FRINGE Final Season Recap: “Liberty”/”An Enemy Of Fate”

Welcome to the final recap of FRINGE! Let’s recap things before we get to the main event…

Recapping the last four and a half of seasons is irrelevant at this point, so don’t bother asking for it from me. Obviously what you need to know is Walter and Septmeber’s plan to stop the Observers involves their own kind of messing with the timestream: by using Observer boy Michael (September’s “son”) to influence the scientist who, a hundred years in the future, inadvertently created the Observers to not do so, wiping them from existence. Paradoxical problems aside, this also has a steep price: mainly Walter needing to sacrifice himself to make it work. Unfortunately, Michael is caught by Windmark and our team has to get him back for the plan to work. And with that, let’s get to the grand finale.

The Prisoner of Liberty Island. Team Fringe is trying to find Michael, and have to rely on some help, like Broyles using his resistance contacts to find where the boy Observer is: Liberty Island. Speaking of Michael, Windmark interrogates Michael about what he knows about the group, and in a interesting mirror of Windmark’s interrogation of Walter that started this season, Windmark leaves the matter with a blood shot eye and blood dripping from his nose. He doesn’t say what he knows from that interrogation, but orders a full and complete diagnostic on the boy. Uh-oh.

Going In Sideways. Team Fringe hears about where Michael is and realize they can’t defeat all the security getting into the place, let alone know all of the security there. Then Olivia suggests a rather desperate plan, by her going over to the Other Side, aka the alternate universe and finding a way to circumvent the security and snatch Michael by crossing in and out from both realities. Of course, the Cortexiphan that made her able to do that is gone from her system, but Walter suggests he can restart whatever is left of it in her, and also use the mirror universe window from season two to make sure the place isn’t completely effed up from the last time they were there. everything seems normal so far.

Break on Through to the Other Side. While Donald arrives at the lab, starts working on assembling the ingredients for his time machine, he wonders where everyone else is. Everyone else is in a resistance safe house, pumping Olivia full of Cortexiphan. As can be expected, getting enough of the stuff to cross over at least four times for their plan to work injected into her really hurts Olivia. While she’s resting up, Walter and Peter have a brief talk where Walter almost reveals that he may have to die for the plan to work. But, they get to Olivia, and let her know that she has maybe three hours to pull off this plan before she stuck in whatever place she’s in, and with each crossing, the possibility of suffering hallucinations and other symptoms. She expects her mirror universe self to pick up on her arriving as soon as she gets there, and sure enough, the now older than last we saw her Fauxlivia hears she’s arrived in their universe.

Reunited. Besides having to explain to alternate version self why she doesn’t look all that different from the two decades since they last saw each other, Olivia lets Fauxlivia and Lincoln (both married with kids!) in on what she needs done. Lincoln arranges for Olivia to head to the island, as she already stars to have some hallucinations. She arrives at the room where Michael should be in our timeline and phases in to find him missing. Turns out Windmark had a conversation with the Commander during all of this and ordered Michael to be “disassembled” in another part of the building for further study. That’s not good.

Never Trip During a Rescue Mission. Olivia’s not doing that well, hallucinating and seeing visions of both universes blurring together. Besides the whole tripping part, she can access some of her powers, which she uses to take down an Observer. Then she manages to get to Michael in time, and thanks to Fauxlivia and Lincoln, fight off an Observer who crossed over too. She doesn’t spend much time saying goodbye to her mirror universe self as she makes it back to the team with Michael, a bit sluggish for wear.

September Meets December. Donald leaves the lab to visit one of the original twelve Observers that arrived in our timeline, December, who was sympathetic to humans also. He asks for help, and they reveal how their interactions with the timeline caused all of the twelve (like August from season two) to experience human emotions and how they all agreed to hide that fact from the others. September believes they can stop humanity from being destroyed, and that he needs something for the Observer to collect.

