Fringe - Season 4 Episode 8 'Back to Where You've Never Been'
Welcome to my first Fringe episode review here on my site. Here's how these are going to work: no summaries of the plot, you can go watch the episode for that or look at one of those wiki things. I'll just get straight to the parts i thought were awesome, what parts were confusing, what was really funny etc. That being said, spoilers ahead, here we go...Favorite line delivery: When Olivia says "When I can do what?" in response to Peter asking her why she needs Walter's device when she can cross over by herself. This, among other things throughout the episode, made me realize something. This show has 4 timelines, all of which you need to have a pretty good handle on to really appreciate everything going on in this episode especially. And it all makes sense. Great job writers, seriously. I know it makes the show really hard to get into at this point, but it makes it sooo worth getting into. The way Lincoln is standing in this scene just makes me laugh. I think it's due to the thigh holster. It makes me think of ridiculous Rob Liefeld characters, who have all kinds of buckles and guns and straps etc.
Most hardcore Fringe fans probably read that one article where Fox network president Kevin Reilly admits that they lose money on the show, but it could go on with some changes to lower the budget of each episode. This got me wondering, does having our actors play multiple roles save the show money? And if so, does the cost of having to create two quite significantly different worlds, as far as sets, props etc. plus all of the composite effects for the actors appearing with themselves cancel out those savings? Speaking of savings, now that I think of it, very clever way to save money on the pier scene by having them apprehended before the ferry ever had a chance to arrive. I'm definitely going to be more aware of these kinds of things now. The biggest "oh man!" moments were when Walternate shoots Brandon in the face revealing he's a shapeshifter, followed by the reveal of Moriarty, er, David Robert Jones in his evil shapeshifter factory lair. Maybe this can be answered just by looking back at the episode, but which universe is he in? And regardless of that answer, is he the original universe Jones or the other side Jones? He seemed pretty zombified. Oh, and the fact that Broyles is on his side? Damn! That about does it for this episode, lots of great action on top of great story and character development, and some cool visual effect stuff. I'm so glad Fringe is back, and I can't wait for next week's episode!
UPDATE: I just realized that Alt. Broyles should be dead, so either he never died in this new alt. universe, or he's a shapeshifter. Probably a shapeshifter, which makes the whole Jones alliance thing make a lot more sense.