Fringe Review: Love, Fate and The White Tulip Comments (Page 3)
70 Comments
SnakeTheCritic Rank: Guest Star
January 19th, 2013 1:25 PM
★★★★☆TV
A symbolic ending to an amazing series.
I can't decide whether I still have questions, or simply just want more answers. Nice job Team, Fringe!
@Carissa Pavlica ╍●‿●╍
Thanks for all the amazing reviews. At one point they kept me a fan. ✌
KansasGuest Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 1:14 PM
@Sharda - I think you were about to ask what JJ Abrams is doing next. What is he NOT doing? He's executive producer on NBC's series, REVOLUTION. He's producing the next ST & MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movies. And, I just read this morning that his production company has optioned the rights to a book written about Lance Armstrong's fall from grace. If that last one is true, I just hope Armstrong doesn't get any money from the project. If he does, I'll have to pass on seeing it.
BC
January 19th, 2013 1:10 PM
Got cut off...my only other remaining addiction is "Person of Interest". Was bummed when "Stargate Universe" was cancelled. So farewell to the reviewers and the fans who commented here, I will miss you all (even "Olivia Dunham's rants).
KansasGuest Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 1:10 PM
PART III, CONTINUED...risking everything for their children made me tear up. BRAVO and thanks for a wonderful series!
KansasGuest Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 1:08 PM
CONTINUED FROM BELOW...past remains unaltered - because September will always save them, no matter how unemotional or emotional he is as an Observer. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it!
LOVED the finale. Have no idea how these "Olivia" & "Peter" camps developed because I have always seen the core characters as one family. The inclusion of the Altverse, Olivia's cortexiphan past, and former Fringe cases being factors in saving Earth's future was awesome. Loved the weirdness, Fauxlivia's cool streak of gray in her hair, and learning that Walternate was still at Harvard. Also, how fitting that Windmark was literally crushed by Olivia's emotional response to Etta's memory! What made it the most perfect end for FRINGE though is, in many others' words (not mine), what started with Walter bringing a boy through a portal also ended with him doing the same thing. Walter made it right and his son knew he loved him. The discussion btw him & Donald about parents risking eve
BC
January 19th, 2013 1:04 PM
I'm with you, Triphazard85, with regard to the Olivia Dunham poster.
I'm going to miss this show. A lot of it didn't stand up well to over-analyis, but it's a show after all and meant as entertainment. Would like to have seen Windmark float away after being shot with one of those "cool" bullets, but his end at Olivia's hands (or brain) was more satisfying. Loved it when Walter finally called Astrid by her proper name. Judging from his sly smile, it appeared that he always knew it and it was just his private joke to call her by similar sounding names. I always enjoyed listening for the "Astrid d'jour" on each episode...kind of like watching for Hichhock to make his traditional appearance in his movies. The only thing that left me scratching my head was how and when Walter mailed the white tulip. He went off into the future, but it would have to have happened before the Observer invasion. But I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. Just sad that the series has ended. My only other rema
KansasGuest Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 12:55 PM
As always, those who are unsatisfied with a time travel-based finale are those who think of time as linear and possibilities as black & white. Therein lies the time paradox and the danger of overthinking these kinds of finales. Michael & Walter convinced future scientists that emotion is of equal important as intellect in the development of future humans. But, that doesn't mean that the Observers erase their own future. Not even December & Donald knew what would happen to them. They just knew they would be different. Donald/September can't be that different as an Observer because then *Michael* wouldn't exist. I propose that the "Observers" (catch-all phrase for future humans) develop with emotions and that they continue to time jump because they can & are curious. Also, that even though they try not to change events of the past, an Observer with emotions would be less able to resist saving a father & son who are drowning. That's the reason the Bishops past
triphazard85
January 19th, 2013 11:05 AM
Ok just to explain my theory why Peter still exists. Peter still exists due to the fact that he is from a different timeline. Peter is an anomaly he should never have existed in the first place due to the machine in season 3 which had had nothing to do with the observers. Hence September did not save him from the lake, Walter did not cross over to the other side etc.
