Fringe: The Day We Died

Not only is Fringe the best science-fiction show currently on television (in my opinion, and taking into account that there isn’t that much sci-fi on at the moment), it’s also a series that is very good at season finales. The first season finale (‘There’s More Than One of Everything’) provided the first signs that the show could have wider scope and Season 2’s finale (‘Over There’) was truly a game changer, as it left Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) stranded in a separate universe and replaced by her doppelganger (dubbed “Fauxlivia” by Fringe fans). Despite the fact that Fringe has undoubtedly had its most ambitious and exciting season this year, last night’s finale was an uncharacteristically disappointing hour.

‘The Day We Died’ kicks off almost directly after Peter (Joshua Jackson) entered the Doomsday device. However, it turns out that the device has transported him to 2026 (although he immediately just becomes the Peter of 2026). From there, we get to see a glimpse of a possible future for the characters of Fringe, with Peter and Olivia now married Fringe agents, Ella (Olivia’s niece, played now by Emily Meade) as a rookie agent, Broyles (Lance Reddick) as a Senator and Walter (John Noble) locked up in a maximum security prison (in a remarkably similar position to where he was when the series began). It is revealed that the Doomsday device destroyed the other universe and that a terrorist group (called the "End of Dayers") led by Walternate (also played by John Noble) are attempting to use the soft spots to rip apart the fabric of reality.

The episode, then, bears almost no relation to what we have seen for the majority of Season 3. It is largely a diversion with what feels like a new set of characters (also, unlike those from the other universe, it is unclear if we will even see these characters again) and moments that should feel huge, like Olivia being shot or Broyles hinting at something disastrous that happened in Detroit, end up being throwaway.

As with anything Fringe, though, things soon (around the moment the words “temporal paradox” were uttered) begin to get very confusing as we learn that the individual pieces of the Doomsday machine have to be sent back through time and that Peter can change his decision when inside the device. We then suddenly return to 2011 for the final few minutes of the episode for Peter to declare that he has created a bridge between the two universes (leading to a face-off between everyone and their doppelgangers) and then subsequently disappear without anybody seeming to notice. The season ends with one of the Observers, September (Michael Cerveris), stating that Peter has fulfilled his purpose and has now been removed from existence.

Apart from those final few minutes and that fantastic twist, though, this was an episode of Fringe that didn’t really live up to expectations. It doesn’t damage what has been a terrific season overall, but it does leave it on a somewhat disappointing note. For the majority of it, we watched characters we didn’t know within a world that we didn’t know, and all of the tension that had been mounting sort of deflated.

However, this was still an episode of Fringe, which means that it’s still better than most other things that you’ll find on TV. The show’s third season (particularly the first half of it) has been the most accomplished that we’ve seen from Fringe so far, showcasing brilliant writing and acting (especially from Anna Torv and John Noble), whilst remaining one of the most unpredictable and exciting universes in television. The finale opens up some possibilities for the fourth season and I’m really interested to see how they play out when the show returns in October.

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