Fringe Recap - 214 Jacksonville (Act V)
Click here for previous Act.
New York, Massive Dynamic. Nina tells Broyles there have been six more tremors and he notes they're increasing in frequency. We're obviously getting close to Show Time. The whole flying-to-Jacksonville-slash-Jacksonville-slash-flying-back-from-Jacksonville probably wasted a great deal of the 35 hours they had before Our Side's building disappears. Shocking, I know.
And YEEESSSSSSS!!!!! The trio walk in to join them. Sweeeeeeet. It's Action Jackson time, Bishop/Dunham-style! Before we can get to that though, Olivia for some reason immediately apologizes for her Inability to Solve Everything and Always Save the Day. Broyles goes all Dad on her: “You didn't send that building over here.” The “Newton did” is conspicuously absent. He also assures her that they've “still got time.” Oh, the irony.
Now that his line embargo has been lifted, Peter thankfully chooses a different route and just gets straight to the point: “What's Plan B?” They're compiling data and blah blah fishcakes. Action!Peter kicks in: “You need a fresh set of eyes?” I heart Peter - although if he slept on one of those daycare beds, I doubt his eyes are very fresh. Any alertness on his part is probably due more to his coffee addiction. Nina takes both Bishops to the lab. Peter really should be working for Massive Dynamic. He'd fit right in. The place is practically made to be his Tech playground.
Hey everyone, it's Brandon! He's fast becoming one of my favorite secondary characters. Astrid better watch out. The room they're in is so computerized and high-tech, Peter will probably be jonesing off this fix for months. He's completely in his element, and it shows. Brandon is bringing the Bishops up to speed, which Peter's totally into. Deputy Downer Walter will have none of it though. He really doesn't like it when he can't figure something out, does he? Perhaps there's more than fatherly love behind Peter's kidnapping? Hmmmmmmm. Anyway, he grumps: “It's a waste of time. This is an attempt to impose order on random, meaningless data. The answer is there is no answer.” Seems he and Bell tried the same thing back when they first sent the car over 25 years ago, but had no luck.
Ahhhhhh, but Walter.....you didn't have Peter working with you then. Because Peter? Is a genius. Not only that, he paid attention during Act II too. He immediately figures out the answer is mass. Remember? “The universe seeks balance.” Therefore, the building that will be taken will have the same mass as the building that came over. Peter explains all this to Brandon, who gives a pretty good analogy: Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Indy switches the gold idol for a bag of sand. Peter deadpans, “Not the metaphor I would have used, but yes, exactly.” Heh.
This whole exchange gets even Walter into it, and he starts demanding all kinds of information: satellite data, 3-D imagery, and a comprehensive list of all the building materials used during construction. Brandon gapes. “For every free-standing structure in New York City?” Walter looks at him like he's an idiot. “Oh, I think we can rule out the Empire State Building.” Snerk. I like the fact that I'm enjoying this episode again. It makes it so much easier to recap. Faster too. Olivia then walks in asking if they have anything. Peter: “Good news, we have a plan.” Why they couldn't have had this plan 35 hours ago is known only to the writers, particularly since (Spoiler Alert!) said plan ends up not being a waste of time. I'm guessing it's due to someone's love of Florida.
The best part about this scene though, isn't the fact that they are FINALLY doing something. No, it's Brandon, who ends up with the Best Line Of The Night If Not The Entire Season. Watching the Bishop Family Show, he tells them: “Okay, you two have something going on. Do you want to fill me in??” BWAH! How hilarious is it that the Bishops can out-geek even the genius Massive Dynamic geeks? Your answer should be very, very hilarious. HA. This totally won my Best Scene Of The Night. Sorry, Benchwarmers. Console yourselves with the knowledge that it was very close race.
