Fringe - Season 4 (massive S3 spoilers)

Well with the ratings of the show the way they are, I really hope they get to finish the series with dignity. Word on the street is they might get a final half-season to wrap the story up.
 
Well, that answers that then.
Peter's been in his universe all along, it just bugged out because the Observers attempted to erase him and failed.
Corny case of the week but the arc aspect was enjoyable,.
 
I see a lot of bitching and praise in equal measure here - is this show worth watching considering there are loads of other (exclusively praised) shows I haven't finished yet?
 
I'd say that the bitching is mostly due to the threat of cancellation and how they've been taking their sweet time in getting the plot rolling this season.

It's a fantastic show though, you just have to bear with the heavily procedural X-Files-esque first season and then by the second half of season 2 it moves into its own thing.
 
Sulkdodds said:
I see a lot of bitching and praise in equal measure here - is this show worth watching considering there are loads of other (exclusively praised) shows I haven't finished yet?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. A lot of the frustrations stem from the same problems you get with any network tv show. It definitely takes some warming up. The first season is mediocre at best, but as Lucid said, towards the last half of S2 and into S3 it becomes truly amazing. It's without a doubt one of the best Science Fiction shows ever.

(Also last night's episode was pretty good.)
 
After seeing the latest episode I can't say I like the direction this is taking.

What is this the isle of Doctor Jones?

Also, a full transformation from human to porcupine mutant thing within seconds? Really? If they said the transformation happened slowly over weeks or months I might buy that, but this is ridiculous.
 
yeah the latest episode had me on my laptop only looking up once every minute or so. Really boring and bland
 
That was a god damned cool ep.
You guys are crazy.

But, what the hell are they doing introducing a new arc when they have the threat of cancellation looming over them?
I hope they know what they're doing.
 
Except it's not really a new arc at all.

This entire season there's been two main story arcs going at the same time. One, "get Peter home", which was put to rest when the Observer told Peter that this is it. So the only story arc left is the other one, "stop Jones".
 
That's true. So
aside from whatever mucking-about Jones is doing with the universes and Olivia's brain in order to accomplish his goal of (world){1,2} domination, he's also building a manimal army on a cargo ship for ... some other aspect of this goal? I dunno, I personally I don't have any interest in seeing yet another episode with these creatures. If I were a writer on the show, I'd relegate that material to one-off episode plots.
On a side note, I'm glad they've brought Jones back from the dead for this "universe." I definitely felt dissatisfied with how we didn't get to learn what his intricately-designed evil-genius plan was when he was killed in the old episodes.
 
Man, go figure.
We haven't been Over There in ages and when we finally go,
they kill someone off.
 
I just saw the last two. 16 was pretty okay, I liked the hinting about more creatures, but as per usual, we have no idea what Jones's plans actually are, so the entire thing has no context and is somewhat irritating.

That said, tonight's episode, 17, is pretty much exactly what I've been waiting for for a long time. I absolutely loved it.
 
Yeah I liked this last episode too. Also

I see where this is going. Agent Lee + "evil" Olivia. Hahah
 
Tonight's ep was so good.
Loved the bits with Bolivia and Walter.

But, oh God... next week's episode. :hot:
 
This episode was pretty good - all this time I had thought that Broyles was a Shape-Shifter. But it's cool how they brought his son back into it since we'd seen before that he had gone blind. I liked that throwback, and I like that we don't really let Walter off the hook.

As for next weeks, War with the Observers was something I've been hoping for / expecting all season. I heard tell, and I don't know if it's true or not, that Olivia isn't going to be in the next episode. Presumably what the Observers predicted about her death / "That's the man who kills me" has already taken place?
 
Holy shit, the intro for this week's episode is amazing.

 
That was probably the most entertaining episode of the series that I have ever seen.
Shit was cool as heck.
 
I hated it. I'm actually furious with it.

Don't get me wrong, I've been itching for a war between Observers and humanity for years. But this was all wrong. To instantly transform the Observers from a science team to "Oh they came back from 600 years in the future to take over because they polluted their own planet" is cliche, boring, and absurdly out of character from what we've seen. Everything about the police state was typical and bland.

Not to mention the ridiculously ****ing stupid plot device that was Walter's brain. Even aside from how silly the entire scene was and how arbitrary it was that it completely reworked his personality, it changes the dynamic of the entire show. At this point the show is essentially saying that "doing something wrong in the name of love is not okay, but if you're doing it to kill a monster then it's fine". So many of the cases have revolved around love, and the entire basis for the show is what Walter did for Peter. That he removed a part of his brain because of what he was becoming, and now they'll just throw it back in to make a weapon out of him, is pretty ****ed up. The writers should seriously know better.

The best only good parts were the new cast. Henry Ian Cusack was fantastic as always, and the young girl did an excellent job of portraying the child of Peter and Olivia.
 
Yorick said:
I hated it. I'm actually furious with it.

Don't get me wrong, I've been itching for a war between Observers and humanity for years. But this was all wrong. To instantly transform the Observers from a science team to "Oh they came back from 600 years in the future to take over because they polluted their own planet" is cliche, boring, and absurdly out of character from what we've seen. Everything about the police state was typical and bland.
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Yeah, I was disappointed with it.

The way they portrayed the Observers here, and the explanation for why they conquered Earth is just stupid in my opinion.
So let me get this straight, they figured out time travel, but they couldn't figure out how to clean up the planet? Makes sense to me.

Not to mention that this conquering business goes against their policy of noninterference.
 
