The Human Kind brought Fringe back on track, and that is not because Peter was literally pulled back by his wife, but rather because the episode restored the series emotional balance while competently pushing its own agenda forward.
Last week’s episode might have stood out for its storylines and the craftsmanship it showcased, but Cinderella Liberty was without a doubt the most gripping episode of Last Resort so far. The best the series has to offer shifted back to Sainte Marina and the open sea with a story that relentlessly plowed ahead, sending viewers and characters through a flurry of emotional reactions to the adrenaline-fueled scenes.
The midseason finale Made to Suffer delivered everything it needed for us appreciate what we’ve seen so far this season and what’s come.
In terms of structure and storytelling (but not adrenaline), Big Chicken Dinner was arguably the best episode of Last Resort to date, better even than the series premiere. It managed to give us some new revealing insights into characters we were somewhat familiar with, advanced the story with subtle pushes, dealt with the subject of rape using the right notes (mostly), and largely contained the chief irritating character’s negative impact on the series.
This episode definitely lives up to the show’s new tagline of “Fight the Dead, Fear the Living”. One of the fundamental aspects of the comic is that humans are the real threat, not the zombies, and this season is finally delivering that message for the show. When the Dead Comes Knocking rotates between three storylines: Maggie/Glenn being captured, Rick and the gang forming a rescue party, and (quite randomly) Andrea and Milton studying zombie transformation. Out of those three plotlines, two of them are great and one left me wondering why it was even there.
Hounded is a mixed bag, in some way it’s very interesting and advances the plot, but certain storylines felt slow and downright obvious. Starting with one of the episodes strong points, we had Michonne versus Merle. I
Five-Twenty-Ten was still not quite right, but at least there was hope for better days ahead. The return of Nina Sharp didn’t lead to the kind of emotional peak we had with Broyles, and her interaction with Walter raised some issues with the direction of this final season of Fringe. Also, although Peter’s vendetta was at times entertaining, it still felt overextended and a bit alien to what we have come to like over the past four years.
Nuke It Out was a vast improvement over the previous episode which served as a lukewarm introduction. Instead of hiding its main storyline, Nuke It Out embraced it with some bold choices and some startling revelations along the way. Instead of staying secluded on the island, the story brought back Washington D.C. which is proving pivotal with the added benefit of being interesting. Unfortunately, by going all out on so many fronts, the show also built on its tendency for irritating local (island) plot lines, but even that couldn’t ruin a mostly satisfying viewing experience.
Say the Word tries to say a lot, but doesn’t really deliver on most of its plot points; the major one being Michonne versus the Governor. Ever since Walk with Me these two have been at odds, mainly due to her. In my past reviews, I’ve called Michonne “grouchy” and I’ll have to continue that here. Seeing her sulk disapprovingly as the townspeople celebrate in what looks to be a fun Fourth of July party was annoying to watch. Neither Woodbury nor the Governor have done anything to deserve so much contempt.
Besides having a title that is a mouthful, Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There was distinctly the least gripping episode of the season so far, and it’s not for the lack of trying. It featured Walter wandering off unattended, a pocket universe, Peter using his new tech-induced abilities to great effect, continuity from an earlier season filler-episode (or “mythalone” to make it sound more important), and even a not-too-awkward moment of shared grief. Despite so much happening, the whole failed to work together as expected. A distinctive unsettling feeling seemed to spread throughout the episode, and not in a good way.
