The second season of "Fringe" was part of an interesting experiment by several of the broadcast networks this season: pulling certain shows off their schedules for months at a time, hoping that audiences wouldn't forget and/or stop caring about them in the interim and would follow them back to the air in the spring.
ABC did it with freshman sci-fi dramas "FlashForward" and "V" and FOX with "Bones" and"Glee," and all but "Glee" — which returns on April 13 — have taken significant hits in the ratings. Of course, the quality of the show itself plays a big role as well, but with this sort of trend, a long gap between new episodes can't help, especially when the show is struggling already.
"Fringe" has never been a monster hit, but its ratings were on the rise back in February when it last aired a new episode — quite a feat, considering its stiff timeslot competition on Thursday nights. It returned with lower numbers last week, but at least FOX has already given it an early third season renewal.
Perhaps it was the lack of ratings pressure from other shows, or maybe it was just the prominence of John Noble as Walter Bishop in last Thursday's episode, "Peter," but either way, the show's return from hiatus made for one of the best episodes of "Fringe" in quite a while.
Viewers have known for a long time that the Peter Bishop from our universe died as a boy and that the grown version played by Joshua Jackson is actually from the alternate universe. Olivia (Anna Torv) just learned the truth in the winter finale, and it was last week's episode that finally gave the back-story to this series of events, framed as Walter's explanation for what he did.
Back in the '80s, young Peter was terminally ill in both universes, and "over-here" Walter couldn't save his son in time. He and his wife Elizabeth lost their only child, an incredible tragedy. Alternate-Walter (or "Walternate") did discover a cure but got distracted and didn't take notice of it. Walter, observing through a window to the other world, was thus the only person who knew the proper formula to save alternate-Peter, and he couldn't let him die again.
Walter began his mission — crossing over to the other universe to administer the cure — with the best of intentions. Despite pleas from his lab assistant and Nina Sharp (Blair Brown), Walter set out to give Peter the medicine and quickly return, with minimal disruption to the space-time continuum. When the original vial of medicine broke, though, Walter had to bring Peter back to our side.
Even with this change of plans, he promised alt-Elizabeth he would bring Peter back, and told his own Elizabeth that they couldn't keep him. But when he saw the look on his wife's face when she saw her son again (albeit a different version), he realized he could never return him to the other side.
The episode was structured as one long flashback to the '80s, meaning, despite Olivia's appearance at the very beginning and end, it was all about Walter. Torv's lead performance has certainly improved over time, and Jackson is likeable as the reliable-but-mysterious Peter, but Noble is the show's anchor — a fact this episode made even more evident.
Noble had the chance to play Walter as an arrogant genius and a mournful, desperate father, and he sold them both. Given that he also becomes almost childlike when outside his lab and tends to be the show's comic relief, it seems safe to say there is no side to Walter that Noble can't play.
"Fringe" occupies a unique space in the sci-fi genre, as it has a rich mythology in its alternate universes but tends to produce more standalone, procedural episodes. Mythology episodes get more fan attention, but the show has become a solid line-straddler, always capable of a gripping and visually engaging cold open if nothing else.
"Peter" was more of a mythology episode than anything, but no matter what kind of episode, the producers of "Fringe" know the key is in characterization — one reason a show like "Lost" has been so successful, while something like "FlashForward" has not. So while it was nice to learn how Nina lost her hand last week (a long-standing mystery), it was satisfying because it was in the context of Walter's quest to save his son.
"Fringe" is not perfect, largely because it doesn't quite know what kind of show it wants to be, but when there are episodes like this — complete with awesome '80s retro opening credits — it makes watching it worthwhile.
