Fringe Season 5 (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

Strong Walter episode tonight, as well as this season's freak-out episode. As Walter's acid flashbacks got closer and closer to the divergence point between the original timeline and the Season 4+ timeline, I was wondering which version of the drowning in the lake scene we were going to get: the one where September rescued both Walter and Peter, or the one where only Walter survived. The episode cut away before resolving that one way or the other. That the boy from "Inner Child" remembers Olivia perhaps means that more of the original timeline is bleeding through.
Either way, them retrieving the boy sets things up pretty clearly for the final sprint over the final four episodes.

 

[Josh Dial]

Great episode tonight. The final sequence with Walter on the floor of his lab was really well done--especially the music.

 

[Citizen87645]

The current issue of Entertainment Weekly has some photos from the shoot of the series finale.

 

[Matt Hough]

The finale of Walter's acid trip reminded me of animation from Monty Python's Flying Circus. Very enjoyable episode.

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by MattH. /t/323707/fringe-season-5/90#post_4014078
The finale of Walter's acid trip reminded me of animation from Monty Python's Flying Circus. Very enjoyable episode.

Almost exactly what I was going to say.. I kept picturing Terry Gillam behind them

I enjoyed it, but I have absolutely no idea where this goes or what even the story line really is now..

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

The show just keeps getting better. I'm early in season 3 in rewatching the series on DVD, as well as up to the current episode in S5, and the connections are very cool. A friend of mine who used to be involved in the music rights biz commented on her Facebook page a few weeks ago on the brilliant use of music in the show (citing Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World" in particular.) I've noticed the same thing in earlier episodes, and again tonight. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" was perfect for Walter's acid trip. (Although, as usual, the attempt to show a psychedelic drug trip on film is wildly exaggerated, and nothing at all like a real acid trip. Um, nothing like what I've heard a real acid trip is like. ) Of course, it could just be that Walter's stuff is A LOT better than the stuff people can get in our universe. I guess if I can believe in mutating airline passengers, interdimensional travel, and people who can give others cancer at a touch, a drug that makes you see a co-worker as Tinkerbelle or you dead lab assistant in full 3D glory I shouldn't draw the line at the quality of Bishop's blotter acid.
I, too, loved the nod to Terry Gilliam, especially the giant foot, and the way they worked the glyphs into the animation. It was all very funny.
Can't wait for the next batch. I"ll be sorry to see the show go, but I think I'm going to be very happy with the way they wrap it up
See you next week. Same Bat Time. Same Bat Channel.
Joe

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I, too, loved the nod to Terry Gilliam, especially the giant foot, and the way they worked the glyphs into the animation. It was all very funny.
Can't wait for the next batch. I"ll be sorry to see the show go, but I think I'm going to be very happy with the way they wrap it up
See you next week. Same Bat Time. Same Bat Channel.
Joe

Don't forget Gene too!
Lovely episode. Lot of call backs - including Sam Weiss.
Can't wait to see there take from here - as usual I have no idea, which I love.

 

[Matt Hough]

Ah, well, another character lost to the cause. With only three episodes left, one must expect to see this happen, but it hurts.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Ah, well, another character lost to the cause. With only three episodes left, one must expect to see this happen, but it hurts.

One lost, but one gained. We lost Nina Sharp, but we gained "our" Walter back, as Michael the Observer child gave Walter not only the memories related to Donald back, but all of the original timeline memories back.
Going over the episode again, a beat that just blew me away with Blair Brown's performance: when she gets the call from Olivia, you can see in Nina's face that she knows she's about to die. As soon as she knows she's compromised, she knows it's only going to end one way. But she does it anyway. And how; I can think of few better death scenes than the one Nina got.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I find writer David Fury to be hit & miss when it comes to Fringe.  His episode from last season - Alone In The World - was one of the series's low points. Plus his stories hinge on contrivances for them to work.  Why in this episode wouldn't the Observers keep the lab under observation to see if the Fringe team returned?
Fury also has problem capturing the tone of the show and the characters - much like the first 45 minutes of this one.
Kudos to Blair Brown on her, assumingly so, final episode.  She acted the heck out of her final moments.
Interesting point on Walter, Adam. His regaining of his memories from the original timeline went below my radar. Hopefully they will acknowledge it in the next episode.

 

[spshultz]

New Fringe tonight. Can't wait.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

After tonight's episode, all of the pieces are set for the end game. I loved Michael Cerveris's performance as Donald. So similar yet so different from what we saw in September. The underlying kindness is there in both versions. I do wonder about the plan, though... Olivia thinks because there's no Observers that they'll get Etta back. I'm not so sure, because the Observers played a crucial role in everything leading up to Etta. It seems more likely that if the Observers are erased from history, September's erased from history. If September never existed, he never distracted Walternate and Walternate was able to save Peter himself. That being the case, Walter would have had no reason to cross to the other side, and the fabric between the universes would never have been torn open at all. Indeed, many if not most of the fringe events would never have happened. The very fact that they made such a big deal about Walter having to sacrifice himself for the plan to work has me thinking the sacrifice will be something else. Perhaps it's Walter's sins getting wiped from history, at the cost of knowing Peter. Of course, that leaves Olivia in the lurch too.

 

[Matt Hough]

So many intriguing possibilities in the last two hours. I am REALLY going to miss this show.

 

[Greg_S_H]

With Windmark starting to experience emotions, I think Michael will end up changing him as he changed Walter. I don't know what that will ultimately mean, but maybe he'll be an unexpected ally (temporarily, as Peter and Olivia won't tolerate him for long).

