“I’m calling from New York. I just saw a woman disappear in front of my eyes. Her name is Olivia. She has a message for you. She’s trapped in the other universe.” – Cleaning Lady to Peter on the phone
Darn it all! Just when you think she’s home free, Olivia gets yanked back “over there.” That was really smart thinking, though, and thank goodness for the woman in the store who did what Olivia asked, despite the complete insanity of it all. For a minute there, I thought maybe she didn’t have time to get her message out before being pulled back to the tank.
Where do we go from here? I wonder if Peter will be totally miffed to learn he’s been sleeping with the wrong Olivia. And I had a feeling Olivia would find an ally or two on the other side — love the dynamic with Henry the cab driver — but I sure didn’t think it would be Broyles, thanks to her “FBI” slip. After a couple of meh episodes, things got pretty exciting there at the end.
As for the case of the week, all I could think is that The Candy Man looked just like Voldemort in that shiny mask. I’m pretty sure the Fringe powers- that-be didn’t time this episode to air on the day that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One opened in theaters at midnight.
And, of course, any storyline that deals with crimes against children always creeps me out and makes me sad. At the beginning when Max said, “Mommy, there’s a monster in my closet,” I knew I was in for it. Especially when they brought it back around to Broyles’ son Christopher, played so winningly by Curtis Harris. His scenes with Olivia were so touching, especially because she’s dealing with her own abduction. Someone needs to either bump that kid to regular status on Fringe or give him his own series.
By the way, I listened in on a conference call with Andre Royo (Henry) this week, and he had nothing but good things to say about working with the Fringe cast and crew. The word “spin-off” even popped up as he was talking — as in a spinoff for him and Olivia — and I’d be all over that idea.
Oh, and Red Vines!
The next episode, which looks like a mid-season finale, airs in two weeks. I know Fringe has been a little meandering, thanks in large part to Fox airing the World Series for several weeks, but things really picked up in this episode, don’t you think?
I’ll just leave you with this:
Henry: “You got me all the way out here. You might as well tell me where the hell you’re from.”
Olivia: “I’m from a parallel universe.”
Jane Boursaw is a family entertainment writer specializing in movies, TV and celebrities. Visit her at Film Gecko and Reel Life With Jane; follow her on Twitter; become a friend on Facebook; email jboursaw@charter.net. Learn how to syndicate her family movie and TV reviews in your publication.
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