The Fringe teams from both universes gather so Walter can tell everyone what David Robert Jones is planning: to collapse both universes to create a Big Bang for a new universe that he will populate with his scary creatures and with laws of physics that he will decide for himself. As for how he's going to do it -- well, that's what the amphilicite is for, and he has also enlisted the help of the Cortexiphan kids to serve as earthquake triggers around the world. That means we get to visit with Nick Lane again. Two of them! The Earth-2 version is visually connected to Earth-1 version (without actually knowing what's going on), and the Earth-1 version is working with David Robert Jones, who has tricked him into thinking he's trying to save the universe from evil Earth-2.
The Fringe teams work to prevent more assaults, because the only other option is to shut down the bridge, which is what's allowing Jones' cross-universe assaults in the first place. That's the last resort, because the bridge is healing Earth-2, and no one wants to stop that. But when stopping Nick Lane doesn't stop the assaults, there's not much choice left but to shut things down. People say goodbye to their counterparts in an unsurprisingly moving episode, especially as we watch Walter wretchedly trying not to seem like such a universe-destroying fool in the shadow of the clear-minded and forceful Walternate. They have a touching heart-to-heart about Peter, tough decisions and everything else under the sun. Lincoln's electing to stay on the Earth-2 side, mainly because of its lower Olivia-in-love-with-someone-else index. I kept expecting some last-minute twist, or an episode-ending cliffhanger to lead into week's Part 1 of the season finale, but nothing: the other side winks out and is gone. I gotta say, I'm looking forward to the two episodes even more now that I know they're not going to be the final two. Let's call Season 5 a thirteen-part series finale!
Daniel is a writer in Newfoundland with a wife and a daughter. He's glad Fox has renewed Fringe for a final season, which almost makes up for Glenn Beck. Almost. Follow him on Twitter (@DanMacEachern) or email him at danieljdaniel@gmail.com.
We open in the shadow of the machine, the doomsday device, the apparatus that sent Peter away and brought him back, the bridge between two worlds, the healer. Walter stares up at it, looking almost frightened, at least until Peter calls to him to ask if he's coming. Walter hurries on, but not before Peter straightens Walter's tie (as well as saying he didn't think a tie was necessary, but Walter thought it was warranted). Turns out they're going to a powwow between all the Fringe folk on our side and theirs (at least those agents who aren't dead or incarcerated). Everyone's seated, listening to Walter, who thanks them for coming, and then says he asked them all here because he believes he has discovered David Robert Jones' true intention: trying to collapse both universes, thus creating a gravitational singularity.Walter emphasizes his point with amusingly crappy slides -- hand-drawn doodlings of a couple of globes getting closer and then a black space where they merge. And then matter and energy are compressed to a point and the density is so great it has no recourse to rapidly expand outwards again, creating a Big Bang. Mutual destruction of their world and ours.
Olivia asks why he would do this and Walter says it's to create another universe: "A world in which the laws of physics and nature are designed and controlled by him." What? How does that work? But it gets worse, because Broyles asks how Walter came to this conclusion and Walter says it was a dream. Broyles' eyes widen hilariously and despite Walter trying to explain about his subconscious mind working while his conscious mind rests, Fauxlivia suggests -- "with all respect," she says -- that maybe it was just a dream.
That's when Walternate speaks up in Walter's defense, saying that if he's learned one thing, it's that anything is possible and what Dr. Bishop suggests should not be overlooked. Yeah, that's some professional courtesy for fellow Walter Bishops, right? So assuming Walter's right, Peter wonders how Jones would achieve this. Given we haven't seen the opening sequence yet, we know that's exactly what we're going to find out.
In Sydney, Australia, a woman under a bridge consults a map with co-ordinates written on it and checks some sort of timer strapped to her wrist like a watch. A minute and twenty seconds and falling.
