A Quick Look at the Fringe Finale

Fringe, everyone’s favourite sci-fi show has ended. So how was the finale? In one word, functional. However, looking at the whole season makes it obvious that the show’s writers and creator didn’t really have anywhere to go at the end of the fourth season. All season 5 was about was avoiding the observers and trying to defeat them. All the weekly fringe cases and events that were the mainstay of the series were absent from the final season.

 After watching the finale, it occurred to me that the best episode of season 5 was episode 19 of season 4: Letters of Transit and I think this is partly because it was shown out of context. The finale was truly lacklustre and the events that transpired in it made all that had happened earlier on in the season look like a waste of time. It was nothing more than a collection of previous highlights and plot points that we had seen in previous seasons. In other words, a greatest hits compilation viz: Olivia’s ability to teleport between the two universes, her telekinesis, the universe window and a timeline reset. After watching it, I began to wonder why Walter and co hadn’t injected Olivia with Cortexiphan earlier on in the season. Her powers would surely have made things a lot easier for them.

The only truly interesting and novel part of the finale was when Windmark tried to read Michael the child observer. However the most disappointing part of the finale was the denouement. It was just too fast and abrupt. All in all, the plot of the finale was a very poor way for the show to go out. That being said, the whole series was a lovely show while it lasted. I shall miss my favourite character, Walter Bishop.

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