Fringe: "Peter" 4/1/10 - Grading & Discussion

[Hyperspace05]

I wasn't quite as blown away as most of you, but I still rate the episode as 'excellent'.

But I have to say I *LOVED* the 80s Fringe intro! Total geekout!

 

[Samurai8472]

^ Oh come on! There will never be personal computers. They take up entire rooms!

Back to the future starring eric stolz! LOL

AU BTTF

When Walter gets the window to work in 2010, he'll see Caprica starring Michael J. Fox.

The Fly 2 starring Micheal J. Fox

As the for the episode I think a part 2 would have been nice. There's so much they could explain.

You knon when they do episodes that talk about past consequences like that guy with the brain condition Walter knew in the past?

They could show little bits of how it happened.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

1) Some awesome acting by John Noble. He does not only carry this episode, but also the show as a whole (and him leaving "Fringe" would probably as catastrophic as John Rhys-Davies leaving "Sliders" ).

2) So, we now know why universe-travelling was invented by Walter, how alternate Peter ended up in our reality, and how Nina lost her arm.

3) It's ironic that a episode titled "Peter" doesn't feature Joshua Jackson at all (except for "previously on..." scenes).

4) Cool gimmicks and in-jokes: An 80s-style retro intro for "Fringe" and "Back into the Future, starring Eric Stoltz". *lol* Of course, the retro intro also included some "fringe" technologies which have become reality by now (personal computing, DNA profiling, stealth technology!).

 

[Samurai8472]

(and him leaving "Fringe" would probably as catastrophic as John Rhys-Davies leaving "Sliders" ).

Man if they kill Original Walter and substitute Walternate....


Ofcourse a Walter that now doesn't know older Peter(since he was kidnapped) would be quite a development.

Peter- My dad was in a mental institution

Walter- the fool

 

[Mitty]

What an awesome episode in so many ways.

Agreed that making Walter look younger (and, indeed, Nina) was pretty incredible. He looked totally real to me, no makeup at all. This episode deserves an emmy.

 

[Procutus]

This episode deserves an emmy.

John Noble for certain deserves an Emmy for his overall performance. The man is terrific.

I just finished watching it again, and I'm still blown away by it. I hope this is just a taste of things to come.

 

[Aragorn]

I wonder if this will bring an end to the standalone episodes. Granted, the networks love the standalones the best, but once Peter finds out where he's from, things will never be normal, especially if Walternate turns out to be the mastermind behind the other world invasion because of his kidnapped son.

And since Nina has known about Peter's origins since the show began, I wonder where she comes into play.

 

[stj]

Somehow John Noble makes the death of a boy who we have seen for years as a live adult heartrending.

Walter/Peter is Fringe's only compelling story. In one sense, every episode til adult Peter finds out will just be filler. Having Joshua Jackson in this episode too would be too much like finishing the season, if not the series.

I hate to carp about the proper amount of Anna Torv (for a blessedly glorious exception,) but however can she not tell Burroughs? Was the whole other world invasion was prompted by Peter's abduction? What if they could just send him back? Or, if adult Peter finds out, could his loyalties change? Or, could they recruit Peter as a double agent who pretends his loyalties have changed? Letting everything hang while she sorts out her feelings makes Olivia the Emo Queen of two universes.

Excellent.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Excellent, and far and away the best episode of the series and one of the best episodes of television ever. I was bawling for half the damn episode. If this doesn't earn Emmy nods and other awards for John Noble's performance or for writing then that's a crime.

They just delivered on every level, from the brilliant teaser with the window on alt-Manhattan (with airships!), the 80's Fringe intro, the excellent de-aging of Walter and Nina, the dramatic portrayal of Walter's desire to save his son at all costs (and indeed the costs were huge), and showing the Observer saving him and his son.

And they did all of that without the benefit of most of the rest of the great ensemble cast. Brilliant episode, and let's hope we see more of the same in the future instead of more focus on the freak of the week type episodes.

 

[Capn Flukie]

Does anyone else think Peter Weller would make a great Observer?

 

[Aragorn]

I noticed that at the very begging of the alternate credits there is sort of a distortion at the top and the bottom. The first thing I thought of was VHS/Beta tracking.

 

[Ayelbourne]

Did no one notice that one of the three observers was actually August?

 

[Procutus]

Did no one notice that one of the three observers was actually August?

