I wasn’t sure what to think when I first learned the final season of Fringe was to be set in the year 2036, with a new supporting cast and the Observers serving as the main antagonists, but after having watched the first episode, I’m excited to see where this new story arc will lead. The episode begins with an interesting teaser comprised of both nightmare and flashback that sets the tone for the rest of the hour. The opening credits, altered to match the new setting, are both timely and provocative, set in grayscale to match a colorless and bleak future. The key words represent themes of oppression versus liberty, and images of a wall of people behind a wall topped with barbed wire encasing the word “Freedom” offer a dystopian glimpse of what is to come.
The use of imagery throughout the episode creates a comparison between the Observers and the atrocities of Nazi Germany. The costumes, the tattooed humans, and military vehicles at every turn create an unmistakable effect. Moreover, the hairless Observers take on a Neo-Nazi appearance that meshes past with present, to create a future of what might be, should complacency allow the wrong people to take control. The Observer’s statement, “Resistance is futile,” represents an oppression over a broken and helpless people. Just as interesting is the black market in which “Amber Gypsies” sell frozen people as commodities, turning human beings into items both disposable and priceless.
On a character level, the back story presented between Olivia and Peter is both subtle and well done, and Olivia’s reunion with daughter Etta is heartfelt. It creates a beautiful contrast to the high level of action and fast pace seen through the majority of the rest of the episode. Walter’s role, however, proves to be the most profound, the strength of character he exhibits while interrogated by the Observer playing as a stark contrast to the crazy, erratic person he has proven himself to be in the previous seasons. Most poignant is his imagining of music while confronted with questions of which the answers mean the difference between freedom and enslavement of the human race. When asked why he chooses music to fill his thoughts, he explains the importance it has in perspective and clarity of mind. Music represents hope.
As the Observer attempts to break Walter, who suffers massive trauma in his endeavors to keep his thoughts secret, the Observer alludes to a dead Earth no longer of any use to modern humans. He explains that nothing can grow from “scorched earth,” entreating Walter to abandon all hope and give up the information asked of him. Still, Walter holds his silence, bleeding from the nose and eyes, sobbing for the future of humanity.
The final scene, which moves full circle from the teaser intro in which Etta blows dandelion seeds into the wind, shows a disoriented and broken Walter stumbling across a music CD amongst rubble. As he sits in an abandoned taxi and delights in the realization that the music still plays, he spots a single dandelion growing in the scorched earth. The scene fades out over a city in shambles—but in which hope is clearly not yet lost.
On a character level, the back story presented between Olivia and Peter is both subtle and well done, and Olivia’s reunion with daughter Etta is heartfelt. It creates a beautiful contrast to the high level of action and fast pace seen through the majority of the rest of the episode. Walter’s role, however, proves to be the most profound, the strength of character he exhibits while interrogated by the Observer playing as a stark contrast to the crazy, erratic person he has proven himself to be in the previous seasons. Most poignant is his imagining of music while confronted with questions of which the answers mean the difference between freedom and enslavement of the human race. When asked why he chooses music to fill his thoughts, he explains the importance it has in perspective and clarity of mind. Music represents hope.
As the Observer attempts to break Walter, who suffers massive trauma in his endeavors to keep his thoughts secret, the Observer alludes to a dead Earth no longer of any use to modern humans. He explains that nothing can grow from “scorched earth,” entreating Walter to abandon all hope and give up the information asked of him. Still, Walter holds his silence, bleeding from the nose and eyes, sobbing for the future of humanity.
The final scene, which moves full circle from the teaser intro in which Etta blows dandelion seeds into the wind, shows a disoriented and broken Walter stumbling across a music CD amongst rubble. As he sits in an abandoned taxi and delights in the realization that the music still plays, he spots a single dandelion growing in the scorched earth. The scene fades out over a city in shambles—but in which hope is clearly not yet lost.
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