Fringe Recap - 214 Jacksonville (Act IV)
Click here for previous Act.
Still friggin' Jacksonville. Why can't we at least be on the flight home? Sigh.
And dammit, we are back in that stupid room with the stupid Other Side stuff (INCLUDING PETER), and Walter is still looking expectantly at Olivia as she picks stuff up as if he's hoping she'll finally start seeing something! Worse, disappointed when she doesn't!!!! You have GOT to be kidding me. I'm not recapping this anymore. I think you all can figure out that nothing happens in the 60 seconds they wasted on this - which AGAIN we already know from the LAST scene, thanks to Elephant!Peter.
Yes, that sound you hear is me banging my head against a wall.
New York. Oh, look! It's Nina!!!!! Shhhh. Be vewy, vewy quiet or you might scare her away for yet another six episodes. Nina hears dogs howling, so clearly there will soon be quakes quaking. She whips out her cell and calls Broyles....
….who calls Olivia, who's sleeping in a way-too-small-for-her toddler bed at the Jacksonville DAYcare. Which now proves that in addition to not reading their own script, or watching their own show, the writers apparently also don't even see their own props. I'd be excited, since this call means we're FINALLY going to get some action, but oh noooo. Writers can't have that! Not when there's still precious time to waste!
So...Olivia goes to get the guys, and finds Walter watching that old video of Olive in the burned out room. At least we get an explanation for what happened. Olive started the fire with her mind the first time she saw the Other Side. She was scared. Hint hint.
Walter and Olivia then go at it, which I might have found vaguely interesting had this episode not dragged so much I was practically comatose by this point when originally watching it. Much arguing ensues, including Walter's attempts to justify his actions. Olivia's of course not buying Walter's Brooklyn Bridge, but since she's not Peter, her disdain doesn't stop him from continuing his unrighteous indignation.
While Olivia's barbs don't really seem to hit Walter in the way she wants, one thing she says does stick with him: she was a child. You can literally see the wheels turning in Walter's head. Looking back at the TV - where child Olive only reacted because she was scared - Walter figures out why the experiment didn't work: Olivia doesn't fear anything anymore. In other words, it's not her emotions that cover her ability, it's rather her lack of them. Big. Fat. Word. There's a reason why even JJ Abrams admitted the audience didn't warm to Olivia, and in his roundabout way, Walter nailed one of the biggest reasons why. While it makes her an excellent FBI Agent (as Walter points out), it also makes her a very boring character. Lemme just say I for one am supremely happy Walter and Peter's airtime has been significantly bumped up this season. It means I actually care enough nowadays to pay attention. Definitely not the case last year.
Yaaaayyyy!!!! We can now move the show along, since they can now figure out how to move the plot along! Olivia can figure out how to see the building! Bonus, it explains how she did the light thing back in 114 Ability (although I still think Peter might somehow be involved too). She needs to be scared. Maybe now I can start caring about paying attention to THIS episode. It's a damn good thing Walter never saw Olivia's scream to Chucky!Olive in her dream, otherwise this episode may have ended up as a two-parter.
Hey writers! Can we leave Jacksonville now? Pllllleeeeeeaaaaassssseeeee. Thank you!
#$%@*%!#@#$@! Dammit.
Corridor. Olivia walks down it and finds the room where she started the fire as a child. She's trying to connect with her childhood, so she can channel her inner scaredy-cat. A nice visual as Grown Up Olivia basically recreates the video clip of Little Olive hunkered down. Peter finds her, and asks if this is more of Walter's tests. Interestingly, the back light behind Peter lights him up in a way reminiscent of how Rebecca saw him. I'm sure that's unintentional, but I really am surprised there's not a literal glow about him. Olivia sadly tells him no, it's not a test. She's just not afraid of anything anymore. End scene.
And end Act IV at 33:33. Surprisingly, I'm not going to complain about the time. Glyph is E.
Click here for Act V.