In many ways, this episode was a standard ‘weird science of the week’ episode. But it was one that was almost drowning in a sea of mythology. Alt-Olivia’s ruse is in full effect, and as expected there are some definite rough edges though no one really questions it openly. Newton is back, and now taking orders from Olivia (and clearly unhappy with it).
The entire episode deals with a box which has the power to kill people. It gets dug up by men (hired by Newton, or orders from Olivia). They decide to open the box, but this kills everyone save one man who seems completely unaffected. As the Fringe Team comes in to investigate, Alt-Olivia has to step in to foil Water/Peter’s progress, while she remains out to find the box for herself.
The B-Story involves the reading of William Bell’s will. And while this is perhaps not as interesting story wise, it does give us some insights into Walter’s relationship with Bell and his mixed emotions regarding his old friend. Honestly it’s a shame that Bell is ‘dead’ because he is something of a very interesting, almost mythological character and he interacted very well with Bishop. It’s an interesting and complex relationship that rarely got any real screen time and that’s a shame.
The mystery surrounding The Box isn’t really all that big of one. It kills people. One person seems to be immune. And Newton/Alt-Olivia want it. And they stay 1 step ahead of the Fringe Team the whole way (in part due to Alt-Olivia). Alt-Olivia makes a few missteps along the way, but no one really questions it very strongly. In the end, the thief actually just hands the device over to Alt-Olivia (thinking that she was just a cop and he was turning it over). And Newton unleashes it in a subway tunnel, and Peter makes the heroic attempt to save everyone from it. In the end the Fringe ends up with The Box, which is part of the mysterious ‘Device’ that Walternate wants to use to destroy the prime universe. But, this was all part of the plan. Alt-Olivia WANTS Peter to have the device, and to start investigating it. Duh-Duh-DUH!!!
Overall the episode was another strong installment of the series. It wasn’t as mind blowing as the premier; and its mystery seemed a bit weak and contrived, but despite this it was a very good character-oriented episode that definitely sets the tone for what’s going on and leaves me very interested in what is going to happen next.
Some notes about the episode
- I was wondering just how long Alt-Olivia’s ruse would work. Honestly, while they did try to address the issues with her faking being the ‘real’ Olivia, I just don’t see how this would work for very long. But it’s clear that no one is going to figure it out immediately.
- Another thing I'm interested in. Just what is the chance that Alt-Olivia will become more sympathetic to the prime-universe and its characters?. Newton really slammed her on it when she showed even mild interest in the differences; but she really didn’t hesitate when forced to do some very unpleasant things (such as murdering the deaf thug who survived the box, when he was just returning it to her b/c he thought it was the right thing to do).
- The other interesting twist in this episode has to do with Walter inheriting Massive Dynamic in full from Bell. That was not expected, and I’m very interested in seeing what they will do with that. And how Nina will respond. Will this make Nina a clear villain? Or is this just a better opportunity to include Nina more into the show’s structure? I have no idea where this is going, but is has some interesting possibilities.
- Also talking about Massive Dynamic…what was that strange particle-accelerator like technology that Walter passed in the room. At the time I just looked over it…but as I started writing about this I began to wonder. They specifically made sure we saw it, and saw Walter’s surprised reaction (like he recognized it)…but neither Walter or anyone else brought it up. But, now that he is so involved with Massive Dynamic…will this be something that comes up as a plot point later?
- And for the box. So Olivia had Newton unbury the thing. They knew where it was obviously. And at the end of the episode it basically indicates that the whole thing was a ploy to get the box into Peter’s hands and get him investigating it. But, if that’s the case, why was she interfering with the investigation the whole time, if the idea was to get it into Fringe Division’s hands anyway? Seems like an unnecessary twist there at the end that really didn’t add anything other than inconsistency.
- But more interesting is why the Box was there in the first place. OK, so this is part of the ‘device’ that Walternate is wanting to use. In the Second Season it’s stated that the design is William Bell’s (they recognize it as such and mention it more than once). Yet this time they say it’s some ‘ancient advanced technology’. Maybe it’s Observer technology? And if so why is it lying about scattered across two universes. And why get the Fringe team to be actively looking into it? Perhaps the device is in two pieces, where one piece has to be in one reality and the other piece on the other side? I’m not sure. But it’s clear that there is a lot more information here to find than we have at this point.
- Oh, and based on the previews from the next Episode…it definitely looks like Olivia the memory wipe actually worked. I was hoping that it didn’t really work, and that Olivia had just basically decided that the best way for her to survive on the other side was to give them what they wanted—if they wanted to replace her memories, let them think they succeeded and play along until something better came along. That seemed kind of like a thematic parallel to Alt-Olivia’s situation (where now both Olivia’s are enemy agents for their alternate Fringe Divisions). Hopefully, though, she’ll start getting her true memories back very quickly because I think it’ll be much better that way in both the short and long term. And it will actually make it much easier for Olivia to fake being her alt—since certainly she will retain a lot of her alt’s memories regardless of what else happens.
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