Fringe, S5 Ep 12 & 13 – Liberty/An Enemy Of Fate

I’ll skip over the wailing and gnashing of teeth that you must know I’m feeling because these are the LAST TWO EPISODES EVER of my favorite show. But yes, please know I’m having, as they say, all the feels. Also, this is going to be twice as long as usual because it’s covering two episodes, so consider yourself forewarned.

I wonder if their son is named Henry.

Other than some truly atrociously written dialogue (which thankfully was mostly just at the beginning), “Liberty” was fantastic, tense, and a great set-up for the finale. I’m so glad it made so much sense to go back to the Other Side. Not only was I happy to see Lincoln and Fauxlivia again (as I imagine Anna Torv was to play her), but I could not have possibly been more excited about the return of the Cortexipowers. I especially appreciated that though she was definitely suffering side effects, Olivia was able to simply concentrate and cross over, without being unsure how — and also to simply decide to burn out the lights when fighting the Observer. Heck. Yes. Oh, and Josh Jackson killed it as the worried husband wishing he didn’t have to watch Olivia do this.

The fact that Broyles helped direct them on this path, the use of the alternate universe, the setting on Liberty Island, and the fact that poor Michael was about to be vivisected when Olivia popped in, has got to be an homage to season three’s amazing “Entrada.” Also, it was sweet of Lincoln to express some guilt about having escaped his old world’s fate. I’m glad he and Faux made it work together (her banter with him about checking out her “young ass” was cute). I do quibble with Olivia apparently taking the time to tell the entire story to Faux and Linc — as much respect as they have for each other, might it not have been a better idea to give them the extremely condensed version and end with exactly what help she needs? Still, it worked out, so I guess it’s nice for them all that they could catch up a bit.

Since it seems to be pure bad luck that the Observers picked our world and not another to invade, I’m glad the episode at least showed a few of them pursuing Olivia back from the Redverse. I guess that would be extra motivation for our heroes to stop them from ever going down this path — the Observers might otherwise be all, “Oh right, this place! Let’s invade here, too.”

Man, I’m going to miss the beautiful Vancouver scenery every week, too.

How much of a shock was it to see December again? I was definitely not expecting that. Crazy cool continuity, and if we’d had a week between the two episodes, I definitely would have mused on why December wasn’t banished like September, but still is on his side. Glad that was answered – and obviously I’m not as sad for what happened to him as what happened to Donald, but aww.

Okay. On to the actual finale (sniff).

I’m so, so glad Donald decided he should be the one to live out his life with his son. It was right, and Walter was right to say that his feelings were the essence of being a father. Of course, I was pretty sure it was too good to be true. Though all in all it was a happy finale, that would have been too perfect.

Hey, remember how I was just talking (like, all the time) about how much I love Olivia and her Cortexipowers? Here’s a giant thank you to J.H. Wyman for letting her go out with a bang, Olivia Dunham style. Holy crap, that was awesome. It was almost awesome enough to make up for her relative passivity during most of this season — which I understand, but still wish could have been otherwise. Still, Olivia Dunham has more than earned her leading spot on my list of favorite TV characters of all time, from season one all the way until now.

Excuse me, I think I have a little piece of amber in my eye. *sniff*

Thanks, too, Wyman & co., for the little goodbye with Astrid, Walter, and Gene. Very sweet, and if it’s fan service, it’s also earned. The same goes for the use of the variety of case-related weapons to storm the Observer HQ. The added bonus? Now I can say the finale made me laugh, cry, and want to vomit, because they brought back the worms from S2’s “Snakehead,” which remains one of the only episodes of TV that has ever made me feel so much like throwing up. So, good on you, Fringe, for staying true to yourself! Heh.

Man, what else to say? The reset all the way back to the day in the park was lovely. I’m deciding that Olivia’s thoughtful look as she watched Peter play with little Etta means that she remembers the pre-reset timeline. Otherwise, I’d hate to have the whole season be forgotten by every character. I’m glad to see the white tulip one last time (although it didn’t need last week’s clunky set-up). And Walter’s video explaining it? That’s where my sister and I were crying the hardest. It wasn’t just Walter’s goodbye to his son, which would be tear-jerking in any case because of the caliber of the actors and the depth of the characters’ relationship, but it was such a beautiful goodbye from everyone involved in the show to the fans:

(No caption needed.)

“I don’t want you to be sad. The time we had together, we stole. I cheated fate to be with you, and we shouldn’t have had that time together, but we did. And I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Nor would I, Fringe. Nor would I. Thanks for everything. You were truly something special, the likes of which I don’t think television will ever see again.