I will miss this show all the characters were well thought out. It had a good balance of drama, Sci-fi, Humour and action.
The only thing I am glad about in this ending is the fact I never have to see any of the comments from the narrow minded, obsessed and mentally disturbed poster known as 'Olivia Dunham'.
gatorgal Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 10:57 AM
Ok, just saw the part again about Peter finding the tape and watching it and Walter explains when Peter gets the letter, he will not understand it, will probably call Walter to ask about it, get no answer, then go to the lab, where he will not be. I would imagine that September told Walter of the future invasion and they started making plans well before 2015. But how could he not have warned Olivia and Peter ahead of time if he already knew? I guess if the invasion hadn't happened in the first place and Walter was still there, he would have come up with some crazy reason for sending Peter the tulip.
gatorgal Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 10:05 AM
@ Endoftime figure= Please, tell us how you really feel :-P.....
I think I read someone mentioning Fauxolivia saying "So you found her" meaning Etta. It is clear that we missed Olivia's entire explanation from that day in the park to where they are today. It wasn't necessary as it would have added time to the show, we already know it, and Fauxolivia's remark lets us know that she and Lincoln now know the whole story. While I too would have also like more time on the other side, time was not on Olivia's side and I think they were trying to portray that. She couldn't sit and have dinner and drinks with them, she had a mission.
Maude Logan
January 19th, 2013 10:03 AM
Loved it & will miss it.
gatorgal Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 9:51 AM
Sorry for the stupid typos, re-watching the finale as I type is never a good idea. ;-)
gatorgal Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 9:47 AM
Also, was any explanation given for Olivia's missing wedding ring? I couldn't tell from the reset back to the park if she was wearing one. Also, as gross as the exposure to "fringe" events was, some of the things we saw explained the screen fades: the butterfly,the six-finger hand print, and I know we saw the frog and apple on the doors when they went through that portal to find Michael. I would have liked an explanation as to the importance of the sea-horse, the leaf, the frog, the apple, the butterfly, the handprint..have I missed any? I'm glad Walter didn't die, but I hope Peter, Olivia and Astrid find the tapes. But I got the impression that they weren't made until well after the invasion. Could be wrong, though, since Walter had no idea.
gatorgal Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 9:34 AM
Just a few observations: I also had wondered if the Observer's never existed,then September could not have save Walter and Peter from the lake. So apparently they had some way to "restet" time to 2015? I don't think Olivia smashed Windmark. She made the lights go out which caused him to look at cock his head like a lizard (kudos to Nina!) which gave Michael his moment. THat child was powerful, as the interrogation revealed. After Windmark was smashed and Michael put his finger to his lips: "shh, our secret". I am wondering if at some point Walter gave Peter inserted a submlinal message in Peter that would be triggered by the tulip. Maybe in 2015 mail delivery was so good that you could guarantee a delivery date for first class mail (in our dreams) I just hope he wasn't with Astrid and then he went "poof" as he was milking Jean. That would be too traumatic. :-)
Sharda Subramanian
January 19th, 2013 9:00 AM
I am happy with the season finale. I know I may be a little morbid, but it was great satisfaction to see how some of the observers and loyalist come to their demise. They writers brought back previous friends from the other seasons, the creature who popped out of your gut, the team shooting the observers with the virus and seals your mouth shut and seeing one of them with no head. I cheered seeing how Windmark met his demise. He just stared at Olivia as if she could not touch him and when she saw her bullett,she gathered her strength and he finally came to his end.
