It was all a love story; for all of this weeks vortexes, world collisions, shattering glass and smashed up corpses at the heart of it was a couple of love stories, of two people who were separated after years of time together and of two people needing reminding of the fact that they have the chance to be something. If only all love stories could be told through the words of the Fringe writers as '6B,' the fourteenth episode of the season was a hum-dinger of a tale showing just how original Fringe can be when it puts its mind to it; an interweaving masterclass, flawlessly flowing from main plat to sub plot and allowing great development of characters at the same time.
We began with a...
OBSERVER ALERT
...couple arriving at a house for a party, the writers tricking us briefly into thinking that it was these people we should be interested in then suddenly dropping a ton of people through a solid rock balcony onto the street below. The creepiest thing was how quiet and harrowing it was, there was no screaming as they fell. They just dropped to the ground, the sound of crunching bodies and the horrified look of Jimmy the Doorman as creepy as can gets.
Of course the storyline gave us the chance to revisit the Amber which the alternate universe uses to close vortexes and remind us all of the early set-up of the amber when it was used in episode three inside the bus. It's these little pay-offs that make you wonder just whether the writers did actually know where Fringe was going back then or whether the Amber fitted the purpose best from past cases and so was used as the custom Universe-Hole-Repairing-Kit. It doesn't really matter as it feels nicely threaded from early on in series, and that's what we like.
One interesting side the Amber in the episode brought out was Walter discussing with Nina how he is following the same path Walternate did with the Amber, and that he may not be all that different. I'm convinced of the fact that they are only slightly different despite their very differing appearances and emotions; Maybe Walternate is just a few years more troubled than our own Walter is. Something to think about...
Of course everything that happened in 6B was really about Olivia & Peter, with Dr. Walter "Cupid" Bishop from the second the credits ended setting them up for a romantic pancake breakfast. It was the funniest moment of the hour to see Walter scuttling out of the house and of course, John Noble played it to a tee.
As I look back I don't think there was a single scene in 6B where Peter & Olivia weren't in together, whether it was in the lab, the street, the bar or the apartment building. This was the writers throwing so much of it at us in the hope that the relationship shift felt natural and I think they pulled it off. They obviously made the creative decision that they need the two characters to be together for whatever is coming (very soon I would guess :P) and so 6B was the perfect episode to let the fans be happy that Olivia had learnt to forgive Peter for his mistakes and as a result try to start up the relationship.
It was all very touching, sweet and real and I felt for the first time that the two are better for each other than Peter ever was with Fauxlivia. Even though Sam Weiss says differently, I still feel Peter cares for Olivia more even if he does still have some feelings for Fauxlivia. Think back to Entrada when he pulled out the picture from Fauxlivia's bag of them in the photo booth after Peter caught her, the scene was designed to tell us that Peter knows there was some feelings between the two and it was real and so this must be lingering on his mind.
The cleverness of the story was to draw our leading duo together through a tragic, slightly similar story between Alice & Derek Merchant, a couple who lost their other half in both worlds because of a freak accident. Bound together by grief they began pulling the apartment buildings on both sides together, creating a tear that could become a vortex. It was all dramatic stuff and I loved the idea that what appeared to be a ghost became Derek from the other side; it's such a clever concept that it deserves plaudits for how it pulled every story the writers wanted to tell together.
I have to confess, and woe is me for being so easily swayed, but when they first mentioned that emotions where creating the tear I thought "that's a little weak", but then Peter mentioned Einstein and I was instantly okay with it. Did anyone else feel that a great scientist was mentioned then they automatically felt like it could be possible and made the story feel much stronger? Well it worked for me so well done writers.
With me now board completely I found the final frantic fifteen minutes totally captivating, Broyles and Walter juggling the fear that they may have to Amber-fy Peter & Olivia, and then the action inside the apartment being all crazy and dramatic; I loved how Peter spoke to Alice but was really speaking to Olivia about their own relationship. It was also sad to see Alice & Derek suffering so much, one thing the Fringe writers have always pulled off well is great episodic characters and 6B was no different.
As the hour drew to a close and we were all still imagining Obama and Broyles having a battle out on a fairway somewhere the inevitable happened and Olivia & Peter reconciled properly. I could hear the big Peter-Olivia fans screaming at their screens in joy. But believe me, I'm sure it won't last; they are headed for troubling times soon!
A quick flash over to the Alternate side was cool to see, as the Fringe team were responding to the tear from their world. It gave a great example of how the worlds are drawing ever closer, and for that we have to get mega excited. Shit-Hit-Fan time is coming...
And 6B trickled out with no bang, twist or revelation, but a moment of reflection as Alt-Derek thought about his lost wife, a poignant ending to Fringe's love story, nicely saluted with a yellow heart in the final symbol of the night.
6B is not something we will get very often in Fringe, a happy but heartbreaking love story about people who are both meant to be together and also aren't. So savour it this week because I'm sure it will be back to Fringe-Normality next week.
Even a sci-fi needs a bit a loving every once in a while.
8.5/10
Adam
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