Fringe 4x14 Review

The End of All Things

Well that was certainly a crazy episode of Fringe. First though, I want to apologize for there being no review last week. I was very busy last weekend and by the time I was going to sit down and write it it was already a couple days past. It's not so bad because all I was really going to talk about was how blown away I was by that ending. Since all of it was explained there's no point to getting to it now. Suffice to say though, I was beyond thrilled with the shock that ending delivered. 

On to this episode! While I thought many aspects were brilliant, and quite epic I found other parts to be more iffy. We got a lot of information about the Observers this week, and as expected those answers only lead to more questions. Because of the hiatus we will now have to wait a month to get more episodes, and I was actually hoping for more of a cliffhanger. The episode ended with questions to be sure, but none that I'm climbing the walls waiting to hear. I certainly wish Fringe was on next week, but the ending didn't leave me demanding more right now as they've done in the past. 

I think one reason for this is that the things that are up in the air are things I know will be answered or resolved in due time. Peter walking away from Olivia was sad, but I 'm not on my knees begging to see how that turns out. As for Jones, I really want to see where his story is going but I've wanted that for several weeks now, and I've known for a while we probably won't find out for a long time. The only big cliffhanger from this episode is the Observer and his interaction with Peter. When Peter says he has to go home, what does he mean? He appeared pretty determined at the end there and looked like he knew exactly where he was going. Maybe now that he knows about baby Henry he feels the need to go back to the Red Universe, his real home. More on all the stuff with the Observer later, I have a lot to say on that. 

The Olivia/Nina scenes were great, and I think we all assumed she wasn't "our" Nina. The question remains though...who is she? Is she a shapeshifter, or Alternate Nina. Since she also had the robot arm I think that confirms her as a shapeshifter. If she is a shapeshifter, why didn't they kill the real Nina?  They even made a point of saying in this episode that if she had been replaced she'd be dead. Why isn't she dead? It has to be more than staying under the radar. Is it possible that they both are shapeshifters?  How crazy would that be?  I loved that Olivia knew she wasn't really Nina and used that to get Peter there so he could save her, and activate her abilities. I was so pissed at Olivia before that for not seeing the truth, and she made us all proud. That's why we love Olivia! 

The only thing I didn't like about the scene where she showed her powers was how Jones reacted. What did he think would happen? He knows what she's capable of, and was trying to activate her. He had to know she would try to fight back, and I was hoping that was all part of his plan. She would try to attack them with her powers and it would back fire some how, or maybe her powers would transport them all to the Red Universe where his people would be waiting for her. Him being caught off guard and then running away was disappointing. However, I was so relieved when Jones didn't die at the end there. When she points the gun at him I was very worried she would kill him, and I think that would be one of the most disappointing events of the season. 

Now that all of that is out of the way, lets get to the part that we all are going to need to watch about 50 more times until we fully understand it all. Forgive me if I get something wrong, or forget something, I've only seen it once. The scene I'm talking about of course is that of Peter in the Observer's mind. So, after witnessing the Big Bang(um wow) Peter allows the Observer to explain his importance to the world. This is the part I'm a little confused about so comments would be much appreciated. The Observer tells the story of how he interrupted Walternate and setting all this into motion. We knew that, and I liked how Peter said that Walter told him. Then though, the Observer says that he did all this because Peter is important, and mentions  the baby he had with Red Olivia. Peter obviously is blown away by this since he had no idea. The Observer then says that Henry was never supposed to be, and that he should be with our original Olivia.  At least that's what I think he said. The Observer also says that they are the distant descendants of humans in one possible future. That I loved.  

Here's where I'm confused. After the show I was talking with some people about why Peter was so important. They said because his offspring(namely Henry) was the one who would eventually lead to the Observers. That makes no sense to me, but I couldn't remember an actual reason of why Peter was so important to September that we risked corrupting the timeline to see these events. Lets back track. Had September never interrupted Walternate, Peter would have been saved and would have grown up in the Red Universe. Since there would have been no Fringe events there would be no Fringe team, and I'm not sure if he would ever have met Red Olivia. Possible of course, but unlikely. Which means no Henry. So Henry's birth can only be caused by September interfering which means Henry was never supposed to live and that's what September actually said. However, if Peter is supposed to be with Blue Olivia, how can that be? How will that set things right? Again, if September never interfered with Walternate Peter never would have met Blue Olivia at all. He only met her because Walter crossed over and stole him to the Blue Universe.  

With that in mind, how is Peter being with either Olivia setting things right, and what does Henry have to do with anything? I get that Henry wasn't supposed to happen, but unless we was going to grow up to become the next Hitler or something then I don't know how it really matters beyond this family. This seems very important and I don't really understand the reasons for September saying Peter was important. Please help!

Again, very good episode that raised more questions than it answered.  That's the best kind of show!