In tonight’s Fringe we follow Olivia as she goes over to the other side to assist the alternate Fringe team solve a string of high profile murders. The real key is we finally get to see what happens when you put both Olivia and B-livia together on the same case. Will they get a better understanding of each other, or will they just be at each other’s throats?
The main story revolves around a series of murders where the victims have had their brains frozen from the inside. Tonight villain, Mr. John McClenan, takes these victims, and extracts their happy memories in order to satisfy and suppress the darkness within his mind. Of course, as a result, the victim dies a gruesome and sad death. Since they haven’t had any luck at all, B-livia comes up with the grand idea of enlisting Olivia and our version of Dr. John McClenan to get insight on the killer and bring him to justice. This raises an interesting point that I guessed we were wondering. What happens if we need to get help from the other sides, and what happens if we need to enlist civilians to catch their doppelganger?
Since “One Night in October” primarily takes place on the other side, we don’t see much of Walter and our Fringe team, but rather we see the other side’s Fringe team, minus Walternate who of course is the Secretary of Defense. (I’ll talk about Broyles in a second). Overall, the episode directly deals with the concept of how our lives are different if we make different choices or meet different people. In our case, Dr. McClenan, upon sight of his furious father, runs from the faire and ends up in a field, meeting Margerie, whom provides the love he needs to survive in society resulting in not a serial killer, but a psychologist specializing in serial killers. On the other hand, Mr. McClenan was unable to run, and never meets her. In turn, he never learns to control his darkness, resulting in the serial killer that we meet. Such a small choice, to run or to stay, resulted in the completely different path for these two people. It makes you wonder how all the little decisions we’ve made in our lives have had a much bigger impact than we may ever realize.
Other Observations
- How..in..the..hell is Alternate Broyles alive? Don’t give me the “Peter’s gone, the time line is different” crap, I want to know how Olivia escaped their universe.
- As a psychologist, I think I would have noticed that I’m suddenly dealing with a different Olivia, though admittedly, she was a spy on our side for a long time. If nothing else, I would have noticed the hair was really different.
- I wonder if our Agent Lee does have a thing for Olivia like the other side.
- “I lived in your apartment, and I picked up a lot about you.” Olivia gives B-livia the “I hate you” look
- Francis is on a date with his bug girl, and conveniently not in the episode.
Super obvious allusion to Peter
- “Maybe your type doesn’t exist.” Astrid talking about how Olivia might not have a romantic type
- “I always thought that people can leave an indelible mark on your soul, an imprint that can never be erased.”
