Fringe: Brown Betty

I was prepared to absolutely hate this one. The film noir thing has been done many times and I simply did not think Fringe of all story vehicles would be a good fit for it. When I heard they were going to mix that with some musical numbers in order to cross promote "Glee" I almost did not even bother to watch the episode. That said I was completely enthralled with this odd little hour of television from the moment Walter whipped out his label maker after getting acquainted with "Brown Betty".

The actress who plays Olivia's niece gets a gold star. She was terrific in this episode because her interactions with Walter seemed genuine. The scene where she was being rocked by the cow while feeding him from that tiny bucket was hilarious. The way she soberly talked to Walter while being jostled like a rag doll made for a visually ironic moment.

That said, real star of this episode was Walter. He created a story for Ella that was perfect therapy for his mangled psyche. Walternate 2.0 created magical things at the expense of children and Walter judged him beyond saving. Walternate 2.0 shared a heart with Peter, inferring that Walter's only goodness comes from Peter. Walter was ready to have Walternate 2.0 die but Ella would not stand for that. She saved Walternate 2.0 and hopefully gave Walter a glimmer of hope regarding Peter's return.

What did the Observer mean when he was on the "phone" call at the end of the episode? Perhaps Peter needs to live in this world for some reason, if he goes back could there be consequences? I doubt he was hinting that Peter and Walter need to be with each other at all times because there was that long period where Walter was in a mental hospital without any contact whatsoever with Peter.

I believe that Peter and Olivia are in contact. I think when Olivia left she went to see Peter and they decided together what he might want to do next. While they are not an item yet, this episode did a lot to remind the audience of their wonderful chemistry. Therefore, I doubt Peter would punish Olivia for the sins of his father.

I know it is not true because other characters talk to her almost every episode, but does anyone else get the feeling Astrid is a figment of Walter's imagination? When Olivia first showed up she barely acknowledged Astrid being in the room and Astrid does demonstrate a knack for being Walter's one woman Greek chorus. Consider she was the first character that got a hint of Peter's true identity. Maybe that was Walter's way of bringing it up to himself.

To those of you who say, "But like you just mentioned, other characters talk to Astrid", I would say, "not often". I would then say, "keep in mind that this is the show that brought Charlie back from the double dead for an episode like it was no big deal only to have him never show up again".