Thoughts on Fringe Season 5 so far (Beware of some spoilers)

[Joe Washington]

• I admire the showrunners' commitment to 2036 Fringe as a concrete future for the whole season to explore instead of a what if episode to be glimpsed at for one episode like The Day We Died.
• I'm liking the Etta character. She's as much of a badass as her parents. I find Peter and Olivia's relationship with her sweet. But I fear it's just a matter of time until Etta finds out about Olivia not searching for her like Peter was when she was a kid. My heart breaks at how that is going to go down between mother and daughter.
• I don't see the search for the tapes lasting all season. Maybe half a season or a little more than that.
• I really want to know what happened to September. Is he dead? Is he in limbo or in hiding? I really miss the guy.

What about you other Fringe watchers? What do you all think of Season 5 so far? Loving it or hating it?

 

[Gotham Central]

I must say, I don't find it nearly as entertaining as previous seasons. One of the things that I loved about Fringe was the parallel universe. It made the show fun in a way that 2036 is not. Plus the approach to the observers seems strange to me. I assume that they are from a parallel future, otherwise why attack their own past? I must say, I never saw the Observers as neo-facist nazis.

I miss the fun weirdness from the earlier seasons. Plus, really, how many times can you mess with Walter's head?

 

[Takeru]

I haven't watched a single full episode of this season and I don't think I will, I checked out the season premiere, was bored, skipped ahead and then turned it off. I loved Fringe until the end of season three, I was angry at the changes they made for season four and now I just don't care anymore, it's no longer the show I used to like ... I don't love it, I don't hate it, I'm just indifferent, this has never happened before, usually if I like a show I like it until the end or I start to despise it and hate the later seasons with a passion. Not this time, I'm really done, I wish everyone who still likes the show fun and a kick ass finale.

 

[bigdaddy]

I must say, I don't find it nearly as entertaining as previous seasons. One of the things that I loved about Fringe was the parallel universe. It made the show fun in a way that 2036 is not. Plus the approach to the observers seems strange to me. I assume that they are from a parallel future, otherwise why attack their own past? I must say, I never saw the Observers as neo-facist nazis.

I miss the fun weirdness from the earlier seasons. Plus, really, how many times can you mess with Walter's head?

I agree. I really don't like what they did to the observers. What's the point if following us for so many years just to randomly invade? It just doesn't seem to fit with the show at all.

 

[Joe Washington]

Well, maybe they were been spending time observing humanity for more ulterior motives that September was willing to admit or agree with. Maybe they were looking for weaknesses for them to exploit when they invade since their future world was ruined.

 

[bigdaddy]

If they are from the future then why not just kill everyone in the past? Or if that can't work why not just go back and stop the Fringe team from forming. It doesn't make sense.

 

[The Habs Fan]

This season kind of reminds me of the 5th seasons of EFC and Andromeda. No, it's not nearly as bad... yet. But, I don't think anyone can argue that this season of Fringe is a totally different show than what it was. Yes, Fringe changed every year, but never this drastically.

Again, this is not a knock on the quality as the first 2 episodes of season 5 were pretty good, but the 3rd was a bit blah. I just wonder how this season will be seen in hindsight.

 

[Snick27]

I haven't watched a single full episode of this season and I don't think I will, I checked out the season premiere, was bored, skipped ahead and then turned it off. I loved Fringe until the end of season three, I was angry at the changes they made for season four and now I just don't care anymore, it's no longer the show I used to like ... I don't love it, I don't hate it, I'm just indifferent, this has never happened before, usually if I like a show I like it until the end or I start to despise it and hate the later seasons with a passion. Not this time, I'm really done, I wish everyone who still likes the show fun and a kick ass finale.

I'm the same, though i havent watched any of this season and dont plan too.
Still pissed how the first 3 seasons meant nothing and all those stories like Alt Liv having that baby never got finished.
Plus i only liked the show too cause of the Alt universe. But season 4 just went in the wrong direction.

Oh well, to what could of been !!

 

[Warp Coil]

It's hard for me to form a solid opinion right now. As someone who's only recently started watching the series, and watched seasons 1-4 at rapid fire pace over a period of a couple of months (instead of watching one episode a time, week after week), things are still very fresh in my mind. And each time the show "reboots" itself, it derails the momentum that had been building and it leaves a poor taste in my mouth. I absolutely love seasons 1-3 but was initially frustrated with the timeline change in season 4. I eventually got over it, and was okay with the new status quo. However, the abrupt and dramatic shift into the future for season 5 just seems silly to me right now. Why did the writers decide to go in this direction? Why are the observers acting so... un-observer like? I want to give them the benefit of the doubt that this is meaningful and there is a reason that they are choosing to end the series in this way, but it just feels so out of left field. I also really miss the parallel universe. I got the impression that it was key to the overarching story, but the way they just severed ties in season 4 was just... anticlimactic.

