Lower Decks

The following contains spoilers through the episode “Peter,” originally broadcast 4/1/10.

I don’t want to say I’ve been backing the right horse, but hey, I’ve been backing the right horse. From the start, I knew the creators of ‘Fringe,’ had a pedigree that would at least result in something intriguing, but for the past two years they’ve developed one of the most emotionally complex and compelling shows on TV today. Much of this has centered around Walter Bishop, the brilliant mind released from a mental asylum in the first episode, and his relationship not only to the mysteries investigated every week, but his son Peter, whom viewers gradually learned wasn’t who he seemed. But as misdirections go, it wasn’t Peter’s own ambiguous talents and activities that ultimately proved to serve as the driving force of his story, but where he came from and how he came to be here.

“Peter” is the episode everyone has been waiting for. I go on a lot about how ‘Fringe’ constantly walks the balance between episodic and serialized storytelling, but the truth has always been that there has only ever been one direction, from the start. It was only a matter of everything falling into place, and as much as many things have been revealed throughout the course of the series, the one constant throughout all of it has been the story of the Bishops, the bond neither is ever entirely comfortable acknowledging, but is always there. Without Peter, no matter how much Dunham and Broyles could use Walter, he never would have been available. But the truth is, without Walter, there never would have been a Peter, at least in our reality.

Once it was revealed last season that the series arc depended on the confrontation between two realities, the truth of Peter’s existence has served as one of the biggest tickets for the show to exploit, and finally we’ve reached the point of no return. Much of the episode takes place in 1985, when Peter originally, well, died, at least in our reality. Walter couldn’t do anything to save him. Except his work had allowed him to open a window into an alternate reality, where he observed everything was much the same except the technology, which didn’t quite match up. Zeppelins were still in use there, and their phones were twenty years ahead of ours, for instance (oh, and Eric Stoltz starred in ‘Back to the Future’). Their Peter was dying, too, and Walter fixed his window and his counterpart’s lab, where he could observe his progress (along, of course, with the Observer, part of a cabal of such figures). “Walternate” missed the crucial moment he found the cure, but Walter didn’t. He determined that Peter must be saved, even if he had to do it himself.

Except opening the door between realities was equally determined to have catastrophic results. Nina Sharp was called in by Walter’s assistant. It was during these events she lost her arm, in an unsuccessful attempt to stop Walter from crossing over. (If you want an episode of ‘Fringe’ to have purely science fiction elements, this is a good one to watch for that, too.) William Bell is referenced, Walter arguing that he would agree that these actions are necessary, but a rift between the men is also evident, presenting all kinds of questions not only about the past, but also the present, where we know both Nina and Bell are well aware that Bell currently resides in the alternate reality.

Anyway, so Walter, as we always knew he would, saves the alternate Peter from death, having brought him back to his own lab. At this point, it’s necessary to discuss another important figure of the episode, Elizabeth Bishop, who in both realities is wife to Walter, mother of Peter. To this point, we’ve never seen her, and it’s still a mystery as to her fate (much as we’re still waiting to meet Dunham’s monster of a father), but here she’s very much a part of the story.

And what a story. As an episode set mostly in the past, it becomes such a mindbender of a period piece that, thanks to John Noble’s ever-present, distinctive accent, you can almost imagine him as a nineteenth century scientist, Victor Frankenstein. The Walter of this period is far more confident in himself, of his actions, at least until his son dies and he becomes more desperate. The Walter we’ve known has so many reasons to doubt himself, both from the time he spent without full control of his faculties, and the mistakes he made along the way that led him to that point. He’s always known he was a genius, but he wasn’t always so eccentric about it. It’s not to see the transition begin around these events. He loses the respect of his assistant the more he insists on this course of action, and when his wife sees the alternate Peter for the first time, Walter understands immediately that all his best plans, of returning this boy back to his home, are lost. He’s entered an irreversible path, no matter what he’s been telling himself.

In this reality, it’s Walter who shows Peter the trick of walking the silver dollar along his fingers. In the alternate reality, it’s Elizabeth. Maybe that’s telling. There are so many possibilities suddenly open, thanks to this episode. Even though we already know that these things happened, it’s important to see them, to not just see the impact they have as they happen, but the implications still left hanging, of what still awaits everyone.

In ‘Alias,’ this sort of scenario was often tried, or at least teased, but it was never quite pulled off, and ‘Fringe’ has been easy to compare to the earlier J.J. Abrams-launched series, moreso than ‘Lost,’ which always took its serialized approach more directly. But the benefit ‘Fringe’ has always had has been that from the start, “Peter” has been inevitable, even if its form wasn’t always evident. Each time Walter could unexpectedly count on Peter, he couldn’t help but be surprised. In many ways, he probably never deserved it. Just as the audience has been asked to sympathize with him, or at least derive some humor from him, it’s never really been in question how important Walter is to everything. But this episode introduces the idea that Peter might be equally important. In what way who knows? Walter made Dunham pretty important, and that’s been something that’s been explored for some time, to the point where, two months ago, last time we saw a new episode, she discovered the truth for herself, making this discussion necessary. Everything that was comfortable taking for granted, it’s all going to change, just as this season has been promising from the start, when the person of William Bell and his conversation with Dunham was first teased.

Present Peter is never seen, nor is Broyles, nor is Astrid. It’s basically the Walter Bishop show, with cameo scenes for Dunham, and without question, Noble easily pulls it off. The man is constantly compelling, and has been a good argument no matter the material from the start, a good reason to watch ‘Fringe’ all by himself. For any number of reasons, this is an essential episode. Thanks to the very format that makes it such a gamble for some viewers as to whether or not this series is really worth committing to, it was always possible, always waiting to be seen. And if ‘Fringe’ can do this, just imagine what else it’s got up its sleeve.