Fringe

[gavin1701]

Technically that timeline already played out. The finale of season 3 saw that timeline all the way to 2020. The result was the alternate universe was destroyed, Olivia was murdered, and the original universe was soon to follow and die. The only solution was for Peter to use the machine to create the bridge back in 2011. The consequence of that action meant 26 lost years of his life, but as we saw in this episode the bridge has begun to heal both worlds. Waltnerate being a force for good, rather than one motivated by revenge, is probably also in their favour. Surely Peter can't restore time without it diverting again to the 2020 disaster. The Observer said it had to be that way, and that an offspring with Bolivia was in error, it should be an offspring with Olivia.

[CRAMBAM]

But with that knowledge, Peter could have changed things without ending his existence. Now....





SPOILERS











Lincoln Lee in the other universe is dead, when he didn't die before, and Col. Broyles is a bad guy, when he wasn't before.

[gavin1701]

But could he? We don't know that. We don't know how the bridge was created. All we know was that he and Walter had a discussion in the future, and Walter said he had no idea what the cost would be if they altered things. It could be that Peter's life force energy was needed to create that bridge. Plus Walter doesn't know how to revert the timeline, and none of the team know how to time travel, and the only way to get the timeline back would be to save the boy.

Why Broyles is a bad guy is one of the things I'm interested in finding out. Is he a shapeshifter? If not, what turned him? And where is Charlie? Does he even exist in this timeline?

[CRAMBAM]

That's an interesting point. Charlie may not be dead in the "real" universe.

And maybe at some point, it will be revealed that Broyles and Sharpe are not bad guys after all, and have a different agenda.

[gavin1701]

Perhaps. We don't know if Broyles felt guilt or remorse about what happened in the last episode. All we know is he tried to have the rogue shapeshifter killed. However he was responsible for trying to have Peter and Lincoln killed when they first infiltrated the alternate universe, and he was going to kill Lincoln with a lethal injection when he was first held prisoner by them.

[gavin1701]

Another possibility is that Broyles is deep under cover and is actually infiltrating Jones' network. Although given that Walternate was behind on Jones' and his plans that is less than likely.

[CRAMBAM]

The deep under cover thing is definitely possible. Or they could have the real Colonel Broyles somewhere else while being replaced by a shapeshifter that for some reason didn't kill him.

[gavin1701]

Fox has just announced it has renewed 3 series. No word on Fringe. I take that as bad news.

[CRAMBAM]

Not necessarily. Those are highly rated shows and no brainers. No word on bubble shows.

[gavin1701]

www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s118/fringe/news/a375707/fringe-future-to-be-decided-this-week-says-show-exec.html

That article also states if it does come back, what we've heard rumours about before: it will be for a 13 episode final run.

I'm willing to have a short final season if it means coming back.

[CRAMBAM]

Totally. A thirteen episode run can wrap things up without screwing up this season.

[gavin1701]

Excellent episode again this week, bringing us into the end game for the last few episodes. I'm really pleased they revealed Broyles' motivation for his collaboration, and I liked the way they had it parallel Walter's predicament from the past. It made no sense if he wasn't a shapeshifter, that he wouldn't be a good man, and it appears now that his conscience got the better of him. Next weeks set in the future looks like it could be another good one -- did I spot Walter encased in amber? I wonder if its present day Walter in the future and he's taken out of the amber -- which we know from a past episode is possible!

EDIT: I also forgot to mention, the producers have filmed 2 endings to this season just in case its the last which is a wise choice. From the interviews it looks like their plan is to finish this years story with finality, and give a hint at where they can go should they have a final run.

[CRAMBAM]

That's interesting too. I guess Amber suspends aging too?

[gavin1701]

I think that's the idea, so that whatever is happening inside of it can't advance in any way. Haven't they found insects from millions of years ago preserved perfectly in amber? I think they have.

[CRAMBAM]

Yeah, but they can't reanimate them

Should be a very interesting episode. I figured that Col. Broyles was going to die this week.

[gavin1701]

Ahhh but they can on Fringe they've done it before I thought Broyles could die too. I wonder if we'll see him again this season. Only 4 left.

[CRAMBAM]

An interesting read.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/20/fringe-star-john-noble_n_1440370.html?ref=tv

[gavin1701]

I'm really looking forward to this episode. I enjoyed the animated one last year with Nimoy. Interesting that they say it could be the direction year 5 goes. So does that mean they are going to time jump? I'll be watching it later on tonight. I think the start of this season was a bit hit and miss, but I've thoroughly enjoyed the middle and the lead up to the end. They've all been pretty gripping consecutively and the writers have definitely hit their stride this year.

