Review Of Episode 3.03 'The Plateau'

Let me start by simply stating that I think this is the best episode of Season 3 so far. Why? The dualism, the chain reactions, and the casting.

Plateau scenario 1: Walternate, the 'Other Side's Secretary of the Department of Defense, observes our Liv functioning on her first day at work as FauxLiv. He seems pleased, and assures a not-so-confident AltBroyles that soon our Liv will "reach a plateau and her new identity will become fixed." But Walternate did not count on any unknown variables.

Plateau scenario 2: Milo Stanfield was mentally retarded. His loving sister, Maddie, signed him up for an experimental drug study run by the Ivon Medical Group, a subsidiary of her work, Gregston Electric. In a true miracle, after only one treatment with a new neurotopic(a smart drug) Milo's IQ soared. After five treatments, Milo was thinking in terms of probabilities that even savants like Alternate Agent Astrid Farnsworth found unthinkable(ever see the movie 'Rainman'?). But the medical experts conducting Milo's study did not count on any unknown variables.

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Fringe Review: The Plateau

“Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen.”

I was not initially impressed by this episode. Don’t get me wrong—it was quite strong, and I still enjoy learning about Over There, about the Fringe Division, about the relationships between Faux/Olivia, Alterna-Francis, and Lincoln Lee. But at first blush this felt like a stand-alone, and Fringe can be so much better than that when it wants to be. So I let it simmer for a while, and then I realized that this isn’t a stand-alone at all: it is a compelling thematic and psychological step in the progression towards…whatever it is we’re progressing towards.

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