I was happy to see what happened to the cow,since she was a part of the show for the last four seasons, Donald explaining how the observers came to be and how much Astrid and Walter really loved each other. Hearing him saying her name many many different ways was always funny. The finale answered many quesitons for me and it is hard to saying goodbye to a show that was creative and engagin. I wonder what will J J Abrahms n
Endoftime figure
January 19th, 2013 8:53 AM
Now that fringe is over, let me give this show two big middle fingers for the utter and shitty way they handled Peter bishop for 5 years. You underused josh, you made his character be the "emotional one" who did NOTHING. Olivia gets the last laugh while Peter is made to look stupid, useless and incompetent. Everyone is bragging away about Walter and Olivia but then go and trash Peter. Everyone else gets their moment in the sun and they get awarded for it. Josh gets his moment and he gets HATED and criticized for it. And let me say how DISGUSTING it is that Olivia kills windmark making Peter look stupid.
I hate this show, I hate all the characters, I cant stand this fanbase and I will never watch another Joshua Jackson tv show if he has to support the female lead. Screw this show.
WatchesTooMuch Rank: Guest Star
January 19th, 2013 4:59 AM
1. No mentions of how Olivia, charged up with cortexipham and fired up by her love for her daughter, turned out all the lights in Manhattan and flattened Windmark with a pickup truck?
2. The father-son love thing was laid on way too thick this season, and especially in this episode. If there was one thing I could change, it would be that.
3. No mentions of how callously our heroes slaughtered the loyalists using the hydra-creature-gas? They might not have had a choice, but there wasn't a hint that they minded. And treating the anti-gravity bullets as a joke was sick.
4. It wasn't a great finale, and it wasn't a terrible one. Given the unnevenness of the series, especially in the first half of Season 4, I'm thankful that I didn't walk away disgusted.
G. de Bruijn
January 19th, 2013 4:39 AM
If the observers were never there, September wouldn't have prevented Walternate finding the cure for Peter in 1985 and Walter wouldn't have crossed universes. Therefore none of the series of Fringe would have happened...
Carissa Pavlica Rank: Staff Member
January 19th, 2013 3:36 AM
Sorry @Jim, but we didn't know that going into the season. When Etta was still alive, we didn't expect a time wipe.
Jim
January 19th, 2013 2:48 AM
"Essentially, Fringe Season 5 never happened." The entire season was about putting together the pieces of a plan to re-set time and wipe out the invasion and everything that happened after. So, obviously, we all watched this season knowing that the point and the ending to things was a re-set of time. It's not like that came out of left field like Dallas when they wiped out an entire season as a dream.
Carissa Pavlica Rank: Staff Member
January 19th, 2013 2:45 AM
@Segun - You had me at Defying Gravity. Talk about a life cut short. At least Fringe got to see an ending done according to its creator.
Carissa Pavlica Rank: Staff Member
January 19th, 2013 2:41 AM
@jmcdermon I always thought the original 12 Observers were sent back to study humans. I think their interference with 2036 was an afterthought to the series end due to time constraints, but that's just me. They needed the context in which we lived, at first. Until we discovered last week September meant a different boy must live. Unless it was a last minute writer change. We'll never know for sure!
Segun
January 19th, 2013 2:39 AM
It still hasn't hit me that its gone. It's not as bad as the end of Farscape, but still. A lot of Fringe reminded me of the final season of Stargate Atlantis and what might have happened if things had gone a different way. I know some people aren't going to be happy with this season but I'm satisfied. One of the things I always remember about Stargate Atlantis and even Farscape was that the ending no matter how good wasn't what I remembered the most. It was the little things, the scenes that best exemplified the characters I had grown to love. Maybe a short lived show like Defying Gravity had a better series finale but Fringe has always been about looking at the whole. It was a good run, a confluence of events that had to be experienced to be believed. You'll be missed old friend.
Carissa Pavlica Rank: Staff Member
January 19th, 2013 2:38 AM
@osofine - don't get me wrong, just because I didn't put the finale in the top ten of all time doesn't mean the series itself isn't. It will forever be captured as unique, fresh, emotional and ultimately rewarding. A finale can't ruin five seasons, but a fifth season wrap up will be coming, as well! :-)
Carissa Pavlica Rank: Staff Member
January 19th, 2013 2:34 AM
Kay, if I want closure from a show that knows ahead of time it is ending, I'll say I want it. If you don't, then good for you.
