When Fringe is at its best, it's one of the smartest shows on television. And smart doesn't just mean moving along at a nice pace with cool twists, some snappy dialogue that you quote for weeks, or some goofy symbolism. To me, smart is layered television that works on multiple levels, capturing a theme that both embraces the on-screen standalone plot and the season-long arcs, yet also transcends the pixels on the screen. "One Night in October" had more layers than a hipster in San Francisco during the summer. Or a giant onion, if you prefer boring, overused metaphors. As long as you get the point: last night's episode was deep.
The episode's case of the week was an excellent way to show off the season's unique device of integrating both universes. The lowdown: Broyles brings Olivia a case, and it's a doozy. A serial killer has murdered almost two dozen people. The twist: The case is from the other universe, which wants our universe to help out on. The double twist: They want our guys to help out by going over there. The quadruple-dog dare twist: They want Olivia to bring our version of the serial killer (who happens to be a psychologist) over to their place to see if he can profile the killer, which, for all intents and purposes, is an exact copy of himself.
What happens after that is something that would make Rod Serling's head spin so hard that it falls off, explodes, then all the pieces explode again. How would YOU react if you met a copy of yourself? A copy that reminded you of what you potentially could have become? Good guy John (a dream role well played by guest star John Pyper-Ferguson) is sedated and unknowingly brought over to the other side to bad guy John's house in what Alt-livia calls a "calculated risk." We're privy to the knowledge that John can at any time get a clue that he's not only crossed over to another universe, but that he's hunting a version of himself who happens to be a serial killer. And sure enough, it all comes down on him at once, and he's got more mental fortitude than I do because he somehow not only kept it together, but recognized that he might be the only one who can stop him(self). I would have been curled in a ball in the corner weeping for my mommy.
Setting up John against himself was brilliant because it served as a case study for dopplegangers across universes, helping us learn about how they differ. The lesson (which we've known before but beautifully illustrated here) was that copies of each other aren't fundamentally all that different, but a simple choice can lead to a very different path, which in turn can have huge consequences. John from our side was saved from becoming a serial killer because he met a compassionate woman named Margery. Other side John had no such fortune, so he kept on walking down the path that would steer him towards sucking the happy memories out of people's brains through a straw. I could watch case after case of civilians crossing universes and having their heads explode. So cool.
Now we apply that thinking to everyone else, particularly Olivia and Alt-livia. We don't know their pasts after the Peter-free reset button was pushed, so now we're left to wonder how the two came to be so different yet also the same (Olivia did admit-–in awesome matter-of-fact fashion–to killing her stepfather). And let's give a round of applause to Anna Torv, who is no longer playing just two characters. She's essentially on Olivias 3 and 4, Olivia and Alt-livia sans Peter, who are very different from the Olivia and Alt-livia who knew Peter. The new Olivia is still incredibly guarded (last week I felt she had regressed back to Season 1 Olivia and this episode supports that) and the new Alt-livia is even more mischievous than Season 3's Alt-livia. It's a joy to watch Torv bounce back and forth between the two and act against herself, and you can tell she's having a lot of fun with it. She must be on set 18 hours a day!
There was also more proof that Fringe is going for that cosmic love story when Broyles mentions that some people can leave indelible impressions on others, perhaps so great that they can last beyond memory loss (in Margery's case) or even existence (Peter). Is the Peter calling out to Walter merely an imprint? Or is there an ethereal Peter somewhere trying to break through back into existence? Is Olivia destined to be a sad puppy without Peter in her life?
The case is also representative of the dangers of mixing the universes and Season 4 as a whole. What happened when one universe (good John) collided with another universe (bad John)? Someone's brains ended up on the wall. It was a cautionary tale that bad things happen when the two sides get together, and guess what? That's what Fringe is going to be doing a whole lot of this season.
What impressed me so much about "One Night in October" was how the writers came up with a cool idea and immediately took it to the next step. It's one thing to come up with a great concept (the notion of two universes interacting with each other), it's another thing to take that concept and apply it on a personal level (through John's eyes), which the viewer can then use to better understand how things are going to work in what is destined to be a very interesting season of Fringe. "One Night in October" is thoroughly an enjoyable episode and one of the series' best.
Notes from the Other Side:
– In the advanced screener Fox sent out to the media, you can hear Peter call out for Walter when Astrid takes the needle off the record. In the broadcast version, they turned the volume down on it a lot, but if you listen VERY carefully, you can still hear it ever so faintly.
– What does the scan agents go through before going between universes do? Is it a way to sterilize them so that contaminants don't cross universes (a common sci-fi trope) or is it something more?
