Grade: B+
Since
“Neither Here Nor There”,
Fringe has been experimenting with its new world & developing storyline for it. Not only has
Fringe brought a new look at stories we’ve seen before but continued to come up with original & exciting stories as well. Lately in the latter half of the season the team behind the series have been able to develop well thought out plots that work comfortably for not only the season & series but for the characters to continue to grow.
”A Better Human Being” brings an original story but one that is completely rooted in the series past & that of Walters to be specific. As it becomes clear that a boy thought to be insane might actually be reciting actions that are taking place we can see another take on work like that of Walter & the cortexiphan kids. At the same time the Fringe team must also deal with the ever pressing problem of what is happening to Olivia.
One of the most pressing problems to result after
”Welcome to Westfield’ was that of Olivia’s. Not only did she react to Peter as if she was in his universe it also seems that her memories of the orange universe are becoming hazy. This leads to Walter running some tests on her & though nothing seems to seem wrong, Water sees it as relating towards Olivia’s sensitivity towards empathy due to Peter. At the same time the team becomes preoccupied with a case involving a murder & a teen much farther away who relayed the whole thing actions. As a genetic hivemind comes together it is all too easy to relate this whole group of misfits who acts as one to protect the group to the cortexiphan children of Waters past. Here we have a scientist who decides to experiment with the idea of a hivemind in children so guises his experimental testing while helping women get pregnant. While these two stories don’t necessarily relate & the hivemind storyline seems to distract from Olivia it is still so original & compelling that it’s one of the best ‘case of the week’ episodes.
The dynamic between Peter & Olivia only seems to become more confusing as Peter believes towards the end that Walters theory might be incorrect. The joy that they feel from this in the end really brought to life by the Jackson & Torv’s amazing performances. While most chemistry & storyline fizzle out for tv characters that are rooted for to get together the story between the two is more than just a side story or happenstance & really central to
Fringe. The dedication of both actors as well as the rest of the cast are what keep the characters so compelling with the story &
”A Better Human Being” is a very well crafted story.
