Quick Take: Fringe, “Worlds Apart”
“Keep looking up after it rains.” – Olivia
Review: Fringe, “Worlds Apart”
(S0420) Don’t unplug your “Fringe Friday” sign just yet, universe-hoppers; despite a waning audience, and by extension, gradually declining profit margins, Fox has perhaps learned from its frying of Firefly and signed on to give Fringe fans the closure they deserve. Announced earlier today, J.J. Abrams’ sci-fi-bending drama has been slated for a streamlined 13-episode season to play out the endgame so recently put into motion.
Which brings us to “Worlds Apart.” Separate though the universes may be, Walter has had a dream – one in which David Robert Jones plans to annihilate existence in a dimensional-shredding singularity. The sense of excitement and urgency is certainly invigorated by the knowledge that, even if DRJ can be stopped, the Observers will still take over the world(s), having poisoned their own beyond repair, as revealed in last week’s flash-forward.
We’ve already seen the veritable Noah’s Ark of Fringe beasts that Jones plan to terrorize and populate the world with, and it’s common consensus that his plans don’t stop there. During a meeting between the most important figures in Fringe – some of which happen to be doppelgangers – they learn that Jones is progressing with his plans to synchronize the frequency of both worlds, effectively knocking out the pieces of the multiverse like a game of Don’t Break the Ice.
Having already proven his capabilities with the impossible element, Amphilicite, Jones has once again extended his influence over former Cortexiphan patients. Continuing down a running string of similarities from earlier seasons, we are finally reintroduced to the pyrokinetic Sally Clark and extremely empathic Nick Lane – or rather, Lanes – one of whom is misled in his attacks against existence.
The shuffled deck of abilities available to Cortexiphan patients has always been hinted at, but aside from Olivia, everyone dies before they can develop more than one power. Now, it seems, Jones has amassed an army in both worlds, causing Cortexiphan-induced earthquakes across Earth 1 and Earth 2 under the guise of protecting the multiverse against Walter Bishop and William Bell.
Unable to neutralize the onslaught of psychic attacks, the multiverse must confront a desperate reality: the bridge between worlds must be closed. Despite the aid being provided to the other side, it would ultimately amount to nothing should Jones succeed in killing both worlds. Even though there’s another season left to decide the fate of the worlds, it will be a true emotional feat to top the touching parting of ways between friends and counterparts alike as the First People’s machine raises the bridge between universes.
Help shows like Fringe by avoiding absolutes like "waning audience". It's far from proven that Nielsen ratings are truly representative of a show's audience, which is a huge problem for the more expensive shows that require high advertising income to fund. Let's instead instill some doubt as to the veracity of Nielsen as a means for marketers to gauge the value of the various advertising slots.
And, incidentally, the implication is that last week's episode was a one-off set in an apocryphal spin-off reality (hence the title "Letters of Transit"). I'm resisting the notion that the show's "real" timeline(s) lead to Observer invasion. Indeed, the Observer invasion story was logically at odds with key parts of the known Fringe mythology, lending further credence to the notion that it should be taken so literally.
should not*
@Tomalak Geret'kal Why is the Observer invasion story logically at odds with key parts of the known Fringe mythology?
Tom, I didn't mean to imply anything by using the term "waning audiences," though it doesn't help to ignore the reality that Fringe doesn't have the same following it used to. Was I supposed to say "Despite an audience which may or may not be growing"? Denying the facts of a situation doesn't make them go away. Fringe's fate may not be set in stone, but it's set in ink, and one reviewer isn't going to make or break the future of a TV show by qualifying its audience as big, small, growing, or waning. Though I'm flattered that you think I can.
As for the Observers - nothing about last week's episode "implied" to be one-off, aside from how it was conceptualized. Nothing much about Fringe is ever "one-off" if you've been watching, and nothing about last week conflicts with the Fringe mythology as far as I can tell (and I've watched it three times now). If you're going to suggest that entire episodes have absolutely no bearing on the overarching storyline, show me some evidence.