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Fringe: "The Day We Died" - Season finale 3/22 on FOX

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But right when he first met her in her universe he said "no, you're nothing like her". How can he go from that to being blind? Anyway I'm beginning to change my mind about it. I had the impression it went on for the entire season.
He said to her, trying to forget the girl he had just left in another universe and never thought he'd see again...
 
I hate everything.

Wouldnt be a Fringe thread without a STW hate post.
I'm sorry that I actually don't accept anything that a writer puts out and lap it like some Pavlovian dog.

Also, I didn't hate the last two episodes they were entertaining set-up but this episode was a mess and since it was meant to be the pay-off for this season it really was lame. The writers did nothing but steal ideas from recent tv shows like LOST and Heroes which did something similiar with the whatever happened happened aspect of time travel, our heroes actually being a part of a historic event unbeknowst to them due to time travel(Hiro traveling to feudal Japan in S2 of Heroes and being his childhood hero, the 815 survivors traveling to 1970s and integrating into Dharma and triggering the Incident), a "What if..." worst case scenario that must be avoided(ENT's "Twilight", Heroes" 5 Years Gone").

This season put aside Sam Weiss, the First People, the Weapon after they became intriguing elements introduced early on in the year. Now I see why they were absent since they were paper thin. You might like the idea that the First People weren't some intriguing ancient civilization that would have added another layer to the story but was just Walter sending the Weapon back--these paradoxes are tired and easy ways out besides this was fresh with the anti-time anomaly in TNG's All Good Things.. not after years of use. I was waiting anxiously for some interesting explanation on why the weapon responds to Peter--what did we end up getting --Peter was linked to the Weapon just because it was always that way--it comes across as the writers too lazy to come up with a compelling reason like he was from the other universe that triggered all this--but they couldn't even do that since they chose to go the route that the Weapon wasn't created by anyone it just existed--well we all know why--it was a plot macguffin by the writers that literally popped it into existence because thy couldn't come up with who built the weapon, why they built the weapon, why it was tuned to Peter--it was the Fringe writer's "God" card they pulled out much like Ron Moore did on BSG when he threw his hands up and made it the catch all for any unanswered question.

The mythology had been the show's greatest asset but in recent episodes it started to look like it would probably end up turning into a botched mess like every show that has attempted these series-spanning myths have ended up being--X-Files, LOST, Heroes, The Event, Flash Forward, BSG, The 4400. I started feeling that way when the writers started showing their cards with the revelation halfway through that the fate of both universes hingd on who Peter loved more. Then this finale's cheap answers to the weapon and first people just reinforces it. So I decided I won't be burnt again--the mythology was the only thing tethering me to this show--the characters aren't that interesting and the standalones are boring and I could care less about all the romantic angst.

They kill Olivia then she is back alive before her future corpse was cold. I might have enjoyed this or been moved had this been my first time to this particular sci-fi rodeo but at this point in my life I know how these type of episodes go and unless they are done really well it is cheap because the writers can be bold and kill off characters when they know it won't be permanent.

Those were my main issues with this finale. Now when it comes to this season yes I've been hard on it--too many stale one-offs, the silly sci-fi which I could tolerate before just went off the rails, the Peter/Olivia/Fauxlivia romance was focused on too much, Bell's return was wasted and just killed time. The show was never consistent but this was the weakest most aimless season yet. I'm dumping this show before they get a chance to disappoint me the way LOST or TXF did.
 
This was Fringe's best season and to give it a miss because you heard some shit is really doing it a disservice.
Really I thought it was its worst. None of the three seasons were consistent but I thought the first season after a rocky start was its best. The characters were new, it had more good episodes.

S1 had "The Arrival", "In Which We Meet Mr Jones, "Safe", "Bound", "Ability", "Inner Child", "The Road Not Taken", "Theres More Than One of Everything". The show was also tighter in its arc storytelling.

S3 was aimless. I enjoyed the first third of the season but after Olivia's return the show just wandered aimlessly unsure of what it wanted to do. There was no narrative urgency. The episodes were not very good--the marionette episode, concentrate and ask again, immortality, 6B, OS, Stowaway. Lysergic was this year's Brown Betty. Anna Torv's acting as Nimoy was mixed.

Even the usually great Observer episode was just fair this year. And the annual flashback episode was middling unlike last year's excellent "Peter".
 
This site has an ignore feature for a reason.

An ancient race before humans isn't an old scifi cliche either... You can't win with some people so I don't try to please them.
 
This site has an ignore feature for a reason.

An ancient race before humans isn't an old scifi cliche either... You can't win with some people so I don't try to please them.

