Original Airdate: September 17,
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A New Day In The Old Town
Synopsis: Olivia returns from the alternate universe through the windshield of her car, leaving her in a coma. The rest of the team, including the newest member Amy, follow the trail of a…shape-shifting soldier from another universe who is trying to finish Olivia off.
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Tidbits: The television screen in the first victims apartment (Lloyd) was a scene from ‘The X-files’, a little shout out, I suppose, to all the people that call ‘Fringe’ the new ‘X-Files’.
Last season the length of the commercial breaks were always written on the screen before the commercials started. They did not do that during this episode.
There doesn’t seem to be any lab notes for this episode. A slip up or they’re just not doing it this year?
Fringe Fumbles:
Walterism:
Walter: “Peter, Peter…They said I can ride in the back with the body. Can I?”
Peter: “Sure. Of course you can. Stay out of the medications, though. Please.”
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My Thoughts:
It goes without saying that this was a fantastic episode. From the opening scene with the car accident to the closing scene with Charlie…I was biting my nails.
It is good to see that Walter still has a wonderful balance of crazy and genius. His excitement over Peter’s birthday and his reaction to Olivia’s coma both left me with that familiar feeling of Walter being my favorite character for good reason. His inability to remember Astrid’s name is back, but his ability to figure out the science seems sharper than ever. I so look forward to his scenes in future episodes.
So the rumors about killing Charlie were true, but the rumors about Kirk leaving the show were not. What a conundrum we dealt with over the summer about this, and now it is all so clear. I won’t get in to how the soldier managed to make the painful transformation, redress himself and hide Charlie’s body in under 30 seconds or how there was an extra body in that scene! What I will say is ‘Holy Crap…Charlie is dead and now there is a real bad guy on the team!’
Peter really stepped it up a notch in this episode. Last year he seemed uncomfortable with the whole Fringe Division and what they were doing both in and out of the lab. Now we see him standing tall and taking charge, bringing him up a notch in my book. I hope we will get to see more of this new appreciation that he has found.
One thing that this show does so well is dangle these little mysteries that taunt and torture us. What is this secret that Olivia can’t remember? Where is what hidden? What the Fringe is that all about?
If this episode is any indication of what we have to look forward to in Season 2, then I say ‘Bring it ON!’
September 22nd, at 1:20 pm
I think “it” is hidden in the lab at the origin of the Fibonacci spiral in the puzzle from last season… Could be wrong, of course, but it makes sense to me. I really hope they aren’t discontinuing the lab notes!
September 22nd, at 6:53 pm
The shorter commercial breaks were a marketing experiment. They didn’t make enough money from advertising during the show so they decided not to do it for season 2.
September 22nd, at 10:07 pm
Thanks Connie…that’s good to know.
September 23rd, at 3:05 pm
Was super confused about the extra body as well, maybe that device lets them transform the dead body into anyone as well, that would take care of both of your theories, would have preferred to see it though…
Great blog, looking forward to reading it!
September 23rd, at 3:36 pm
Man do I have questions.
Okay from the last episode in season 1. We were wondering just where she crossed over which now looks like the car accident so she slipped through to anoter dimension because she drove to the restaurant safetly.
Or were we looking at another dimension “There is more than one of everything.”
So she crossed during the accident because of the shock and thought she was doing all those things. Or slipped into a reality into another car and continued driving. So what was up with the elevator and slipping into 2 different realities? I might have answered that already but it is still bugging me.
The typewriter and the mirror. I wondered about that. If it were a special mirror we would see the other dimension but since it ’s a normal mirror it can only reflect our dimension unless it is supposed to be an occult reference in which case the mirror is focusing the event (the mysterious typist)
Now for the biggie. Charlie. My question. My ever burning question is, Was the Charlie in the hospital the Alter-Charlie?
1. The shapeshifter didn’t have enough time to change at the end so if Charlie was in a dumpster somewhere that Charlie was already and Alter-Charlie.
2. That means there is more than one soldier. As eluded in season one.
3. What was Alter-Soldier-Charlie’s objective. It wasn’t to interrogate Olivia. If anything it was to obtain a credible internal cover (Charlie) and eliminate any further inquiries about the Alter-Soldier (By destroying the device and killing the soldier) No soldier no questions.
4. Who does he work for? Is this a new organisation/ Threat, whose motives are yet unclear.
That being said the Pilot was excellent it provided a new switch up allowing them to go in a completely different direction from Season One. I don’t know what to expect but as usual I have questions that will keep me occupied in the mean time.
The mirror could be a looking glass reference. Also Peter talks about his mother more so we are definitely going to see her this season if she is mentioned more.
New question. If Nina called Olivia directly to arrange a meeting how the heck did they know where she was going to arrange the accident?
Sorry for multiple posts
September 23rd, at 3:45 pm
Welcome Wudchuck…it’s always great to have new voices and new eyes.
September 23rd, at 9:51 pm
I really liked the episode. I wonder about the latin phrase.
The “be a better man then your father” thing. was Peters original-reality-mom sending a message for him with Olivia??
September 27th, at 3:41 am
Hey all,
I’m not sure ssc needs to change. The shifting we see in the appartment… Didn’t his cloths change automagically?
I was bothered by the extra body, too, until I realized that the shifter probably just led them to where he had stashed the nurse’s body.
Mike
September 27th, at 3:45 am
I’m not sure it was shifter’s plan to switch into a team member all along. I think it was just some situational thinking. Making the best of a bad situation.
What I wonder is how would he have time/silence to put the extra bullets in the real nurse.
September 27th, at 10:41 am
Hey Pr3s…good to hear from you. I watched the opening transformation scene again, and the clothes do not change automagically (good word btw), he leaves in the same clothes that he entered with. Which means he had to take the time to put on Charlie’s suit at some point. When…I don’t know, that is the conundrum.
September 28th, at 1:44 am
We’re assuming real-Charlie got off a shot. Maybe he didn’t. Maybe SS killed real-Charlie, brought out the nurse’s body, shifted, changed, then shot the nurse, which triggered Olivia et al showing up.
September 28th, at 1:44 am
PS- Good to be back.