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‘Fringe’ recap: labor pains
















Fox renews 'Fringe' for Season Four


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-- Andrew Hanson


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Ashley said: "Olivia in both universes is a moral person trying to help people. But Fauxlivia in our world was really awful, committing murder in cold blood. It was totally out of character and I can't reconcile that departure."

I think the jury's still out on what kind of person Bolivia is. She's clearly more ruthless than Olivia -- this came out not only in how she carried out her mission in "our" universe, but also in how she fought Olivia when they met in her universe. Her apparent lack of remorse at killing people in our universe can be explained either by a decision to turn off her emotions in order to get through a horrific mission, or by her being a cold blooded killer. Until recently, I thought we were supposed to see her as an unsympathetic killer; a woman very different from Olivia. Now, I'm not so sure, but I still don't recall seeing her display much compassion or moral feeling.

Even if you missed the best scene Andrew, I still enjoyed reading your infectiously enthusiastic recap that actually had a lot of value added description. Ditto squared on just about everything. Well done.

Mostly I want to shout out to Alfred in the comments. I have been a bit of a lonely critic on various sites of Joshua Jackson's acting skills. So much, that I stayed away from comparing him to Seth Gabel, who knocked that scene outta the park. Could JJ have done it, I don't think so. Oh, he's not horrible and certainly much improved over laconic mannered Pacey diatribes, but he's limited. He has a narrow range of expression. He does earnest very well, some snarky, and irritated (what millionaire actor can't do irritated?). But that's about it. Where he really exposed his deficiencies I think was when he was killing shape shifters. I think he was going for madly evil, but it amounted to staring blankly off into space. Then there was the scene with Anna that episode (I think) that convinced me more they SHOULDN'T be together since there was so little chemistry. How many times is Anna flying out there alone, needing to carry both of them? At least there is no Peter doppelganger, because you honestly couldn't tell the difference, IMHO. His strength is playing off the other actors, giving them believability. So, Alfred, nice not to be alone on this. I'm afraid though it is the actor you've noticed, not the character. Normally, this might not be so apparent, but the acting is so top flight this series, only the best can keep up.

I think Fauxlivia is a rough hewn product of her fractured world. If there were some terrorists to blame for all their suffering, anyone might go medieval to stop them. Also, their Fringe Div. has the power of life and death and no time for gentility doing their very dangerous job. Remember when Astrid was deciding whether to amber the Opera House? Linc and Faux bantered about certain death right there, like it was an everyday thing. You maybe lose some respect for life when death is all around. I just think Faux cannot be judged entirely by our comfortable universe's standards.

Fringe only gets better and better. Fantastic episode!!

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