The only thing better than a cow is a human! Unless you need milk. Then you really need a cow.

[inmyriadbits]

So, I was responding to ignipes's recent reaction post to the end of Fringe S2, and apparently I had so much to say that I exceeded the comment character limit three times over. So I thought I'd roughly edit it into a post of its own, to share with the rest of you. (And maybe also because the more coherent formatting is good for my soul.)

Spoilers for EVERYTHING. :)


[On Olivia-stuck-in-a-cage-in-another-universe at the end of the finale]

In all seriousness, though, that little dark room she was in was toe-curlingly horrifying to me, which I think is partly because I read a long, intense article recently about the effects of solitary confinement (thanks, Charlie Crews). So now, it's not just an lizard brain "small-dark-space" kind of fear, but a "oh god I now know all these statistics about why this is horrible" kind of fear. *shudder*

That said, I'm holding the memory of the time she breaks out by asking her captors pathetically for a glass of water firmly in my mind, along with the image of bb!Olivia huddled safely in the corner of a pyro-blasted room. (If her powers don't play some role in busting her out, I'll eat my hat, especially considering how scared she was at the end of the finale.)

What I'm really interested in is what she does when she gets out, because she doesn't really understand the mechanics of the universe-crossing, and she doesn't have any allies. I actually think it would be interesting if she met up with Peter's mom; I don't think Elizabeth knew about Walternate's plan, and she clearly loves Peter madly – enough, even, to help the woman who loves him, despite Olivia being the enemy. Plus, it'd be another nice continuation of the "parents doing anything for their children," IMO. Regardless, I'm just very excited about next season, because aside from knowing that Olivia will eventually get back and alt!Olivia will be discovered, I have absolutely no clue how that will happen. :D


[On alt!Olivia's inevitable discovery]

I am SO EXCITED about how they'll discover the alt!Olivia. Who will it be? What character trait will be the straw that breaks the suspicious camel's back? (Er.) Will she be mean to Ella? Will Peter be upset by alt!Olivia doing things that make it seem to him she's blowing hot-and-cold and/or was lying just to get him back? WILL SHE TRY TO ASSASSINATE WALTER???

OMG I can't wait.


[On the writers room pwning everyone ever with Fringe's daddy issues, and cackling manaically while they do so]

Neither Walter does anything small, does he? It kinda says something that I never once questioned that the Walternate could be capable of using Peter as an exploding battery to power a universe-destroying machine. Possibly this is because they're both mad scientists with god-complexes, possessed of alarmingly flexible morality, ruthless determination, and the competence to make their plans come to fruition.

I think this may help the writers in their evil plans of father-issues world domination.


[On how Olivia Dunham is THE BEST EVER]

Olivia is SO AWESOME, isn't she? It's kind of funny, honestly, because I think most people I know who've watched this show started off all "I...don't really know what to make of this main character, and I'm not certain whether I like her," and/or "Ugh, I hate how wooden this actress is, but I'll stick around for Joshua Jackson." And then they all come out the other side leading the Olivia Dunham Is Awesome! parade, with pom-poms and a megaphone and giant banners. She's just that cool.

I think one of my favorite minor scenes of hers is the first time they go to that guy in the bookstore and he guesses at her bedside reading material in a kind of insulting generic female-Boston-liberal-in-her-early-30s way. And then she's all "Actually, it's an advanced forensics textbook. I keep it next to my gun. *smirk*" ♥♥♥♥♥


[On William Bell's cryptic remark to Peter, and how Peter is a distressed damsel]

That comment William made was odd, wasn't it? I wonder when it will come back; they're really sneaky about dropping hints and then circling back when you least expect it.

but then I remembered that Peter gets sick with a horrible disease about every three episodes because he's the show's real damsel in distress

HE SO IS. :D I keep making comments to Katie along these lines. And I totally love that he has the utmost faith that Olivia will save him, every time. She even crossed universes to rescue him, how great is that? Peter is very willing to save her, too, but she usually doesn't need it. :)


[On how family makes broken people less broken]

Found-family is one of my bulletproof narrative kinks, and I love how this show blends blood-relations with an extended found-family. The musical episode (which I prefer to think of as the noir!AU episode instead, because the singing was bizarre but the noir stuff was AWESOME, and we got EVERYONE IN FEDORAS, which is my favorite thing ever) was a great one for that, because you have Astrid taking care of Walter while he's babysitting Ella who is getting the world's craziest story from her weird uncle Walter. And then she fixes the sad ending of his story for him. (I ADORE Ella, for the record. The image of her holding that bucket with all her might while Gene eats will never stop being funny.) ♥ Even Peter refers to it as the "odd little family unit we're building" when he thinks Olivia's freaking out about the almost-kiss.

