Fringe Finale: Like a double rainbow, what does it mean???
Not Blue! Not Red! Grey, the future is...
Ahh, the future. What does it hold??? Will you win the lottery? Perhaps live to see the Cubs win the series? Will Christina Hendricks show up at your door and reenact the scene from Firefly with her and Mal in his bunk??? Err, sorry, I got off topic. The point is, no one knows what the future holds… Unless of course, you’re Peter Bishop! Dun, dun DUNNNN!
Intrigued? See you after the jump…
Previously: Peter touched the machine and went zap. Peter got better and touched the machine again and was sent to the future…
Alrighty then! We are now in the year 2026. Peter is in a hospital bed, Olivia’s niece is a Fringe agent, Astrid looks pretty with a new haircut and Olivia is telekinetic. Got that? Oh, and the other universe has been destroyed, Walternate is leading a terrorist organization on our side and Broyles is a Senator with a baby blue robotic eye. Is that everything? Ohhhhh, and Walter is in prison for being…well, Walter.
I think Unibomber-Walter looks cute and cuddly!
Eventually, Walter realizes that he is responsible for sending the pieces of the First People’s machine back in time. And he also believes that he brought Peter to the future in order to tell him what a mistake it was to activate the machine, as it led to the destruction of the Alterna-verse, and consequently, the inevitable destruction of ours as well. Peter realizes his destiny and creates a bridge between both universes so that they can all solve their problems together! And shortly after he does that…he fizzles out of existence. I hate when that happens.
After the Walters and Olivias glare at each other for a sec, we cut to the Observers standing outside the Statue of Liberty, remarking to each other that Peter was successful, and that the others don’t miss him, because he never existed…
A few thoughts:
- It’s already been said that Joshua Jackson WILL be back next season. So he didn’t complete cease to exist. As to what his role will be next year, well we have four months or so to wait to find out. I hope he goes with Observers in some manner. Or perhaps a TREK through the afterlife with William Bell. (Get it? Trek…Bell is played by Leonard Nimoy…okay, never mind)
- If Peter didn’t exist, what happens to Fauxlivia’s baby? Did it cease to exist as well?
- I’m all for having both Olivias and Walters working together/against each other in view of one another. Both Anna Torv and John Noble have proven that they can do excellent work with the subtle and not-so-subtle differences between their different characters. But if Peter never existed, do they still have the memories of everything they have been through? Will Olivia remember that Walter put her in prison and she had to escape? (Come to think of it, Fauxlivia should have a very similar memory…) What will be the reason for the universe collapsing if Walter never crossed over to save Peter? Do Androids dream of electronic sheep??? Ahh paradoxes, gotta love ‘em!
- Word on the street is that Seth Gabel is getting promoted to a full-time character next season. That should make a lot of Fringeophiles quite happy. I’m guessing it will be in the form of the Lincoln Lee from over there. Good for him and for the show. If Peter is elsewhere for a while, he’s a capable stand-in to partner with Olivia. I wonder if he’ll have more luck romantically with Olivia…
- And on that notion, what is going to happen to Charlie? I say they ship him over to our side. Why? Because we miss him so…
After watching the finale a couple of times, it made me wonder: Was this meant to be the series finale? News of Fringe’s renewal for Season 4 broke in late March. I’m guessing that the ending was already lined up for the possible series finale at that point. According to this interview with showrunners Jeff Pinkner and and Joel Howard Wyman, that was not the case. But if it was, I wouldn’t expect them to admit it. Who’s going to say, “Yeah, we thought we were done so this was meant to be the end of it all.”
I didn't think his stare could get creepier. I was wrong…
If that’s the case, where does the show go from here? Everything that happened in the future can be washed away as they often are in the event of time travel stories, but in the interview they mention that some of the things that were mentioned in the future may come to pass, i.e. Broyle’s robo-eye and the Detroit incident that he and Peter mentioned. Also, the trial of The People of Earth v. Walter Bishop and his crimes against the universe, that sounds like it could take up half a season right there.
This happened. Or did it?
In conclusion, I rather enjoyed the finale, but I can understand why some people were less than enthused with it. Olivia getting killed by Walternate should have some emotional resonance, but it ends up being washed away in about 15 minutes. All in all, this entire season was fantastic TV and I can’t wait for season 4 to begin.
What did you think? Let me know in the comments.
Images courtesy of FringeFiles.com
Absolutely correct. All that glitters is not gold