Lower Decks

The following contains spoilers through the episode “Over There, Part 2,” originally broadcast 5/20/10.

It’s funny. This season on ‘Lost’ there’s been a pretty significant presence of an alternate reality. In Star Trek, there was always the Mirror Universe, which at least in ‘Deep Space Nine’ became a recurring place to visit and watch develop. But even in a show like ‘Sliders,’ which is probably one of the most prominent examples of a TV show employing this gimmick, I can’t imagine it ever being as important as it has become on ‘Fringe.’ As the second season concludes, you can find no more dramatic exploration of just how much.

The conclusion of the two-part episode begins with a brief tour of some of the superficial differences, which is much of what we’ve gotten to this point about the alternate reality. From there, we expand further, into some of the ways the alternate versions of familiar characters differ, which in itself can help to define and illuminate both the people we know, and those we’re just meeting. (Our) Olivia is defined as someone who’s always reacting against some sort of personal pain; or in other words, haunted, and that fits her just as well as how Walter defined her during the “musical” episode, “Brown Betty.”

Of course, one of the big things about the episode is the reunion between Walter and William Bell (Leonard Nimoy), which in some ways has been as long-in-coming as Peter learning that he comes from the alternate reality. The relationship between Walter and Bell has been a part of the mythology, the backstory, from the start, and to finally see it in action again is pretty huge. Nimoy and John Noble don’t disappoint, either, acting out their scenes together as old friends who are particularly reluctant to see each other again, with a little too much history and bitterness between them for any real enjoyment to flow from it. Bell formed Massive Dynamic in our reality while Walter was suffering in an institution, and then escaped into the alternate reality, which he likes to point out was just as necessary as Walter’s need to “rescue” his son, an event, the crossing between universes (which they’d both wanted to exploit in the past, but not like this), that started the series arc.

Olivia ends up basically declaring her love for Peter to try and win him back to our reality, which is another development somewhat long in coming. Unlike most shows whose lead characters end up in romantic relationships after years of platonic interactions, there hasn’t been a lot of teasing, which has both made it seem like they weren’t going to do it and perhaps more natural than previous examples, which ended up building most of their appeal and thus inevitable viewer disappointment on its culmination.

Considering that the show has used Nimoy so sparingly, these past two episodes are the most we’ve ever seen Bell, and so it’s been as much the mystique of having Nimoy around as the history Bell helps establish with Walter. It’s funny, because even in these episodes, Nimoy is used sparingly, but he still comes across pretty powerfully, because the show seems to know exactly how to use him. To our heroes, he’s as much as legendary, but to the alternate Olivia and Charlie Francis, he’s a complete unknown, even though he carries weight in that reality as a friend of Walternate’s. We’ve already been told that he’s crossed between worlds too often, and that it’s made his molecules unstable, so it makes a pretty appropriate sacrifice, but still an effective one, when he serves as the catalyst to get our heroes back home, including Peter.

Perhaps the truly remarkable thing about the episode is how subtle it treats the reunion of Peter and Walter, which demonstrates a considerable amount of restraint. Peter doesn’t forgive Walter so much as decide that he might be able to see things his way, which is probably more appropriate. How long have we waited for people to not just accept Walter as he is but to understand him, too?

But as curveballs go, it’s the ending that has to take the cake. ‘Fringe’ loves curveballs, and especially to end episodes with them. In the past, this has been done to redeem week episodes, but here it’s a way to conclude the season exactly as it began: with an infiltrator (it’s worth noting that Bell created the shape-shifter technology, which is not the method this time, but rather the alternate Olivia). With Olivia once more trapped on the other side, it becomes that much more of an impetus next season to raise the stakes further, which for a show like this is exactly what you want. But I guess we have to wait a few months…

To round out the review, it might be worth noting, as I anticipated back in February for my review of “Jacksonville” (before the rest of the season was available for final listings), that I was correct in assuming that the numbers Walter stumbled across but couldn’t remember the significance of, that happened to correspond at least in theory of a date for a future ‘Fringe’ episode, turned out to be pretty accurate, and it was of course this very season finale. It’s another example, because this wasn’t specifically brought up in the episode (though Walter does at one point complain to Bell about his memory problems, part of a litany of perceived grievances that didn’t seem to find correspondence with his old friend), of how subtle the show can be. In hindsight at this point, the significance of the numbers might refer to the trip to the other side, or the recovery of Peter, or maybe the alternate Olivia’s infiltration. I’m sure we’ll find out more later.