Fringe - "The Consultant"

Season 4, Episode 18

“Keep an eye on this universe, my dear. I’ve grown quite fond of it.”

This must be what it’s like getting used to the new normal. After spending so many episodes this season on an overarching story that was so frustrating and seemingly pointless, in the past couple weeks Fringe has just sort of dropped that original conceit in favor of something less complex and a lot more fun. I’m not sure that I believe the show’s producers when they say that all the hoops we’ve seen the show jump through has been part of a larger plan, or that I even for a second believe that any of this was worth it. But I am enjoying where the show is at right now, and I can only hope that it’s gets the chance to stay here for a good while before the next universe-upending event happens.

“The Consultant” finds Fringe in a much more confident place because, as with last week’s episode, the show is finally embracing the premise that was set up in the season premiere. No, not the one of Peter’s disappearance; that’s what set the show on the quality dive in the first place. I mean the idea of the two parallel universes being not only permanently linked, but also in collaboration with one another. Sure, the show’s been telling stories that involve or even center on events Over There since the second season, but with the universe reboot at the beginning of this season, the show has also rebooted the way that it tells its Over There stories. This has manifested itself in three ways

1. A better overall integration of the Over There characters. Last week, I took the time to create some new monikers for the alternate version characters, partly out of frustration with how many times I had to type “Alt-“ in front of somebody’s name, but also because these characters started to feel less like reflections of the characters that we know Over Here, and more like their own separate entities, with personalities that seem to exist separate of their cross-universe counterpart. Sure, sometimes the show likes to play the opposite games with these versions (as was the case with the two Lincolns last week) but mostly the show like to twist smaller, more subtle character traits, and leave the audience wondering how these two characters turned out so differently.

Not that it really matter anymore anyways. The show’s frankly gotten bored with such lines of questioning, and instead has set about fleshing out the Over There characters by giving them deeper stories which reveal something about them. In “Making Angels”, we got to see the extent to which Asterisk autism socially cripples her and the emotional pain that causes here (Hell, before that episode, I wasn’t even sure that she was autistic. I was halfway convinced her skills with number was due to some sort of technological enhancement to her person.)

Similarly, that episode also reminded us of how much fun Fauxlivia could be under right circumstances, and then the show set about systematically breaking down that outer, exuberant shell thanks to Capt. Lee’s death. Though we used to think of Fauxlivia as basically a much harder version of Olivia, she is capable of feeling deep emotions, as these past couple of episodes have proved. And yet even during her sadness, the show manages to keep her as a layered character, as we saw sad, drunk Fauxlivia turn back into fun, sobering-up Olivia, someone who wasn’t afraid to tease Walter. (In fact, much like Walter, I found myself warming to her even more during that scene.)

And that leaves Broils, a character that hasn’t had much to do. (But then again, neither has Broyles, so it’s something of an even trade.) But apparently Fringe had its semi-regular reminder that Lance Reddick was on The Wire, and is an incredible actor, and they gave him a showcase here tonight that services that. I’m not sure I’m entirely pleased with the fast-paced delivery of it all, but something knowing that Broils is not a shapeshifter, and is only working for David Robert Jones for the continued health of his son, humanized him a great deal. He was no longer a spy or a narrative tool. He was a person.

2. New explorations of the connections between the universes. For two-ish seasons, the relationship between the two universes was marked largely by antagonism, with the people on both sides more less hating each other, a sentiment that’s mostly born out of fear and confusion than anything else. However, thanks to the reboot, the two sides are now working with one another, and much like that allows the show to humanize the people Over There by casting them as something other than villains, we can begin to see the other universe in totality as something other that a looming threat.

As such, the connection between the two universes become more meaningful to the characters, and thus to the show, and now the show is allowed to explore exactly what that connection is. When the two universes were separated by…whatever-it-is –that-separates-parallel-universes, it was easier for the show to dismiss any sort of connection between the events that took place in the two universes, outside those instances of human meddling. Now that a physical connection exists in the form of The Bridge, the meta-physical connection has taken on greater importance.

Granted, the universe connection that literally saw the two versions of people experiencing the same fates was brought about once again by human meddling, but that’s not really the point. Walter goes over to the other side because all involved are aware of the interdependent relationship that has developed between the universes. They are currently facing a universe-hopping threat that is capable of collapsing both of them, and that causes them to not only wonder and the scientific principles that bind them together, but to make emotional connections that make that bond even stronger.

3. The stronger narrative/thematic role for Over There. Unfortunately, there have only been a handful of episodes that have involved characters crossing over into the other universe, but I’m beginning to wonder if that wasn’t done on purpose, if the show isn’t limiting the time we spend Over There as a way to make those few trips more meaningful. What is that meaning, you ask? Well, Over There seems to serve an interesting narrative/thematic function this season. A character crosses over to the other side, they interact with the people there (sometimes with themselves, sometimes not), and they leave the experience changed for the better.

Over There seems to work as tool for the character to reflect on themselves and enact personal change, and while it’s something that the show has played with before, it’s being leaned on a lot more heavily this year, and I think it’s a solid use of setting as a way to help move the story forward. It’s no longer important just because things happen there, but because it seems to cause things to happen.

To cite just a few examples: Asterisk now seems more attune, or at least more cognizant that she should be attuned, to the emotional side of humanity (just look at how she tried to work through her reaction to Capt. Lee’s funeral), while Astrid is more thankful for the live she has. Lincoln has seemed more determined to grow a backbone and get the girl. Fauxlivia is taking pains to open up emotionally. And Walter, well he was forced to face the consequences of his quest for scientific knowledge, but he’s also becoming more open to the world around him.

Obviously that bit about Walter changing can also be accredited to Peter, but I have to wonder if Over There hasn’t taken over the narrative role that Peter originally seemed slated to play. There was some chatter some episodes ago about how it seemed like Peter’s presence might cause all the characters to “wake up” and return to their original, prime selves, as was certainly the case with Olivia, but it other instances, like Walter and Lincoln, it seems like Peter only provides a first push, and Over There takes care of the rest. I can’t tell if this is the result of the writers growing bored or unsure of Peter in that role, or if they’re leaning on the connection between Peter and his origins Over There, but it’s certainly something I’m going to be keeping my eye on. And for whatever reason that it’s happening, it’s certainly working in regard to enacting character development.

Yet despite all of these positive steps forward that the show has taken, there’s still this underlying fear, for me at least, that this could all go away in the second. The overall arc was seemingly “dropped” only a few episode ago, and given that Fringe is never the type of show to leave its questions unacknowledged for two long, I have to imagine that they will get back to said arc before the season is out. I’m even afraid, as I was during the scene where Broils was walking toward The Machine, that the show will hit the reset button back to the season three status quo, and though I’ve been waiting for that for so long, I’m now beginning to like where this season had ended up, and I’m afraid to see it go. And considering that next week’s episode seems to be a continuation of the season three finale (which, reminder, I wasn’t a fan of), those fears only seem to grow larger in my mind.

Next Week: Tales from the FUTURE!

Quotes and Other Thoughts:

Okay, that scene with Astrid giving Asterisk a tin of coffee? Just fucking adorable.

The fact that Over There uses satellite to monitor air traffic activity and we don’t sort of pisses me off. I mean, that’s not really out of current technological reach, is it?

“I wanted to bring a casserole.”

“You couldn’t bring over a casserole, but a hand is okay?”

“Sherlock Holmes…Famous detective?...Penchant for cocaince?”

“Frankly, I’m still upset about Nixon.”