Are you referring to the one played by Peter Woodward? If so, yes, I noticed his name right away in the credits. In fact I said to the Missus, it was nice they found a way to bring him back into the story, even if it was a flashback.

And yes, I too, think that Peter Weller would be an excellent choice to be an Observer.

 

[Procutus]

Excellent, and far and away the best episode of the series and one of the best episodes of television ever. I was bawling for half the damn episode. If this doesn't earn Emmy nods and other awards for John Noble's performance or for writing then that's a crime.

They just delivered on every level, from the brilliant teaser with the window on alt-Manhattan (with airships!), the 80's Fringe intro, the excellent de-aging of Walter and Nina, the dramatic portrayal of Walter's desire to save his son at all costs (and indeed the costs were huge), and showing the Observer saving him and his son.

And they did all of that without the benefit of most of the rest of the great ensemble cast. Brilliant episode, and let's hope we see more of the same in the future instead of more focus on the freak of the week type episodes.

I have to comment on this too, you couldn't have summed this ep up any better than you did, Locutus. You hit upon just about everything that Team Abrams did right with this ep. I'm planning on watching it a third time, it's that damn good.

 

[DWF]

Somehow John Noble makes the death of a boy who we have seen for years as a live adult heartrending.

Walter/Peter is Fringe's only compelling story. In one sense, every episode til adult Peter finds out will just be filler. Having Joshua Jackson in this episode too would be too much like finishing the season, if not the series.

I hate to carp about the proper amount of Anna Torv (for a blessedly glorious exception,) but however can she not tell Burroughs? Was the whole other world invasion was prompted by Peter's abduction? What if they could just send him back? Or, if adult Peter finds out, could his loyalties change? Or, could they recruit Peter as a double agent who pretends his loyalties have changed? Letting everything hang while she sorts out her feelings makes Olivia the Emo Queen of two universes.

Excellent.

Why hang it all on Olivia? Walter knows the truth as well he could just as easily tell Broyles the truth too. And I don't think sending Peter back would end the possible war.

 

[Aragorn]

Did no one notice that one of the three observers was actually August?

There were observers in the episode?!?!?!?

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

Awesome episode! So with Eric Stoltz on the BTTF marquee, does mean the regular Fringe universe is actually an alternate universe to ours? I guess much akin to any other fictional show, although never blatantly acknowledged.

 

[Aragorn]

Huh? The Stoltz thing was in the other universe.

 

[stj]

Why hang it all on Olivia? Walter knows the truth as well he could just as easily tell Broyles the truth too. And I don't think sending Peter back would end the possible war.

Because Olivia is a law enforcement agent with professional duties to fulfill. Walter is a mad scientist.

And although it is actually absurd to think returning Peter would end a war, in character-driven television programming that kind of personal motivation could actually be responsible.

This episode is excellent, but it makes the question of exactly why Peter is hanging around even more pressing. For Love Of Olivia was never a very convincing reason.

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

The episode was great and I enjoyed it very much, but best ep ever? Of TV? Really?

There was nothing in this episode that hadn't already been hinted at earlier in the series, outright stated, or easily inferred from dialogue and events.

Except for useless information like Eric Stoltz's AU career or what the assistant and mother looked like, there was nothing new in this ep.

We already knew Walter figured out how to cross realities (outright stated).

We already knew Our Peter died as a child and Walter replaced him with Other Peter (this was strongly hinted at very early in the show and has been an ongoing wink-wink at the audience).

We already knew Walter murdered his assistant (now we just have a solid reason why).

We did learn how Nina lost her hand ... a tidbit I had absolutely no interest whatsoever in discovering. Was anyone else actually chomping at the bit to pry this info out of the show? Doubt it. Maybe the tech behind her replacement, but the loss itself is a whatever event.

Even the Walter started the war between the worlds shocker wasn't one. It was either going to be Walter or Bell, since they created/instigated the tech to begin with. Now we just know (or assume at this point) it was over his kidnapping of Other Peter.

It almost reminded me of a piece of fanfiction or an approved author indulging himself by expanding upon an event that he found really cool about the Fringe IP. Kind of a Star Wars/Star Trek EU type story. You kinda-sorta already know what's going on, but wouldn't it be cool to watch such-and-such unfold?

Cool, but it doesn't move the story forward at all.