Fringe: "Reciprocity"

[icepixie]

I don't really know what to do with this episode. Good Character Turns Evil is just about my least-favorite narrative device of all time, so I am...reserving judgment on Peter's "weaponization." (And yes, I know his con-man past doesn't mean he was ever really objectively "good," but...you know what I mean.)

Did like the moment where Olivia told him she understood that the fallout from Fauxlivia's mission was probably not all sunshine and roses for him either. That smile he gave her was great. "I'm gonna get laid again! The one I've wanted for years is giving me a chance, yay!" Of course, she may not feel so warm and fuzzy toward him when she finds out he was the shapeshifter killer. Those poor kids just can't catch a break.

Also liked Nina! It's been forever since we saw her. She should be around more, as should Brandon. ("Can I swallow?" Awww.)

Comments

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

You know, I was worried at first that it was going to be Good Character Turns Evil, which I also dislike. (See: Garibaldi in S4. That storyline doesn't work for me at all because basically nothing he does is actually real, and that kind of programming/brainwashing/evil twin/whatever is almost always how that device plays out.) I thought the Machine had programmed him, or Walternate had done something to it somehow, whatever. But I think for all that Walter is talking about "weaponization," that was still Peter. Walter probably can't accept that Peter would do something like that, so he's looking for some outside influence, but until/unless I'm proven wrong later on, I don't think that's the case.

I mean, it was hard to watch him kill the shapeshifters, but from his perspective he thinks this is the best way to save his entire world, to keep him from getting caught up in Walternate's plan. Whether he's justifying it as an ends justify the means kind of thing, or whether he genuinely doesn't believe the shapeshifters are anything other than a weapon and that therefore there's no moral dilemma in destroying them, or both, I don't know that that necessarily makes him evil, or even more morally suspect. Like you said, he was a con-man for a long time. This is probably more in tune with who he actually is than anything else.

[orangetango.livejournal.com]

Yes. Brandon's comment was HILARIOUS.

I'm watching the show as we speak, JUST found out that Peter is killin teh shapeshifterz. I can't even sit through an episode anymore without having to stop by here and get spoilers.

[rowdycamels.livejournal.com]

To be fair, Olivia was pretty matter-of-fact with her, "But who would want to kill shapeshifters? I mean, besides us?" But yeah, the cold-bloodedness of it was disturbing. At least Peter was too ashamed to tell Olivia about it, which means that he knows his flimsy rationalizing will work even worse on her than it did on Walter. He knows it was wrong, yet... hrm. I'm not convinced it was the machine that's messing with his head. I still think Walter's brain-enhancement creepiness that Peter drank has something to do with it.

I was so afraid they were going to make our!Brandon evil and dead like they did the other Brandon! I'm so glad they didn't!