Fringe Series Finale (Discussion, Spoilers)

[auntiehill]

I enjoyed it. It wasn't perfect but I liked how it wrapped up a lot of storylines and gave Peter & Olivia the happy ending they deserved.

[MPH]

Disappointing ending I thought the first 30 minutes where to slow making the last 10 way too rushed and a predictable reset

[NCC1701MF]

Looks like the Science channel is moving the Fringe reruns to Friday nights. So on this coming Friday at 8pm EST they are showing the season 2 enders Over There Part 1 & 2, and the season 3 opener Olivia. They rerun all three at 11pm EST.

[propita]

Please correct me if I'm wrong...

So all stayed the same to the point of the invasion by the Observers--but without the Observers being there to help Walter. Somehow Walter gets and saves Peter without Peter drowning, all on his own. And with this change, Olivia, Peter, and Etta are safe--but it looks like Peter remembers everything.

And, in the new timeline, Walter exists until 2015, when he suddenly disappears from this timeline.

And Michael is outside all timelines, since the one in which he was created never existed, but he was outside of it before it was changed.

[degra]

it was a convoluted mess that the writer hoped you wouldn't bother to analyze bec it doesn't hold up to much scrutiny. It basically was just to give a sad ending to Walter and a 'fitting' end for Peter, Olivia and Etta. This finale just reinforced how awful the science was for this show even for science fiction and just how poorly plotted the whole mytharc was. Fringe was a pretty piss poor show with only nobles performance standing out.

[jayceee]

Pretty much any story which invokes time travel, travel through parallel dimensions, etc ... will become a huge mess and fail just about every present day scientific standard.

[FreezeC77]

propita wrote:

---

Please correct me if I'm wrong...

So all stayed the same to the point of the invasion by the Observers--but without the Observers being there to help Walter. Somehow Walter gets and saves Peter without Peter drowning, all on his own. And with this change, Olivia, Peter, and Etta are safe--but it looks like Peter remembers everything.

And, in the new timeline, Walter exists until 2015, when he suddenly disappears from this timeline.

And Michael is outside all timelines, since the one in which he was created never existed, but he was outside of it before it was changed.

It doesn't make complete sense, but Peter already was existing in a timeline in which he didn't exist before the reset. When Peter stepped into the universe machine and bridged the two universes he disappeared and a new timeline began.

So he was never actually saved by Walter in that timeline and the timeline in which he was saved by Walter had already been erased.

[Procutus]

Gotham Central wrote:

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How can Walter and Michael alter history by going to the future of an already altered timeline?

I have to admit that this one point has been bugging me since reading it earlier this morning. As many others have pointed out, one of Fringe's major flaws was the lack of logic concerning time-travel. I keep trying to wrap my mind around it, to find some manner that it makes sense, and it doesn't.

It is, as I said, the show's major flaw. That still doesn't change the fact that it was still a better series finale than many others I've seen over the past twenty years.

[Samurai8472]

^Better than Smallville's that for sure.

I'm still confused about the time travel


So the future where the Observers take over is erased

Walter somehow knows to get Micheal and head to the future even though there has been been nothing to indicate the Observers would take over in 2015

[Borgminister]

degra wrote:

---

it was a convoluted mess that the writer hoped you wouldn't bother to analyze bec it doesn't hold up to much scrutiny. It basically was just to give a sad ending to Walter and a 'fitting' end for Peter, Olivia and Etta. This finale just reinforced how awful the science was for this show even for science fiction and just how poorly plotted the whole mytharc was. Fringe was a pretty piss poor show with only nobles performance standing out.

[Fawlty] Otherwise ok? [/Fawlty]

[NCC1701MF]

Basically, Walter and Michael were able to change the creation of the Observers in the 22nd century so that all emotion was not purged from them later. So the month named Observers still existed. The Observers did not evolve into the ones that invaded in 2015. Walter existed until 2015 and has disappeared without a trace, except for the letter with the White Tulip. Peter may sense something since he has travelled through timelines.

[bigdaddy]

But the calendar Observers only went back to see when was a good time to invade...

Invade for no reason I might add.

[Warp Coil]

Meh. It had some nice character moments but the timeline reset stuff just makes my head hurt when I try to understand it. I really think that changing the evolution of the observers should have had a far more dramatic impact than a simple reset back to 2015. The entire arc of the 5th season was unnecessary in my opinion, especially since it all gets erased with a big reset button at the end.

[Procutus]

NCC1701MF wrote:

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Peter may sense something since he has travelled through timelines.

That I definitely would agree with, given both what you said and the bond that existed between him and Walter. Of all the characters, Peter maintained memories of all the timelines he experienced (save for the future which now has never happened).

Yeah. It makes your head hurt to think about this too much.

[jayceee]

Warp Coil wrote:

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The entire arc of the 5th season was unnecessary in my opinion, especially since it all gets erased with a big reset button at the end.

Sure seems that way.

The Fringe season 5 bluray/dvd set is no a longer a "first day" must-buy for me. Maybe I'll pick it up once it starts showing up in the bargain bins for $15 or less (possibly on black friday).