Indeed. stw clearly doesn't like the show, so I'm not sure why he even bothers to watch anymore.

Anyway, I thought this was a fantastic ending to a fantastic season. There was definitely a bit of a dip around the middle of the year, but the last few episodes have been great across the board, and this was no exception. John Noble put in an incredible performance, as usual, and Joshua Jackson got in some very meaty scenes as well.

The ending, of course, had me WTFing, and it'll be a long wait to find out what exactly is going on. There's lots of dramatic possibilities now, too, with the Red and the Blue universes interacting on Liberty Island now...
 
I'm not sure I would can call it the best season. The first part of the season was the best part IMO. I liked the jumping between alternate universe viewpoints every other episode. BUT... IMO the latter half of the season with the ongoing Olivia/Peter/Altlivia triangle was just painful. And I agree with startrekwatcher that the very quick dismissal/resolution of the first people and ancient artifacts plotline was very disappointing. If I could change my vote I would downgrade the episode to Above Average after thinking about it.

So far season 3 has exhibited the best and the worst of the show. I am intrigued by the premise setup in the finale - but Season 4 could really go either way. A) Greatness, B) full jump-the-shark, or C) meh-inbetweenness. I'm hoping for greatness, but my expectations are tempered by the recent missteps.
 
This site has an ignore feature for a reason.

An ancient race before humans isn't an old scifi cliche either... You can't win with some people so I don't try to please them.

Indeed. stw clearly doesn't like the show, so I'm not sure why he even bothers to watch anymore.
I guess you've never watched a show that you were at one time interested in but eventually lost interest in because it just wasn't as good as it once was. I enjoyed the show in its season one and season two wasn't bad but this season was just a mess. And I'm not going to bother with it anymore. It is clear the writers are just going to give us macguffins or mumbo jumbo resolutions and more romantic angst.

If I didn't care about the show on some level I wouldn't be complaining about the weaknesses I see in it. Shows I hate I don't watch and don't complain about. I can't stand Dr Who, SGU for instance but I never go in those threads. But if I do care yeah I'm going to moan about what I see as not being as good as it should be and has been i.e. post S1 Heroes, Supernatural this season, Fringe, BSG in its last two seasons etc.
 
This site has an ignore feature for a reason.

An ancient race before humans isn't an old scifi cliche either... You can't win with some people so I don't try to please them.

Indeed. stw clearly doesn't like the show, so I'm not sure why he even bothers to watch anymore.
I guess you've never watched a show that you were at one time interested in but eventually lost interest in because it just wasn't as good as it once was. I enjoyed the show in its season one and season two wasn't bad but this season was just a mess. And I'm not going to bother with it anymore. It is clear the writers are just going to give us macguffins or mumbo jumbo resolutions and more romantic angst.

Hey! There ya go. I think you'll be happier for it.
 
Indeed. stw clearly doesn't like the show, so I'm not sure why he even bothers to watch anymore.
I guess you've never watched a show that you were at one time interested in but eventually lost interest in because it just wasn't as good as it once was. I enjoyed the show in its season one and season two wasn't bad but this season was just a mess. And I'm not going to bother with it anymore. It is clear the writers are just going to give us macguffins or mumbo jumbo resolutions and more romantic angst.

Hey! There ya go. I think you'll be happier for it.
Well you seem to miss the point of a discussion thread--if you want to only be exposed to opinions that are identical to yours then why bother coming to the internet in the first place--you can sit in your living room unaware that your opinion may not be the only one.

I come to the board to see what others think of a given episode or series. It isn't like I just come in here and just say I hate it and waltz out. I attempt to articulate what aspects I liked or didn't like justifying why I liked or disliked a specific episode.
 
I just saw it and voted Excellent. Confused as hell about the ending, which was a true WTF moment but intrigued. I'm looking forward to seeing these worlds collide next sesaon.

Loved the scene between Peter and Walter where he told him that he was his dad. Only John Noble can make a scene with a Twizzler emotional. Broyles eye was just creeping me out...there's no way I would be able to avoid staring at it if I were there. Astrid looks so much better with that haircut...they need to keep it that way. The actress playing Olivia's niece was good and cute. Age make-up, not so good but sometimes you just have to ignore it. Good scene with Peter and Walternate...wasn't expecting the hologram either. The funeral scene was excellent, as was the decision to cut the dialogue. Totally didn't get the time paradox though I assume that has to do with Peter not exisiting.
 
This site has an ignore feature for a reason.

An ancient race before humans isn't an old scifi cliche either... You can't win with some people so I don't try to please them.

