Fringe Fifth & Final Season Premiere
Alex Eby ’16 / Emertainment MonthlyStaff
It picks up where they left off in a seemingly out of place episode in the fourth season called “Letters of Transit”. This episode took place in the future, in the year 2036, and the Observers have taken over the world. This episode set up the plot for the fifth season of Fringe. It is all about finding a way to defeat the Observers and saving the world once again. This time not from destruction, but from a totalitarian government. This direction is different from the multiple universe storyline that had been growing since the first season. It’s strange to see a completely new story, but after the first episode, the rest of the season looks promising.
What I loved about this season premiere was the amount of emotion that was put into it. There were three scenes in particular that stood out to me the most, and still make me emotional when I watch them. The thing that makes Fringe able to have these incredible scenes with so much emotion is the incredible cast. John Noble puts on one of his best performances in this episode as Walter, and Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, and Jasika Nicole who play Olivia, Peter, and Astrid, also do a marvelous job. The newest member of the cast, Georgina Haig, makes the perfect choice for the daughter of Peter and Olivia. The rest of the cast does a great job working with her in the show, and I am curious to see how her character takes off in the future.
I am looking forward to this season and seeing how the episodes are going to play out. I am excited that the show is taking a step away from the parallel universe theme, but I cannot help but wonder if it is going to come back. After the episode was over I was wondering if we would ever see Agent Lincoln Lee again now that he is in the other universe. After growing to love some of the characters from the other side, it would be a shame to never see them again. I am also interested to see if Fringe will still have Fringe cases. These cases were the foundation of the show, and the new plot does not really seem to have any reason for there to be strange Fringe events now that the universes are stable and there are not any evil scientists trying to create a new world with new species.
Even though the show is switching gears with its plot, it still has the same characters that we have grown to know and love, and I am excited to seeing them try to save the world. Fringe is also about action, and this premiere definitely had it. Judging that they are at war against the Observers, there is going to be a lot more action to come. This season is a perfect way to end the series. Instead of trying to drag out the parallel universe story, they switched to something new and exciting. It is also nice that this season was written completely with the mind that it was the last, so hopefully there will be a great ending, because they have had a lot of time to plan it out in advance and set up for it.
I really enjoyed this season premiere. I give it a 5/5. It captured me and took me in , and when it was over it made me want to watch more. It is bittersweet that this is the last season premiere of Fringe, but I am looking forward to enjoying every episode until the end.