Rough-Edged Reset
Neither Here, Nor There
Fringe
is back for a fourth season, stoked with a full head of story telling
steam. Thanks to the mind breaking removal of Peter from not just a
timeline, but existence itself, at the climatic end of Season 3. Fox
fanned those flames even higher with an excellent off season promotional
campaign that peaked just before the Season 4 premiere creating a buzz
with the slogan, ‘Where is Peter Bishop?’And the Fringe showrunners continue to demonstrate they are not afraid to break with convention. We are treated to our initial glimpse of a Captain Kirk - Tholian Webbing style, Peter Bishop in the very first scene.
Don't You Forget About Me! |
A Peter Bishop, who by all astonished Observer accounts, has managed the impossible. Peter should no longer exist but yet he lingers with some traces in the newly established time line. How Peter has managed to do this tells me in my gut that this is at the crux of whom the Observers are and what their purpose is. Equally intriguing is September’s decision to disobey orders to activate his Peter Time Eraser. Is September seeing that the boy is important again or is he softening like his compatriot August did? And will the TIme Eraser be modified to bring Peter back fully?
In Episode 4.01 we find much has changed. Olivia, looking just at tad frayed at the edges, is near back to Season 1 guardedness, Walter is very fragile and refuses to leave his lab and, in the only good bit of news, Astrid is out in the field instead of babysitting Walter.
Into this Peterless timeline steps Lincoln Lee. While he met the main characters last season in the previous timeline, in this new post Season 3 setting, the audience sees the Fringe team through his freshly reset eyes. Lincoln's life parallels Olivia's but he is three years behind her curve. With his partner, Lincoln felt like he was part of a family but in a flash, at the hands of a new, and just as deadly shapeshifter, Lee's partner is taken from him. Much the same happened to Olivia three years ago with her partner, which harkens back to the pilot. But in this timeline, without Peter to act as Walter's intermediary, Olivia's partner could not be saved.
'Neither Here, Nor There,' carries extra burdens that regular season premieres normally do not. Normally the premiere episode has to set up the season long arcs necessitating more expositional material than subsequent ones. In Season Four of Fringe the first episode not only has to do but it also must set up the parameters of the new timeline. A further piece of story overhead is because of the unique position the show is in from a story telling point of view, the Season 4 Premiere makes it an excellent leaping in point for new viewers. With all this additional overhead this episode juggles them adroitly as possible but at times there are some rough edges because of these muliple purposes.
The most noticeable sign of rough edges is the dialogue being much more on the nose than is characteristic for Fringe. Statements about missing something in one's life or lacking a tether or feeling a life long hole hammer the point of Peter's absence much more clumsily than is expected from a show with its established pedigree.
Fortunately the cast knows their characters so well at this point that they take on these extra burdens and smooth the bumps out as much as possible. Anna Torv shows how much her mastery of Olivia Dunham has grown from the first season by visibly doing a masterful nuanced and intriguing performance of an almost Season One Olivia.
John Noble also brings another iteration of Walter to us. This Walter is more in his own world and yet he seems more lucid. Is it possible that in this timeline he never had William Bell remove parts of his brain? Most noticeably this is a sadder Walter, one who may have witnessd the death of his son not once, but twice.
Linlcon Lee is integrated fairly seamlessly, if perhaps a bit quickly. His presence is welcome but it will be interesting to see how he plays off of Olivia in the long haul as Lee almost seems like a male version of Olivia. And while Astrid gets to go out in the field she does not seem noticeably changed.
Episode 'Patterns': Add your own in the comments.
- wonderful opening scene with a hateful Olivia verbally jousting with her Redverse counterpart Fauxlivia, whom we learn still switched places with Olivia
- instead of Spot the Observers now we get to play Spot the Peter... er, make that Spot Peter
- ‘It is impossible.’ Tell Peter that.
- New amber-orange Title Credits = red + blue?
- NerdiLee has moves! Quickly puts down his suspect.
- NerdiLee’s partner killed by a new type of shapeshifter - Translucent Man
- Walter feels something is different in the lab the past week
- Gene! has made it to the new timeline intact! Whew!
- Astrid’s got a gun! And a squelching blue tooth ear phone/camera piece to talk to Walter from the field
- Walter avoiding cracks in the floor and reanimating pidgeons
- Reanimating birds are nothing, Walter is growing an ear under the dome
- ‘I need to check her anus.’
- September on a shopping trip at a Mom & Pop electronics store
- ‘I need to erase someone from time.’
- Walter hiding from the Man In the Mirror in the Isolation Tank
- Olivia’s calming effect on Walter - a new power?
