Fringe 4x08 Review

Back to Where You've Never Been


Fringe returned tonight with a bang! This episode was originally planned to be the mid-season finale, and I think I'm not alone in being very thankful that we don't have to wait months to see the next episode.

I might be wrong, but I think this is the first episode this season that is totally main arc based. What I mean is, there is no "Fringe Event" or other investigation that leads them to discover something. This episode is all about Peter trying to contact Walternate, and I like that. I like that there wasn't some other event, or crime going on that made him realize something and decide to try and find him. He's been thinking about this for a while, and since Walter won't help him he goes to the next best option. I think it was a mistake to include Lincoln though. Even if their plan had worked, they still would have used deception, and infiltration to get him there.

Peter should have just planned to cross over alone, and then use his mother the way he did anyway. This episode also answered a question I had had about Blue-Lincoln. When Olivia first meets him there is no recognition, and no familiarity. We still don't know how thing went down on the other side in what would have been the end of season 2 in this new timeline, but since Olivia knew of Red-Lincoln wouldn't there be some kind of a reaction from her when they meet the Lincoln from her universe?


The big reveal of the episode though of course is the return of David Robert Jones. I liked that in the episode they went out of their way to remind us that Peter killed "a guy" by cutting him in half in the gateway. That "guy" obviously was DRJ and I like that the show was able to remind us of that, but not shove in our face "HEY, we're going to reintroduce this guy, so here's a bio".  DRJ seems like he's behind the new shapeshifters, and that he has a decent amount of power. Whether that because of the Shapeshifters it yet to be determined, but if you had control over people in high places of the government, you'd have a lot of power too.

Just to remind everyone, originally DRJ was in ZFT and he planned to cross over to let William Bell know he was preparing the Blueverse for the coming war. At least that was his story, but I think we all believed he was a bad guy through and through. What is his motivation here though? Could he be unhappy about the new peace between the Red and Blue Universes? Is he working for someone that wants a war? Which DRJ is this? Without Peter there to kill him did he cross over?

So many questions!!  OH, and the last couple moments of the episode created even more strange questions. The Observer appears to Olivia and tells her no matter what, every future he sees includes her dying. He is shot, and looks like he's about to die. He then vanishes. The real question is, who shot him?? I'm really hoping this is a time travel loop thingy, and we won't find out for a little while. I'm thinking his getting shot has something to do with the fact that he didn't eliminate Peter. If he had eliminated Peter, would it be possible for Olivia to live, or was he including that in "all futures"?

I love questions!!!!!   Any theories or thoughts put them in the comments.