Obvious SPOILERS for anyone who hasn't watched it, so be warned...
It's probably most impressive that this finale is so enjoyable and satisfying - sometimes, when I'm confused by a piece of logic that's really plot-critical, it can throw me off. Walter's claim that he couldn't change the past because "he'd already sent it back" made no sense at all. But Fringe's finale had a lot to offer, despite the little things it didn't do.
The interplay among the cast was great. To be honest, I'm surprised it left out their excellent support - Lee, Charlie Bolivia for more than 30 seconds. Then again, I often suspect that many genre shows got bogged down by having a gifted group of 6+ regulars.
No matter what, the scenes between Walter and Peter, Peter and Olivia, the whole cast, really - all lovely. They work because life has been given to those roles - in droplets (Astrid), infodumps (Broyles), and/or in steady, varied portrayals (the other 3). I can't believe I'm rooting for that kid from Dawson's Creek and that damned George-Clooney-esque smile...
I'm still surprised that I liked it and (maybe most of all) accepted it so much, because I thought Lost got increasingly absurd and off-key in its latter half, and Fringe really had a lot of Lost callbacks. I'm sure many of you noticed others that I didn't: Walter's ridiculous beard - as usual with the cliche, it was gone in no time. That big golden cave midway through worried me - Central Park has nothing like that, take my word for it. Broyles' opposite-colored eyes, the yin & yang reference... Maybe it helps that in this case, the stakes have been super-extreme for a while now (not even one whole universe, either).
Of course, the very end also makes no sense. The Observers' little get-together is weird, because there's not a lot of point to staring at the Statue of Liberty like that; they're not enjoying her beauty and they can't see inside. Worse still, their portentous-yet-brief line that Peter "never existed" - if Peter never existed, the real problem wouldn't have happened...
Yet everything on screen was incredibly satisfying, and I have faith that the writers can reasonably and intelligently explain what happened when Fringe comes back for S4. Maybe Peter never existed - from a certain point of view; maybe the machine erases its user from existence while the "bridge" is in effect; maybe they're wrong.
This kind of episode was, for many reasons, an uphill climb. It would have been better as a 2-hour ep that could give more time to the characters - including the counterparts - as well as giving more time to the present-day problem and setting up the conflict of S4. But, damn, it was still satisfying.
On a closing note, they should rename the Observers. They seem benevolent, but this season has them shaping what happens, not simply watching it...
It's probably most impressive that this finale is so enjoyable and satisfying - sometimes, when I'm confused by a piece of logic that's really plot-critical, it can throw me off. Walter's claim that he couldn't change the past because "he'd already sent it back" made no sense at all. But Fringe's finale had a lot to offer, despite the little things it didn't do.
The interplay among the cast was great. To be honest, I'm surprised it left out their excellent support - Lee, Charlie Bolivia for more than 30 seconds. Then again, I often suspect that many genre shows got bogged down by having a gifted group of 6+ regulars.
No matter what, the scenes between Walter and Peter, Peter and Olivia, the whole cast, really - all lovely. They work because life has been given to those roles - in droplets (Astrid), infodumps (Broyles), and/or in steady, varied portrayals (the other 3). I can't believe I'm rooting for that kid from Dawson's Creek and that damned George-Clooney-esque smile...
I'm still surprised that I liked it and (maybe most of all) accepted it so much, because I thought Lost got increasingly absurd and off-key in its latter half, and Fringe really had a lot of Lost callbacks. I'm sure many of you noticed others that I didn't: Walter's ridiculous beard - as usual with the cliche, it was gone in no time. That big golden cave midway through worried me - Central Park has nothing like that, take my word for it. Broyles' opposite-colored eyes, the yin & yang reference... Maybe it helps that in this case, the stakes have been super-extreme for a while now (not even one whole universe, either).
Of course, the very end also makes no sense. The Observers' little get-together is weird, because there's not a lot of point to staring at the Statue of Liberty like that; they're not enjoying her beauty and they can't see inside. Worse still, their portentous-yet-brief line that Peter "never existed" - if Peter never existed, the real problem wouldn't have happened...
Yet everything on screen was incredibly satisfying, and I have faith that the writers can reasonably and intelligently explain what happened when Fringe comes back for S4. Maybe Peter never existed - from a certain point of view; maybe the machine erases its user from existence while the "bridge" is in effect; maybe they're wrong.
This kind of episode was, for many reasons, an uphill climb. It would have been better as a 2-hour ep that could give more time to the characters - including the counterparts - as well as giving more time to the present-day problem and setting up the conflict of S4. But, damn, it was still satisfying.
On a closing note, they should rename the Observers. They seem benevolent, but this season has them shaping what happens, not simply watching it...
Fringe Finale: Wow, and what?!
- 07/05/2011 07:05:12 PM
913 Views
Huh.
- 13/05/2011 10:49:24 PM
473 Views