In Beijing, some dude with a similar map and timer makes his way through an alley, surrounded by street urchins begging for money from the gweilo. He checks his timer. He's got just under a minute, which would seem to be a problem, since his map indicates he needs to be on the roof. So he hightails it to the fire escape.
Similarly, a hiker hustles to get into position by the base of the Himalayas. Turns out Nepal's topography is strikingly similar to British Columbia's!
Finally, in Manhattan, a hooded figure gets out of a taxi and strides -- twenty seconds left -- to the middle of an intersection, causing much honking. And then, once they've positioned themselves, they wait. They close their eyes -- Manhattan man oblivious to the honking of the irritated cab drivers around him -- and then things start to shake and they all get huge veins popping out of their foreheads. The ground cracks around Manhattan Man's feet, and we go to the opening credits as the world seems to be going to hell.
Afterwards, we're back in the powwow, with Fauxlivia confused as to how Jones plans to destroy two universes and live through it, but Peter reminds them that when he merged the two Westfields, there was still one area left standing: "Perhaps it was a test. A way to ensure his survival," he says. Walter theorizes that Jones will be using a safe zone to protect himself and his abominations-of-nature species that he's creating. "After all, he will have to populate this new world." Broyles asks if Walter means like Noah's ark and that is what Walter means and I'm just glad that Walter doesn't mean Jones plans to have sex with the porcupine bats.
A soldier comes in to tell Walternate that he's got a message from command, and the Secretary excuses himself, while Broyles asks if there's anything that could stop Jones. "Short of killing him, I don't know," says Walter. And then the agents' phones start ringing, so Peter takes the moment to quietly tell Walter that he did great. Walter morosely says Walternate can't even stay in the same room as him and Peter points out that Walternate listened to him. They all did. In fact, Walter, Walternate stuck up for you when the others were scoffing. He's the Secretary of Defense, so sometimes he needs to take a message Walter.
Broyles gets off the phone and tells the Bishops that emergency services are getting multiple reports of earthquakes all over the world. Fauxlivia reports that it's happening on their side too. "It's Jones," says Walter. Oh, that's your answer for everything!
In New York's Fringe Division, the Farnsworthbot gives Lincoln and Fauxlivia the scoop: twenty-seven earthquakes, most of them nowhere near the major fault lines, all starting at exactly the same time at the same locations in both universes. With that kind of synchronization, Fauxlivia figures that it's got to have a trigger, presumably amphilicite. Lincoln says he'll coordinate a search with the other side. "I wonder how you say amphilicite in Mandarin," he says.
By Daniel
In New York's Fringe Division, the Farnsworthbot gives Lincoln and Fauxlivia the scoop: twenty-seven earthquakes, most of them nowhere near the major fault lines, all starting at exactly the same time at the same locations in both universes. With that kind of synchronization, Fauxlivia figures that it's got to have a trigger, presumably amphilicite. Lincoln says he'll coordinate a search with the other side. "I wonder how you say amphilicite in Mandarin," he says.
Over at Harvard, we flash from the frozen-in-amber student body of Earth-2 back over here, where Walter -- wearing headphones and brandishing a microphone -- is rummaging through a box of evidence from the Manhattan earthquake. The rest of the team has no idea in hell what he's looking for, so they start trying to figure out why the twenty-seven locations were selected. They've got a decidedly low-tech setup here; they're sticking pushpins in a folded-out paper map like some kind of goddamn animals. Peter figures it can't be random, and Olivia wonders if it's some kind of test.
Walter's ready to share his thoughts with the group and he takes his headphones off to disagree. He reminds them that everything here vibrates at 261 hertz -- or the key of C -- while everything over there vibrates at 392 Hz, the key of G. But everything in the box is vibrating at 329.6 Hz, which super-genius Peter doesn't need to be told is the key of E.
