FRINGE RECAP 18
Season 3: Episode 20 “6:02 AM EST”
“‘When I was a boy I really wanted a catcher’s mitt, but my dad wouldn’t get it for me. So I held my breath until I passed out and banged my head on the coffee table. The doctor thought I might have brain damage.’
‘What’s the point of this story?’
‘I like stories.’”
The countdown to the season finale begins! I honestly got the chills during this episode, and I’m happy to report that I haven’t been this excited for a season finale since the LOST Season 5 finale. Stuff is finally happening, and I can’t wait to see where it leads.
On a random note, I love that the guy who plays Sam Weiss is so bad-ass on FRINGE, and also hilarious as the drama teacher on COMMUNITY. If I wasn’t paying attention, I probably wouldn’t have noticed they were the same person.
And also, the opening of this episode was incredible.. What a great way to get the ball rolling, and establish the apocalypse chill factor. As you can tell by the intro alone, I am very excited about this episode, and as such, this is gonna be a long recap. Enjoy.
THE WEISS MEN
Thank GOD Sam Weiss is back at last! But what was with the bowling ball communication system? Was it Morse Code? What about The Newton Cradle on Sam’s desk? Once again, is it Morse code? I read in another recap that the largest Newton’s Cradle in the world was made with bowling balls, so I wonder if there’s some kind of connection there.
William Bell met Sam Weiss first. Interesting. And Bell trusted him explicitly. Which is odd considering the hidden message anagram on the chalkboard during the Season 2 finale, which specifically said, “Don’t trust Sam Weiss.” Was Bell duped by Weiss? Or were they co-conspirators?
Now, at first I wondered if Sam was writing in the same language as the Observer, and then I read smarter people than me who noticed that he was writing calculus formulas. Regardless, it still looked like the kind of notebook we saw the Observer writing in, which brings up the question yet again, ARE THE OBSERVERS FIRST PEOPLE!?! Will we find out more about the First People during these final season episodes? Or will we have to wait for season 4?
And in the scene when he was gazing at the sky, was Sam using the same kind of window that Walter invented back in the 80s? The one that allowed him to look Over There?
And final question: where is Sam taking Olivia at the end? And what did Olivia see under the door? It may have just been Sam’s shadow, but to me it almost looked like a ghostly shape, or a shimmer of something from the other side.
NIGHT TAKES BISHOP
“Give him the keys and save the girl.” I love a good callback, even to something that we all knew was coming. But now I wonder, why did the machine repulse Peter? Is that what the Observers wanted to happen? To remove Peter from the equation? And what about the picture of Peter in the machine? Was it simply that he was not ready to enter, so the machine knocked him away? Does he need some kind of mindset to properly meld with the technology?
And why can’t they wake him up? Where is his consciousness? Are we going to have another consciousness sharing storyline where him and Olivia meet on the astral plane or something to discuss what needs to happen? I hope not, as I don’t think we have time for that with only 2 episodes left.
LOOK SHARP
Jesus, Nina looking worried and anxious really gets my hackles up. If she’s nervous, bad shit is definitely going down.
“Tell Walter it’s on.” I love that I read another re-capper who thought the same thing as me about this line: clearly she’s not just talking about the machine. I hope she and Walter had some kind of back-up plan, maybe one that Walter didn’t entirely agree with, and she’s now telling him that time is up, and she’s going to do it regardless.
And about damn time she told Olivia everything. I don’t know why she didn’t try to pump Sam Weiss for more answers earlier. I still believe Nina knows more things than she’s spoken of, especially in regards to what Bell told her. I just hope she’s around long enough to inform the rest of us of what she knows, as the producer’s have teased a death in the finale arc, and Nina is definitely on the list of characters who might go.
OH, HENRY!
Henry is the baby’s name? Henry Bishop? I get that the cab driver helped save her life and deliver the baby, but I thought he was more of an Olivia (as opposed to Fauxlivia) friend. Especially as Fauxlivia didn’t meet him until the day the baby was born.
Anyone else think that it’s really sad that Fauxlivia still cares so much about Peter. She’s on the top of my list of people that might die, to atone for all she did to help Walternate. She may die stopping Walternate’s machine, sacrificing her life for Peter and her child.
Are Fauxlivia and Lee an item now? I definitely got a very relationship-y vibe at times. Especially with her comment about how she can only trust Lincoln. What about Charlie?
And finally, with Walternate still Over There, will it be up to the Fringe team Over There to save the day? That would be really interesting if the heroes of the finale were the new Over There characters. Which does make me wonder: when did Fauxlivia become a hero?
And final note on the Over There storyline; Fauxlivia in a cell is an AWESOME callback to the end of Season 2.
MISCELLANEOUS
So on the topic of character deaths, could Olivia be the one that’s going to die at the end of the season? Is that her task as our world’s protector? They keep showing us her and Peter happy, which is never a good sign in a tragic drama. But would they kill Olivia? Or Peter for that matter?
I thought the callback to white tulip was very interesting. That episode, if you recall, had a lot to do with time-travel, and the “sign from God” that Walter received was really just a time-traveler sending a message and pretending to be God. Which made me wonder about Peter and his “Fate,” and why he would be linked to the machine. Perhaps FRINGE has more time travel in mind for the future. Maybe Walter and Peter travel back to when the machine was first designed, and Peter imprints himself on the technology, thus explaining why it only reacts to him in the present. I know they did time-travel on LOST, but I can’t help but feel it would be a lot more interesting if done the FRINGE way.
Final note, sheep were the first things attacked by a vortex on our side. Coincidence? I read an awesome recap where they mentioned how no sheep exist “Over There.” I have no theories as to what importance sheep may have in the balancing of the universe, but I wonder if it might be significant.
Ok, that’s it for this week. Can’t wait for Friday’s episode, though I dread the summer hiatus and the months of no FRINGE and no recaps.
Ah well, enjoy the end of the season!
NICHOLASGRAFF.com 