Until I see how season 5 plays out and how the series ends, I will withhold judgement. But so far things are just.... weird.

 

[Procutus]

I can't help but wonder if whatever they do to repel the Observers and set things to right somehow triggers a complete, universe-reset - and we end up right where we started in the beginning.

I hope not, but I've just got this weird feeling.

 

[Joe Washington]

Well, we're down to the final three episodes of the season. With most of the season behind us, have your opinions of it changed in a positive way or a negative way? And how do you think it will all end?

 

[bigdaddy]

This season sucks. I just hope they undo just the season and not the whole show. It's clear they will go back and change the future from ever happening. I rather they explain more about the why this is all happening, but I have even up on that.

 

[propita]

I would not mind if there's a reset and Peter and Olivia are back at the park with little Etta--and then take in Michael. Trite, I know. But after all the shit they've gone through, I wouldn't mind a happy ending for them.

 

[jbohn]

The show has been alright, but it just isn't FRINGE anymore.

 

[degra]

this show at best is mediocre Sci fi drama. I never really understood the cult following. Its standalones were watered down x files, its mythology never came together-Sam Weiss, the baby, the alternate universe, the observers and the payoffs were lame,,,case in point the end of season four. Season five has been nothing but filler and slow as a way to get thirteen episodes. Peters observerdom wasn't mined in an interesting manner. There are a ton of plotholes,,,an advanced race like the observers should be able to intercept cell phone calls and would have been monitoring Nina knowing her connection to Olivia and Walter. And if they can see the future they'll know what Walters plan is and go back in time and stop it.

 

[jayceee]

Hopefully the final showdown will not erase the last five years of Fringe.

For example, such as going back in time and stopping September from distracting Walternate from finding a cure for sick Peter back in 1985.

 

[Warp Coil]

I'm an episode behind, but my opinion of the season still hasn't changed. The future/observer arc of season 5 just doesn't make any sense to me. I don't understand the creative direction that the series has taken. It feels like a completely separate story from seasons 1-4 and a story that doesn't even need to be told, for that matter. The arc has been poorly paced and I honestly would liked more time devoted to Olivia, Peter, Walter and the rest of the major characters and less time spent with the observers.

 

[Joe Washington]

I don't see any problem with Season 5 like most of you are seeing. I’ve enjoying it very much. I'm close to placing it as one of my favorite final seasons. Angel, Six Feet Under, and The Shield are my other favorites.

• Etta’s death was tragic but felt inevitable to me. How they explored the impact her death had on Peter and Olivia was true to who the characters are as people. Nina’s death also pulled my heart strings. But at least she went out with a bang like the badass she was.
• Peter’s Observer arc was interesting to watch and served as an expression of Peter’s downward spiral of grief and revenge. One can say the dark side of Peter we saw displayed in S3 was foreshadowing this storyline. The way it ended with Olivia bringing Peter back from the abyss was beautiful and shows the depth of their love for each other.
• Walter’s struggle with the resurgence of his old self is another interesting storyline and gets to the core of Walter’s redemptive arc that has spanned the series. Will he able to fight the dark impulses that drove him into abducting Peter and creating the serious crack in the wall between universes? Or will he be overwhelmed by them? I consider this Walter’s ultimate test of redemption.
• Yes, Olivia doesn’t have the powers that she used to have that made her special in a way. But I have been noticing that Season 5 has been taking the time to explore Olivia as a person and not a super-powered being. Her relationship with Peter, her feelings for Etta, the personal toll the fight against the Observers is having on her and her loved ones. Before we learned that Olivia had special abilities because of the Jackson trials, she was just the badass FBI agent who took on whatever life threw at her with strength and determination.
• Out of all the seasons, Season 5 is where Peter, Walter, Olivia, and Astrid feel the most like a family. Astrid’s like the little sister to Peter and Olivia, and a daughter to Walter alongside Olivia.
• The time reset as a plan to stop the Observers makes sense concerning that they are from the future and went back to the past to take over the Earth then. I don’t think it would make everything that came before meaningless. It’s because of everything that came before that the series has reached this pivotal point.

3 episodes to go.