I don't understand where your bile is coming from but I'm surprised that you're surprised that the show has decided once more to use cliches and character changes.
Considering it's pretty notorious for continually doing said things.

As for the plot devices I think it's perfectly fine,
I mean they even mentioned why Walter's original intent for having part of his brain removed.
The fact that when he got said piece of brain back and turned back into a hardcore-no-****s-given-Walter even supports that.
And I like that they're going against what they were talking about, kind of ballsy I'd say.
 
Remus said:
Yeah, I was disappointed with it.

The way they portrayed the Observers here, and the explanation for why they conquered Earth is just stupid in my opinion.
So let me get this straight, they figured out time travel, but they couldn't figure out how to clean up the planet? Makes sense to me.

Not to mention that this conquering business goes against their policy of noninterference.
Click to expand...

Plus the one Observer who does interfere is September, who does everything in his power to get Peter and Olivia together to create Henrietta, which ENSURES the shitbag future. It seems that the only reason Henrietta works where Henry doesn't is that because of (I assume) the cortexiphan that Olivia got and Fauxlivia didn't, the Observers can't read her thoughts. Sure that's a neat power to have, so ****ing what?

And if the Observers know that their planet is going kaput in 2036, why just observe all through time and come here now to take over? Wouldn't it make more sense to, you know, figure out a way to save the world? Maybe with the help of some other reality, since they can go through those as well? But instead we get Observers coming back in time 600 years to **** strippers and get drunk on water. How ****ing disappointing.

A much more interesting development would have been the Observers doing something like allowing Jones to thrive, allowing the things that happened to Walter, and getting these really intelligent people together to solve this. Like a forced Manhattan Project, and then having things escalate when the Observers get impatient / scared that there won't be a solution. Do something with the First Ones or another universe or Walter's book or Jones's plans for Olivia, create an army, give the show some ****ing weight.

Lucid said:
I don't understand where your bile is coming from but I'm surprised that you're surprised that the show has decided once more to use cliches and character changes.
Considering it's pretty notorious for continually doing said things.
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That's like saying "I don't know why you got mad at your dog. It has shit on the floor a dozen times in the past." I don't give a **** how many times they've made missteps in the past, they've also done some truly excellent things, and falling into old habits and safe cliches is not to be forgiven for any reason, let alone because "they've done it before".
 
Loved the last episode, love the way the show brings you this way and that and it is always changing and somewhat never the same although in execution it is all the same.
 
Fair enough, I haven't seen those episodes in a while, I thought there was more to it.

So in better news, Fringe was just renewed for a final, 13 episode season!
 
So now there are what, 2 story arks to resolve? The observer war, and "stop Jones TM".
 
Oh man, that was so sad. ;(

So many great moments in that ep.
 
The last season will be like the last season of LOST, in which tons of answers and its really fast paced
 
What in the unholy f*ck just happened in that episode?
Seriously, was that not confusing for anyone else?

It seems, at this point, they've reduced DRJ to a generic villain.
And then killed him off, and now Bell takes his place as evil genius.
Also, seriously, Peter got his ass kicked by DRJ? He has like 20 years on the guy.
And what the hell was with Olivia suddenly using her abilities again? Though, I guess both instances that s he used them is this episode she was emotionally stressed.

And ****, they finally give Astro something exciting to do and they kill her. ;(
 
Lucid said:
Seriously, was that not confusing for anyone else?
Click to expand...

I didn't think it was confusing, but they did kind of mash two cases together in a way that felt rushed.

Anyway, some of my thoughts:

The way that Olivia suddenly got mastery of the individual molecules in a person's body was kind of irritating. As was the fact that DRJ had no payoff, no scheme. They brought back a great villain and turned him into pudding.

This particular episode also featured: A wasted trip back to St Claires that offered nothing new at all, simply as a way for Walter to deduce what he already knew - that Bell was alive. We had what amounted to a cameo of Broyles to remind us that, oh yeah, he still exists.

Not to mention, what the **** was up with Jones's plan? He thinks he has to kill Peter, so his entire set up is to lure them into a trap, and then bludgeon Peter with a pipe 10 feet away from his armed FBI girlfriend? After all of the intricate plans he has had to kill dozens of people, he foregoes his powerful brain? Come on.

I like that they had the nerve to kill Astrid off, and I like that it was sudden, but I didn't like that Bell appeared there. It was already clear to the audience that he owned the place, and having the episode end with Walter cradling a dying Astrid would have been far stronger. I feel like Bell and Walter's reunion stole that scene from her, and that's not even remotely fair.

Season 4 has had so many missteps that I almost wish it didn't happen at all. Season 3 had such a strong ending. This season has just been subpar almost all the way through.
 
We saw Astrid in the flash-forward episode a couple of weeks ago right? I am pretty sure she is gonna survive. Walter will probably make her eat the Lemon-Brain-Cake or something. Either that or Olvia will perform surgery with her new found shadow-puppet-powers.

The episode did feel a little rushed. I know the series renewal was in question, so it kinda feels like they had to film enough scenes for use in either situation and then edit them together at the last minute.
 
I really don't like that they downgraded Jones to the rank of henchman and then ****ing killed him off!
 
Lobster said:
We saw Astrid in the flash-forward episode a couple of weeks ago right? I am pretty sure she is gonna survive. Walter will probably make her eat the Lemon-Brain-Cake or something. Either that or Olvia will perform surgery with her new found shadow-puppet-powers.
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**** I forgot about that. You're probably right.
 
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who felt unfulfilled with the way DRJ went out.
 
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