Fringe (TV Series) Over There: Part 2 (2010) User Reviews

Season Two: Much Higher Floor (If Lower Ceiling) Than Season One

[zkonedog · 8/10 · 30 June 2019]

The first season of Fringe was quite an enigma. After getting off to a shaky start, it found its footing in the final third and delivered a string of 10/10 episodes to finish strong and secure a second season pickup. The last few moments of the S1 finale teased a concept that was as tantalizing as it was mysterious. In Season 2, the quality of each episode is higher (on average) than its S1 counterpart, so to speak, but it also does not-until its own finale-put together consecutive episodes that equal the last 5 or 6 of S1.

For a very basic overview, S2 essentially delves into (albeit in a slowly-but-surely fashion) the grand mysteries presented at the end of S1:

-Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) must come to terms with her trip to the alternate universe and decipher what that means for her-and the Fringe team-going forward. Her childhood involved in the Cortexiphan experiments are also further brought to light.

-Walter Bishop (John Noble) begins putting together the mental pieces (somewhat literally) of what happened to son Peter (Joshua Jackson) as a boy and how those events intertwined both universes.

-Somewhat similar to the ZFT angle of S1, here the alt-universe shape-shifters play a recurring role, one which has serious repercussions for Charlie Francis (Kirk Acevedo).

In terms of pound-for-pound quality, S2 eclipses S1 on an episode-by-episode basis. Whereas that first season featured a number of "6/10" efforts, there's almost not a single episode in season two that goes under 7 or 8 stars. Episodes like "Jacksonville", "Peter", and the two-part "Over There" finale are mind-blowing, to be sure, and stand up among the best of the entire show.

At the same time, however, there are probably only three or four of those types of episodes here that eclipse 8 stars. This is largely because of the show's preference for stretching out the mysteries as long as they can be sustained. It is very clear that Bad Robot (the same production company that gave us LOST) wanted to slow-burn the material as much as possible. Not a bad approach, per se, but after the enormity of the S1 finale reveal it takes until the end of the season here to truly circle back and dive into those potentialities.

Another indicator of one's potential enjoyment of S2 of Fringe might stem from the "live-watch" versus "re-watch" effect. While watching live, I considered this slate of episodes to be one of the best I had ever witnessed. LOST was ending just as S2 season was hitting its stride, so there was almost a sort of natural transition from one to the other for me. On a recent S2 re-watch, however, I wasn't quite as blown away as 2009-2010 me. Still a solid season of network TV, to be sure, but watching the episodes both quicker than once-a-week and with the knowledge of what was to come, more cracks began to show in terms of plot/character pacing.

Somewhat remarkably, S2 manages to end on just as explosive & intriguing of a note as S1. The "Over There" finale at least somewhat puts to bed the foot-dragging approach to mysteries that the show often took to that point. From this point onward, Fringe will have to strike out into new/unexplored territory (character and plot-wise) more than ever before simply due to the momentous events of "Over There".

Thus, rather surprisingly based on my expectations going in, I have to peg S2 of Fringe at the same 8/10-star level I bestowed upon S1. Whereas that freshman effort struggled to find its footing early and then was dynamite down the home stretch, this sophomore campaign was solid from beginning to end but only featured a few episodes that truly resonated with me as "great".

Infiltration Achieved

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 6 March 2017]

Olivia and William Bell rescue Walter from the hospital. Then Olivia meets her double, who is a dangerous woman, trying to find Peter; however they fight but Olivia subdues her. Olivia poses of her double to lure Charlie and convinces Peter to return. Meanwhile Walter and William bring a piece of equipment from Walter's laboratory in Harvard to the theater to let them return to their universe. However, the FBI and the Fringe Division also arrive and there is a shootout. Will Olivia, Walter, Peter and William Bell return to their universe?

"Over There: Part 2" is the sensational conclusion of the Second Season (or the excellent beginning of the Third Season?). What will the Olivias do is certainly the question of every viewer? The end of William Bell is a great loss to the show. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Over There: Part 2"

Finally Finished Season 2 , How Are You Walter & Walternate

[vyasabhishek999 · 9/10 · 18 July 2013]

So Olivia is stuck in another universe and this story is getting as interesting as the mystery of universe. Its good to see Charlie again and why he was there in 31st episode? That was a huge mistake still one can digest it on the basis of its excellent making. Other Olivia is also very stylish but of course "our" Olivia is simply awesome. I want to write so many things about this last episode which came into existence after so many twists and turns, Peters decision of returning back was cool and his departure and Walters performance is again simply amazing his dialog " it seems you have forgotten my very first lesson doctor - when you open your mind to the impossible, sometimes you find the truth" & there are many more like that, it is simply amazing to watch everyone perform , Fringe is like a "Parallel Universe Ride" for me and i am looking forward for its next three seasons , i don't know whats there for me to see but i am sure it is one series which i will remember for my lifetime.