Indeed. stw clearly doesn't like the show, so I'm not sure why he even bothers to watch anymore.
I guess you've never watched a show that you were at one time interested in but eventually lost interest in because it just wasn't as good as it once was.

Of course I have. I stopped watching them. :)
 
Indeed. stw clearly doesn't like the show, so I'm not sure why he even bothers to watch anymore.
I guess you've never watched a show that you were at one time interested in but eventually lost interest in because it just wasn't as good as it once was.

Of course I have. I stopped watching them. :)
Well sometimes I do like I did with Heroes and now Fringe when I didn't care all that much for the characters and the plot arcs were a mess but other times like TNG in its final season or Roseanne in its final couple of years or The X-Files awful few seasons at the end and now Supernatural--I kept watching because I cared for the characters and wanted to see them through until the end no matter how bad it got.

I wanted to see a bit more of Fringe and decided to give it until the end of the season to see where it was heading and I told myself if I didn't like it I wouldn't watch it when it returns and I'm not. Really I was mainly tuning in for the mythology--the characters, the angst, the scientific mumbo jumbo plot resolutions, the stale one-off fillers never appealed to me--but now even the mythology is being sloppily handled so there isn't anything left for me on the show.
 
Great episode. Halfway through, I began to think they might actually stay in the future and have the show continue on from there...until Olivia bought the farm.

Between the editing of the funeral pyre scene and Michael Giacchino's score, I completely expected to hear the LOST flashback *WHOOSH*as the pyre floated away. :lol:

As for the ending, wow. Talk about a mindfuck. I loved the suddenness of Peter's disappearance followed up by The Observer's....er, observation.

Lastly, I have to disagree with people's notion here that the First People and the Machine's origins have been quickly and dismissively been resolved. Because of the supposed self-contained temporal paradox in regards to the machine's existence, I seriously think we haven't heard the last about the Machine's origins and the First People. Remember, this is all speculation on Peter's part and I'm, for one, not convinced.
 
I am unspeakably happy with what they did with the "First People." I saw that one coming as soon as they said "Wormhole to the Cretaceous." I honestly thought that the first people element introduced previously was lame, and am really glad that we have nothing more to hear about it, and that it was handled satisfactorily.
 
I know that time travel stories come in different varieties and usually require suspension of disbelief. I also am a big sucker for them even when they aren't perfect. But I just got stuck on Walter saying he couldn't stop himself from sending the pieces of the machine back through the wormhole but Peter could go back and make a different choice.

I (think I) get that they were sending Peter's consciousness back and not his physical self, which makes it different. But what is preventing Walter from just not sending the pieces back? Would he be physically dragged to the machine to dismantle it and then back to the wormhole? It's also not like this is changed timeline where he already did it once and it's done and now even if he doesn't do it, it doesn't matter because it already happened because what would the original timeline be?

People around here are usually good at coming up with explanations I haven't thought of so I'm hoping someone has a take on this that will satisfy me.

I also realize there's potentially more to the story that will be revealed in the fourth season and may have to do with the Watchers, but that wouldn't seem to be information Walter would be privy to in this episode.
 
What I don't get is why he didn't just send back some damn plain English instructions. You know, simple things like "how to cure Peter" and "don't be a fucktard and crack universes."

I mean, he obviously went back in time and planted everything in exact locations, leaving instructions on how to find them that evaded discovery for millions of years. He could easily have done the same thing with a note to himself.

But hey, I guess an asinine paradox that doesn't make any sense at all is okay if it's convoluted and stupid, but horribly impossible to pull off if its nice and simple.
 
I forgot to mention earlier that I loved seeing Brad Dourif (man, he looked getting old), but I was disappointed by how underutilized he was. Hopefully he'll show up again...
 
The jump to the future reminded me of when they did it in Alias and they stayed in the new timeline (at least I assume they did, never finished the entire series) so I thought they were going to stay there in Fringe. I'm kind of glad they didnt because now I have even less of an idea what to expect they if they had.

Someone mentioned a similarity between peter and Kyle Reese. One of the officers at Olivia's funeral had a name tag that said "Reese".
 
I know that time travel stories come in different varieties and usually require suspension of disbelief. I also am a big sucker for them even when they aren't perfect. But I just got stuck on Walter saying he couldn't stop himself from sending the pieces of the machine back through the wormhole but Peter could go back and make a different choice.
Because Fringe has always played fast and loose with scientific or even "sci-fi" rules. You aren't suppose to stop and ponder it too much just go along with what the writers say. They even did it on LOST when Daniel was adamant that whatever happened happened then near the end of the season Daniel thinks you can change history now because you have free will which doesn't make the slight bit of sense but it was necessary for the plot.
 
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