Fringe S3E6

Another week, and yet another good episode of Fringe. I would like to say 'great', or 'awesome', but unfortunately I cannot. This week's episode was probably the weakest of the entire season.

Now, don't get me wrong. Just because it wasn't great doesn't mean that it wasn't good. And it was good. There were quite a few things I liked about it, including the ever increasing sense of dread about the whole thing. But, 6955 kHz was a bit broader than many of the current episodes. And it's the first one in a while that just seemed to be talking AT the audience instead of showing us. That's a fault of the writers there, and it's what keeps 6955 from being really great.

This episode could really be described as an info dump in many regards. They talk about number stations. They talk about the First People. They talk about secret codes, etc, as if there is some huge mystery about it all. But there is no mystery. Olivia is setting them up. The signals embedded in the numbers were designed to be found by Peter and Walter, to create a 'fringe event' that would draw themselves to something the other side already knew--the location of the other hidden pieces of the 'ancient machine' built by the First People that can create or destroy universes.

In any case, the Fringe Team learn of the First People. They learn about the Numbers. And they can't figure it out. Until, that is, the script needs them too. And suddenly these numbers start leading to points on a calendar which now magically map to coordinates on Earth. And viola, they suddenly have the location for almost two dozen 'sites', the last one happens to match the site where they pulled up the box--part of the ancient device. And, Olivia again has to do something nasty to protect her cover. And that cover is starting to ever so slightly wear thin, even as she's starting to actually question what she's doing (if just a little bit).

So, who were the first people? Why would Walternate want Walter/Peter to figure it out? Why wouldn't he just use agents to collect the pieces for himself, if he already knew how to get them? Just how many bad things is Olivia really willing to do--the cracks, it seems, are finally starting to show. Just what is the end game they are setting up here?

Now, there were no real answers here, but I've been thinking about it a bit. Now, my first thought was First People = Observers. And that is actually be true, but also might also be too easy. But, why the amnesia? The 'Number Stations' are mysterious untraceable sources of random numbers, generated in random languages. I've heard of the phenomenon, actually, there are some that operated for over 20 years in Siberia, for example. But in Fringe World, the Number Stations have existed for a long time. In fact, the first radio invented picked up a number signal--suggesting their origin is a lot older than the current situation. Of course, the amnesia itself is just a red herring...Walternate didn't care if others figured it out; he just needed something to attract Fringe Division's attention.

So we know certain things. We know that Walternate is trying to build this device. That is seems to be spread between multiple worlds. And that the First People died out suddenly in some great disaster. We also know that he couldn't complete the device. And in this season, we learn that parts of the device, or perhaps another version of the device, is located on this side as well. My presumption is that Walternate discovered the truth about these stations, used them to collect the devices on his side; but could not get it to work. So, he needs his counterparts to do the same. Walternate wasn't responsible for these signals; nor was he trying to prevent this information from being found out (as is suggested in the episode)...it's clear he WANTED Fringe Division to find this. And so the amnesia thing was solely to attract Fringe Division to the case itself.

But that begs a different question. Peter responds to the device, which no one else does. That's still interesting, now, isn't it? My assumption has been that Peter is 'special' because he was from the other side--a result of the first rift between worlds. And he is somewhat unique in that he has spent the longest amount of time living on the other side compared to anyone else (save the observers themselves). But, what if Peter is special for another reason? Something that was different on the other side...like Walternate had discovered the truth of these numbers (and the ancient machine) before? I don't know, but I think that's going to be important before this is all done.

And the ending was also kinda cool. So, Olivia no longer needs to show up for the tests? That's a bad sign, for her. They have what they need, and at that point they have no more use for her. In a way, I'm going to be quite happy--next week's episode looks damned awesome--but in another way I'm going to be sad. The Alt-Fringe episodes have been consistently inspired all season and it'll be sad to see her get back home. Alt-Fringe is awesome, Charlie, Lincoln, Broyles, Walternate, are all great characters (too bad alt-Astrid sucks though). It's going to suck going back to a more traditional format.

And another thing. I still have no idea where this show is really going (other than it's been a blast watching them)...By humanizing the other side, it's really going to suck if they become the 'bad guy's' in a more complete way. I would love to see them team up. But, unless some new faction is introduced I just don't see how that would be possible with the way things are going. I am, however, still lending myself to the theory that despite what the show has been showing, Walter is not actually responsible for all of the devastation on the other side. I'm truly beginning to believe that Walternate himself was responsible...that his drive to retrieve his son (which he believed had been kidnapped by his alternate with another universe) drove him to any length to retrieve him--Universe be damned.

At this point, I'm just hoping that there is not a definite 'switch' yet. If Olivia becomes capable of switching sides on a regular basis, then I think that could lead into very new territory. Especially if she can develop some other allies on the other side. And I hope they don't take the easy way out and kill alt-Olivia. It would be cool if they can keep the other side heavily involved in the proceedings; maybe even experience some more alt-fringe investigations. Maybe that will happen with Broyles? That would be the perfect person to become an ally, honestly, or Lincoln?

One other cool thing about it that I liked. I ended up watching this episode with my family last night. They haven't seen the show since the first season, and they were clearly enjoying it quite a bit. And then Olivia walked in on the bad guy, pissed that he'd blown his cover, and the realization that she was actually a bad guy hit them, and it was really fun to see their reaction. Obviously that was not intended by the writers, as by this point everyone knows what's going on, but it was fun to see them react to it, NOT knowing what had happened before. And now I'm pretty sure they are going to start watching it again regularly.