CSI montage time, Fringe-style. We see data data-ing, numbers numbering, equations equationing. And all in less than ten seconds. A complete 180 (not to mention a vast improvement) from the set-up scenes earlier in the episode, particularly in the Opening. Brandon comes in with a list of buildings in Tribeca they can take off the list because they're too big, but the Bishops out-geek him again with their Innate Knowledge Of Lofts. Just because the building's bigger, it still could be the same mass since lofts have no interior walls (ie, they have no rooms, they're just open space). Brandon's bummed, and goes to put the buildings back on the list.
Olivia walks over and gives them the Fringe-down on what the other number crunchers are doing. She's clearly out of her element right now, since what needs to be done is geek work, which is not her expertise. All she can do is give reports. She then asks Third Stupid Question Of The Night: “What else can I do to help?” Uhhh, scare yourself silly so you can see the building, maybe? So that maybe you can get to it even faster? But before anyone can mention this what-should-be-completely-obvious idea (because Heaven knows it's not like the show hasn't spent any time on that particular plot or anything), Walter's watch beeps the Beeps of Doom. Their 35 hours is up. Cue the worried looks.
Now that the plot is on a roll, Olivia decides to do something she hasn't done all night: keep it moving. “How many buildings are we down to?” Cut to Broyles, where he and Olivia now discuss their options in a different room. There are still 147 possible buildings on the list, including three hospitals (Huh? Hospitals have more mass than that building we saw in the Opening) and a cancer treatment center. Olivia wants to start evacuating them all. Broyles points out that the panic that would ensue might end up killing even more people than those who would simply die with Disappearing Building. Olivia's shocked when Broyles points out the largest building on the list only has 500 people. Olivia: “So you think we should just let the building disappear? Let those people disappear?” You can see her frustration rising with every ticking second. Broyles: “There are times when the only choices you have left are bad ones.” Reddick delivers that line with a This Is A Very Important Point tone. Wonder if it will come back by season's end when presumably the War Between the Universes has started. Hmmmmm.
Control room. Peter's alone, typing nanospeed at a monitor. Olivia joins him, looking quite defeated. He explains he's trying to shut down all the non-essential functions so that the supercomputers can go faster. I love what this scene implies, either purposefully or inadvertently. One, that Peter is brilliant enough to make even supercomputers supercompute; two, he knows how to shut down non-essential functions at a place that's basically the Fringe version of NASA (from a single computer station no less); three, that Nina trusts him enough to give him access to do it; and four, that he can do it all by himself. Pretty impressive for a high school dropout. I do wish they'd develop that backstory, as well as use his 190 IQ more.
Defeatist Olivia doesn't really care though. “It's too late. I failed. I failed, and I'm supposed to be the one who can stop things like this.” Yes, because it's All. About. You. Sheesh. I understand she's upset, but she's watching a valid plan - one I might add, that if they hadn't wasted all their time in Jacksonville, they probably would have come up with early enough for it to be more successful - and people working their asses off to get it done, yet she's still thinking There Can Be Only One (tm Highlander again)? Who is she, Atlas?
Even Peter recognizes the stupidity of this. Concerned, he goes to comfort her. Cue the Piano of Tenderness. “Olivia,” he sighs, “you...” It's obvious her distress is hurting him too, but then again I've never argued that Peter and Olivia don't care deeply about each other, or have no connection. He gives her a crooked smile, and with complete sincerity tells her: “I've never met anyone who can do the things that you do.” Using a hand to caress her face, Peter employs his Adoration!Eyes that Josh really should patent. Olivia still looks like she's going to cry, which leads Peter to turn up the wattage on Adoration!Eyes to near lethal levels. And damn if I'm not going to cry myself, simply because that while I do feel this is a moment where Peter deeply desires the obviously-on-his-mind upcoming kiss he's about to lean into, Olivia's clearly so defeated she only wants the path of least resistance. So sorry, Benchwarmers. That's not love, it's just exhaustion.