There's this theme about family and caretaking in the show, which you see most explicitly in Peter and Walter's relationship, because he's quite literally in Peter's care. That scene you mentioned with the tracking device punchline in an earlier post is a nice example of the way they walk the line between care, dependence, and independence; family is there to help you, but they can't keep you from making your own mistakes, or it becomes unfair to both sides. You see it in Astrid, who so quietly takes care of the lab and Walter and keeps the trains running on time. You see it in Peter and Olivia's interactions, too; she takes responsibility for the whole world on her shoulders, and generally doesn't need help, but Peter is always careful to be there when she does. She'll never ask for it, but she'll accept it when he offers. It's the kind of family realtionship I have, where you know they're always there for you, but they don't interfere "for your own good," which would piss me right the hell off.

Another note on Ella: I love that they've never gone the predictable and insulting route with Olivia, where in a show like Grey's Anatomy, her relationship with Ella would be all "OMG NOES MAI BILOGICAL CLAWCK IZ TICKIN" and angst about not being married/preggers. Instead, she's totally cool being the World's Best Aunt, and isn't planning to marry for any reason other than love.


[On other random topics :D]

ANYWAY. One of the other things I loved about the finale was the way they framed the conflict between universes with such moral ambiguity. The alternate versions aren't evil alternates in the usual cliched way (well, Walternate is kind of evil for planning to kill his own son, lying to his face about it, and putting Olivia in a cage, but I meant the others moreso); they want to survive just like our universe. They're more desperate, and thus more ruthless, but they're not evil. In fact, it's Walter's fault that their world is ending. He's already paid for his sin almost as much as anyone can without dying – with his sanity and his family – but does that really absolve him? What really makes our universe the more worth saving, aside from the fact that it's ours? It's a fantastically sneaky look at war, and I love that they're sliding the moral dilemma in so nicely under the radar. They even do subtle things like paralleling Olivia's black lingerie from the pilot with alt!Olivia's white. I love it.

My big remaining question from the finale is, WTF is up with the Observers? How the heck did they know about the plan for Peter, and what was with the crazy manuscript? I mean, I know from my time watching Alias that JJ has a Thing for prophetic manuscripts, but still. My current, undeveloped theory is that they're time-traveling aliens (albeit more along the lines of the Tralfamadorians than the Timelords *g*) Bear with me here... Walter made that throwaway joke-that-wasn't about human development being altered and said "My guess is aliens!"; cue everyone looking at each other all "Oh god he's crazy." But it got me thinking – if the entire dimension is threatened, then it's not just Earth that would go down, but the whole universe. So if there are technologically-advanced sentient lifeforms out there, they would surely be invested in the outcome, right? This is about as far as I've come, but I think there's something to it. :)

Thoughts? Counter-theories? Squee about how awesome are Olivia and/or Peter and/or Walter, Astrid, Nina Sharpe, Charlie, etc? :)

Comments

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

You final sentence reminds me that I feel I haven't done enough squeeing about Nina Sharp, because seriously, HOW AMAZING IS NINA SHARP? She's about the most powerful person in the world - she puts prime ministers on hold - and she's a cyborg and she has her own agenda and knows so much more than she ever says and did I mention that SHE'S A CYBORG? That's important to me.

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

That was a shameful oversight on your part, I have to say. Then again, I forgot to include Broyles in that list, so I really can't cast stones. ;)

she puts prime ministers on hold

She also sends interdimensional corporate briefs and interrogates dead men.

AND, she has a ROBOTIC ARM. Fuck yeah, Nina Sharp. She would be awesome enough as it is, but the cyborg thing is the cherry on top of an awesome sundae. She is, to take a leaf from Wendy Watson's book, an awesome-nado (a tornado made of awesome). :D

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

Shame on YOU for forgetting Broyles! After a rough and clumsy start in the first couple of episodes in which the writers seemed to be going for an antagonistic boss-agent relationship between him and Olivia, but doing it badly, he has turned out to be so amazingly awesome. Hearts in my eyes, no lie.

Nina doesn't just have a robotic arm - remember when she got shot? She survived because she has, like, titanium parts in her chest or something. (i forget the scienceblahblahblah they used to explained it.) CYBORG FTW.

But, really, she knows so much more than she says, and also I believe Peter still owes her a no-questions-asked favor (that never got called in, did it?), so I cannot wait to see what happens with her in the next season.

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

I know, I feel terrible. Lance Reddick is a total badass. Here, have some evidence. That post is totally relevant to your interests. :)

Nina doesn't just have a robotic arm - remember when she got shot? She survived because she has, like, titanium parts in her chest or something. (i forget the scienceblahblahblah they used to explained it.) CYBORG FTW.

You're right; I forgot AGAIN. I was just watching the pilot commentary, so I'm still in OMG ROBOTIC ARM reaction mode. :)

Peter still owes her a no-questions-asked favor (that never got called in, did it?)

Nope, it didn't. And that deal had an awesome deal-with-the-devil vibe, so if they don't follow through, I'll be a sad panda. She's fantastic at keeping secrets, I love it.

[dotfic.livejournal.com]

I love what this show does with found family (one of my bullet proof kinks as well) and your crunchy meta thoughts.