– I'm still waiting for new Walter to let us in on his parental history. Did he even have Peter at all? Did Peter die as a boy?
– When Peter calls out for Walter at the end, why does he say he needs help?
– Does anyone want to take it down the path that maybe these are two completely different universes that we're watching now? If the universe is infinite then there are infinite possibilities, etc., etc., run with it!
– Astrid to Olivia: "Do you ever think that maybe your type just doesn't exist?" EXACTLY!
– Does anyone else not buy the convenient memory loss of John's? Someone had to have done that Men in Black memory-erasing thing to him, right?
– How fun is it to see how things are different without Peter? Over There Broyles is still alive and Charlie is dating Bug Girl! Anything else I missed?
– Just a hunch, but I think Altern-Astrid is the computer program from Person of Interest.
– I never make an effort to find The Observer that's hidden in each episode, but think I saw him in the very last shot of Olivia as she walks off screen. He's in the background, and very blurry. Does anyone else out there look for them?
Follow TV.com writer Tim Surette on Twitter: @TimAtTVDotCom
"Does anyone else not buy the convenient memory loss of John's? Someone had to have done that Men in Black memory-erasing thing to him, right?"
Nobody has thought that maybe the John who survived and came to our universe is not the good John? That maybe there was some "mind-exchange" between them and we have now one serial killer more in our universe?
I think it was made quite clear that they suspected that John-without-mellowing-memories might become John-the-serial-killer, which is one of the reasons they're going to keep a close eye on him, and I was actually waiting for a Hitchcock/King ending where we got to see Evil!John looking out at us - but I think they averted that with the Marjorie-quote he came up with. As in he may be more borderline than before, but the controls she helped him put in place are still there. I just think he's more at risk of breaking if there's a stressor in his life (Criminal Minds-speak ;) ).
I agree, this was such a good episode and one of Fringe's best! I really really REALLY don't understand why more people don't watch this show. Sure, it makes you think a little bit, but the storytelling and the acting talent is truly sublime. Anna Torv deserves every award there is!
I cannot WAIT for next week and I hope Peter comes back soon. I adore Fringe's "cosmic love story" and I truly miss Peter/Olivia, as well as the always fun Walter/Peter father-son dynamic.
Shows that make you think are the BEST! :)
Im curious, I know that it is now a different reality then the one we have seen in season one and two because it was altered by Peter and the Observers, but if there was no Peter then why would the other side still kidnap Olivia, and if there was no Peter how did she get back because the whole reason she new she wasn't that sides Olivia was because of her hallucinations of Peter. Fringe does a great job of with creating side stories that correlate with the season long story lines and the cases are always interesting and fun to watch , but Im hoping this kind of stuff is answered soon.
Everything is different from the previous 2 universes, so you have to assume that there are different reasons for all those things you mentioned.
Well, I'm under impression that Olivia didn't even meet Lincoln when kidnapped by the other side, so probably, things went really different, and so would be the way she came back, too.
I saw the blury observer at the end! Maybe Peter is calling for help because he is trapped in a cage in hell with Lucifer being tortured and... oh thats another show. I think bringing in the whole infinite universe story arc will complicate the hell out of this show. Having 2 universes was risky enough but paid off because quite simply put Olivia kicks ass as Faux-livia (Ringer take notes). The only thing we need now is for Peter to break out of Observer prison.
Loved this ep. It was fantastic and the choice to bring the two worlds together is brilliant!
although the episode was really good, but still... we're waiting 4 Peter's return... it's not about whether the show can survive with or without him? i mean why? we loved Peter ...
somehow, Peter is an essential char. in the story... rewriting him out is unimaginable unless they r gonna remove him from our minds too ...
I really did not like this episode of Fringe. The last 30 seconds were OK though with some glimpse of peter. The problem I have with Fringe now, is that it is telling a different story from where last season ended. I do not care about a scientist trying to stop a bad version of himself in an alternate universe. I want to know how the storyline with the observers plays out and the stuff about the first people.
This probably isn't enough of a story to be able to fill a complete season with it, that's why there are now these filler episodes. They did the same in season three, that season became interesting by the 10th episode or so. Nothing to do then to wait a couple of weeks so I can fast forward the BS episodes like this last one. Perhaps it also has something to do with the ALT universe characters, I absolutely despise them all. I really hoped Peter would destroy the ALT universe in the season 3 finale.moreless
1. It has to tell a different story, its a different universe/s that last season
2. Pay more attention, there never were any "first people" The "first people" were walter, peter, and the rest. They traveled back in time and hid the pieces of the machine for themselves to find. This is all explained last season.
