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I’m first going to start off by saying that I enjoyed the finale, “Brave New World.” It had a lot of great moments, like when Olivia was saying how Bell used her when she was young in the tests and now he is using her again to collapse the two universes or the scene where Olivia tells Peter she’s pregnant. Oh and when Holt was being interrogated after dying with the whole crazy eyes thing was really cool/ creepy! Overall it was a strong finale for a season that just seemed a little off base.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Fringe. It’s easily the best sci-fi show on TV right now and I applaud FOX for giving a final season to hopefully wrap things up nicely. It just feels like by the way season 3 ended, the writers had a tough time moving the story forward with a rebooted universe.
It seemed like season 4 lacked focus. Did anyone else get that feeling? It felt like for a while the writers didn’t know where to go while in the first three seasons there was a strong sense of purpose. They were able to bring back characters like Jones and Bell that we were done with from the original and it felt a little forced, having to explain that these characters are back and why. It was almost like they had run out of ideas and had to rehash old story lines in a new way and in the end it didn’t all quite come together well.
Regardless, it was an enjoyable season despite these flaws and I can’t wait to see the final season this fall. The ominous “they are coming” message to end the finale was a great way to end it and I can’t wait to see how things come together. The Fringe execs have said they know EXACTLY where they are going with the final season and with only 13 hours to end it all, it’s surely going to be non-stop awesome!
Just as a final thought; when when Olivia died from the gunshot from Walter, I was hoping that Bell would take over her body using the soul magnets. Then he could have continued the universe collapse as the power source. That would have been an interesting twist!
What did you all think of the episode? Predictions for season 5? Comment below!
-Tom
I found this season to be on par, if not excelling. I was really moved (and did shed a tear) during the Making Angels episode (Astrid crossed over and met her double) and again in Worlds apart. I also found that there were just as many jaw dropping moments, and questions answered (September’s mind, finding the beacon we saw in season 1, bringing back the creatures, the 2036 episode, DRJ, Bell). I was also feeling underwhelmed at one point in the season but I do think as a whole it was fantastic and was a perfect way to tie everything in together. The whole season in and of itself was something I had been wondering this whole 3 seasons “what would life had been like had both Peter’s died”? Not only were we brought back to the timeline that we were ‘supposed’ to be on in the first place but we did so in a way that keeps Peter in it, and Peter/Olivia share all of our memories of the first 3 seasons. Walter and Astrid are essentially back to normal and I prefer this Nina (who has greater ties to Olivia). Not to mention a lot of the ‘stand alone’ episodes that people complained about in the earlier seasons were tied into the mythology by having THOSE as the cases we re-examined this season.
KUDOS Fringe, cannot wait for season 5.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I still loved the season. It just had some flaws that held it back from being even better. Overall it was still compelling television and I’m so happy i got renewed for one more season, even if it is shortened. And yes, Making Angels was a great hour of tv.