And before anyone starts arguing with me that Olivia wanted the kiss too (and more importantly, that she wanted the kiss for the purpose of loving Peter rather than simply needing comfort from the Really Really Bad Thing About To Happen That She Can't Stop), if you watch the scene, it's obvious Peter is doing all the work. He's the one who leans in; he's the one caressing her; he's the one doing the comforting. He's also the only one with the emotion in his eyes you'd expect from people in love about to have their first kiss. It's a very well acted scene, from both Josh and Anna. You can practically feel Olivia's desperation, as well as Peter's desire to be with her and take away her pain.
Now this is not to say I'm not a shipper. I am. I would not mind Peter and Olivia hooking up. In fact, I rather hope it happens. However - and this is a BIG however - the characters at this point are nowhere near ready for a full-on relationship; and more important, when they are, I want it to be background only.
While I won't go so far as to say that Peter's desperately in love with her right now, I will say that there is enough on-screen canon to support the idea that he wishes they could be more than simple friends. Olivia, OTOH, has never given a single inclination that she wants to be more. As noted back in Act IV, Olivia is not an emotional character. She has never shown any ounce of interest romantically with Peter, although she has shown interest in him as a very good friend, much like she did with Charlie. This relationship needs a serious amount of more set-up time, particularly from Olivia's character.
I'm also sorry to say that Anna is not an actress that emotes a lot of chemistry. It was really tough watching her act as if John Scott was Olivia's True Love, when combined the actors didn't even have enough chemistry to muster that of a brother and sister (and yes, I know Anna Torv and Mark Valley are now married in real life). But while Josh has more than enough chemistry on his own for both of them, he can't do ALL the work. Peter and Olivia strike me as more Soulmates than they are True Love, and since this isn't Dawson's Creek, being Soulmates in this case is NOT a Bad Thing.
These two are a quiet couple. More Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward than Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie; more comfort than energetic; and hence more background than foreground. After the lives they've led, and the things they've gone through (not to mention the things they'll go through in the future) they need quietness. I would not mind seeing random shots of their relationship: Peter asleep beside her as she answers a call from Broyles; Olivia stirring in sugar before handing it to Peter because she knows it's his favorite; Peter rubbing her shoulders as she works on a file; subtle glances and touches here and there; an occasional teasing quip about who doesn't put the toothpaste cap back on; Walter's hints that he'd like grandchildren soon. Maaaaaaaaaaaaybe a quiet kiss once in while when no one is looking.
In other words, pretty much what we already see, only with the knowledge that they're in a committed relationship. The X-Files did this exceptionally well with Mulder and Scully, they just should have started it two seasons earlier than they did. I'd like to see Peter and Olivia get together sometime next season. But like I said, nothing forefront, especially if it ends up taking away from what Fringe really is: a sci-fi show. I definitely don't want to see them making out or having sex. Fanfic is just fine for stuff like that; on-screen is not. At least not for this show, and not for these characters.
Anyway, back to the near kiss. In complete angst agony, Olivia whispers, “Peter, I'm scared.” Peter leans in, whispers back, “Don't be” and now this scene is hurting me. I've noted a theme over the last several episodes of writers playing “How Much Pain Can We Put Peter Through When The Truth Finally Comes Out” (which I'll go into more detail soon enough), and true to form, just as his lips are about to connect to hers, Olivia pulls back as if she's been hit with a Sober Stick. Return!Elephant!Peter asks, “What?” She looks at him with wide eyes that say This Is The Most Important Realization Ever, and repeats: “Peter, I'm scared!” All without a trace of fear I might add.
Cut to no-longer-scared Olivia running down the hall towards the Observation deck, frantically scanning the New York City skyline when she gets there. Sure enough, there's a building that looks like it's partying like it's 1999, only minus all the fun.
End Act V at 38:25. Best Act so far, and with the quality writing I usually expect from Fringe. Certainly a hell of a lot more fun to recap. Glyph is A.
Click here for Act VI.