in the mural/graffiti during Olivia and Charlie's fight scene. I went back to it and I did the Fringe's seahorse, a portrait of Van Gogh and another man , though i don't recognize him.
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10-09-2009 @ 11:42AM
David said...
I like this series a lot, and thought last night's episode was possibly the best in the series.
Answers are good, J.J. Questions are fine, but answering those questions makes the viewer feel very good. Got it?
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10-09-2009 @ 11:47AM
Europa said...
Man, I just love this show. I hope a) FOX doesn't muck around with it (change it to a F-up time slot, put it on a 10 month hiatus, etc.) and b) the producers and writers have truly thought this thing out - at least three to four seasons worth - and not get it off the track or back themselves into a corner they can't get out of, etc. This TV show has really become great, thought provoking, mystery/thriller/science fiction, and, Man, in a world or Reality crap we need it. It’s like a drink of cool water after crossing a long, hot desert.
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10-09-2009 @ 12:44PM
drift29 said...
Nice little nod there to the "First Wave" tv series with Roger Cross being a shape-shifting...First Wave soldier. (sidenote: oh BC casting, will you ever change?)
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10-09-2009 @ 1:22PM
Clayton said...
I have a question:
I though Olivia was in an elevator when she was transferred to the alternate reality. Now they are saying that she was in a car?
Didn't we see her shift to the other reality? There was no car, was there?
Am I missing something? Please help me understand.
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10-09-2009 @ 3:04PM
Kelly said...
I'm assuming that she crossed over during her car accident in the finale, before the elevator. It was quick and easy to miss. I think the elevator was maybe a teleportation device.
10-09-2009 @ 4:58PM
Gordon Werner said...
Oliva first visited William Bell via the elevator ... after returing to our world she was then in the accident and was sucked back into the alternate universe to meet Bell again ... that is why she was missing for over an hour after the moment of impact in the crash.
at least that is what I took the sequence of events as ...
as for Rebecca ... she was about to say that the thought she remembered Peter's funeral / death notice ... and she apparently knows that he does not belong (the moment when she shook his hand before getting in the car)
10-09-2009 @ 4:23PM
brad456 said...
at 33:49 Rebecca said to Peter "say goodbye to agent Dunham"
If you were paying attention when the scene changed to peter the light behind him flickered. that is natural but it is also a visual metaphor. Rebecca was able to see a light (a glow) around people (who came from another universe) that told her they did not belong here (17:50). the implication is that when she meet peter in the past, she know he was from another world.
I have always had a suspicion that the real peter died as a child, and that walter got a replacement from another world.
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10-09-2009 @ 4:28PM
brad456 said...
at 33:49 Rebecca said to Peter "say goodbye to agent Dunham"
If you were paying attention when the scene changed to peter the light behind him flickered. that is natural but it is also a visual metaphor. Rebecca was able to see a light (a glow) around people (who came from another universe) that told her they did not belong here (17:50). the implication is that when she meet peter in the past, she know he was from another world.
I have always had a suspicion that the real peter died as a child, and that walter got a replacement from another world.
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10-09-2009 @ 4:37PM
Anis said...
No one brought up the Slusho that Charlie tossed out? Typical Abrams :)
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10-09-2009 @ 4:43PM
Elisabeth said...
First off, great episode summary. You captured all of my favourite moments, especially about Physics being a bitch. (Having graduated from Engineering Physics, I can tell you, it really is...!) I also loved that you highlighted the graffiti behind the Charlie/Olivia fight scene: as a collector of pictures of street art, I loved it.
I think it is becoming more obvious that this Peter is from the other side: he knew the Greek words, and Rebecca saw the light around him. It ties back to last season's finale.
Wonderful episode, wonderful show, just keeps getting better!
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10-09-2009 @ 4:59PM
Gordon Werner said...
This episode had me at the edge of my seat the whole time.
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10-09-2009 @ 5:53PM
Relly said...
I love Fringe...
Last nights episode was amazing and I agree with the commenter above, Rebecca just saw that Peter isn't of our universe. Peter is definitely alternate dimension Peter and my thoughts are that humans in the other dimension are incredibly more intelligent than ours. Which is why they have crazy technology such as shape shifting Assassins. Our dimension is getting there with Massive Dynamics, but its no where near as advanced, which is why I think William Bell has decided to find shelter on that side. Maybe he's working with his alternate self to try to end this battle, or perhaps his alternate self (and possibly Walter) are the masterminds behind all of this craziness.
Did anyone else think for a few minutes that shape-shifter Charlie was going to hurt Mildred? I was freaking out when he showed up and saw the computer stream from Massive Dynamics! I also expected Nina Sharp to pop-up outside of the Massive Dynamic building and lay the smack down on shape-shifter Charlie with her robotic arm. That would have been amazing.
The new villain looks likes he's going to stir things up a bit and I just can't wait! I'm excited with the direction of the show and I'm so ready to see Olivia use some Fringey powers to defeat this guy.
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10-09-2009 @ 7:26PM
Parl said...
Aah! I love this show. Such a good episode. The pacing of the show is just so good and the actors are really doing great with what they're given.
Also, I think that when it's all said and done, Walter is going to be one of the best TV characters of all time.
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10-11-2009 @ 10:10AM
Gil said...
I thought the direction, camera work, and editing of this episode was way better than any of the previous episodes.
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10-12-2009 @ 10:33AM
Will said...
Great episode written by Ashley Edward Miller and Zach Stentz (Sarah Connor Chronicles vets).
I'm sure someone has pointed out the fact that Leonard Nimoy was in the remake of Invasion of the Bodysnatchers.
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10-13-2009 @ 1:47AM
Dan Buckley said...
Excellent episode. The best line was after Olivia drank the flat worms. Walter came up and said he was gonna mix it with strawberries. The way he said it was like, raw worms, what are you crazy? Funny stuff.
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