Fringe: "Reciprocity" - Jan. 28 on FOX - Grading & Discussion
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I need to watch it again but I'm leaning towards "above average".
Excellent, excellent, excellent. Now that is more like it. Mytharc episodes rock love the way the Machine has become its own character, the mystery elements have never been better, more Nina. Funny abut about Walter snorting Chimp DNA which revisits earlier threads from last season. Intriguing cliffhanger. Also mood was great.
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Above Average. It's one more piece in a big puzzle. This show has clearly given up any pretense of being anything but a serial show much like Lost or Bab5 now where episodes no longer stand on their own or even make much sense unless you view them in context.
The Doctor reveal was supposed to be obvious so as to avert you from Peter's behavior but I suspected Peter early on based on him lying to Walter early in the episode and the time the first body was found.
Beyond that.........it's hard to judge a book based on one chapter so I'll just say I was entertained but it really doesn't stand by itself very well and this may end up being better or worse depending on where they go with the story.
The Doctor reveal was supposed to be obvious so as to avert you from Peter's behavior but I suspected Peter early on based on him lying to Walter early in the episode and the time the first body was found.
Beyond that.........it's hard to judge a book based on one chapter so I'll just say I was entertained but it really doesn't stand by itself very well and this may end up being better or worse depending on where they go with the story.
I loved it when Walter said "I've snorted worse". 
The ep was good. That said, some things happened a little too fast like the doomsday machine being all set up, and Peter pulling an Anakin on those shape shifters. Walter was amusing as usual. I imagine he will recuperate his full brain power down the road. More Nina is always good. I hope the writers will settle this Peter/Olivia thing eventually. It's getting a little stale, imo.
While it will probably turn out to be true that The Machine caused Peter's behavior given the nose bleed and the writer's intent by introducing the idea, that was just speculation on Walter's part, and nothing Peter did in the episode seemed completely without precedent or understandable motive to me.
He's already impulsive and quick to kill the shapeshifters given his actions with the one Fauxlivia held "hostage" in 'Entrada.' What if that had really been the innocent mother and she was just too frightened to answer his question about her daughter's name before he shot her in the head? Even if the odds were heavily in favor of it being the shapeshifter, he took a huge and unacceptable (by FBI standards) risk in taking the headshot there, and did it without consultation with Broyles or warning to the shapeshifter and Fauxlivia that he knew the truth so they might as well surrender.
The length of time between visiting The Machine and the start of the shapeshifter killings is unclear despite the scene with Peter sneaking back into his and Walter's house immediately following the other. Walter had read the First People's book "dozens of times" searching for answers but he could have already started doing that beforehand, and knowing Walter he could probable plow through a book like that in no time. Also, they were still worried about Peter's nosebleed recurring, so it left me with the impression it was within a couple of days at most. It's therefore entirely possible Peter had decrypted Fauxlivia's "Olive" code and was keeping it to himself (because he intended to kill the shapeshifters) before ever visiting The Machine, since we know he was working on decrypting the laptop anyway, he was just limiting what he gave to Fringe Division.
As far as Peter's motivation goes, Fauxlivia with the assistance of the shapeshifters profoundly wounded Peter psychologically. While he's good at covering it up with most people, you can see it in his hesitation with having Olivia read the decrypted files and see him at his most vulnerable, and by his own description, "foolish." While he's been the con many times before, he's never been the mark, and never in such an incredibly personal way. He's deeply ashamed of himself, and has to eliminate whatever vestiges of what caused that shame that he still can exert control over, namely the shapeshifters still residing in his universe.
If I had any complaints about this episode it would be that it seemed completely obvious to me that Peter was the one doing the killing right from the start, and that the unsubtle misdirect with Dr. "I'm listening intently to your conversation with an evil expression on my face" was a bit ham-fisted and soap-operish. That being said, the psychological drama, the gradual rebuilding of the Peter/Olivia relationship and trust, the cool and freaky powering up of The Machine, the continuation of the mythology arc, and as always John Noble's outstanding balance between dramatic and comedic elements of his performance (the "I've snorted worse" and chimp behavior bits were hilarious) made this episode worthy of an "excellent" grade for me.
He's already impulsive and quick to kill the shapeshifters given his actions with the one Fauxlivia held "hostage" in 'Entrada.' What if that had really been the innocent mother and she was just too frightened to answer his question about her daughter's name before he shot her in the head? Even if the odds were heavily in favor of it being the shapeshifter, he took a huge and unacceptable (by FBI standards) risk in taking the headshot there, and did it without consultation with Broyles or warning to the shapeshifter and Fauxlivia that he knew the truth so they might as well surrender.
