Welcome to Multiversity Comics’ Summer Binge of Fringe, a series that Parks and Recreation’s own Ben Wyatt once called “airtight.” This week, we get an absolute thrill ride as the show gets us ready for its finale.
1. An All-Timer Episode
I love tv. I love tv so much that there’s only one person I know who loves tv in a similar way to the way I love tv (shout out Natasha). It’s rare, though, that tv keeps you genuinely, fully captured for the whole of an episode. Scenes? Absolutely, no doubt, they can take the whole of your attention. But for tv to really, truly capture you for a full episode, not only does it have to be firing on all cylinders, it has to be firing on all cylinders in every single scene. That’s not something that’s reasonable to demand of most episodes of even the best tv shows and yet, “The Road Not Taken,” manages to pull that off. It’s an episode that packs a punch from its first moments to its last, that serves up great performances, new layers for its characters, massive steps forward in the plot, and a sense of real stakes and tension. It’s an episode of Fringe so good that I almost turned on the finale before I realized that I had to wait because my review of said finale isn’t coming for another week. This, my friends, is what we call and A+.
2. Fake Science Rocks
Fringe’s penultimate episode opens with a bang- the Fringe division is briefed on the fact that they’re going after William Bell as a distressed woman gets on a bus, gets off, then literally explodes. (Authors note: I wrote that the episode was opening with a bang literally seconds before it became clear that an actual bang was happening). That spontaneous combustion marks the beginning of a great episode for fake science. The woman’s twin sister, as fate would have it, was a Cortexiphan patient with pyrokinetic abilities. Then, we get real gold in. The form of the multiverse. Much like the classic folding a paper in half to describe wormholes scene, the multiverse branch chalkboard illustration is territory that’s been covered time and time again but is truly enjoyable to watch, especially when John Noble is doing it. It’s good stuff and about as much fun as this show’s science fiction has been since the heist episode.
3. New Realities
The single most promising element of “The Road Not Taken” is Olivia’s story. Partway through the season, we were made aware of her past as a patient in the Cortexiphan trials. It’s been an intriguing, at times exciting, aspect of the show but in this episode, the story reaches new heights as Olivia sees flashes of an alternate universe. When she gets het visions and sees what mights be, the promise of this show grows and grows. Moreover, Olivia’s drive to get to the bottom of her past only intensifies. When that all comes to a head and she confronts Walter, her anger is palpable and justified even if it leads to one of the saddest scenes of Fringe we’ve seen.
4. Good God, Mr. Noble
This John Noble performance is great in a different way than we’ve ever seen before. In the episodes where we’ve really gotten to see Noble flex his muscles, he’s made to lean fully into the dramatic side of things. Otherwise, he’s made to do more expository dialogue or comic relief than anything else. That’s all well and good but here, he oscillates between a number of modes of Walter and it’s, of course, a delight. The scene right before the end of the episode where Olivia confronts Walter about his experimenting on her is absolutely stunning. Walter’s fear for the future and true regret over the sins that he can’t remember is genuinely heart wrenching. This is far and away the most acutely upsetting thing that’s happened on Fringe thus far, and this is a show that’s shown its fair share of tragedy. There’s the personal betrayal of it all and the regret of it all and the knockout performances of it all. John Noble is so good that you’re completely enveloped by his sadness and take it on as your own. It’s so good that that sadness makes you want to stop looking at him but you can’t because you know what? He’s so damn good. Bow down to John Noble.
5. Let’s GOOOO
So this is it people. Olivia is angry and ready to solve the Massive Dynamic mystery. Walter has his breakthrough moment with the ZFT manuscript just as the Observer comes to take him away. Nina Sharp is shot in the chest as she gets off of her elevator. This is great setup that jazz me absolutely jazzed going into the finale. There’s an energy and momentum we have that’s greater than we’ve seen and that the show can’t back away from. I’m more than ready to get into the finale.
