Last week’s Fringe season premiere suffered from being too much of a monster-of-the-week type episode and left out almost any continuity between that plotline and Peter’s disappearance. While the followup ‘One Night in October’ still doesn’t have that connectivity, it is easily a much better episode including a nod to a classic comic book series that may or may not have been intentional, but is still awesome.
‘One Night in October’ finds both sides of the Fringe multiverse chasing after a serial killer who steals the happiness and memories from his victims which ultimately kills them. The killer is in the alternate universe, so to better understand and track him down, Fauxlivia and her team ask Olivia and Fringe Prime to track down the Prime Universe’s version of the killer who is a forensic pathologist.
The brightest spots of this plotline involve both Serial Killer John and John Prime. When John Prime sees the picture of his father in Serial Killer John’s apartment and realizes something is amiss, his reaction is excellently done and very real given the surreal scenario. When the two Johns come face to face it kind of makes me wish they were regular characters and not soon to be afterthoughts in the grand vision of the Fringe Universe.
Once again, the acting and dialogue of the main characters take a backseat to the actions of both the “monsters,” or in this case serial killer and his counterpart, and Walter. I’m not sure if they’re trying to make these characters understated and flat to show the impact of Peter’s disappearance, or if the actors and writers are just phoning it in for Season 4, resting on the laurels of an almost rabid geek fanbase. Whatever the case, this has not been happening to the character of Walter.
Walter has been seeing visions of Peter in reflective surfaces, so he’s now taken to just covering them all up. Now, he’s hearing Peter’s voice.
This is the major comic book homage, or at least my perceived one, to Watchmen. Peter was wiped from reality and all memory, but somehow is trying to break through the walls of time/space much like Jon Osterman does in Watchmen. Sounds, flashes of Jon pop up throughout the lab where he was eviscerated until he, through sheer force of will, explodes back through into reality. My only hope here is that Peter doesn’t take Dr. Manhattan’s choice of dress when he finally does burst through.
Another thing that is kind of bugging is the interaction between the two Universes. Maybe it’s because I watched Timecop three times last week, but I’ve been waiting for some sort of Ron Silver-esque consequences with the two Universes coming into contact with each other. I don’t care if it doesn’t really meld with the physics of the Fringe Universe, or even with physics in the real world, I just need something to happen to pull these episodes out of the duldrums.
Fringe ratings are not where they used to be, nor where they were expected to be for this season. Unless the writing picks up and the lingering plot thread from last season comes into the forefront more, I fear the show may go the way of Peter at the end of Season 3.
– James Zappie
