Fringe’s complex character dynamics are a step above the rest

If there is a show on television today that drives to a season finale, ramping things up to the Nth degree as well as Fringe does, I’m not sure what it is. In fact, I’m not sure I can point to a show that I didn’t appreciate in its first season that I’ve fallen so completely in love with since (Maybe if Dollhouse had gotten to the crux of its story sooner, it would have grown enough of an audience that we could have seen where it was going). Some will point to this particular episode as filler and setup for the end of the season, and I won’t necessarily disagree. But, I’d challenge you to point to a show whose setup and filler episodes are as interesting and thought-provoking as “The Consultant.”

If we can trust everything we learned tonight, we now know Robert David Jones’ endgame. While I wish we’d been offered more evidence of the Bridge’s success along the way this season, it seems that Peter’s sacrifice – as temporary as it might have been – wasn’t in vain. We had seen some the evidence of this last week, but when the season’s big bad sets his sights on destroying something, you know that the white hats had done something right in creating it in the first place.

Except … that can’t be Jones’ true endgame, right? Sending in Alt-Broyles to plant a device to disrupt the Machine could theoretically dissolve the growing balance and eventually destroy both worlds. What does anyone have to gain from a collapse of one (or both) universe(s)? Jones is too logical of a person to work against his own self-interest, right? If he is serving someone — and let’s face it: I’m not sure I can accept the fact that Jones is the ultimate mastermind and antagonist behind everything we are seeing – then he has to believe that he is going to be living large in whatever epilogue he envisions to this story.

When one takes a step back and looks at the Fringe story as a whole, it is an incredibly complex and layered text. One of the big payoffs for fans of the show is the dynamics between the multiple versions of the various characters. Take for instance Alt-Broyles’ conversation with Walter. Long time fans of the show are able to contrast the consequences of Walter’s decision to save young Peter with Alt-Broyles’ situation with his son. We’ve seen very little of this Broyles that would endear him with fans, but we do know some version of the history with his son. Regardless of the exact details in this reality, the audience is able to connect with this character and not necessarily completely damn him for his actions, now that we understand his motivations. A lesser show would have to be much more blunt with its storytelling than Fringe is able to be, because it has created these character “anchors” and trusts us to understand them.

On a different note, FOX still hasn’t leaked any news about a potential Fringe renewal. It’s currently hanging out in second place in our Curb the Cancellation poll – only in second because Pan Am fans rock! Word came down earlier this week that FOX had renewed New Girl, Raising Hope and Glee, but nothing on their more “on-the-bubble” shows. In a completely non-Fringe-science-tific poll I conducted on the internets, most people kinda-in-the-know seem to think there is, in fact, a fifth season in store for our favorite two (three? four?) multi-universe FBI teams. I’ve got my fingers crossed.

Notes & Quotes

• Any funeral scene done well is heartbreaking, but Astrid and (our) Lee were a lovely touch at this one.
• “It’s your world you ought to be concerned about. Because as bad as you think things are now, things are going to get much worse.” – Alt-Nina
• “It’s a miracle we arrived in one piece; you drive like a daredevil.” – Walter
  “For the eleventh time, Walter, I drive the speed limit.” – Astrid
  “Most automobile fatalities occur driving between work and home.” – Walter
  “So does most driving.” – Astrid
• “[Walter removes a body part from his bag] A hand?” – Fauxlivia
  “I removed it from one of the victims on our side.” – Walter
  “You couldn’t bring casserole but a severed hand is OK?” – Lee
• When Fauxlivia said that her universe didn’t have a “black box,” was anyone else expecting their side to call it an “orange box?”
• Domesticated badgers, really, as pets? This could have been a quote, but I was left questioning it to the same extent as Walter.
• The iPad must have made things MUCH easier for the prop guys on this show when they have to tackle the alternate universe.
• The other side doesn’t have Sherlock Holmes? I’m not sure how Katie and Julia could get through the day.
• Drunk Fauxlivia and Walter in a her housecoat might be my favorite on-screen pairing of all time.

Clacked by Ivey West
on Apr 13, 2012 @ 23:22 EST5EDT