Walter: It's a beautiful name. Astrid: What is? Walter: Astrid.
Rank: Guest Star
January 19th, 2013 1:25 PM
★★★★☆TV
A symbolic ending to an amazing series.
I can't decide whether I still have questions, or simply just want more answers. Nice job Team, Fringe!
@Carissa Pavlica ╍●‿●╍
Thanks for all the amazing reviews. At one point they kept me a fan. ✌
Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 1:14 PM
@Sharda - I think you were about to ask what JJ Abrams is doing next. What is he NOT doing? He's executive producer on NBC's series, REVOLUTION. He's producing the next ST & MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movies. And, I just read this morning that his production company has optioned the rights to a book written about Lance Armstrong's fall from grace. If that last one is true, I just hope Armstrong doesn't get any money from the project. If he does, I'll have to pass on seeing it.
January 19th, 2013 1:10 PM
Got cut off...my only other remaining addiction is "Person of Interest". Was bummed when "Stargate Universe" was cancelled. So farewell to the reviewers and the fans who commented here, I will miss you all (even "Olivia Dunham's rants).
Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 1:10 PM
PART III, CONTINUED...risking everything for their children made me tear up. BRAVO and thanks for a wonderful series!
Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 1:08 PM
CONTINUED FROM BELOW...past remains unaltered - because September will always save them, no matter how unemotional or emotional he is as an Observer. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it!
LOVED the finale. Have no idea how these "Olivia" & "Peter" camps developed because I have always seen the core characters as one family. The inclusion of the Altverse, Olivia's cortexiphan past, and former Fringe cases being factors in saving Earth's future was awesome. Loved the weirdness, Fauxlivia's cool streak of gray in her hair, and learning that Walternate was still at Harvard. Also, how fitting that Windmark was literally crushed by Olivia's emotional response to Etta's memory! What made it the most perfect end for FRINGE though is, in many others' words (not mine), what started with Walter bringing a boy through a portal also ended with him doing the same thing. Walter made it right and his son knew he loved him. The discussion btw him & Donald about parents risking eve
January 19th, 2013 1:04 PM
I'm with you, Triphazard85, with regard to the Olivia Dunham poster.
I'm going to miss this show. A lot of it didn't stand up well to over-analyis, but it's a show after all and meant as entertainment. Would like to have seen Windmark float away after being shot with one of those "cool" bullets, but his end at Olivia's hands (or brain) was more satisfying. Loved it when Walter finally called Astrid by her proper name. Judging from his sly smile, it appeared that he always knew it and it was just his private joke to call her by similar sounding names. I always enjoyed listening for the "Astrid d'jour" on each episode...kind of like watching for Hichhock to make his traditional appearance in his movies. The only thing that left me scratching my head was how and when Walter mailed the white tulip. He went off into the future, but it would have to have happened before the Observer invasion. But I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. Just sad that the series has ended. My only other rema
Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 12:55 PM
As always, those who are unsatisfied with a time travel-based finale are those who think of time as linear and possibilities as black & white. Therein lies the time paradox and the danger of overthinking these kinds of finales. Michael & Walter convinced future scientists that emotion is of equal important as intellect in the development of future humans. But, that doesn't mean that the Observers erase their own future. Not even December & Donald knew what would happen to them. They just knew they would be different. Donald/September can't be that different as an Observer because then *Michael* wouldn't exist. I propose that the "Observers" (catch-all phrase for future humans) develop with emotions and that they continue to time jump because they can & are curious. Also, that even though they try not to change events of the past, an Observer with emotions would be less able to resist saving a father & son who are drowning. That's the reason the Bishops past
January 19th, 2013 11:05 AM
Ok just to explain my theory why Peter still exists. Peter still exists due to the fact that he is from a different timeline. Peter is an anomaly he should never have existed in the first place due to the machine in season 3 which had had nothing to do with the observers. Hence September did not save him from the lake, Walter did not cross over to the other side etc.