- ‘I’m not wearing pants.’
- Awesome translucent shots of the shape shifter injecting himself with the ever present Fringe Big Needle
- ‘People die. Sometimes twice.’
- Olivia references John Scott from the Season 1 pilot
- Anna Torv is noticeably better at playing Season 1 Olivia than she was back in Season 1
- Olivia letting shapeshifter get close?!?!! Boo!
- ‘Not from here. You mean, like, China?’
- NerdiLee gets to see the ‘Bridge’ and Fauxlivia and a Zeppelin too!
- Walter sleeps in his office
- September changes his mind about erasing Peter - hmmm
- Peter in the TV
Ah Yes, Fringe is back! |
A lot of seeds laid in this episode. September’s actions are sure to set off interesting story developments. The new shape shifters look to be in for the long haul. The Bridge between the two worlds now allows for easy story access to both sides. Lots of interesting possibilities are waiting to be explored in Season Four.
And hovering in the back ground. Unable to directly interact but always a presence noticeable by his absence.
Peter.
Episode Rating: 8 out of 10 Genes.
18 Comments:
Nothing personal Old Darth but is english not your first language or don't you proofread before going to press? You need to get on that next time.
Since this is being seen from Agent Lee's perspective, I think he is revealing the hi-lites and not every detail of his involvement. Over all your evaluation is acceptable.
Thanks for the feedback. Yeah that was sloppy. Proof reading reprimand noted.
I was great. We all know that this isn't the New York Times or anything.
If you are going to pick on other people's English, checking your own would be a good idea. Highlights.
Heh, Anon @ 4.22am, you beat me to it! That was my thought too regarding hi-lites and highlights. Also, in addition, English is a proper noun and should be capitalised.
I hope Fringe has a better story arc ahead for the dead bird than True Blood.
I'm not writing articles or reviews, I just comment and besides I was typing without my glasses on. Criticism noted.
I appreciate Matthew's feedback because my preference is to receive comments about the content of the review rather than the presentation of it.
Did anyone else notice the two comments about cell phone reception? Lincoln in the lab and the girl in the park that witnessed the shape shifter. I wonder if it means anything.
I think the cow made it, but not necessarily Gene. Since they have to shoot back in Canada. Nice to know Olivia isn't perfect, she stopped 10 feet short of the SS, but he closed that distance faster than she could pull the trigger. Might have been nice for Lee to have mentioned this guy is REALLY quick and might not be human. But wasn't Walter wearing his pants? Other fans pinned down some of the musical and literary metaphors, except for ROCKIN' ROBIN, which played in Walter's lab shortly after the pigeon resurrected. Guess Peter could be tweeting soon. The Olivias'
'catfight' opening the season, I believe sets up some bonding and grudging admiration between the two as Olivia goes 'over there' to team up and solve one of their more stubborn cases this week. Bet the farm that one saves the other's life. I'd say Fauxlivia does, while Olivia solves the case. Still haven't figured out, "My name is Olivia too." Such coincidences usually have a purpose, especially since we hardly needed yet another Olivia. I think we're around a half dozen and counting.
I think everyone seems to missing the fact that Peter NEVER existed. Several reviews I've read thus far mention Walter being sad about losing someone. This can't be a reference to Peter dying as a child because Peter never existed. Walter never had a son. It would seem to me that Walter's reference to losing someone close would be something along the lines of his wife leaving him, before they could have Peter. Which of course begs the question of how the war between worlds began.
tsp1215, I'm glad you brought that up. I thought the interference with the phones was one of those indirect yet obvious-unexplained issues that is Fringe, but no one has been talking about it. I wonder if the interference is related to Peter somehow.
Over Here's Lincoln Lee is definitely not an.... uh... "adequate" replacement for Peter. What the character did to the series and how he affected the other characters; Lincoln comes nowhere close to him. Let's hope it is not a permanent one. But I definitely loved Lee (this word has been used before) 'clark-kenting' his way through the episode.
Anonymous @6:22 - watch the episode again. Walter references watching someone die twice & the Observers state no one can know that the boy grew up to be a man. Pretty clear Peter did exist as a boy.
Er anonymous @6:36.
Whoa, don't know how I missed that. Maybe this is it nitpicky then, but I think it's kinda cheap to have September say he never existed even though he technically did as a child.
or that September meant Peter never existed as an adult.
I didn't like how the show was being a little repetitive with its dialogue. I love the fringe that lets you decide what their words mean, but I do understand it is trying to appeal to a new audience.
Lincoln should have undergone some test to join fringe, it makes no sense for some one to get clearance so quickly by not verifying their background.
I can not wait until friday!!
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