Season 2: Some so-so holding episodes generally don't weaken a strong forward motion in the narrative and the characters

[bob the moo · 3 December 2012]

I watch enough network television to know that keeping shows going and keeping an audience generally doesn't involve delivering everything you have as quickly as you can, so it was no surprise to find that the second season doesn't pick up immediately on the scene that concluded the previous one. While the connection is a little confusing at first, the manner of making it is pretty good since having your main character materializing in transition through a car window tends to grab the attention. From this episode we have a few that continue this thread and also fill in more information about those coming through from the other side. Add to this some surprising changes to supporting characters and the first so many episodes of the season really grabbed me.

It is for this reason though that the middle section of the season dips a little bit when it starts having more "case of the week" content rather than linking to the bigger picture and adding to the story. It isn't that these episodes are bad, because they are mostly pretty good but, whereas in the first season this was enough as we were just entering this world, now they seem less interesting – particularly when they so totally lack any connection to the bigger picture. I got the feeling after a few of these that I could almost throw them in the air and watch them in whatever order they land in – a feeling not helped by an unused episode from season 1 suddenly be fitted in without comment, which threw me completely since a dead character turns up alive without any other character batting so much as an eyelid! Towards the back third of the season we get beyond this and we get episodes that, even when they stall for time a little, still connect and add to the overall story. The final third of the season really picks up its game though and takes us through consistently strong episodes right to the end.

The story is added to but more than that, the characters are added to. The episode which flashbacks to Walter's actions works on almost every level and is almost matched by others around it; a story told by Walter to a child which makes up an entire episode sounds awful but yet cleverly fills in the character's feelings – which meant a lot to me since I feel Walter is the real heart of the show for me. He remains a great character who can be equally funny and tragic but yet makes it part of the total package; my emotions towards him changed through the season but no matter what I felt he was still engaging to me. Noble's performance is a massive part of this because he doesn't flick a switch to go from clown to monster – he manages to be all at once and manages to be a convincing character with heart and feeling despite the sci-fi nonsense that he also needs to deliver weekly. The rest of the cast are good but very much in his shadow. Torv is more than just a pretty face but when she is pushed in this season she cannot always raise her game to the required level – season 3 will test her even more so I hope she can deliver. Jackson's Peter continues to be a device but the final parts of the season see him do more. Reddick, Brown, Nicole and Acevedo continue to do good work while for me there continued to be small casting nods towards The Wire and Oz with the actors who played Cyril O'Reily and Prez having small roles.

So, while I did have an issue with how very suddenly the second season reverted to the "case per week" approach for a stretch, these episodes were mostly OK and the episodes that specifically develop the main story and characters are very strong not only in terms of delivering an engaging sci-fi narrative but also in making me feel for the main characters. I try not to rush through box-sets of shows because I feel it is better to have some gaps between seasons to prevent them merging together, but I suspect it will not be too long before I rush into the third season of this show with the hope that it continue its strengths while also improving what it does with the holding episodes.

Love is (in the) Blue (Universe)

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 10 June 2012]

In this second installment of the closing chapter/opening chapter of seasons 2 and 3 events pick up exactly where they left off in the previous 'sode: Which is highly unusual for "Fringe" - It does not skip forward and it is not recalled in a dream or vision: This is happening NOW.

Belly and Olivia have to get Walter-Before Fauxlivia and Alterna-Charlie get to him. This is the first time Fauxlivia realizes that the "Invaders from the other side" are in fact themselves.

Walternate tells her "They are Monsters in Our Skin" - Who is Fauxlivia to argue with the Secretary of Defense? One thing is very clear: On The Red Side, Fringe Division does not share the unique Family relationship which Fringe Blue enjoys. As a matter of fact, the entire Red 'Verse is on a "War Footing" and we see, it is Walternate who is responsible for this.