EDIT: I won't check back in the thread until I've seen the episode so don't worry about spoilers

[CRAMBAM]

I don't know if they will time jump or not.

But if they do, it would be hard to set it up in a short season, especially in a show where they take their time.

They would have to time jump to 2015, and THEN 2036. We would have to find out what happened to Olivia and THEN get her to 2036, because even if they THINK she's dead, it would be a shame to not have her on the show.

[TrekBeatTK]

I really hope they don't time jump. I hope instead that the future of the show is to prevent that future from happening.

I hate when shows jump ahead in time, and it's almost always a bad idea. A one-off episode is fine. star trek did that well many times ("All Good Things", "The Visitor", "Relativity", and even bits of the Temporal Cold War). But I really hope they don't jump ahead and stay there because that rarely works well.

-TK

[gavin1701]

I thought it was very good. Great moment when you saw a certain someone in the amber, which I wasn't expecting!

I hope they do set season 5 in this future. But you're right we'd have to see 2015 at some point. I guess we finally know what Walter would be like if he had his marbles back and he looks to be even more cutthroat than the original Walternate. The promo for next weeks looks good, I'm sure I saw a shot of Walter and Walternate, surely a much anticipated meeting.

[CRAMBAM]

I wasn't expecting that person either.

Logically, Peter's changing of the timeline likely changed his outcome.

Also, an interesting thought--which Broyles is that?

It's not 100 percent certain that the removed brain completely fixed Walter. I think the brain tissue was used to heal the damage, but I don't know if this completes Walter.

I'm also curious as to who else could be in amber.

The episode doesn't mean much if they don't follow it up.

[gavin1701]

It has to be the future of the alternate timeline. Bell died in the original timeline. It's logical that being no Peter in this timeline, that Bell didn't sacrifice himself to send Peter & Walter back to their universe. We know that Walter never left his lab until recently and they have never stated that William Bell was dead, to my recollection.

It's clear Broyles is some sort of state controlled puppet -- but perhaps realising his old team is back will bring the old Broyles abck. It's hinted Olivia is dead, but for all we know she could be in prison or even on the other side. If next weeks promo is anything to go by it looks like Peter has to deactive the bridge between universes to stop Jones, for all we know our Olivia could be stranded over there. However, if she is to have Eta, then she has to outlive events by at least 9 months for her daughter to be born...

It definitely played as a first part of something more to come. It had a beginning and middle but no end.

[CRAMBAM]

Bell died in the original timeline, but he sort of faded into this nothingness.

Could he have been reconstituted between 2012 and 2015?

IS Broyles a controlled puppet, or is he playing along, biding his time, until he can help?

[gavin1701]

They said that Bell's atoms were literally splitting apart, so he used his life energy to power the doorway between universes. His soul was kept around by the soul magnets and inhabited Olivia, but his body was long gone and he kind of faded out but realised that the effort to save him was futile.

I got the feeling that when Broyles saw that liquorice it was his first sign of hope in a long time.

I've also realised there was no Lincoln Lee. I'm hoping that means he remained on the other side rather than died. There's a lot of questions. I'm happy for them to go this direction next year if renewed.

Here's speculation: They have filmed 2 different endings this year. I'm wondering if one of those endings has Olivia die, which may be one of the reasons her fate was kept a mystery in the future. Think about it, if this is the direction they are going next year, they will need Olivia and the actress to be involved. If they aren't renewed, they are free to kill her in some sort of final battle and bring payoff to the Observer's warning that for things work out okay, Olivia must die. Just a thought, but as always I'm often wrong.

[CRAMBAM]

True, but if they could have the science that developed soul magnets, then maybe at some time in the future, there IS a way to save Bell.

I thought there were more people in the amber and they only had time to free Peter.

[gavin1701]

There could have been more people in the amber. I wonder what Bell did to Olivia that Walter was so horrified about. I presume renewal or not, Nimoy will not be involved unless it's voice only, which is a shame, but you get the feeling the Fringe writers will do anything to have him involved which they proved this episode.

One of the Execs has just tweeted that out of 10, he is a 9.99 certain of a fifth season and has faith in Fox.

[CRAMBAM]

That's good. We need that 5th season to say goodbye, like Chuck had.

[StarFuryG7]

Cool episode, but I couldn't believe they left everything hanging like that.

[gavin1701]

I presume keeping it open was deliberate. We know they are finishing the story off this year (just in case they were cancelled). This leaves the door open for what a 5th season could be, and studios always like to know the direction shows are going creatively, some more than others. This episode proved that Fringe can continue with a strong narrative despite resolution to the main storyline.