Fringe season finale
May. 13th, 2012 08:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
opusculasedferaSooooo that was weird? I admit, I was expecting a little more from Bell. Not less irrational, necessarily, but less useless? I could see him being entranced by the idea of creating his own world, but I also think he's a good enough scientist to understand how fucking biodiversity and breeding populations work (i.e. not like goddamn Noah's ark.) It just wasn't clear why his new world would be a better world, and Bell always struck me as the sort of person who had reasons, even if they were completely idiosyncratic ones.
Also Olivia's plotline annoyed me because it could have been made so much better so incredibly easily. Sure, she's being used again, and she objects to that, and feels like it's just like being a kiddy lab rat again, but if Peter hadn't said "well, you're not alone" and said something more like "but now you can do something about it, and you're not alone" instead, it would have done a lot for it. I like that Olivia is empathetic and emotional and these aren't weaknesses, the writers just need to make me believe that they agree with me. They seem vaguely uncomfortable with it and keep making emotions something that allows other people to use her, but they also keep writing that emotions give her FUCKING MAGIC POWERS, and it would be cool to see that mirrored in the ways that empathy is helpful in life. Though I feel like they have moved away from season one in which Olivia was empathetic, but still willing to let Peter do the witness-soothing because empathy=/=speaking skills, which I also appreciated at the time.
Also lol, babies. Must they? Why do they keep putting babies in at every opportunity? I guess next season is going to have a bunch of that flashforward with Etta that we saw (they cut the Bell plot off at the knees so the Observers are the big mystery left, no?) so they need her to be born? But this was a silly way to do it. I am very tired of Olivias discovering pregnancy via other medical emergencies. It seems deeply unlikely and always makes me think too much about the potential effects of being dead for a couple of minutes on the baby/zygote. And frankly, it seems more likely to be a zygote or else she would have noticed already. Plus it was irritating because it seemed like such a perfect moment to do something interesting with Olivia's multiple memories issue: what would happen to those after massive brain damage? But no, her hesitation wasn't because her memories no longer functioned, but because she was pregnant. They have so clearly dropped that plotline, which is a shame because it was the most interesting one they'd managed this season.
I am pleased that Astrid is okay, I do appreciate the symmetry in Walter now being able to sacrifice something he loves for the sake of the world (because it has been pretty clear that he sees Olivia as a daughter these days), and I enjoyed Broyles and Nina flirting at the end, but mostly this ep was just peculiar. Leonard Nimoy is always a delightfully creepy Bell, but he really wasn't given enough actual plot to work with.
Also I saw the Avengers and I am excited about Tony/Bruce and Natasha being fucking excellent. I suspect fandom will be able to sell me on everything else as well, given time.
Also Olivia's plotline annoyed me because it could have been made so much better so incredibly easily. Sure, she's being used again, and she objects to that, and feels like it's just like being a kiddy lab rat again, but if Peter hadn't said "well, you're not alone" and said something more like "but now you can do something about it, and you're not alone" instead, it would have done a lot for it. I like that Olivia is empathetic and emotional and these aren't weaknesses, the writers just need to make me believe that they agree with me. They seem vaguely uncomfortable with it and keep making emotions something that allows other people to use her, but they also keep writing that emotions give her FUCKING MAGIC POWERS, and it would be cool to see that mirrored in the ways that empathy is helpful in life. Though I feel like they have moved away from season one in which Olivia was empathetic, but still willing to let Peter do the witness-soothing because empathy=/=speaking skills, which I also appreciated at the time.
Also lol, babies. Must they? Why do they keep putting babies in at every opportunity? I guess next season is going to have a bunch of that flashforward with Etta that we saw (they cut the Bell plot off at the knees so the Observers are the big mystery left, no?) so they need her to be born? But this was a silly way to do it. I am very tired of Olivias discovering pregnancy via other medical emergencies. It seems deeply unlikely and always makes me think too much about the potential effects of being dead for a couple of minutes on the baby/zygote. And frankly, it seems more likely to be a zygote or else she would have noticed already. Plus it was irritating because it seemed like such a perfect moment to do something interesting with Olivia's multiple memories issue: what would happen to those after massive brain damage? But no, her hesitation wasn't because her memories no longer functioned, but because she was pregnant. They have so clearly dropped that plotline, which is a shame because it was the most interesting one they'd managed this season.
I am pleased that Astrid is okay, I do appreciate the symmetry in Walter now being able to sacrifice something he loves for the sake of the world (because it has been pretty clear that he sees Olivia as a daughter these days), and I enjoyed Broyles and Nina flirting at the end, but mostly this ep was just peculiar. Leonard Nimoy is always a delightfully creepy Bell, but he really wasn't given enough actual plot to work with.
Also I saw the Avengers and I am excited about Tony/Bruce and Natasha being fucking excellent. I suspect fandom will be able to sell me on everything else as well, given time.