Walter has decided that the earthquakes are about Jones trying to tune both universes to the same frequency and so they're probably going to see a lot more of them, as Jones tries to break the barrier. And to illustrate when happens when a wall breaks, I guess, Walter has needlessly bought that Break The Ice kids' game where you hammer on the ice until it falls through or whatever. I'm glad he did that, because without it I'm not sure I would have understood the concept of something collapsing.
Flash over to the other universe, where Lincoln is hard at work at Fringe when another agent tells him he's got a visitor. And it's Nick Lane -- remember? One of the other Cortexiphan kids? Partly because his hair is a little bit longer than his buzz cut and partly because I have the memory of a goldfish, I remembered the name, but wondered for a while if this was the same actor. Anyway, he knows Lincoln because they grew up in the same neighborhood in Philadelphia. Lincoln doesn't remember him, I suppose because Nick was a couple of years behind him in school, but when Nick reminds Lincoln that he dated Nick's sister Kendra, the memory kicks in and he asks what he can do for him.
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Anyway, poor Nick Lane had a vision of the earthquake in which he was right in the middle of it -- but the thing of it was he didn't even know about the earthquakes at the time; he only found out about them later. "How is that possible?" he asks Lincoln, who might be tempted (as I would have been) to say, "Oh, that's easy: coincidence." But we know it's not going to be coincidence.
Meanwhile, at Earth-1's Harvard, Astrid calls Peter and Olivia over to look at some shaky cellphone video of the earthquake in Sydney. While everyone else runs for cover, there's a woman standing there, not moving. Yeah, you know who else is just standing there? THE PERSON TAKING THE CELLPHONE VIDEO, for some reason. Olivia asks Astrid if she thinks this woman caused the earthquake -- Astrid doesn't know, but she points out the woman is standing at the epicenter. Maybe she's the trigger.
Olivia asks Astrid to try to sharpen the image of the woman's face and answers her ringing cellphone -- it's Lincoln, calling from the bridge to tell her about the man with the vision of the Manhattan earthquake, like he was remotely viewing our earthquake from their side. (In his vision, there were no Twin Towers. Is that something he'd really notice if he was seeing it through the eyes of someone at street level here?) She asks if they know who the guy is and Lincoln tells her it's a citizen named Nick Lane.
So Olivia goes back to the computer and looks closer at the woman in the epicenter. Astrid says they'll run it through facial recognition, but Olivia tells her not to bother: Her name is Sally Clark. Peter's jaw practically drops through the floor.
Astrid's insta-face recognition confirms that it's Sally and explains about Sally and Nick Lane being part of the Cortexiphan trials. Olivia thinks Jones isn't using amphilicite to trigger the earthquakes, but Cortexiphan subjects themselves.
After a commercial break, Walter is doing that thing he does where he seems impressed to the point of envy of some evil genius's scheme and explains that Jones is using the Cortexiphan kids to link to their counterparts in the other universe and blah blah blah "science" blah blah blah vibrations and frequencies bullshit. Walter says he has underestimated Jones. "The man must have a remarkable mind to devise a plan like this," says Walter. Yeah, not to mention EVERYTHING ELSE JONES HAS DONE.
Peter, looking somewhat pessimistic, asks Walter if the connection between the two universes could be what's facilitating the psychic link. Walter figures it's possible. "What if we severed it?" asks Peter.
By Daniel
After a commercial break, Walter is doing that thing he does where he seems impressed to the point of envy of some evil genius's scheme and explains that Jones is using the Cortexiphan kids to link to their counterparts in the other universe and blah blah blah "science" blah blah blah vibrations and frequencies bullshit. Walter says he has underestimated Jones. "The man must have a remarkable mind to devise a plan like this," says Walter. Yeah, not to mention EVERYTHING ELSE JONES HAS DONE.
Peter, looking somewhat pessimistic, asks Walter if the connection between the two universes could be what's facilitating the psychic link. Walter figures it's possible. "What if we severed it?" asks Peter.
Walter is appalled at the implied suggestion, but Astrid needs it spelled out for her: Peter's talking about shutting down the bridge, to break the connection between our Cortexiphan kids and their Earth-2 doppelgangers. Astrid asks if that would work. "In theory, yes," says Walter, which is hilarious because it's been all of about fifteen seconds since he said it's possible that the link is what's allowing this to transpire and now he's apparently going with the assumption that it is and is making further assumptions about what would happen if the bridge were to shut down.
Walter says if they shut the bridge down they won't be able to start it back up again. You know, until later when it becomes convenient plot-wise to do so and Walter figures out a way that's so crazy it just might work. I mean, why couldn't the turn the machine back on? Oh and Walter also says the healing that the other world is experience will likely stop. Things won't get any worse, but they won't get any better anymore. Why? Because shut up, that's why, apparently.
Olivia's got another idea: find Jones and stop the attack and they can keep the bridge open. To that end, they bring a very unsettled-looking Nick Lane from the other side and seconds later in TV time he's in the Harvard lab with a Walter Bishop head apparatus on and an IV drip. "Will any of this stuff hurt me?" he says and Walter -- rather unconvincingly -- is all, "Shouldn't!"
Olivia explains to him that she knew this universe's Nick Lane when they were kids and she's hoping to use his psychic connection to his doppelganger to find him and exploit the childhood bond they used to share. Earth-2 Nick is a little raised-eyebrow over this making sense to all the rest of them and Lincoln advises that he basically shut up and go with it.
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So here's Olivia hooked up and relaying to the rest of them what Earth-2's Nick Lane is seeing: it's our Nick Lane strolling along a sidewalk. Wait, shouldn't we be seeing this from Nick's point of view? Instead of from an outside party? Wouldn't that make more sense? Or as much sense as anything else? She manages to identify a train station in Salem, and Peter and Lincoln and the Fringe agents roll on out of there.
Meanwhile, Olivia's watching Our Nick wandering around now, carrying a map. She can see people in their early 20s wandering around, carrying books. It's Salem Bay University! He's on campus! Fauxlivia urges Walter to draw more out, as it's a pretty big campus. Oh sure, Salem Bay University. Home of the Chowderheads! Look for the guy sitting on the library steps with a guitar! Or someone who has stuck his speakers facing out into the quad so he can share his sweet tunes with everyone!
All she can see are nondescript brick buildings, so it's fortunate that the field agents stop their product-placed vehicles near what appear to be the exact same building. Our Nick, meanwhile, is checking his watch -- and Olivia can see now that it's a timer with sixteen seconds left -- and standing in the middle of a patch of grass, closing his eyes. "He's going to trigger another earthquake," says Olivia.
Anyway, the agents are right there and surround Nick with guns and everyone back at Harvard is happy at the victory. Only they didn't really stop anything except for, I suppose, one earthquake at Salem Bay University. Astrid reports that there are earthquakes in Tulsa, Vancouver, Florence and Bogata. I'm hearing lots of problems, but not a lot of solutions guys!
While Our Nick Lane sits in an interrogation room, Broyles is in his office telling Olivia, Walter and Peter is that the news reports are saying that increased solar activity has caused fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field. Except for Fox News, which is blaming the earthquakes on Obama.
Broyles' wants to know how Jones convinces twenty-seven Cortexiphan Kids to help him destroy the world. No one has an answer (except for Peter and his is a smart-ass one about how he doubts that was the sales pitch). He examines the timer, which Peter tells him contains tech not from Earth-1 and Broyles says maybe they can try tracing the parts.
The other big question that Broyles has is if this is indeed how Jones plans to destroy the universes, how many more earthquakes is it going to take? Walter's surprised it hasn't happened already, which isn't much help to Broyles who has been called to Washington where "they" want to discuss shutting off the machine. "I've been inclined to argue that we still have better options, but suddenly I'm not so sure," he says. Well, have you tried assigning more than a handful of agents to the task of preventing the destruction of two universes? Let's try that first and then see where we are. Olivia says she'll interrogate to Our Nick Lane and maybe she can get him to tell them where David Robert Jones is: "We knew each other. As children," she says. Have I mentioned how much I love that DRJ's name lends itself to saying the whole thing every time he's mentioned? Like if a Fringe agent just said "Jones" someone might say, "Steve Jones? From the Sex Pistols?"
By Daniel
Anyway, the agents are right there and surround Nick with guns and everyone back at Harvard is happy at the victory. Only they didn't really stop anything except for, I suppose, one earthquake at Salem Bay University. Astrid reports that there are earthquakes in Tulsa, Vancouver, Florence and Bogata. I'm hearing lots of problems, but not a lot of solutions guys!
While Our Nick Lane sits in an interrogation room, Broyles is in his office telling Olivia, Walter and Peter is that the news reports are saying that increased solar activity has caused fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field. Except for Fox News, which is blaming the earthquakes on Obama.
Broyles' wants to know how Jones convinces twenty-seven Cortexiphan Kids to help him destroy the world. No one has an answer (except for Peter and his is a smart-ass one about how he doubts that was the sales pitch). He examines the timer, which Peter tells him contains tech not from Earth-1 and Broyles says maybe they can try tracing the parts.
The other big question that Broyles has is if this is indeed how Jones plans to destroy the universes, how many more earthquakes is it going to take? Walter's surprised it hasn't happened already, which isn't much help to Broyles who has been called to Washington where "they" want to discuss shutting off the machine. "I've been inclined to argue that we still have better options, but suddenly I'm not so sure," he says. Well, have you tried assigning more than a handful of agents to the task of preventing the destruction of two universes? Let's try that first and then see where we are. Olivia says she'll interrogate to Our Nick Lane and maybe she can get him to tell them where David Robert Jones is: "We knew each other. As children," she says. Have I mentioned how much I love that DRJ's name lends itself to saying the whole thing every time he's mentioned? Like if a Fringe agent just said "Jones" someone might say, "Steve Jones? From the Sex Pistols?"
So she goes into the interrogation room and introduces herself to Nick -- the Peter reset erased the interactions, I keep forgetting that -- and says they knew each other long ago, but he remembers "Olive," of course. He half-chuckles. "You're FBI. Of course you are."
She gets right to it: She needs him to tell her where David Robert Jones is. He says he won't, but she doesn't have to worry. Glancing at the one-way glass -- Broyles and Walter are watching from the other side -- he says, "I know they're watching. But we're on the same side." He tells her that what they were prepared for as children, the war is happening now and Jones is on their side: "That's why you don't have to worry about him. He's protecting us."
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Then the timer beeps and Peter turns it over so we can see that it has started to count down from six hours. "Did you do that?" asks Lincoln. No, says Peter, quietly.
Back to the interrogation room, where Nick watches through the open door as Olivia gets updated on something and she comes in to tell him that the quakes are about to happen again. Nick wisely says, "Yeah, so I'm going to have to go, because if I miss another quake, old man Jones is really going to give me shit."
Olivia lays on the "everything you know and everyone you may love will cease to exist" routine and tells him that he's the only one who can stop that from happening.
He smirks. "Everyone I love?" Then he launches into a monologue that eats up pretty much the entire six hours, all about how strong Olive was, but not him and how when his family moved away from Jacksonville he started having bad thoughts that got worse when he went to college.
He contemplated suicide, and decided that cutting his wrist would be the least painful -- like drifting off to sleep. "I had a sister. Kendra. The night I was gonna do it, I had the knife in my hand and my parents called." His sister was dead, having slit her wrists in the tub.
That's when he found out he was a reverse empath, that his emotions were contagious, according to Jones. "That is what Walter Bishop and William Bell did to me," he spits. On the other side of the glass, Walter flinches.
Nick continues, explaining that Jones found him a couple of years ago and knew all the old words. "He said the truce was broken, that the other side was coming over now -- that he needed warriors." Right! They need to fight the Gramercy Riffs and the Baseball Furies! Jones also taught him how to control his feelings so he wouldn't hurt any more people and how to channel the untapped energy in his brain so he could help protect their world.
Olivia says she knows what Jones told him helped him make sense of his life and what he's gone through (also "what we have gone through," she says, because she's looking to exploit their own connection too), but Jones is lying. She tells him that she's been over to the other side and they aren't our enemies. Even the double that sleeps with your boyfriend? She tells him they do have a way to stop the assaults even if he doesn't help, but it would mean severing ties and not healing their world anymore. She tells him to think of the fate of all the innocent people: "You're the only person that can help him," she says. He sits there, thinking about it, looking conflicted. He looks at Olivia, eyes wet. He swallows. We go to commercial.
Apparently, he gave the thumbs-up during the commercial break, because when we come back he's on the Fringe floor with Olivia and Walter, who are briefing him on the intel they have so far. Nick, with a scar on the side of his head in the shape of a two, seems a little disconcerted by being in the presence of Walter Bishop and the feeling appears entirely mutual; Walter can't meet Nick's gaze at all.
At any rate, they're hoping Nick can help them determine where Jones' presumed safe zone might be when he collapses the universes, but Nick shrugs and says Jones usually came to him and met him in public places, never the same place twice. Except for one time that they met at a warehouse, filled with equipment, machines he didn't recognize. He says he can take them back there.
Road trip! Olivia brings a whole Fringe gang with her as they pull up at the warehouse -- Nick confirms it's the right one, because he remembers the frosted windows. The SWAT team storms the warehouse, which is completely empty, while Nick waits nervously outside in an SUV with a sole agent. It's Agent Tim, everyone!
Inside, the agents are making their way towards the sound of some heavy machinery because, as Peter points out, Walter did say Jones would need to generate a powerful force field.
In the SUV, Agent Tim tells an agitated Nick that it's going to be OK, but Nick thinks something went wrong, because they've been in there too long. Agent Tim looks at him a little longer than he should before saying, "You don't know that." And then Nick starts in with the "He lied to me and I didn't even question it" and the "I'm pathetic" and it's all the more spine-tingling because you know that Nick knows exactly what he's doing, as Agent Tim starts to look increasingly bummed out. "I should have just done it. I should have killed myself. You feel that, don't you?" says Nick.
The search teams come up empty and the loud machinery they heard turns out to be just an air-conditioning unit. And then Agent Tim radios to let them know they've got a problem.
When Olivia gets to the SUV, she finds no Nick just an apologetic Agent Tim, who has stabbed himself in the gut with a pen. "Suddenly, I just got so sad, so mad at myself, I just wanted it to end," he says. Peter calls the medic over and we cut to a shot of Nick in a crowd -- and then he's gone.
Back to the bridge. The giant red countdown clock tells us there's forty-seven minutes left. All the Fringe folks from both universes are gathered in the conference room, except for Broyles, who strolls in to inform them that Washington has decided to support whatever they decide in this room. Passed the buck! Those clowns in Congress are at it again. What a bunch of clowns!
Everyone sits in silence for a few moments and then, fittingly, it's the two Walters who make the decision, with Walternate defeatedly asking if anyone else has any alternatives and then Walter, when no alternatives are forthcoming, saying that they have to close the bridge.
After a commercial break, Peter joins the two Walters at the control panel in front of the machine and Peter puts his arm into the little peripheral thing that clamps on. And then Walter starts slides levers up to MAX and turning amps up to eleven and the machine starts to smoke. "System overload initiated," says Siri. Walter says they're going to wait for the power to surge, and then they shut it down. He seems a little mechanical. "How long do you think that's gonna take?" asks Peter. What, you've got Celtics tickets? "Not long," says Walter.
Peter leaves to tell the others, leaving Walternate to admire the biomechanical interface that Walter designed with Peter when they thought the machine was the key to his returning home, back to his timeline. "He's really quite a remarkable boy, Peter. Man, actually," says Walternate and Walter agrees. Walternate starts listing all the amazing things that Peter supposedly is, like "smart" and "noble" and "kind," and those are all the things Walternate says he would have wished for him. He left out "in his own universe," though. Walter looks a little overcome and he asks Walternate to excuse him for a moment. Walternate, possibly looking a little bewildered, watches him leave.
Then he follows Walter out into the corridor and he finds him sitting on the floor, back against the wall. Walternate sits down and joins him. Amusingly, they (naturally) sit in the exact same position. And again I credit John Noble for making it really easy to forget it's one actor playing two parts at the same time.
Walternate says he knows what Walter's afraid of: "It occurs to me, so I'm sure it occurs to you too -- that if the machine stops working, Peter may disappear." Walter says that he thinks the machine brought him here, so there's no reason it can't take him away. Well, except for the fact that everyone loves Peter so goddamn much that he's just going to keep coming back no matter what happens.
Walternate points out that twenty-five years ago he couldn't have made this decision -- and in fact, he didn't. Walter says he's come to accept that's not theirs and then Walternate quotes Marcus Aurelius, which Walter recognizes, and they bond over that. Walternate says he's the philosopher king who survived a war and spent the rest of his life working for the betterment of his people. "Perhaps we will too," he says, clapping a hand on Walter's arm. Walter, tears rolling down his cheeks, nods sadly. Maybe the best thing about a final (albeit shortened) season of Fringe is that it's another chance for John Noble to finally get his due.
And now everyone's gathering in Doomsday Hall, with overload at ninety percent. Peter shakes Walternate's hand and then goes to tell Broyles it's time. While the white-coated scientists and civilians file out, Peter and Lincoln have a little chat, where -- big surprise -- Lincoln has taken Peter's trite nonsense about home being where the heart is to, well, heart, and has decided that he'd like to continue mooning over Fauxlivia, so he's staying on the other side. I'm sure Peter can relate, especially as he watches Lincoln gaze in Fauxlivia's direction. Plus, they're down a Lincoln over there. They shake hands, and Peter says it's been a pleasure working with him and getting to be his friend. Lincoln's expression is a little inscrutable. It could mean, "Likewise," or there's an outside chance it means, "Oh, we're friends? Well, we're about to be sealed off, so no sense making a whole thing of it."
And Siri is still counting off the overload percentage -- currently at ninety-three per cent -- but there doesn't appear to be too much urgency on anyone's part. It's time for Fauxlivia and Olivia to say their goodbyes. Fauxlivia tells her there's a lot of things about her that she wishes she had and a lot of things about her that she admires. Olivia says she was just about to say the same thing about her. "Keep looking up. After it rains. Keep looking up," says Olivia. Fauxlivia says she will, and then the two of them part without hugging or making out or anything.
Then Fauxlivia's a little surprised when, with overload at ninety-five percent, Lincoln strolls over to take his place on her side. "Thought you could use a little help," he says, then conspiratorially whispers that he's going to need her help finding an apartment. Fauxlivia, figure out your reaction quick, because it's not like he can just move back to Boston-1. And then she smiles, and so does he. Walternate and Walter stare at each other across the way and then Walter fiddles with the control panel. Broyles looks around. Aw, nobody for Broyles! Even Astrid gets an endearingly awkward wave from the Farnsworthbot! Astrid looks like she's going to cry and now I kinda feel like doing so too. Olivia and Lincoln nod at each other and now Peter is smirking at someone, like HAVE WE EXHAUSTED EVERY POSSIBLE COMBINATION YET and now overload is at a hundred per cent. "That's it. It's time," says a slightly choked-up Walter and he does the whatever that he needs to do and everything starts to shimmer and shake, with a load whine crescendoing into a roar -- and then the people and the equipment on the other side are simply gone. Our heroes continue staring across the way for a moment. Walter strides over to Peter. "I think I shall miss them, more than I imagined," says Walter. Peter puts his hand on Walter's shoulder and then we're done, rather effectively leaving me feeling a little empty. I kept expecting a last-minute twist or a scene with the folks on the other side, but nope. Just some kids yelling at a bad robot in a field.
By Daniel
Walternate points out that twenty-five years ago he couldn't have made this decision -- and in fact, he didn't. Walter says he's come to accept that's not theirs and then Walternate quotes Marcus Aurelius, which Walter recognizes, and they bond over that. Walternate says he's the philosopher king who survived a war and spent the rest of his life working for the betterment of his people. "Perhaps we will too," he says, clapping a hand on Walter's arm. Walter, tears rolling down his cheeks, nods sadly. Maybe the best thing about a final (albeit shortened) season of Fringe is that it's another chance for John Noble to finally get his due.
And now everyone's gathering in Doomsday Hall, with overload at ninety percent. Peter shakes Walternate's hand and then goes to tell Broyles it's time. While the white-coated scientists and civilians file out, Peter and Lincoln have a little chat, where -- big surprise -- Lincoln has taken Peter's trite nonsense about home being where the heart is to, well, heart, and has decided that he'd like to continue mooning over Fauxlivia, so he's staying on the other side. I'm sure Peter can relate, especially as he watches Lincoln gaze in Fauxlivia's direction. Plus, they're down a Lincoln over there. They shake hands, and Peter says it's been a pleasure working with him and getting to be his friend. Lincoln's expression is a little inscrutable. It could mean, "Likewise," or there's an outside chance it means, "Oh, we're friends? Well, we're about to be sealed off, so no sense making a whole thing of it."
And Siri is still counting off the overload percentage -- currently at ninety-three per cent -- but there doesn't appear to be too much urgency on anyone's part. It's time for Fauxlivia and Olivia to say their goodbyes. Fauxlivia tells her there's a lot of things about her that she wishes she had and a lot of things about her that she admires. Olivia says she was just about to say the same thing about her. "Keep looking up. After it rains. Keep looking up," says Olivia. Fauxlivia says she will, and then the two of them part without hugging or making out or anything.
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By Daniel
Then Fauxlivia's a little surprised when, with overload at ninety-five percent, Lincoln strolls over to take his place on her side. "Thought you could use a little help," he says, then conspiratorially whispers that he's going to need her help finding an apartment. Fauxlivia, figure out your reaction quick, because it's not like he can just move back to Boston-1. And then she smiles, and so does he. Walternate and Walter stare at each other across the way and then Walter fiddles with the control panel. Broyles looks around. Aw, nobody for Broyles! Even Astrid gets an endearingly awkward wave from the Farnsworthbot! Astrid looks like she's going to cry and now I kinda feel like doing so too. Olivia and Lincoln nod at each other and now Peter is smirking at someone, like HAVE WE EXHAUSTED EVERY POSSIBLE COMBINATION YET and now overload is at a hundred per cent. "That's it. It's time," says a slightly choked-up Walter and he does the whatever that he needs to do and everything starts to shimmer and shake, with a load whine crescendoing into a roar -- and then the people and the equipment on the other side are simply gone. Our heroes continue staring across the way for a moment. Walter strides over to Peter. "I think I shall miss them, more than I imagined," says Walter. Peter puts his hand on Walter's shoulder and then we're done, rather effectively leaving me feeling a little empty. I kept expecting a last-minute twist or a scene with the folks on the other side, but nope. Just some kids yelling at a bad robot in a field.
Daniel is a writer in Newfoundland with a wife and a daughter. He's heard it too many times to ignore it, something that he's supposed to be. Follow him on Twitter (@DanMacEachern) or email him at danieljdaniel[at]gmail.com.
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