sholio | Quickie reaction to Fringe 4.01

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tv:fringe

Quickie reaction to Fringe 4.01

So I hope you'll believe me when I say that I'm genuinely happy for those of you who seem to be completely taken with Lincoln Lee and are glad he's getting more screen time. But for me he's always been about as interesting as a human-shaped piece of cardboard, and the fact that he was in just about every scene and seems likely to continue that way ... was something of a black spot, for me, on an episode that was otherwise fairly strong and interesting (if mostly setup/recap without a lot of payoff). I like the idea of changing up the team and I'm really curious where they're going with this season, but, damn, the team as it stands -- 1/4 character I oscillate between not caring about and being actively annoyed by, 1/4 Walter with no emotional center and never leaving the lab ... I'm going to be missing the next couple of episodes due to travel, and I'm not sure if I mind all that much.

Still love Olivia and Astrid, but since they've never had a particularly compelling bond with each other (alas), that basically leaves one remaining character relationship I'm invested in -- Astrid and Walter. And no particular sign that there will be new ones that engage me, if the focus is on bringing Lincoln into the fold and showing him the Fringe world this season.

This one may slip back to my "watch when I have time, don't miss it otherwise" pile.

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I rather enjoyed the fact that when Walter got glimpses of Peter, rather than recognizing him or making him feel longing or wistful, he flipped the fuck out. I also think the fact that Peter has never called Walter dad (and as their relationship has grown and they've come to understand each other, there were plenty of moments the writers could have pulled that out for added oomf) is going to play a part in the confusion.

Given the fact that it took ten episodes or so last season to resolve the season ending cliffhanger, I'm not expecting this one to be solved any faster. As I only started watching last year, so watched pretty much mid-season two to mid-season three in a two-day period, I don't know how I'm going to stand watching it week to week.

I like alternate Lincoln, but not really this universe's Lincoln - am I the only one that feels this way?

You're not the only one. The alternate Lincoln seems to have far more personality, which makes him quite fun to watch, at least for me.

Walter not out int the field just isn't the same. Though I did rather like how both Olivia and Astrid deal with his neurosis - caring without rolling their eyes. It did remind me of how, in the first season, it took Peter forever to get Walter out of the hotel. They did not have Peter, so he has been coddled enough to get a room in the lab.

It's always the little things I enjoy with this show for some reason.

I rather enjoyed the fact that when Walter got glimpses of Peter, rather than recognizing him or making him feel longing or wistful, he flipped the fuck out.

*grins* I did like that. The reveal on Peter being the "man in the mirror" was a pretty cool one, since I had no idea they were going there, and I liked that there is no mystical connection between them, no inexplicable feelings of affection or yearning on Walter's part for this guy he's never seen before. He just thinks he's being haunted or losing what's left of his mind. (I joked to the husband that Peter's actor is going to have the world's easiest job this season ... all he has to do is stand there!)

This is the first season that I've watched in realtime, too (I picked up the show near the end of season three) so it might help with my general dissatisfaction to just wait 'til around the middle of the season and then have a Fringe-a-thon.

Ironically, given the kind of show it is and the handwavy explanation for Walter being the way he is, I think Fringe has one of the better depictions of mental illness on TV. Walter's overwhelming neuroses and OCD-ish tendencies penetrate every aspect of his life, and even though it's often made part of a joke, it strikes me as a lot closer to a "laughing at the absurdity of the situation" sort of thing rather than laughing at the character. The other characters aren't cruel, mocking or even particularly impatient with him, but give him the accommodations he needs in order to do his job. The only thing that doesn't quite make sense from a real-world perspective is why they've never even tried to treat him with therapy or meds. But given how TV normally handles mental illness, especially a case as life-destroying as Walter's, it's really not badly done.

Alt-Lincoln at least has a history of doing interesting stuff and being part of his altverse team. Even if I've never found the character particularly compelling, I like him okay as a background character and member of Team AU. And I agree that if we really must have a Lincoln as a main character *g*, this universe's Lincoln is by far the less interesting one.

I liked that there is no mystical connection between them
Me too! This where I think Peter calling Walter "Walter" is going to be important. He's not saying "Dad;" there's no reason for Walter to think, oh, this is grown-up Peter!

So far I'm enjoying seeing Olivia as hard as she used to be and Walter as skittish as he used to be and Astrid out of the lab for once. I'd like it if she got to be more active (and met her alternate).

And this is, what, five different opening sequences so far? Our world, other side, past, future, alternate timeline. If it keeps getting renewed, it's going to be impossible to keep track of all the different worlds...

I love the fact that they're all so tender with him. Particularly Peter, even in the first season when he had every reason to hate him, he seemed to understand that this wasn't something Walter could snap out of. And Astrid, who does seem to get annoyed with him from time to time but never for long--even though he never remembers her name.

