Fringe - Season 4

Title: Fringe

Broadcasting Station: Fox

Status: Ended

Creators: J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci

Official Site

Official Synopsis: Explore a world without Peter, whose absence sent ripples through both universes. No longer at war, the worlds must now unite against a common enemy threatening to destroy them. Agent Dunham is joined by a new colleague, fighting together a whole new breed of menacing Shapeshifters. And behind every mystery, in the background of every case, the Observers are patiently watching and governing everything.

STEPH SAID

Rating:

Review:

This season broke with everything that Fringe stood for, every rule about time and space Walter had presented, and the story arc that was being developed from season one. 

At the end of season three both universes are connected by a bridge. During season four this is taken for granted – they start to collaborate with each other and travel between Universes – and the series start to focus on something else: Peter being erased from his timeline and the real motives behind David Robert Jones's experiments.

During season four it is explained that Peter’s timeline is erased because September didn’t saved him as a kid when he was drowning in Reiden Lake. According to Walter’s rule of time and space, and what we have seen during seasons two and three, this would mean a new set of different universes. Each decision creates at least two different universes: one in which you chose option A, and one in which you chose option B. When September chose option A (to save Peter), the Blue and Red universes were created; when September chose option B (to not save Peter), the Amber universes were created. However, the writers of this series broke with this rule. At first, Peter rightly thought he was in a different universe; an universe in which he didn’t exist. Nevertheless, after much struggle, September tells Peter that the Amber universe is Peter’s universe, with a different timeline. With this, the series writers merged two time related theories.

This is the problem when talking about time travel and parallel universes! People get confused and start mixing them up! “Each decision creates a different parallel universe” is a different theory from “each decision creates a different timeline within the same universe”.

Thanks to some Cortexiphan injections Olivia is able to "remember" the original timeline and, thus, remembers Peter. The others obviously don’t. 

When Peter’s matter is resolved the series’ focus shifts towards the real motive behind Jones’ experiments. Up to this point I thought Jones’ experiments were to find soldiers for the upcoming war between Universes. They weren’t. Maybe in the original universe that was his purpose but because this is a different universe the purpose has changed. Anyway, without spoiling the end, I can say that it was one of the weakest plot twists I’ve seen in a TV series. When it was presented in the series’ finale I thought it was either a joke or a device to deviate the viewer’s attention from the real motive. Unfortunately, it was neither. This real motive is presented and resolved in the season’s two-part finale which means it won’t be the topic of season five.

If this season had something good it was the interaction between the two universes. It was interesting to see each actor play two versions of the same character and how they make them different in some way. My highest praise goes to Jasika Nicole, who plays Astrid; she was exceptional. The moment in which the two Astrid meet is one of the most emotive of the season. 

I also liked that we get to see and know a bit more about the Observers. September’s involvement in Olivia and Peter’s life is more evident and direct, and the truth about the Observers is explained.

Overall, this season is good. It has many really good, interesting episodes. Moreover, if I think about this season as independent from the ones that preceded it, I have to say it was really good. Yet, it is completely dependant on previous seasons and therefore, I have to judge it like so. When there is a series that starts so well and so strong as Fringe, viewers should accept nothing but greatness. And even though this season was good, it wasn't as good as Fringe used to be. This season irrevocably lowered Fringe's standards and it's probably the reason why the series got low numbers and was canceled.