Fringe 301: Olivia

[presquerousse]

Fringe is back! Thoughts below the cut


Firstly, I've learned not to spoil myself so much - I had seen the first 10 minutes and quite a lot of the rest, which took some of the fun out of it. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed it.

Olivia's escape

• It goes without saying that I loved this - Olivia saving herself, being totally badass while doing it, the callbacks to Bound... Well, I never expected her to be stuck in a cell for very long. There's just one thing - I would have liked to see her use her as yet ill-defined Cortexiphan abilities. On that note, I loved the references to her 'freakishly good' memory.

Olivia breaking down in the bathroom was so sad.

Marksmanship

• "Actually, I'm not" - as far as I'm aware, Olivia's aim is not that bad. This also bothered me in the scene with Walternate and Alt-Broyles - how would they know that Olivia isn't as good a shot as Altlivia?

The Park/Searching for Massive Dynamic

• I thought it was very interesting that in place of Massive Dynamic, whose technologies have caused a lot of harm, the red universe has a beautiful park with a children's playground. Perhaps this was a reference to Olivia's own childhood marred by the Cortexiphan trials, contrasted with her double's happier experiences (assuming there were no trials on the other side). It seemed like a really nice, happy place, with sunshine and children playing - contrast this with Olivia, who would much rather have found Massive Dynamic.
• Tiny quibble: 'I'm stuck here' was a bit of a clunky line, I felt.

Visuals

• Fringe is always very pretty, but in this episode I particularly noticed the transition from the blue colours surrounding Olivia at the start of the episode, to the reds and yellows at Altlivia's mother's house.
• There's a wonderful shot of Olivia looking at her own reflection in the amber, possibly symbolising her own entrapment in an alternate universe.

Henry

• I have to say, I really liked him! I nearly teared up at his speech about being in a bad place and his wife being the only person who understood. Did I spy a Pygmalion reference? I hope that we see more of him and that he keeps an eye on Olivia - at the moment he seems to be the only person capable of helping her to regain her memories.

Alt-Fringe Division

• This episode really made me like Lincoln and Charlie. Their concern for their Olivia was so admirable. It seems like they really stick together and take risks for each other.
• "Three days ago, I was eating chocolate ice cream..." This scene showed the other side's perspective so well. From their point of view, these mysterious people have come out of nowhere and done a lot of damage to their lives, which makes me feel sorry for them.Then I remember that the Altverse's shapeshifters killed our Charlie, and it's our Olivia who's been injured and now brainwashed. In fact their Olivia is fine. So our universe isn't the bad guy in everything.
• I'm definitely starting to like the idea of Lincoln/Altlivia. In the scene at the petrol station, when he said that he'd been her partner for two years, I thought 'he's her Peter!', and his determination to go and find her instead of going back in his regeneration tank thingy was wonderful. I don't really like Frank, but then I don't particularly dislike him either.

Altlivia's mother

• This is a brilliant scene. Olivia is fighting to hold onto herself and remember that it isn't her mother, even though she would love it to be. (Speaking of which, 14? It hardly needs to be said, but Olivia has had a horrible time, and it's only getting worse :( ). Her happiness when she accepts Altliv's memories is crushing. Yellow? Nonononono! Blue all the way!
• Is Altlivia's mother in on the plan? "This is your safe house" is an odd thing to say.
• Absolutely fantastic work by Anna Torv, throughout the entire episode, but especially here.

Olivia/Peter

• There was a massive undercurrent of P/O running through the whole episode: from Olivia mumbling "Peter" when she was knocked out; through her forgetting his name showing how she was forgetting herself; to the pathos of the final scene, which heartbreakingly contrasted Olivia - utterly lost and alone in an alternate universe, unable to trust even her own mind - with the man she loves, radiantly happy with her double and completely unaware of the deception. Especially for viewers who have never seen Fringe before, the core story of the episode was that of a woman who had gone extraordinary lengths for someone she loved and lost everything in the process. It's great to see that kind of acknowledgement, as much as I love the subtle stuff.
• The "Sort of" scene was great. I was surprised to see Olivia admit her love so openly, but she had nothing to lose, really.

Brainwashing

• Firstly, I wasn't shocked that it worked - as Lincoln said, they couldn't have her keep running forever.
• I know a lot of people hated it, but surprisingly I'm actually intrigued. Olivia is my favourite character, and I'm not fond of Altlivia (certainly not enough to have two of her for the rest of the season), but I don't think the brainwashing is going to work for very long. I'm looking forward to watching her struggle as she regains her true self.
• I didn't find it unbelievable that it worked, despite Olivia's strength and Cortexiphan abilities. She's been under very high stress, both physical and emotional, which makes her more vulnerable than usual (we could see her going to pieces in Over There II, especially in the showdown with Altliv). I think both sets of memories are still inside her. She's confused, and meanwhile the whole universe around her is telling her that Altlivia's memories are the correct ones. She can't struggle forever and eventually gives in. When she's had some time to calm down and recover her strength, I'm sure her real self will be back with a vengeance. Hopefully she'll get to keep the super marksmanship skills (although see above) and become the Ultra-Dunhamnator.