I will miss this show all the characters were well thought out. It had a good balance of drama, Sci-fi, Humour and action.
The only thing I am glad about in this ending is the fact I never have to see any of the comments from the narrow minded, obsessed and mentally disturbed poster known as 'Olivia Dunham'.
Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 10:57 AM
Ok, just saw the part again about Peter finding the tape and watching it and Walter explains when Peter gets the letter, he will not understand it, will probably call Walter to ask about it, get no answer, then go to the lab, where he will not be. I would imagine that September told Walter of the future invasion and they started making plans well before 2015. But how could he not have warned Olivia and Peter ahead of time if he already knew? I guess if the invasion hadn't happened in the first place and Walter was still there, he would have come up with some crazy reason for sending Peter the tulip.
Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 10:05 AM
@ Endoftime figure= Please, tell us how you really feel :-P.....
I think I read someone mentioning Fauxolivia saying "So you found her" meaning Etta. It is clear that we missed Olivia's entire explanation from that day in the park to where they are today. It wasn't necessary as it would have added time to the show, we already know it, and Fauxolivia's remark lets us know that she and Lincoln now know the whole story. While I too would have also like more time on the other side, time was not on Olivia's side and I think they were trying to portray that. She couldn't sit and have dinner and drinks with them, she had a mission.
January 19th, 2013 10:03 AM
Loved it & will miss it.
Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 9:51 AM
Sorry for the stupid typos, re-watching the finale as I type is never a good idea. ;-)
Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 9:47 AM
Also, was any explanation given for Olivia's missing wedding ring? I couldn't tell from the reset back to the park if she was wearing one. Also, as gross as the exposure to "fringe" events was, some of the things we saw explained the screen fades: the butterfly,the six-finger hand print, and I know we saw the frog and apple on the doors when they went through that portal to find Michael. I would have liked an explanation as to the importance of the sea-horse, the leaf, the frog, the apple, the butterfly, the handprint..have I missed any? I'm glad Walter didn't die, but I hope Peter, Olivia and Astrid find the tapes. But I got the impression that they weren't made until well after the invasion. Could be wrong, though, since Walter had no idea.
Rank: Recurring Character
January 19th, 2013 9:34 AM
Just a few observations: I also had wondered if the Observer's never existed,then September could not have save Walter and Peter from the lake. So apparently they had some way to "restet" time to 2015? I don't think Olivia smashed Windmark. She made the lights go out which caused him to look at cock his head like a lizard (kudos to Nina!) which gave Michael his moment. THat child was powerful, as the interrogation revealed. After Windmark was smashed and Michael put his finger to his lips: "shh, our secret". I am wondering if at some point Walter gave Peter inserted a submlinal message in Peter that would be triggered by the tulip. Maybe in 2015 mail delivery was so good that you could guarantee a delivery date for first class mail (in our dreams) I just hope he wasn't with Astrid and then he went "poof" as he was milking Jean. That would be too traumatic. :-)
January 19th, 2013 9:00 AM
I am happy with the season finale. I know I may be a little morbid, but it was great satisfaction to see how some of the observers and loyalist come to their demise. They writers brought back previous friends from the other seasons, the creature who popped out of your gut, the team shooting the observers with the virus and seals your mouth shut and seeing one of them with no head. I cheered seeing how Windmark met his demise. He just stared at Olivia as if she could not touch him and when she saw her bullett,she gathered her strength and he finally came to his end.