“Agent Broyles. I would like a word with you.” Windmark pieces together someone revealed Michael’s location to the resistance, and finds out Broyles is behind it. However, he lets Broyles go to a meeting with the team, and Broyles notices he’s being followed. He calls the others and lets them know to get out of the lab as fast as they can, because he’s sure he’ll just be arrested while leading his tail away, and get deeply mind scanned. He does get away, only to be caught and interrogated by Windmark, who is aware that human emotion has “infected” those original Observers (uh-oh) and only privately to Broyles suggests that he too feels things, like “hate”. Broyles says the same before Windmark really starts ripping into his brain.

Leaving the Lab. As Team Fringe hears from Broyles, September has returned from the lab to let them know that December will be bringing a critical piece of technology back form the future. Also, someone finally asks how Michael will find the scientist he’s supposed to find in 2167 once he gets there. September only says forebodingly, “someone will be there to help him”. What it might mean is what Peter finds in the amber: one more tape, a final note to his son in case he was unable to perform his task. Walter will go into the future with Michael to spend his remaining years there, and paradoxically, wipe himself from the time frame after the Observers invaded in 2015. But, time will be reset and everything will be normal. Yes, I’m a little confused too, but its hard to pick at this logic when you have a touching heart-to-heart with father and son agreeing to do this.

One Last Quest. Olivia and Astrid arrive at the Observer’s loft to collect the part, only to find the December hanged dead, and the part missing, taken by Windmark (he was smart enough to keep tabs on the original twelve). Without the part, they have a “working car with a full tank without a sparkplug”. Astrid has a bright idea: use the power grid from the Observers’ shipping lanes to power the time machine. As they all prep to go, Astrid takes Walter to see someone else ambered: Gene, the cow (wisely unremoved because he could moo and reveal what’s going on), and Walter finally says her name correctly. Awww.

Setting Off, With One Change in the Plan. Peter and Olivia pump some of those parasites that turn into killer slugs from season one into the Observer offices of the shipping lanes (along with some other disturbing psychedelic stuff from season one too), while September changes the plan slightly: he will go with Michael into the future instead of Walter. He tells Walter that by doing him going instead, they both can stay with their sons. Its about changing fate, September observes (get it?) as they leave the lab. Meanwhile, Peter and Olivia manage to save Broyles (no vents in his room, which makes me wonder how air gets in there, but nevermind) and drive off to the rendezvous point. Windmark unfortunately, isn’t among the dying Observers.

The Final Battle. While the Observers and Reisstance fight as the machine is prepped to go, Windmark arrives to mess things up in a fight with Peter and Olivia over Michael. Olivia uses whatever’s left of that Cortexiphan she was shot up with to turn Windmark into a truck sandwich, with him being the meat in-between. As September and Michael almost make it, September is shot and dies. Walter sees this, and takes Michael into the wormhole into 2167. He sees his son mouth, “I love you” as a farewell, before both scientist and boy head through. And…

Something to Remember. It’s suddenly 2015, and we see the rest of that flashback from all season with Peter, Olivia, and Etta in the park, only this time…no Observers. It seems Walter and Michael succeeded and everything is normal again. The family heads home, and Peter picks up the mail. He finds one odd letter, with no return address, and no note…but a drawing of a white tulip. The End.

–Fun Walter facts: Walternate is still alive, teaching at Oxford at the age of 90, called Astrid “Asgard”, made bullets that make Observers float after they are shot because, quote, “It’s cool”. Oh, he finally said Astrid’s name right.

–Man, there is a lot of great gory Observer deaths in the finale.

–Chelsea Clinton is running for President in the alternate universe.

–Windmark’s report pad looks a lot like the whole “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” papers form The Shining.

–“I’m more of a raven, don’t you think?”

–“What I wouldn’t give for an old fashioned, tumor inducing cell phone!”

–“You’re my favorite thing, Peter.” I’m sorry, but I got real teary after hearing that.

–“See? What did I tell you? That is cool!” That it was, Walter. That it was.

So, what did you think? Did the finale live up to your expectations? What are your favorite Fringe moments and/or episodes? You planning on writing some fanfiction involving the adventures of Walter and Michael in the 22^nd century? Comment below and thanks for reading these recaps for Fringe’s final season. Hope you enjoyed the ride.