The idea is to get Peter and then get the hell back home-As fast as possible. Belly and Walter surmise that Olivia had "Opened a Crack in the Universes" which they can use to cross back over, if they had specific equipment. There is only one place in the world they can get the stuff: From Walters old lab at Harvard: Which was Walternates Old Lab.

Meanwhile Olivia tries to meet Fauxlivia and reason with her. This may have worked, but Olivia came across way too paranoid to really trust Fauxlivia, who may have even helped her. As Peter has said: "At the End of the Day, Fauxlivia will do the right thing,"-But Olivia does not give her a chance to think about it, she shoves a gun in her face, and Fauxlivia responds in Kind.

Which brings us to the best Cat-fight in 2 Universes: Olivia vs Olivia! But Olivia wins, and pretends to be Fauxlivia. This is a big hint of things to come, but this episode moves so rapidly that we don't think about such things until Hindsight is 20/20.

Alterna-Charlie shows up at Fauxlivia's right as Olivia is leaving, disguised as Fauxlivia, and she talks Charlie into bringing her to where Peter is. In a mirror-Bookend to the Pilot Episode of Fringe, Charlie says "This job is not the same as it was 10 years ago..." just like Charlie did in the Pilot.

When they get to Peter's. She hands him the piece of paper and mentions "The Observer" and that his friends have come to protect him, and she cold-cocks Charlie with a bottle of Jim Beam.

This is the pivotal point, Olivia can't give Peter any valid reason why he needs to come back, other to say that it is to be with her. This is probably the centerpiece of the whole series: But we'll see that things happen which prevent this from being realized immediately.

Meanwhile Walter and Belly have a meeting of the minds: Walter wants to know WHY Belly removed his Brain. Walter knows, Belly has been helping Walternate: The Shapeshifters are Belly's design. But Why? And Belly gives him the reason.

Ultimately they all get back to The Opera House, and a huge confrontation between Fringe Red and Fringe Blue ensues: And something else happens as well, which we don't initially see happen until the episode is recapped.

But the Crack which Olivia had opened, is still there and Belly expends himself opening it. While his body dissipates, Belly tells Walter that he removed his brain because Walter had asked him to, Walter was afraid of what he was becoming. End Belly, for this pair of Universes.

"As Many Stars are in the sky, are how many atoms are in my body: That's how many atom bombs I am, Walter"

When they get back to Blue Universe, Peter is still angry with Walter, but as Walter has crossed over twice to save him, Peter will try to see it Walter's Way.

But Olivia is next seen in the Typewriter Store where the Quantum- Entangled Typewriter is... And that's when we see, she has a Tattoo on her neck. End Season 2, begin Season 3.

The Snag

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 3 November 2023]

When I am watching a multi-episode series, we often have what is called a narrative hook. That is an event that makes us wish to go on--a cliffhanger in the old days. I have another term. I call it the "snag." This is that leftover hangnail that catches on your shirt when you put it on. It's a term I use for things that could be just fine, but now there is something messing them up. Here it is Olivia (or faux-numerous episodes, but we'd like to have a bit of closure--a respite perhaps. But that doesn't happen. I'm going to set this series aside for a while and come back to it. I have throughly enjoyed it considering as I began I had never heard of it. I just need a break to let the two universes settle.

The mother of all failures

[paul31415 · 1/10 · 14 May 2022]

I gave this episode a rating of 1 / 10 because of the script.

So Olivia is the only one who can make a crack between the two universes. Alternate Olivia has never participated in any trials for Cortexiphan because there was no Cortexiphan in the alternate universe. So alteernate Olivia has no special abilities. They substitute Olivia with alternate Olivia and somehow the crack between the universes appears even though that machine was just a door-stopper.

Don't get me started on William with his unstable atoms which he nevertheless totally controls and consequently supplies them with a steady stream of power. Is this Harry Potter?

Infuriatingly weak.

Conflicted (Spoilers)

[johannes-lovold · 27 August 2022]

Rewatching this show for the first time since it launched, and while I still love the story and the idea behind the idea that Olivia is infiltrating "our" side... I don't like how it is done.

The redhead Olivia should have been hiding and come along, and not have cidnapped "our"Olivia. Cause the way I see it she don't have the same powers or any powers at all. So how could they cross back?

Maybe I am lucky enough to get this answer, but after watching the episode I'm confused to how they were able to cross at all without the real Olivia.

So far all we know is that William Bell from the other side died young and him and Walter never met. So I don't see how they experimentet on kids so they got abilities.

If anyone knows the answer to this, tell me without telling me, hah!