I was happy to see what happened to the cow,since she was a part of the show for the last four seasons, Donald explaining how the observers came to be and how much Astrid and Walter really loved each other. Hearing him saying her name many many different ways was always funny. The finale answered many quesitons for me and it is hard to saying goodbye to a show that was creative and engagin. I wonder what will J J Abrahms n
January 19th, 2013 8:53 AM
Now that fringe is over, let me give this show two big middle fingers for the utter and shitty way they handled Peter bishop for 5 years. You underused josh, you made his character be the "emotional one" who did NOTHING. Olivia gets the last laugh while Peter is made to look stupid, useless and incompetent. Everyone is bragging away about Walter and Olivia but then go and trash Peter. Everyone else gets their moment in the sun and they get awarded for it. Josh gets his moment and he gets HATED and criticized for it. And let me say how DISGUSTING it is that Olivia kills windmark making Peter look stupid.
I hate this show, I hate all the characters, I cant stand this fanbase and I will never watch another Joshua Jackson tv show if he has to support the female lead. Screw this show.
Rank: Guest Star
January 19th, 2013 4:59 AM
1. No mentions of how Olivia, charged up with cortexipham and fired up by her love for her daughter, turned out all the lights in Manhattan and flattened Windmark with a pickup truck?
2. The father-son love thing was laid on way too thick this season, and especially in this episode. If there was one thing I could change, it would be that.
3. No mentions of how callously our heroes slaughtered the loyalists using the hydra-creature-gas? They might not have had a choice, but there wasn't a hint that they minded. And treating the anti-gravity bullets as a joke was sick.
4. It wasn't a great finale, and it wasn't a terrible one. Given the unnevenness of the series, especially in the first half of Season 4, I'm thankful that I didn't walk away disgusted.
January 19th, 2013 4:39 AM
If the observers were never there, September wouldn't have prevented Walternate finding the cure for Peter in 1985 and Walter wouldn't have crossed universes. Therefore none of the series of Fringe would have happened...
Rank: Staff Member
January 19th, 2013 3:36 AM
Sorry @Jim, but we didn't know that going into the season. When Etta was still alive, we didn't expect a time wipe.
January 19th, 2013 2:48 AM
"Essentially, Fringe Season 5 never happened." The entire season was about putting together the pieces of a plan to re-set time and wipe out the invasion and everything that happened after. So, obviously, we all watched this season knowing that the point and the ending to things was a re-set of time. It's not like that came out of left field like Dallas when they wiped out an entire season as a dream.
Rank: Staff Member
January 19th, 2013 2:45 AM
@Segun - You had me at Defying Gravity. Talk about a life cut short. At least Fringe got to see an ending done according to its creator.
Rank: Staff Member
January 19th, 2013 2:41 AM
@jmcdermon I always thought the original 12 Observers were sent back to study humans. I think their interference with 2036 was an afterthought to the series end due to time constraints, but that's just me. They needed the context in which we lived, at first. Until we discovered last week September meant a different boy must live. Unless it was a last minute writer change. We'll never know for sure!
January 19th, 2013 2:39 AM
It still hasn't hit me that its gone. It's not as bad as the end of Farscape, but still. A lot of Fringe reminded me of the final season of Stargate Atlantis and what might have happened if things had gone a different way. I know some people aren't going to be happy with this season but I'm satisfied. One of the things I always remember about Stargate Atlantis and even Farscape was that the ending no matter how good wasn't what I remembered the most. It was the little things, the scenes that best exemplified the characters I had grown to love. Maybe a short lived show like Defying Gravity had a better series finale but Fringe has always been about looking at the whole. It was a good run, a confluence of events that had to be experienced to be believed. You'll be missed old friend.
Rank: Staff Member
January 19th, 2013 2:38 AM
@osofine - don't get me wrong, just because I didn't put the finale in the top ten of all time doesn't mean the series itself isn't. It will forever be captured as unique, fresh, emotional and ultimately rewarding. A finale can't ruin five seasons, but a fifth season wrap up will be coming, as well! :-)
Rank: Staff Member
January 19th, 2013 2:34 AM
Kay, if I want closure from a show that knows ahead of time it is ending, I'll say I want it. If you don't, then good for you.