![\"escaping](\"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/escaping-station.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
spoilers within<\/em><\/p>\n L<\/span>ast season Fringe<\/em> skyrocketed from being a show I put up with hoping it would get better into one of the best shows last year and one of the better sci-fi shows I’ve ever seen. Not too shabby for a show that I initially labeled as a trying-too-hard X-Files<\/em> knockoff with a boring lead character and a plot that couldn’t decide between epic arc and monster-of-the-week weirdness.<\/p>\n Once the parallel universe idea started becoming the focus, though, I was hooked – not only because parallel \/ alternate universes happen to be a particular favorite plot point of mine, though that is also true. No, Olivia suddenly started being a more relatable character, and Walter and Peter’s relationship started to go in a much deeper and more heartbreaking direction. Plus, the show proved that it wasn’t afraid to tackle hard science fiction concepts and be smart about them. If there’s ever a show I’m glad I stuck with while it smoothed out its rough spots, it’s Fringe<\/em>.<\/p>\n And this year looks to keep up the momentum – last season’s finale left us with a killer finale, as Peter chooses this world rather than the other one despite learning the truth about where he’s really from, and even more jaw-dropping, alternate-universe Olivia (nicknamed Bolivia to distinguish them) managed to successfully impersonate our Olivia and infiltrate our universe. It was one of the best season finales I’ve ever seen, and gave me high expectations for this year.<\/p>\n In the season opener, our Olivia is being brainwashed in the alternate universe to convince her that she’s actually Bolivia and belongs there – she’s pretty resistant though and escapes, but that’s kind of all part of the plan. Meanwhile, Walter and Peter are completely unsuspecting about the true identity of the Olivia with them. And that’s one of the great things about this whole set-up – in a way they are the same person, yet also not. The exploration of how different and how similar an alternate universe could be, based on minute choices here and there that add up to very large changes, is totally fascinating to me, and indicated here really well by things like Bolivia being a dead shot and Olivia…not.<\/p>\n At the end of this episode, Olivia seems to be fully integrated into the alternate universe, Bolivia’s memories implanted in her. I kind of want the taxi driver to keep being part of it; Olivia’s touchstone with reality and who she is. Judging from the previews, it looks like there will continue to be some amount of monster-of-the-week episodes, which will be great if they use those to explore the Bolivia-Olivia switch. It’s shaping up to be a great season; let’s hope they can get over the third season hump without losing their way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" spoilers within Last season Fringe skyrocketed from being a show I put up with hoping it would get better into one of the best shows last year and one of the better sci-fi shows I’ve ever seen. Not too shabby for a show that I initially labeled as a trying-too-hard X-Files knockoff with a boring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[1688,994],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/fringe-3x01.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4080,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/fringe-3x03-3x04\/","url_meta":{"origin":3934,"position":0},"title":"Fringe 3×03-3×04","author":"Jandy","date":"October 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Fringe 3x03: The Plateau One of these weeks Fringe is going to have a bad episode. This is not that week, and Fringe is solidly three for three this season, and easily maintains its status as best sci-fi\/drama show on TV right now. That opening sequence, wow. A set-piece and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Television"","block_context":{"text":"Television","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/television\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/fringe3x04.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2821,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/fringe-2x01-a-new-day-in-the-old-town-2x02-night-of-desirable-objects-spoilers\/","url_meta":{"origin":3934,"position":1},"title":"Fringe 2×01: A New Day in the Old Town & 2×02: Night of Desirable Objects (spoilers)","author":"Jandy","date":"September 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Great opening to the new season of Fringe, and gives me hope that it will improve on last year greatly. I am easily swayed by alternate universes, but the little hints and bits of information we're getting through normal character interaction are now meaningful (like Peter's concern that his father\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Television"","block_context":{"text":"Television","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/television\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3951,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/fringe-3x02-the-box\/","url_meta":{"origin":3934,"position":2},"title":"Fringe 3×02: The Box","author":"Jandy","date":"October 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"*spoilers* This week on Fringe, we're back in our universe, with a setup that initially seems like a return to a simple monster-of-the-week episode. But things aren't simple on Fringe anymore, and the box that, when opened, melts the brains of those in the vicinity all Indiana Jones-style is actually\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Television"","block_context":{"text":"Television","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/television\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/fringe-3x02.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3900,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/fall-tv-is-upon-us-once-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":3934,"position":3},"title":"Fall TV Is Upon Us Once Again","author":"Jandy","date":"September 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This year I've decided to watch less TV. I decide this every year, and somehow end up with roughly 17-20 shows I try to watch anyway. Sure enough when I added up all the ones I want to check out this year, I ended up with seventeen. But I'm pretty\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Television"","block_context":{"text":"Television","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/television\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/fall2010.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2783,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/fall-tv-is-upon-us-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":3934,"position":4},"title":"Fall TV is Upon Us Again","author":"Jandy","date":"September 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"And my DVR begins its protests against abuse and overwork. I'm trying to cut down this year, really I am, but I think what's going to happen (again) is I start off watching way too much and then shows will fall off as the season goes on. At least this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Television"","block_context":{"text":"Television","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/television\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/30-rock-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1583,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/the-season-so-far\/","url_meta":{"origin":3934,"position":5},"title":"The Season So Far…","author":"Jandy","date":"October 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Now that most shows have had a few weeks to get going, let's see how the must-watch lists are playing out. Spoilers for all aired episodes are likely. Obsessing\/Loving These are the shows that a) get watched almost immediately, b) I anticipate every week, c) I whole-heartedly love every episode\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books and Reading"","block_context":{"text":"Books and Reading","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3934"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}