labellementeuse | (no subject)

owlbeer and I spent yesterday watching all of the episodes of the current season of Fringe except the three that will air later this month. This is Fringe's final season; they were warned that it would be, so this is a wrap-up season. I have a few thoughts under the cut, but without being spoilery (I hope?) I will say that I think it really, really benefited from being marathoned in the same way shows like Lost have benefited from that for me.

Primarily this is because if I hadn't been marathoning, I would absolutely have quit on it at the end of 5x04 when Etta dies. I had become *remarkably* invested in her in the short time she'd been on the show. She was brilliantly cast and did a tremendous job in her performance of evoking both Olivia and Peter, and because I adore Olivia and Peter I rapidly developed a strong affection for Etta. At the end of 5x03, when she, Walter, Olivia and Peter drive off into the dystopic sunset in an old beater, I was just so thrilled. I thought: okay, this is a difficult time for the show with a lot of really unpleasant outside circumstances, but they're still giving me an emotional core I can hang onto even through all this depressing gritty stuff that's so far from the dark-ish procedural it used to be. (Sidenote: around episode 7 we got some really gross-out stuff and I was revolted, obviously, but also majorly nostalgic for when it was the kind of show where I never ate during the cold open.)

I felt betrayed when Etta died because I'd invested in her and her relationships a lot, which had been really necessary for me because of another frustrating that

china_shop articulated well during the last season. By this point, the only character in the show who appeared in the first season, the only remaining blueverse character, is Peter. Olivia is amberverse Olivia with some of blueverse's memories, Walter and Astrid and Broyles and everyone else are all amberverse characters. And after spending two seasons in the redverse *stressing* how different Olivia and Fauxlivia, Walter and Walternate are, it's bullshit to do what the show's done since season 4, which is ask the audience to pretend that these amberverse characters are the ones they're invested in. Actually it's the blueverse I love, those are the people I imprinted on. I also love the redverse cast, of course. And none of these characters are around anymore, and I never got a chance to grieve for them, because the show seemed to want me to carry on as if amberverse was all there ever was. I spent all of last season waiting for the fakeout, waiting for Peter to get home, get back to my Olivia, get back to his father ... and he never did.

This is what has contributed to the problem of it becoming increasingly Peter's show. Because how can it be Olivia's show when my Olivia isn't even there anymore? Ugh.

But to get back to season 5. When Etta began to build these relationships with her parents and with Walter, I was thrilled because I saw it as building parallels to the early seasons of the show, where Peter and Olivia's different relationships with Walter were so important. I could see this playing out beautifully in so many different ways. Maybe Peter would finally call Walter "Dad" again!

And then ... she's gone. Suddenly. Completely unexpectedly. And, to be honest, POINTLESSLY. Without her they had to up the time of all these side characters like Anil, and it still doesn't really make sense how they're getting along without her and her local knowledge. Oh, sure, it leads to this fucking stupid storyline about Peter putting Observer tech in his head, but that storyline was fucking pointless - and also completely consequence-less: as soon as he takes it out he's totally back to normal, no repercussions at all. (That storyline taught us a bit about the Observers but since there is so much fucking contradictory bullshit surrounding the Observers I, uh, don't care.)

Nina's death, sidebar, I didn't mind so much, because at that stage it feels like the last few episodes giving every regular or regular guest-star a moment to shine. (I hope Broyles comes back for one too. <3 Broyles <3) (Also, I get that Nina's death needed to be bigger because Nina's been around since S1 and we all love her, but it felt like they spent disproportionate time on her death for her role in the story at that point.) Etta's death takes place before they've built to that kind of momentum. And also in this kind of story I feel like you need the kids to survive, because damn, otherwise what's the point? It felt like sacrificing the future to protect the past, which is narratively, you know, dumb. If you want to make sure we all know terrible things happen, kill Peter and Olivia at the end of the season. (Please don't do that.) Or kill Walter (Olivia's had a go, Peter's had a go, Walter's turn to die for the universe!) Then Etta, the only one of Olivia and Peter's children to survive, becomes the symbol for hope and change - especially since they'd done all this work establishing how she could change.

HOWEVER. I'm still overall digging what they're doing with the season. Considering it's not remotely a procedural and these characters are set up as procedural characters, considering Broyles and all the blueverse and redverse characters are gone - they're doing a pretty good job of getting me to care anyway. I'm excited to see how it ends.