Fringe: "Forced Perspective" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

I'm torn. Yes, I'm torn because this episode was so great in many ways, and yet indicative of some trends that may be leading to Fringe's demise.

The first 5 minutes are powerful and quick, starting with the unfortunate union of a steel i-beam and a businessman, and then putting us back in the lab with Peter, Astrid, and Walter in a scene that seems oh-so familiar and feels just like things were before the end of Season 3. The opening is fantastically done. It's vintage Fringe material, and it reminds us that there are times when this show can be quite dark while introducing the subject of the week for a standalone episode.

And a standalone episode this is, though it does have a few bits and pieces that advance the main storyline. It's a typical and predictable downshift for this series – after a couple of hard-hitting "mythology" episodes, Fringe usually takes a moment to give us some new "perspective" on this strange world through some stories about other people and the oddities that surround them.

Since Season One, Fringe's standalones have been hit-or-miss, and many fans and critics have been rightfully upset whenever the series delves into a long stretch of these kinds of stories. Some of the criticism comes from a certain formulaic structure these stories have, and another part of the problem is that many standalones have had trouble with pacing. We see a little bit of that issue here, as the opening is pitch-perfect, but the subsequent half hour displays a much slower pace as the abilities and life of poor Emily are explored. But once we get through the "second act setup", the action picks up via the danger and excitement of a bomb threat. It all culminates in a touching end that really pulls at the heartstrings despite being predictable and a tiny bit cliche.

I also felt that the method of Emily's death was a bit, well, "forced". Fringe doesn't often get into heavy-handed storytelling and usually the writers prefer more subtle techniques, but in this season I've noticed moments where the ends were more important than the means, and the writers did some hand-wavey storytelling to get to the point. Emily's death seemed like an artificial plot device to help evoke the necessary emotions, and while the idea of her special brain being the very thing that killed her was poetic, it came out of nowhere. If the episode had set this up with some early quick shots of Emily having nosebleeds and killer headaches, I would have bought into it completely.

But I don't know if I ever would have bought into the "talk the bomber back into reason" scene at the end. I found it disappointing because this show is too damn clever and resourceful to resort to these kinds of tired TV tropes. Again, it felt like a forced/contrived element to really drive a connection to Olivia's predicament with September's predication about her death.

Despite those problems, this is still a very good episode that does a lot of good things for this season, but it also poses a problem. On one hand, this installment is another entry in a streak of episodes that score high marks for technical merit. The performances are top notch, the direction is good, and the few special effects in the episode are as nicely done as you could ask for (Emily's CG hypnosis sequence is one of the highlights of the story). On the other hand, this story seems like an abrupt halt to the wondrous new plot the series has developed in the past few episodes (there's not even a casual mention of Mr. Jones). But on the other, other hand (yes, that's three hands), this story continues a theme that those previous episodes started and so many fans wanted – the show feels like something we recognize again. You could take this story and stick it in the middle of season two or three and it wouldn't seem out of place.

AND...the Observers are back into the forefront of Fringe lore! That's always a good thing. For a while, it wasn't even clear if this version of our cast was even aware of the Observers before September showed up to give Olivia that ominous warning. The episode finishes off with the promise of a new Observer added to the Mix (could his name be February?), and that again reminds me of days past when the observers were ever-present and interesting mysteries. The series is slowly moving back towards its origins, and while this episode may not be perfect, it still helps in establishing a direction that's bringing back the familiar aspects we knew and loved.

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