I thought it was interesting that our Olivia's mom died in a car crash, but alt!Olivia's Rachel died in childbirth. So Olivia's sadness at losing her mom is counterbalanced with alt!Olivia not only having no more Rachel, but NEVER having an Ella and we see our Olivia getting it. So all this playing with alt-universes is tied into things about love and family and loss and grief, add into that what our Walter did to save Peter. Plus that Peter's biological dad wants to sacrifice him to power the world-destroying device -- technically I guess Peter and our Walter are blood father and son...and yet not and Peter's actual blood father fails him, as his other father fails him and yet doesn't fail him the way his actual blood father does.

(Oh god, did I just splooge meta?)

With Olivia, it's odd, I remember trying the show when it first started and not going for it, and mostly I heard negative buzz about Olivia and that made me think she was just this budget blond Scully. Oops? It's a shame because yes, if you stick with the series, Olivia emerges as a fantastic character.

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

I love what this show does with found family (one of my bullet proof kinks as well)

Our timing is most fortuitous – Katie and I were just watching the pilot with the commentary (by J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtman FTW; the commentary was actually SO GOOD that we had to take a break halfway through because my brain was getting too stuffed. Plus, they make some outstandingly geeky references; our favorite was when one throws out "The needs of the many..." and lets the rest hang, and then the second picks up with "Outweighs!" Third: "The needs!" First: "Of the few!" ♥___♥), and to my delight, they actually bring up the found-family aspect in almost exactly those words. It's right after John Scott's betrayal and death, when Charlie's talking to Olivia in the car, and they're talking about how Olivia loses John, who she thought was family, only to find it unexpectedly in this ragtag team she builds. One of them said something like "The means to the end becomes the end itself," which I rather liked. :) I am always so thrilled when it turns out that showrunners know what they're doing.

So all this playing with alt-universes is tied into things about love and family and loss and grief, add into that what our Walter did to save Peter.

I've been thinking a lot recently about how interesting I find the use of personal history in this show. I mean, sci-fi is so much about the future, both traditionally and intrinsically. But the human story they tell alongside the sci-fi is IMO even more important on Fringe, and that is all about the weight of history.

I was just writing about this recently, dammit. (I just did a clean OS reinstall, and I've been using Gmail for note-taking, so I can't find ANYTHING anymore.) Hmm, where did I put that...ah! Here we are. I was trying to figure out some thoughts about Patrick Jane on The Mentalist, and it turned into a three-way meta between TM, Life (which you also watched, iirc), and Fringe:

"Jane reminds me at different times of, weirdly enough, Charlie Crews and Walter Bishop. It's Charlie because they've both been been betrayed and broken all to hell by the world and other people, and then pieced back together again to stagger on, with a shiny paint job but a whole slew of things still wrong under the hood. They smile the same way -- all the time, like it's one of the only things holding them together (which it probably is), and showy, but it only sometimes stretches up to meet their eyes.

As for Walter...here are two men who have sinned, and paid dearly for it. Granted, Walter's sin is on a far more epic scale than Jane's pride/avarice, but they've both paid for it (/continue to pay for it) with their sanity and their families. Their pasts won't let them go, either; Jane moreso won't let go of his any more than it(/Red John) will let go of him – which I suppose is like Charlie, again. Fringe often feels like a ghost story to me; they don't have ghosts, per se, but there's always this tangible, inescapable presence of history, from the machinery in Walter's lab to the look in Olivia's eyes. That's what I call a haunting. Jane instead wears his ghosts on his ring finger, and painted on the wall above his bed in his wife's blood. No wonder he sleeps on the couch in the bullpen instead."

The tone, cinematography, and New England location all really add to the ghost story feel, IMO.

They can and do change the future with what they do, but they can't escape the way the past has shaped them, and scarred them. It makes me really want them to use the Observers more, because the whole time-and-causality thing goes straight to the show's core.

Heavens. I'm on quite a roll with Fringe meta today...

[dotfic.livejournal.com]

Fringe often feels like a ghost story to me; they don't have ghosts, per se, but there's always this tangible, inescapable presence of history, from the machinery in Walter's lab to the look in Olivia's eyes.

What a beautiful image, and idea. It's about the ghosts of human history (emotional history).

There's all this silly science, it's almost deliberate camp at moments, and yet the show has this anchor, this weight to it and it feels real. We believe in the world because the characters and their emotions are real.

The explosion of Fringe meta between you and ignipes amuses me. <3 I'm happily rolling around in new show/new fandom squee here.

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

It's about the ghosts of human history (emotional history).

Yes, exactly! Which are all ghosts, really; they're just usually not so intimately related.

You can get away with pretty much anything as long as the emotions are real. Life is ridiculous enough on its own that this works out in fiction. :)

[celli]

I could seriously eat this meta for BREAKFAST. *contemplates with glee*

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

\o/!

If you're looking for more deliciousness, ignipes also just put up a meta about Why Olivia Dunham Is The Awesomest. She says some great things, you'd like it! Also, you should link to it, so other people can know of the awesome that is Olivia

P.S. Did I know that you watch Fringe? I don't think I did. But yay! :D