And I'm not going to lie--John Noble is most of the fun of this show for me. He's so good. He plays mad genius and comedy, but he also gives Walter these moments of absolutely shame-filled vulnerability. The way he'll just put all of his emotions out there the way a grown man is not supposed to do. And then he'll turn around and do Walternate with brutal pragmatism.

This show with a lesser cast would be a catastrophe. With all of them having to play different shades of the same character--if they weren't all talented actors, it would be so excruciating to watch.

... oh, wait, did Peter die as a child in this universe, or did he never exist in the first place? See, a lot of my confusion came from thinking that Walter never had a child at all, in either reality, which left me really confused as to how the gate to the other reality got opened at all in this timeline. But if there was a Peter (on both sides), and they both died, that would not only explain how the two realities got on this track, but also give new emphasis to Walter's comment about people sometimes dying twice (I think it was Walter who said that?).

...and Astrid out of the lab for once.

Heh, yeah, one thing that's neat about this timeline is that Astrid's getting to do more stuff! And with the two realities apparently in closer contact, I'm hoping to see more of the alt-team as well.

I assumed Walter's comment meant that he'd had Peter and things had gone identically right through the kidnapping--but then he hadn't even saved Peter's life. That's the only way the meshing of the two universes makes sense in this timeline. It almost makes Walternate's hatred more pointed. The saving grace of Walter kidnapping Peter has always been that he saved him. But if he didn't even do that, his actions are truly unforgivable. But I bet his teammates, especially with Olivia so buttoned-up, don't even know the whole story (they most know some, but I don't see him confessing as he did to Olivia).

What I didn't like so far was that the other side in this ep really were acting like evil twins. And they did such a good job last season of making us invested in this. I don't dislike Fauxlivia, I just think she doesn't have as hard a moral code as Olivia. But here she was, like, mustache twirling.

Oh, the acting on this show is so good. Especially John Noble, who is just amazing -- Walter could easily be completely unlikable, or a caricature, but he does a great job of making Walter and Walternate sympathetic and easy to relate to, in all their phases and moods. And Anna Torv's ability to convey whether she's playing Olivia or alt-Olivia (or one of them pretending to be the other one, or one of them channeling another character entirely) is just incredible.

Especially since Walter has done such horrible things--he's practically a Nazi scientist, with his experimentation on humans, particularly children, which, as we've seen, destroyed some of their lives, or lead to them killing others. He's the Cigarette Smoking Man. And yet we love him. That should not be possible. And I think it's Noble's ability to show us simultaneously Walter's glee in science, unabated, and his horror and guilt over his own actions that makes him palatable as a character, let alone relatable.

It makes so much more sense that the timelines went as we know them (more or less) up to approximately the time when the gate opened, and then both Peters died rather than just one. It's hard to imagine, otherwise, how things could be anything like they are in the old timeline. But this resolves a lot of my problems with the new timeline and raises fascinating questions as well. I agree with you about Walter's teammates probably not knowing the whole story in this Peter-less reality -- and, yes, if the other reality's Peter did truly die, in part through Walter's actions ... Walternate has very good reason to hate him. I don't think it would've taken any sort of brain meddling to turn him into a basket case after that.

As for the other reality being evil, I think we haven't gotten to see enough to judge yet. Right now we're mostly seeing it through the eyes of our universe's characters, and Olivia is really suspicious of Fauxlivia, as well she might be if things went anything like they did in the timeline we know (or maybe they went even worse?). I always found some of the alt-reality's behavior verging on pointlessly evil anyway (or at least, needlessly sinister for the sake of melodrama) and don't really see this as being any different. If they continue the trend of switching realities from week to week, we ought to get their story in the next episode or two.

Yeah, I find Walter such a fascinating character, because the things he did were absolutely vile, and yet, he's written with such a sensitive touch -- the show doesn't gloss over his crimes, doesn't let Walter gloss over it either, and I think that's what makes him so much more than either a mad scientist caricature or a hard-to-swallow redemption story. I do like a good redemption story, but I hate it if the characters' past actions aren't adequately taken into account, and I think they do a fantastic job at maintaining that balance with Walter -- especially since Olivia herself is one of his victims. (Come to think of it, I wonder if this timeline's Olivia knows what Walter did to her?)

I wasn't so much taken with Lincoln Lee either. He's a very poor stand in for Peter.

Pretty much this. Broyles was a little "He wants what? Are you *kidding* me?" at the beginning, and from time to time still, but does understand that Walter simply does not function the same as everyone else and allowances must be made, but only up until a certain point before it is too much.

As for the therapy or meds, there is a reference to that in the first season. Walter was taking some home made pills and Peter asked him about it. His response was that, after 17 years in a mental institution, Peter should be more worried if he *wasn't* medicated.

Unfortunately I missed it because it was on at the exact same time as Mentalist and I love both shows. :(

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Quickie reaction to Fringe 4.01

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