 

[Simon Massey]

Not since Lost have I had this much anticipation for a Season Finale, yet the entire 5th season has been extremely well done that I only hope it is a fitting close. I have a lot of faith in the writers at this point and while I railed against the idea of Etta coming back and some sort of reset occurring, at this point as long as its earned I don't think I would mind. They clearly are aware that the fans are going to be thinking of this possibility given the discussion between Peter and Olivia and I like the fact that they put it out there as well as Walter maybe having to sacrifice himself as this is another often discussed point. That being said, I dont think it will be quite as straightforward as a reset simply because of where exactly do you reset to ?? Did I detect a scene involving the alternate Olivia in the preview for next week ???

 

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by Simon Massey
Did I detect a scene involving the alternate Olivia in the preview for next week ???

Certainly looked like it to me.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Donald's music box played Greensleeves, which could also be What Child Is This?. If I read it right, Donald sent the white tulip, which Walter took as a sign from God. Perhaps putting on my tinfoil hat, Donald is going to send his only son to take away Walter's sins (creating the rift) and die in his place. Any takers?

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I'm not crazy about the repurposing of the, "boy must live, he is important,' line. It undermines Peter's story and at this late stage in the series adds little gravitas to Michael's. I agree with you Adam, Olivia's belief that they may get Etta back is pretty shaky. Remove the Observers and who is to say Peter and Olivia ever meet? No crossover. No cortexiphan. No meeting between Peter and Olivia in all probability. The rest of the answers were most satisfactory. I called Walter having to sacrifice himself for the very reasons in the dialogue between Walter and Donald. With that theme being expressed before the finale, it makes me wonder if things are really going to play out that way. I agree and hope you are right Simon. A simple reset would be unsatisfying. If the character's don't remember the previous 5 seasons it will undermine their journey. Loved the scene between Walter and Peter as Walter tells Peter he remembers events from the original timeline. The embrace was wonderful. As was Olivia's reaction to finding out Walter required maximum 'freedom' in the tank. I am already missing this show.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Donald's music box played Greensleeves, which could also be What Child Is This?

Thank you! I kept mumbling "let loving hearts enthrone Him", but for the life of me I was blanking on the rest. If you take it as the latter, it's a pretty lovely touch.

If I read it right, Donald sent the white tulip, which Walter took as a sign from God.

For those who don't remember, or who came to the show late: The white tulip came from episode 2x18, during the original timeline before Peter was erased. Olivia had just discovered that Peter was from the other side. Walter spent the entire episode trying to work up the courage to tell Peter the truth. The Fringe case of the week was the first to deal with time travel. Astrophysicist Alistair Peck had turned himself into a time machine. The Fringe team catches him over and over again, but each time they do he goes back in time and rewrites time to avoid capture. The further back in time he traveled, the greater radius of death around his physical location at the time he arrives. Eventually things come to a head with Walter trapped with Peck. Walter tries to force Peck to recognize the horrific consequences of messing with the laws of nature by confessing what he did to Peter. He tells Peck that he's come to believe in a higher power, and believes he'll have the courage to tell Peter the truth if he receives a sign of forgiveness for his acts from God in the form of a white tulip. Peck escapes and goes back in time. The calamity that Walter predicted occurs, and Peck dies in the past with the timeline rewritten. But before he dies, Peck leaves an envelope with his secretary to be delivered on a specific date. The date comes and she delivers the envelope to Walter. Inside is a slip of paper the size of payment slip with a white tulip drawn on it. Since Walter in the revised time had never met Peck, it indeed seems like divine providence. In the Season 4 timeline, where September never saved Peter, Walter was an agoraphobic who never left the lab. Since he wasn't in the field, he never had that conversation with Peck and Peck never sent him the tulip. Apparently September slipped into the original timeline and mailed the tulip to Walter to give him hope at a crucial moment.

Donald is going to send his only son to take away Walter's sins (creating the rift) and die in his place. Any takers?

If they were going for "What Child Is This?" with the music box, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Anomaly undergoes the Christ hero arc in the finale. It wouldn't be the first time, since Peter's already been sacrificed and resurrected.

I'm not crazy about the repurposing of the, "boy must live, he is important,' line. It undermines Peter's story and at this late stage in the series adds little gravitas to Michael's.

I didn't see it as undermining Peter's story at all. It was Walter's desperate love for his son, so fierce and strong that he'd tear apart universes to save him, that gave September the flash of inspiration on how to stop the coming storm. Without Peter, there would be no plan to defeat the Observers, because September would have never understood the power of the bonds between fathers and sons and wrongness of the approach to controlled human evolution that had occurred from February 20th, 2167 onward. That moment on the ice of Reiden Lake is as central to the mythology of "Fringe" as it's ever been.

I agree with you Adam, Olivia's belief that they may get Etta back is pretty shaky. Remove the Observers and who is to say Peter and Olivia ever meet? No crossover. No cortexiphan. No meeting between Peter and Olivia in all probability.

Indeed. What they might be sacrificing is not their lives but all of the accumulated events that have made them who they are. On the other hand, Peter survived being erased from time because he had such a strong emotional impact on those around him. It's entirely possible that these characters would be pulled together no matter what, because what the ghost of what they've shared is too strong to completely erase.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Adam allow me to restate my issue with that repurposing of the Boy Must Live line. To me it's very apparent the original intent of that line was September speaking to Walter about Peter. The show cleverly used it to tie in Michael from Season 5 but I feel it is an unnecessary linkage. There were more than enough other tie ins to other episodes here. Now if September had said, 'The boys must live, they are important,' that would have been wonderful and a fantastic payoff in this episode. I agree with the rest of your post especially the part about September and the bond between father and son. Too bad they did not do a tie in to the Season 3 episode where September told Peter on the rooftop that it must be difficult to be a father.