Fringe – Recap & Review – Over There Part II

photo: fox

Fringe
Over There Part II

Original Air Date: May 20, 2010

Rachel – Sr. Managing Editor
rachel@thetwocentscorp.com

I really like the subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences between our world and the Other Side… like the photo of JFK as an old man, San Francisco’s Trans America building being part of the NYC skyline, and Boston being destroyed. Yeah, that last one is kind of a biggie. Even bigger, in fact, when we find out Walter did it.

When he kidnapped Peter 20 years ago, Walter really tore up the Other Side, so much so that those “quarantine” bombs actually encase a location in amber, stopping a tear. Pretty drastic. When Olivia and William Bell rescue Walter from the hospital, the plan is to get Peter and, with the use of a “door-stop,” slip back into our reality. As William and Walter drive to Boston for equipment, there is nothing but desolation… and Walter realizes his one selfish action annihilated hundreds of thousands of people. Yeah. This is all going to end horribly.

At the Harvard lab (which luckily survived the amber explosion by a few feet), Walter and William start work on the door stop while bickering about motives; financial, personal, whatever. William admits he helped create the shape shifters, but that he did so to get on Walternate’s good side. He also tells Walter that only reason he is on the Other Side is to prevent the war that Walter started when he stole Peter. Walter blames William for his years in the loony bin, what with the whole stealing pieces of his brain. It’s a pointless argument, really. They both have different recollections and different reasons for their actions. They decide to focus on the job at hand: to build a machine that will enhance Olivia’s ability to open a door back home.

Meanwhile, Other Olivia (O.O. from now on) arrives home to find Olivia in her apartment, gun at the ready. She asks O.O. for help in finding Peter and learns that her Other Mother is alive but Other Rachel and Other Ella died years ago. It’s interesting how broken Olivia is, stemming back to her familial relationships (Walter and Peter included) but O.O. has a mother and a boyfriend and seems so together. Back to the plot, Olivia pleads with O.O. to trust her, which is exactly what Walternate told her not to do. Therefore, O.O. pulls a gun on Olivia and a wacky Olivia/Olivia fight ensues. Olivia wins (duh) and to celebrate, she dyes her hair brown and cuts some bangs. That is one smart cookie! As she is leaving O.O.’s apartment, Charlie shows up, causing a bit of a “what the heck?!?” moment for Olivia. She tells him that the Secretary (Walternate) just called and wants them to move Peter.

Speaking of, he is working on that special “project” for Walternate and has a breakthrough of sorts. He deduces that the power cell needs some sort of organic interface to work, and (funny thing) it seems to be reacting magnetically to Peter of all people. Yep. Things are starting to clear up in Peter’s mind just as Charlie and Olivia (disguised as O.O.) come for a visit. She gives Peter the drawing of him destroying the world she got from an Obvserver and tells him that his friends are here to protect him. Charlie thinks this is a bit weird and gets a vase to the head for his troubles. Peter realizes that he’s being used by Walternate to destroy our side of the universe. He knows he is the only one that can work the machine and that Walternate has been lying to him. Then, in one of the great Fringe speeches, Olivia tells him that there are a million reasons he should come back… but the only real one is to be with her. Aww! Finally!

O.O. wakes up in her apartment and goes straight to Walternate. They track Olivia and Peter down to the Opera House where this little trip began (possible BSG shout-out?). Under fire, they get the machine up and running, but not before a grenade from Other Fringe Division destroys the block. William and Olivia barely escape the blast and make it to the stage. Knowing that Olivia won’t have enough power to open the door, William volunteers to be the power source. Crossing back and forth so many times has made him quite volatile. Literally. He will sacrifice himself to get Olivia, Peter, and Walter back to our reality, but not before dropping one last piece of information: he fiddled with Walter’s brain because Walter asked him to… to prevent the monster he was turning into. William does the mojo and the trio lands back in the Opera House in our world.

With all back to almost normal (which is all we could ever ask), Olivia takes a trip to that wacky used electronics store and sends a message back to her universe via the mirror/typewriter. I knew it! They brought O.O. back, not Olivia! And things look dire for Olivia. She is on the Other Side in a holding cell. The season ends with her screaming and pleading “Let me out of here!”

What did you think? Personally, I thought it was great and am still trying to wrap my brain around everything. What do you think next season has in store for us? Leave your two cents in the comment section below!

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine