beccatoria: (olivia can kill you with her brain)
beccatoria ([personal profile] beccatoria) wrote2011-04-16 05:40 pm
Entry tags:

Fringe: I doubt I can spell the full name of LSD

SO. Four word review: meh, needed more Olivia.

This is super short for me. Like, almost a sane length for a review. I should be ambivalent enough not to be overly interested in dissecting my ambivalence more often!

Which, okay, it was vaguely reassuring that the whole thing was at least about her and her mindset and shit but it needed more actual Olivia. The animation was gimmicky and while I didn't hate it it didn't really add anything either. William Bell seems to be dead again (though I'm not assuming it's the case) and therefore leaves me wondering why they brought him back in the first place? Cus like, he didn't say anything interesting to us about anything like, say, THE DAMN MACHINE or whatever. So it seems he was brought back for...no massive narrative value. Which is odd.

As to the shape of the story itself, I did like that what at first looked to be a story about Olivia getting rescued ended up, ultimately, being Olivia having to rescue herself once again. Though honestly it was hella cheesy in places around then. I guess what I mean is, the disconnect of Olivia and the things she is afraid of - the lack of control she never allows to take hold of her the way it was imposed on her as a child - there are things to be said for having all that locked away in her subconscious where she does not normally have to deal with it. I suppose it's as good a reason as any for her fearlessness in reality - she took everything that could hurt or scare her and boxed it up, and then William Bell forced her to live in that box. Guy's a giant dick. I didn't buy death as redemption last time he croaked and it turned out I was right. I don't buy it this time either. Partly I just don't buy he isn't coming back somehow, but even if he isn't, I can be grateful to him for not being a bigger dick by sticking around without forgetting he caused alllll the problems (including the part where Olivia's subconscious is a nuked wasteland) in the first place.

So, where was I? Right, it wasn't so much the idea but the rather pat execution of the ending that felt trite and less complicated than it should have been. Though, even with the ending, I'm not expecting this to be a herald of a "fixed" Olivia, so we'll see.

Peter is the other person I wanna discuss here. I know I'm a raging antishipper, but I was okay with him guessing where Olivia was and what she would do. I think the thing about Peter - the picture of his character I'm building up - is that I think there's a split between the charming conman who is brilliant at reading the surface and predicting how someone will react, and the child who was stolen and never managed to connect emotionally to anyone again, not properly.

And I think that at least some of Peter's inability to recognise it wasn't Olivia in the start of the season was because of that emotional disconnection and at least some of his ability to recognise the false Olivia in the dream was because of his skills in predicting behaviour in set conditions. And I don't take issue with either because they could point to a very cohesive and complex individual with specific strengths and weaknesses in varying situations, but I can't help but feel that was supposed to be the punch-the-air moment that reassured us that Peter did better this time.

I can't think why else it would be there. But for me it just...doesn't work. Because once again, the show hasn't shown us anything about Peter. What's changed? The same question I asked when Olivia decided to give things another shot. What changed? Something might have, but we didn't see it. Why can he tell now, when he couldn't before? Bluntly, it feels unearned. And I still want Peter to express, just once, something he likes that is unique to Our Olivia. But whatever, I've had this rant.

One thing that really, really disappointed me was the COMPLETE lack of discussion about the shape-shifter killings. Like I'm actually wondering if she even remembers it? Because, just after waking up no, they wouldn't talk about it, but she invites Peter in at the very end like there's no big deal and they don't even talk about it. I mean even if she wasn't pissed (which would piss me off, but I recognise it's a [stupid] direction they could go in), surely Peter would be like, "So, um, that giant secret I told you? Had a reaction yet?" Hell, it could even be a function of her weird new zen attitude. But still, A LINE PLEASE.

Partly I think they may be saving that up for the next episode judging from the promo, but idk, it felt odd to have it totally dropped. They went to such pains to make Peter look like a creepy psycho killer in that episode, and then they have him admit to it and...we get nothing? Honestly, I'm gonna be pissed if that's it.

And how 'bout that ending? I'm not sure if I'm more shocked that Olivia ATE SOMETHING ON SCREEN for the...first time ever, I think? Or that she was like, "Yeah, totally, no idea who he is but that dude's gonna kill me," like she was asking if anyone wanted to catch a movie. The "move forwards" line was...cheeeeesy, like one of those lines you want to burn out of a script and force someone to rewrite with less weird words, but I am vaguely interested in this new attitude she seems to have.

Like I said earlier, I do not buy that mind trip experience as a permanent transcendental healing moment, but I do buy that it was a powerful experience that it causing at least a temporary shift in perception. I mean, for starters, can she see the future now? Secondly, I...have no idea why she's so happy and chill about everything, but it's...kind of awesome that she's not freaking out about it? Like that she's just, "Hmmm, okay that's interesting."

Basically I'm genuinely unsure how I feel about the way Olivia was acting in that last scene and it will depend on the next episode, but even with my current feelings of "meh" about this ep, and some of the directions the show is going in, I don't think she's having a wholesale personality transplant any time soon and I think this could be...interesting. I mean, it positions Olivia in a position of knowledge, power and wisdom, potentially. So I think that's interesting. We'll see.

Final thoughts: OH BROYLES YOU ARE ADORABLE. OH ASTRID, IF EVER I AM FORCED TO TRIP FOR SCIENCE, PLEASE LOOK AFTER ME.

[identity profile] daybreak777.livejournal.com 2011-04-16 05:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, I agree it needed more Olivia! Hello, show! There are only three more episodes. They'd better be chocked to the gills with Olivias, seriously.

I giggled when Walter called Astrid 'Astro' and she called him 'Wally'. Astrid is awesome. And she was so kind and caring. I really miss her in alt!verse when she is so blank.

Philip made me giggle. His eyes! He was like a little boy. I know he was tripping but I didn't get what he was saying about Death. I think it may be important?

Cus like, he didn't say anything interesting to us about anything
Well, he did reassure Walter that he can handle the future without him. That's important. Walter needs to learn that fine balance between confidence and humility. He's erred too far on either side in the past. He needs to grow up and not need Qui-Gon so Anakin can fulfill his destiny. I mean . . . well, you know what I mean. ;-)

But for me it just...doesn't work
I know I railed at Peter for not recognizing Alt!Olivia as not real!verse!Olivia. And I see that the show is trying to correct that. E for effort. But I didn't get it. What was off about dream!Olivia? I didn't see it. Yeah, I realized she would be Olive. It was a her childhood house and I love kids and I love Olive. But I didn't expect Peter to get that. I wish I could have seen what was wrong with dream!Olivia and then buy that Peter knew her that well, but something was . . . missing. What?

I don't remember the ep (was it in an ep?) where Olivia told him about the red door. So a lot of it was telling to me. Telling me this story of how close Peter and Olivia are. I guess they are? But when I see them together, hear them, talk I don't feel this closeness. Not even as friends. I sensed the closeness with child!Peter and child!Olivia. And even with LSD-ed Philip and Astrid in this ep. Something is missing for me and this pairing. Sigh. I guess it always will be.

the COMPLETE lack of discussion about the shape-shifter killings
Dude, it's like Anakin. Ignored until it will do the most damage. Maybe the moment he finds out he's a father, he'll be elbow-deep in shape-shifter blood? Some writers like to reveal things like that. I'm still pissed about Anakin. I fully believe if Padme had talked to him at all or told the Jedi council what he'd done, things would have been very different. Sigh. I don't believe the Fringe writers have forgotten that Peter has been mechanized, though.

don't think she's having a wholesale personality transplant any time soon
Hee! I don't think so? I mean we already have a whole other Olivia in alt!world, so I hope this one keeps her personality. Zen is good. But it was weird. The show is weird with her. They create her--real!verse Olivia--but then they take her away. She get injected with alt!memories, or taken over by Bell, now zenned out. Why can't they just let her be the real!verse Olivia I took 40 episodes to get to know? I don't understand that sometimes.

NOT ENTIRELY RELEVANT

[identity profile] chaila.livejournal.com 2011-04-16 06:15 pm (UTC)(link)
But I really can't help it. I skimmed some of this ep for tripped out Broyles and...man I just do not like what they are doing with the ship. Suddenly it's all true love, I can read it in your eyes, for no reason whatsoever? Whatevs! That is all. My thoughts are deep.

such_heights: amy and rory looking at a pile of post (Default)

[personal profile] such_heights 2011-04-16 11:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I agree that the resolution was all super cheesy and not particularly satisfying. But that was somewhat counterbalanced for me just through being excited to have Our Olivia back! I have missed her.

Mostly though, I adored this episode purely for the Broyles and Astrid subplot, which was glorious. They got character-based stuff to do, hurrah!