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Adam D. Harris - Writer, Reviewer, Spoiler TV Community Manager & STV Podcast Host

8.10.10

Fringe - 3.03 - The Plateau Review

And so, after one week dwelling in our 'Our World', we once again return to 'our Olivia', now thinking she is 'Bolivia' 'Over There.' The funny thing is, it never gets old, all this 'Our World', 'Over There' stuff. It's what makes Fringe so unique, even LOST with all it's flash-everywhere's never got so confusingly cool.
This week we were dealing with a man who has the power to see how things will be, sort've pushing the future he desires into place. But this is no fortune teller, he does not see the future. He works out the future mathematically. I loved Milo, I thought he was a great 'Villain of the Week' character, who moved along the Olivia storyline very well, yet feeling very separate from the overall mythology. That being said, I am not so convinced that our Milo is that different from something we see in the show every week. That man with the black hat.

Watch this scene, (sorry but the user has disabled the embed link) and you can't deny it was eerily reminiscent of Milo calculating exactly what his sister would say tonight.

Is this a small reveal subtly done by the Fringe Writers to show us how The Observers work. And they men of science, maths and probabilities, who can find Fringe events by calculation. Sounds pretty cool to me, and that could definitely be a clue for everyone. Episodes like this are crucial to the mythos of the show I'm sure, at this stage the writers are not giving us episodes that mean nothing. Look for something... (read my 'Pattern Thoughts Article HERE for more)
Moving on from Milo, 'The Plateau' of the title relates to the point in Olivia's mind where she will always be 'Bolivia', the Olivia we have watched for 2 seasons gone.
"We have no other choice. She needs to be completely immersed in Agent Dunham's life. Over time, she will reach a plateau, and her new identity will become fixed."
As I'm sure everyone would agree, it is unlikely that such an event would happen, our Olivia would return, and the awesomeness of this episode is how they did it. Milo foreshadowed Olivia's death, the time she took to get an Oxygen mask would have her turn a corner into a huge pile of falling pipes, and Milo would be free. And so when Olivia found Milo,...
OBSERVER ALERT:

...Olivia's mind was already beginning to crack, images of Peter and Walter from 'Our World' playing tricks on her confused mind. She did not get the Oxygen mask, as she wouldn't have in 'Our World', and as a result she missed the falling pipes and caught Milo. It was so clever, and it was made all the cooler by having Peter appear in her room at the end, and tell her 'point blank' that she is only living because she is not Bolivia. Too cool for school...

Other cool parts of the episode were that I am really digging the Charlie, Lincoln, Olivia relationship, it's almost like having Charlie back and the banter is there again, but with added Lincoln which makes it cooler. Also, it's cool how we are seeing Lincoln recover from the burns he received in the season two finale. It all feels very well thought out from the writers.
So we also know that Walternate needs to use our Olivia to cross over easily to 'Our World' whatever that easy link in crossing is obviously crucial to Walternate's plans to rid our world from existence. It's all so neatly folding together, but in a restrained fashion so we can feel the 'shit as it passes our faces on the way to the fan' but it's taking a while to get there. It's all in the journey folks, and Fringe at the moment really is the best journey to be on Television.
The romantic triangle plays on even more cool thoughts this week, as in contrast to Peter making out with 'Bolivia' in our world, our Olivia thinks she's 'Bolivia' but kisses a figment of her imagination Peter.
Make sure you're here next week folks, as Fringe is just oozing awesomeness, it's troubling times for our characters, just I'm not totally sure who knows it...


8.5/10

Adam

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