3. The observer's storyline is a main component of the entire series, they can't reveal too much already with that.
I know that Peter, Walter and the rest were the first people. Perhaps I should have said it differently, I want to know more about the underlying story.
Don't get me wrong I love Fringe and agree with all you say, I am just so darned impatient! ;)
Not to promote another site or anything, but, Fringepedia usually keeps track of where the Observer pops up in each episode. I'm curious how/when Peter returns. Observer man was told to "fix it" but he ended up refraining from doing whatever "it" was. So. This shall get even more interesting as the season goes on. --I love that Alt-Broyles is alive! Alt Astrid does have some wicked skills!
I don't get how Alt-Broyles can be alive even if Peter is gone. Olivia keeps saying she was kidnapped, so what was used instead of Broyles' body to bring back Alt-Olivia ?
They could have used Olivia, for example
I had that same thought. and he looked like an action figure in that shirt!
Some random guys perhaps. Probably the cap driver Henry
Hey! Did anyone else notice that Alt-agent Lee seem very interested in our Olivia??? That could be an interesting development...
This was one of the best episodes of Fringe
good episode, this is an intriguing season
Trying to explain the differences between this world and the previous ones stating 'ifs' and 'sinces' is quite naive. The amount of chaos and entropy the non-existence of Peter created is too far complex to comprehend and/or justify . I'll just accept what's thrown at me by the show-runners for good measure. The differences are subtle, but they are there, and the effort one must make to spot them just makes the show all the more interesting in my point of view. I just hoped they would have picked a different world coloring method, or, at least, some metaphor that doesn't remind me of pokemon.
Ultimately, the differences between characters from both worlds tend to be based on character experience. Olivia, Walter, Lincoln, this episode's guy John... They are different because at some point their paths differed (oh i'm NOT even going to mention dna as the greatest humanity randomizer, for the reasons stated abovehand) and that's OK with me. But if so, what HAPPENED to Astrid? In one side she is a lovingly character whose greatest asset is her empathy while in the other universe she is a cold, albeit powerful data processor (?) It's like the producers wanted to have someone who would become the entire opposite...moreless
I'm guessing the reason Broyles is alive because if there was no peter then she never had to go there to get him back, but then i guess that doesn't explain how they could open the portal between worlds without peter activating the machine, have they explained that one already. and i just missed it?
I had my doubts with the first episode, but I totally agree last nights episode was fantastic.
Not to mention, the only reason the blue Universe Olivia escaped ahead of schedule was because the Peter in her head was telling her to go on, if she wouldn't have met Peter then nothing would've pushed her back and the exchage of Olivias would've happened according to plan: the Red Universe would've been done with the Olivia with Cortexiphan just in time for the one without Cortexiphan to go back to her own Universe.
Yes i agree with Sugar 2U
Phillip Broyles (Alternative universe) he`s suppose to be dead. Helping Oliva escaping when she was captured in the alternative universe, so why he isnt dead. Maybe something had changed because of Peter`s death ? If so who helped her excape that time.
This episode wasnt great but ok
this bugged me too... how come Alt-Broyles is back? I want Charlie back too then.. I do not understand how the bridge caused Broyles to be back? Who is bug girl again?
Because, the entire timeline of two universes has been reset. It doesn't matter what happened before, its all different now.
We know from last season that Olivia escaped the alt-universe thanks to Alt-Broyles (because she saved his son), whom have then been sacrificed and punished for his treason by the other side to get back Fauxlivia. Now that the timeline has been rewritten, all that we know is that the (double) "Olivias' swap" still happened. The terms of the final exchange though (the one that cost alt-broyles' life last season) is unknown. The fact that this precise fact has changed is perfecly logic because if I recall well, Olivia was haunted by Peter back then : that's why she knew that she was deceived in believing that the alt-universe was her own !!! Now that Peter has been erased, she probably not came back on her own. Maybe fauxlivia has been made and came back first.... we really can't know with all the things we know right know. But maybe it will be explain later. Just be patient and keep watching that great show.moreless
My problem with Fringe is exactly this, people from both universes make different choices, so there are chain reactions that changed almost everything, that means most likely people from the two universes shouldn't be the same. People died in one universe can't marry and make babies, so there won't have the same babies produced in the other universe. I assume and most likely should be, both universes exsisted from the same time, so as time goes by, differences were created as people made different choices, people died etc..., by this time both universes should have completely different people living in them.
