Fringe 4x09 Review

The Enemy of My Enemy


Sorry for the delay in this review, but I haven't been home in a couple days so I haven't been able to update the blog.

This episode is now my favorite of season 4. I think it had everything we love about Fringe and some of the most moving scenes of the entire series. We get a lot of Jones, and I loved every moment of his screen time. The interrogation scene was simply incredible. First he's speaking with Alter-Broyles and since we know they are working together there was a whole other level to their discussion. I'm still not sure if Alter-Broyles is a shapeshifter, or just a traitor to Fringe Division.


I suppose in the end it doesn't totally matter, but I just can't see him turning his back on his team. Broyles is loyal, and will do anything for his team...in any Universe. I suppose Jones could be using his family against him, but he doesn't seem like he's doing this out of fear. After Alter-Broyles leaves, Peter suggests that he speak with him. Everyone is a little confused as to why he knows so much about Jones...including Jones. We can see that Peter is a variable that Jones didn't plan for, and it scares him a little bit.

They let Jones go so they can follow him, and it seems the reason Jones wanted to be caught was so he could show off his power, and also retrieve the satellite info that Brandonate had. I loved the scene of Jones giving away all the money, and most of that love came from the fact that we see a Red Universe $100 Bill.  I really wonder who this is!   I've heard several theories ranging from Ted Kennedy to Benedict Arnold to Newt Gingrich. I don't really care who it is, but I just want to know!

After this we learn that Jones plans to use some fictional ore to cause lots of devastation...probably. I love the fake out of Universes, and while I figured it out before they did I still loved the cleverness of that. You really have to wonder how either Fringe Division solved any cases without Peter since in this episode every single lead or advance in the case came from him.

I LOVED two other scenes in this episode so much that I literally rewatched them both 3 times. The first was when Elizabeth comes to speak to Walter. The scene made me ill that Fringe could end with John Noble never getting any recognition from a major award. I've said it before, he doesn't have to win. Hell, he didn't even win The Flashy Award, but I would be happy if he were just nominated. It would show that people in the industry see him, and notice that every week he brings emotions to the screen that are beyond almost anything on any other show. This scene was so perfect and amazing. It's so easy to see why she loves him, and my heart broke when she says that she forgave him a long time ago. I'm not sure we ever got that idea in the other timeline.

The last scene that had me almost in tears was at the end with Walter and Peter. Peter saying to him that he was surprised Walternate wasn't the man he thought he was, but he's not at all surprised to see that Walter is the man he thought he was. Walter's "Is that a good thing?" was the line that almost had me bawling.

The final scene of the episode reveals that Jones is not working alone, and that NINA is involved.  It's been pointed out that Jones' computer screen was red, and Nina's was a greenish-blue meaning that the Evil Nina is from the Blue Universe. I forget if we've met Nina from the Red Universe in this timeline, and since there is not massive dynamic that's not surprising. It appears that even though Jones never summoned Olivia to the prison, he still is interested in Olivia's abilities. I'm thinking that the cortexifan injections Nina has been giving to Olivia are to retard her abilities for now. Either that, or they were being stopped for a time and now Nina is trying to reawaken them.

One last thing. In the original timeline, Jones wanted to crossover to find William Bell, and show him how amazing he really is. I wonder if William Bell is really behind this? Maybe Bell was still not happy with Jones and Jones murdered him? Why would Nina be helping him though? She was totally loyal to William Bell. I can't imagine she's a shapeshifter too, I mean at some point it starts to get like BSG and tracking down Cylons. It's fun to think about, but if there are too many reveals it loses the cool factor.

I'm very interested to see where this is going, and I'm excited that the show a great direction right now.