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TV Review: Fringe, "Immortality"

I had high hopes going into this week's Fringe, directed as it was by Brad Anderson whose other episodes this season have been "The Plateau" and "Entrada," the two best episodes this season (easily) and arguably among the best of the series - top ten material at the very least. This was also the first episode since "Entrada" to return to the other universe which is always a lot of fun. Not just for the zany balls-out science fiction it necessarily embraces but also because we get to see Charlie Francis back in action, as well as the luscious Lincoln Lee, played by Seth Gabel, a hotter, more talented version of Joshua Jackson.

Though this episode didn't make it to the same level as Anderson's earlier episodes, it's probably the best since the move to Friday nights. As it was completely divorced from our universe (I believe it's the first episode to have no characters from our side) and featured its own indigenous villain, we were able to see the alternate team as protagonists and more human characters. A very good touch early on was demonstrating that Walternate was unwilling to experiment on children - a step our pre-crazy Walter took frequently and which resulted in one ruined life after another. Walternate's always been a ruthless and focused antagonist in some aspects (such as dealing with Broyles), but he very clearly has his head on straight. Similarly, as Fauxlivia is reunited with her sexy boyfriend Frank, we get to see the sincere side of her, whereas during her stay in our world we more equated her with deceit. And when that relationship falls apart after we got to see how happy they were together, it's legitimately moving.

Killer roaches are at the heart of this episode, which of course immediately conjures up scenes from "War of the Coprophages," a very memorable X-Files, but the episode's villain takes the idea and makes it immediately more Fringe-y by being on a quest to cure some disease through a roach enzyme, but because these particular roaches were parasites to sheep and sheep are all extinct in this world (as of the 80s), he had to engineer a species that could subsist on another creature, and the only viable alternative turned out to be man. The extinct sheep thing is another of the other side's conventions, introducing elements present or absent in this world through exposition casual enough to sell it.

The final confrontation is pretty cool, and Lee is a much more convincing action hero than Peter. The "Is Fauxlivia dying?" fake-out actually had me going for a bit, despite maybe being a bit of a stretch (that's some very timely morning sickness) but really that's a hard complaint to lodge when I'm watching Fringe. Which is of course the big reveal here: Fauxlivia is pregnant, and with Peter's kid; and she still loves him. While the looming love triangle - or more specifically, its significance to the fate of the universe - has me bracing myself, it's nice that they're willing to throw in some obstacles to at least make it seem like it's not quite so clear cut that Peter will choose Olivia.