There is an infinite number of universes and as it happens the one in Fringe is very alike ours.
love fringe .the ratings are pretty decent.i mean last season the finale was like low but this season is alittle higher than the finalke fo last season...so if the finale of season 3 was low and was able to gt renewed and season 4 numbers are alot better than season 3 finale im pretty sure fringe will get a season 5.fringe just needs to keep is numbers ablove the finale from last year and that it.it can tgive fox any reason to cancel the show....any way im loveing this season and i actually like the show alot better without peter how wierd is that.
Since Anna Torv is a niece of Rupert Murdoch Fringe will be renewed forever. :-D
I really really enjoyed everything about this episode ... acting, directing, writing, ambiance ...
BUT my highlight had to be Walter and the hommage to Steigman moment ... rotflmao ... love it!
I miss Peter, it's not the same without him
Yes, the absence of Peter is quite disconcerting, but I hold promise in that tptb have some mind blowing reintroduction of Peter ... because for a lot of us (not all by a lot) Peter is Fringe, and that can not be all forgotten ... can ... it ... ????
whats astounding is the magnitude of changge owing to Peter's disappearance and reversal of things. Alt-Broyles is alive! then i am very keen to learn exactly how Olivia's return to our side happened? who discovered it wasnt her? who got the phone call? what made our Olivia realise over there she didnt belong? did Altivia ever have Peter's son?!? The magnitude! is.. extensive! so much. it hurts more than what Peter did to Olivia by not recognising Altivia
Great episode indeed. I love a good thought provoking show!!
Also, *Stanton Parrish was terrific. An underrated element of Fringe is its weekly guest actors. A great one can make the show that much better. I Look forward to seeing him on Alpha's next year...
*For the record, I know who Stanton Parrish is; and I am aware that's not really the actor's name. However, with all things considered: I am going to call him Stanton Parrish from now on anyway.
Another thing that's different now is that Alt-livia is still with Frank and I don't think she has a baby anymore. Since Peter never existed she never got pregnant.
Writing Peter off (for now) was a stupid move. It just opens a gazillion of plot holes. Why is Broyles still alive when everything else just moved on like it was? Why did Walter/Walternate start the conflict in the first place if Peter never existed?
Peter died as a child, Walt went to the other side to save Peter and steal him. When he brought Peter back with him Peter drowned in the pond. Crossing over caused things to tear apart in the other side, thus the Amber that was present in this episode, and thus the hatred for Walter from Walternate The machine was still activated, we don't how or why, but that created the bridge from one universe to another that we saw last episode.
I agree, the amber indicates that most likely Walter did indeed go to the other side to save Peter. Whether he brought Peter back with him (and then he died as a child soon after), or not, one thing is certain - Peter did die.
Once the Observers have interfered to help Walter. This time they most probably didn't, so things went differently.
I agree with you, but there is one problem with that how did they worked the dimension machine if there isnt no baby or peter ?
I disagree. It doesn't create a gazillion plot holes, it creates a gazillion questions.....but the writers have done a good job so far. In just 2 weeks, we have learned a lot about this "new" universe.// Nevertheless, your last question is a good one. It's a big mystery at this point . There will a good explanation though, I am confident.
I really like the first two sentences Tim wrote. They encapsulated my sentiments for the thematic elements of this episode perfectly. But then the "Whoops! I'm writing for a young demographic" kicked in... "Better include Hipsters and... Onions... Perfect!"
What's this I hear about cancellation of Fringe? Do we have to go this way for every show which is better than halfway decent and does not involve some down and out celeb doing something incredibly stupid such as opening their mouths without a script? Fringe is one of a handful of shows right now which actually challenge the viewers' preconceptions on just about everything. Don't let something so good be killed by ignorant execs.
It's not ignorant execs, it's ignorant viewers that are killing the show. Fringe has come a long way from its premiere season of 9 million to 3 million now. Last season's finale was the lowest rated episode ever. And with the bad premiere last week that number is supposed to go down even more. To survive the series would have to gain viewers, not lose them.
Well Fox did say that they liked the numbers for Fringe last season for the time slot it was moved to. As long as they get 2-3 million viewers an episode they'll keep it around. Especially since the writers have told them they can write 6 seasons for the entire story arc. CW left Smallville alone with worse numbers for 10 years lol. I think we'll see Fringe make it to season 6.
same thing i just wrote.fringe season 3 finale was so low but was able to get pick up for a renewal.now all season 4 as to do is keep it numbers above the season 3 finale.fringe should be able to get a season 5 if the show can keep its ratings above the s3 finale.the show which it is doing that very well by keeping its numbers above s3 finale.i believe the show will make it to season 6 since the writers have told fox they have a 6 year story arc plan and maybe even 7 and 8..now if the show was on anyother night fringe ratings would be very bad and the show would been a goner it wouldnt have even made it to a s4.:)