The length of time between visiting The Machine and the start of the shapeshifter killings is unclear despite the scene with Peter sneaking back into his and Walter's house immediately following the other. Walter had read the First People's book "dozens of times" searching for answers but he could have already started doing that beforehand, and knowing Walter he could probable plow through a book like that in no time. Also, they were still worried about Peter's nosebleed recurring, so it left me with the impression it was within a couple of days at most. It's therefore entirely possible Peter had decrypted Fauxlivia's "Olive" code and was keeping it to himself (because he intended to kill the shapeshifters) before ever visiting The Machine, since we know he was working on decrypting the laptop anyway, he was just limiting what he gave to Fringe Division.
As far as Peter's motivation goes, Fauxlivia with the assistance of the shapeshifters profoundly wounded Peter psychologically. While he's good at covering it up with most people, you can see it in his hesitation with having Olivia read the decrypted files and see him at his most vulnerable, and by his own description, "foolish." While he's been the con many times before, he's never been the mark, and never in such an incredibly personal way. He's deeply ashamed of himself, and has to eliminate whatever vestiges of what caused that shame that he still can exert control over, namely the shapeshifters still residing in his universe.
If I had any complaints about this episode it would be that it seemed completely obvious to me that Peter was the one doing the killing right from the start, and that the unsubtle misdirect with Dr. "I'm listening intently to your conversation with an evil expression on my face" was a bit ham-fisted and soap-operish. That being said, the psychological drama, the gradual rebuilding of the Peter/Olivia relationship and trust, the cool and freaky powering up of The Machine, the continuation of the mythology arc, and as always John Noble's outstanding balance between dramatic and comedic elements of his performance (the "I've snorted worse" and chimp behavior bits were hilarious) made this episode worthy of an "excellent" grade for me.
4.57 million viewers with 1 1.9 demo in the 18-49 demographic. That's about on par with last week.
I'm not surprised. Much like Lost in it's 3rd season, this is a show that's found it's audience and the audience isn't going anywhere provided the quality stays on par. We have no hope getting new viewers of any real quantity at this point given how completely serial the show has gotten but we're not likely to lose many at this point either. My guess is that we'll see another couple weeks with ratings about like these or maybe even down to 1.7-1.8 and it'll get renewed for a fourth season. If they have 1 more full season to tell their story I'll be happy. If we get five full seasons I'll be ecstatic.
^The problem with that is you don't plan to be canceled. If the show goes into season 4 and FOX doesn't say it's the last, and then cancels it we will never have any conclusion. I just Hope Fox gives the writers at least 10 episode warning before canceling it, but that's not going to happen.
Really good episode once again. Noble's "chimp face" was great.
Peter has spent three years being kind of dumb. He supposedly doesn't want to babysit his detested father but hangs around in an unrequited crush on Olivia. This is not a decisive or ruthless person. Also, he's not too smart. They've talked occasionally about Peter being a con artist, and clever, and knowing all sorts of skullduggery, but they've never, ever showed us any reason to believe it's not just big talk, ego boosting fantasies. The writers even had a vague notion of this. Every scene with Olivia played like Peter was so whipped he was afraid she'd turn on him.
The sudden discovery that crazy people can't pull the answers to the puzzle of the week out of their asses, and being mentally disturbed sort of messes of your concentration makes me wonder how Walter solved all those problems before, without needing chimp DNA.
It is very typical for serials to end up rewriting characters. Rewriting Peter as decisive, smart and stone cold doesn't make him cool (in my eyes,) just unbelievable. Rewriting Walter as someone who's mental derangement handicaps his thinking is more realistic. You di wonder, who's going to do the thinking now? Peter's dumb and Olivia is too cool to be contaminated with brains.
Average.
The sudden discovery that crazy people can't pull the answers to the puzzle of the week out of their asses, and being mentally disturbed sort of messes of your concentration makes me wonder how Walter solved all those problems before, without needing chimp DNA.
It is very typical for serials to end up rewriting characters. Rewriting Peter as decisive, smart and stone cold doesn't make him cool (in my eyes,) just unbelievable. Rewriting Walter as someone who's mental derangement handicaps his thinking is more realistic. You di wonder, who's going to do the thinking now? Peter's dumb and Olivia is too cool to be contaminated with brains.
Average.
Hmmm... Average for me. Probably the most disappointing episode of the season so far.
Nothing really happened. And the character moments were not good enough to fill up a whole episode.
Nothing really happened. And the character moments were not good enough to fill up a whole episode.