Post by johnellsworth on Oct 21, 2008 9:48:33 GMT -5
I originally posted in another thread that this was not the best Fringe episode of the lot. That post, along with my very long voicemail message that was featured in this episode of the podcast( sorry about that, I didn't realize how long I'd been talking until I hung up. I just love discussing this show. Thank you for still including it) were both gut reactions to the episode. However, after letting it sink in I realized that this may actually be the best episode. I agree with you both that this episode provided us with the most character development yet, particularly with Olivia. This episode may have been about Joseph on the surface but I believe it was, at it's core, very much about Olivia. It humanizes her the most. It makes you feel for her and maybe understand why it's hard for her to warm up to people. This episode also lead me to ask questions and make up some theories about Olivia's role in this whole thing. Is she just someone tapped to investigate the pattern or is she actually part of the pattern. Is that why Broyles and Sharp are interested in her. Are they studying her or using her? Could it be that she has some ability that is allowing her to " see " John Scott. Maybe she and the "real " Scott were never in love and it was all in her head. Is it possible that Walter was wrong about the isolation chamber experiment ( it is possible that he could actually be wrong some times) and John was "with " her all along. Remember that their most intimate moments, the motel scene in the pilot for example, were spent alone. In this episode, Olivia says to John " You tried to kill me " and he responds with something like " No I didn't. It is possible that the John Scott that tried to kill her was not the John she was in love with. Perhaps that was the " real " John Scott or a clone. Maybe he too was sent to study her along with the events of the pattern. I know that this is a stretch. The ring may debunk this theory about Olivia and John. It being a tangible object. However, this is Fringe and nothing is really a stretch is it?