Fringe: "Neither Here Nor There"
Sep. 23rd, 2011 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieThat was...hmmm. I think I was expecting things to move faster, maybe, after last season, although I suppose at the same time it's helpful to slow down a bit and get used to the differences in a Peterless timeline. Still, it seemed to take a long time to get to the connection between the case of the week and the other universes--I figured they probably wouldn't introduce anything that wasn't directly related to that, since everyone was tasked with figuring out how to keep the red and blue universes from destroying themselves/each other, but since things were looking pretty stand alone up until the last ten minutes, I was starting to worry.
They did an excellent job with all the subtle differences in our Peterless universe. Olivia is much colder, like she was in the beginning of S1; Walter is heartbreakingly "untethered" and childlike; Astrid is basically the same, but she does get to do more (this timeline might actually be a net improvement for her). That said, I hope they don't drag out Peter's return for more than a couple weeks. I miss him and what he adds to the group.
I've actually never been a huge fan of either Lincoln, so I'm ambivalent about Seth Gabel's addition to the cast. I don't know that we really needed a new guy to help elucidate the differences in this timeline, and if he sticks around once Peter comes back (assuming he comes back in something resembling the role he filled before he got erased), we'll have the same over-crowding problem we had when our Charlie was still part of the team.
In general, though, I'm pleased. And the promo made this season look excellent.
Shorter thoughts:
Yay, Peter's flickering in and out of the universe! Poor, freaked-out Walter, though. I guess it's apropos that Walter's the one who can see him.
Orange credits! I would think purple would be more accurate...
And it's...John Sheppard. Who immediately dies. Huh. (But...then he comes back as a zombie shapeshifter? Was he the guy Lincoln shot at the end of the episode?)
Re-animated bird! Way cool, Walter. (I guess the corpses Olivia showed Lincoln must be coming back to life, then, to tie into this? I didn't really understand what was going on there.) What was the music playing over this scene? It sounded vaguely familiar, and also like an impressionist composer...Ravel? Debussy?
Walter invented bluetooth video because he's a shut-in! That's pretty cool. Not so cool for Astrid, though...
Things you should not admit in public, #389: "I need to erase someone from time." P.S. Meep.
"There's nothing sadder than when two people are meant to be together and something intervenes." Was that an anvil that just landed on my head? I was too busy cooing to notice.
Ooooh, yeah, the Olivia we know and love would definitely not have been okay with never telling the families of the victims that said victims were actually dead.
So...Charlie died in the pilot here? Is Astrid Olivia's partner now? (Well, prior to Lincoln.) 'Cause that would be awesome.
Did Walter actually call Astrid by her name?!
Would Peter's disappearance actually leave a hole in Olivia's life for as long as she can remember, though? Wouldn't it be just for the past three years? Maybe she wasn't talking about Peter there.
I was wondering earlier if all this was taking place in the purple/orange/whatever universe, but I guess that universe only exists in that one room...? Or maybe that's just a bridge of some kind, with no wider purple universe outside the room. Okay, I'm still kind of confused.
Walter bedding down in his office was the saddest thing ever.
Come on, Peter! Come back soon!
They did an excellent job with all the subtle differences in our Peterless universe. Olivia is much colder, like she was in the beginning of S1; Walter is heartbreakingly "untethered" and childlike; Astrid is basically the same, but she does get to do more (this timeline might actually be a net improvement for her). That said, I hope they don't drag out Peter's return for more than a couple weeks. I miss him and what he adds to the group.
I've actually never been a huge fan of either Lincoln, so I'm ambivalent about Seth Gabel's addition to the cast. I don't know that we really needed a new guy to help elucidate the differences in this timeline, and if he sticks around once Peter comes back (assuming he comes back in something resembling the role he filled before he got erased), we'll have the same over-crowding problem we had when our Charlie was still part of the team.
In general, though, I'm pleased. And the promo made this season look excellent.
Shorter thoughts:
Yay, Peter's flickering in and out of the universe! Poor, freaked-out Walter, though. I guess it's apropos that Walter's the one who can see him.
Orange credits! I would think purple would be more accurate...
And it's...John Sheppard. Who immediately dies. Huh. (But...then he comes back as a zombie shapeshifter? Was he the guy Lincoln shot at the end of the episode?)
Re-animated bird! Way cool, Walter. (I guess the corpses Olivia showed Lincoln must be coming back to life, then, to tie into this? I didn't really understand what was going on there.) What was the music playing over this scene? It sounded vaguely familiar, and also like an impressionist composer...Ravel? Debussy?
Walter invented bluetooth video because he's a shut-in! That's pretty cool. Not so cool for Astrid, though...
Things you should not admit in public, #389: "I need to erase someone from time." P.S. Meep.
"There's nothing sadder than when two people are meant to be together and something intervenes." Was that an anvil that just landed on my head? I was too busy cooing to notice.
Ooooh, yeah, the Olivia we know and love would definitely not have been okay with never telling the families of the victims that said victims were actually dead.
So...Charlie died in the pilot here? Is Astrid Olivia's partner now? (Well, prior to Lincoln.) 'Cause that would be awesome.
Did Walter actually call Astrid by her name?!
Would Peter's disappearance actually leave a hole in Olivia's life for as long as she can remember, though? Wouldn't it be just for the past three years? Maybe she wasn't talking about Peter there.
I was wondering earlier if all this was taking place in the purple/orange/whatever universe, but I guess that universe only exists in that one room...? Or maybe that's just a bridge of some kind, with no wider purple universe outside the room. Okay, I'm still kind of confused.
Walter bedding down in his office was the saddest thing ever.
Come on, Peter! Come back soon!
no subject
Date: 2011-09-27 04:07 am (UTC)Did, however, find this. I hate you, Fox!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Okay, that was hilarious.
so many of these Peterless-scenarios involve great big swerves away from canon into unrecognizability!
Well, he was a pretty big part of canon...
Stupid Observers and your vagueness! Why don't you print us out a handy fact sheet for once??
I'm sure the two Olivias could scare them into giving out some facts...
That's... plausible?
Perhaps more so than that episode ever thought about being?
no subject
Date: 2011-09-27 04:38 am (UTC)Oho! Sneaky Fox, sneaking that onto YouTube when I wasn't looking!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Okay, that was hilarious.
Bastards!
Well, he was a pretty big part of canon...
As fascinating as this It's A Wonderful Life premise is, pulling it off well is gonna be tricky. Then again, Abrams & Co don't really aim low...
I'm sure the two Olivias could scare them into giving out some facts...
OH MY GOD I CAN'T WAIT FOR THEM TO GANG UP ON SOMEBODY. IT'S GONNA BE EPIC.
Perhaps more so than that episode ever thought about being?
Lalalalala it's noncanon I can't see it!