FRINGE Recap: ‘Brave New World, Part 1’
May 5, 2012 by Marisa Roffman
You know those moments where you feel a show has been leading up to something for a while and finally they tip their hand just the teeniest of bits? Well, welcome to FRINGE’s “Brave New World, Part 1.”
If you haven’t watched it, go watch it now! If you have, maybe push that lemon cake to the side and let’s get talking about what went down…
(Apologies in advance because I am sick and this isn’t going to be as in depth as I’d like. But I want to at least really jump start the conversation versus delaying this and hoping I snap out of the sick brain fog.)
The biggest news of the night? William freakin’ Bell is back! (At some point, typing those words won’t make me break out into a ridiculous grin. That day is not today.) And not only that, but it’s revealed he’s actually David Robert Jones’ boss. Because, you know, David Robert Jones wasn’t enough for our team to handle, we had to add arguably Walter’s equal — and the biggest threat to his sanity — to the equation. And while Jones is frustrated over Olivia starting to embrace her powers, Bell seems amused.
Of course, just because DRJ and Bell were working together doesn’t mean that they were above throwing the other under the bus. Instead, Bell sent Jones on a task where DRJ brutally attacks Peter, who with Olivia, is trying to prevent Boston from being destroyed by satellites. But Jones, you can’t just attack a Bishop and get away with it…Olivia, in one of the coolest moments of the series, manages to telepathically take control of Peter’s body (including popping his dislocated shoulder back into place) and basically puppet masters Peter into taking Jones down. Jones dejectedly realizes he was the sacrifice Bell was willing to make (“I was the bishop.”) and seemingly dies after losing half of his head — again. (I say seemingly because let’s be honest — both DRJ and Bell were dead in the old timeline. Who the heck knows what these writers will whip up next?)
Elsewhere, Walter was convinced Bell was alive, but no one quite believed him. Eventually, he and his hunch (with the assistance of Astrid, since he can’t drive himself) made their way to a facility where the Noah’s ark creatures are now being stored. When he and Astrid are caught, they try and make a run for it before she get shot in the back and collapses. As Walter is cradling a rapidly deteriorating Astrid, Bell makes himself known and greets his former partner. Just what Walter needs to be…alone, as one of his biggest allies is dying in his arms and being greeted by the biggest potential threat to his well-being. Yeah, this won’t end well.
A few other things of note…
- William Bell from Over Here or Over There? I’m leaning towards our world (his “Hello, old friend” wouldn’t have been needed if he wasn’t from here), but what turned this man so bad? Bell wasn’t the greatest human in the original timeline, but he also sacrificed himself for our team…what did Peter’s absence in existence do to change things so much that this man is so evil?
- Why does Olivia not remember her powers? I realize she wasn’t totally and fully in control of her abilities in the old timeline, but you’d think she’d have more awareness given that she has those memories now.
- As much as I adore Rebecca Mader and am thrilled she was on the show, Jessica Holt’s part in the first hour of the season finale was so tiny that it’s almost a disservice because we know things can’t be that clean with her in hour two.
- Did seeing Bell in amber lessen the impact of his return in “Brave New World, Part 1” for you? And for that matter, did seeing Astrid fine (albeit, just freshly deamberized) in 2036 lessen the impact of her being shot?
- Please, oh please, can we have a Blair Brown (Nina), John Noble (Walter) and Leonard Nimoy (William Bell) scene in the finale? This needs to happen.
- That lemon cake laced with Cortexiphan has to be foreshadowing, right?
Quote of the episode: “It’s my hunch, and I’m quite capable of pursuing it on my own. So peace out.” – Walter to Astrid.
What did you think of the first part of “Brave New World”?
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Did Olivia really have clear powers in the old timeline, though? (As an adult?) Aside from her ability to cross over, there was only a hint that they were there to be developed… but what did she actually ever do with them before 2026? So, I haven’t got a problem with her not remembering she had them.
Olivia can:
-cross over
-start fires
-move things telekinetically (which we didn’t really learn until she had developed them many years later in 2026)
I think we need to learn more about why Bell in this timeline turned bad, or “bad” as the case may be… especially since earlier this season it was noted (by a different character) that this timeline’s Bell shut down experiments because he didn’t want to play God. The way he’s acting now is directly in opposition to that sentiment, it would appear. Need to know more next week.
@Donna: Yeah, she didn’t have THIS power, but she had some and she had seen other kids who were tested developing others, so you’d think she wouldn’t be *quite* as confused/shocked as she was. (And like you mentioned, she had powers in 2036, and since Peter supposedly has that info in his brain, you’d think he might mention, “Hey, in the future that thankfully won’t come to be, you were able to do X.”)
Can I say that even though I feel confident that Astrid will be okay, the shock her being shot still carried major weight–I actually screamed. I also tweeted ‘say it ain’t so’! Alex, Ascot, Afro . . . Astrid cannot die.
REally good episode. It’s funny, I don’t think I am able to totally enjoy it because of the dread I feel for Olivia’s fate.
9/10
Did you notice the X that was on the side of all the nanobots that William Bell created? It was the exact same X that was on the shirt of the guy in biimp that’s supposed to kill Olivia.
@Jeff: Ah! Yes, I did! I knew my sick brain would forget something. It would certainly put an interesting twist on the “man” who was going to kill her.
@Donna > Olivia is the previous timeline did exhibit psychokinesis power when (1) she passed DRJ light box test and (2) when she shut off the machine in the alternate universe. Since Peter killed Jones in that timeline, we did not see any more “tests” for Olivia. [read below]
===================
And – if I may repost from another thread.
—————-
I was not surprised by the return, but it did make me rethink about what has been said about and what we saw from William Bell.
In the previous timeline and in this timeline, both alternate universe William Bells were said to have died early in life. We are told that William Bell in this timeline died from a car accident while Walter was in the sanitarium – that Nina Sharp saw his body on Christmas, but that Walter was visited by him on New Years eve. How can this be?
Questions to ponder:
Was the body Nina saw the body of the alternate universe William Bell?
Was David Robert Jones working for William Bell in both timelines, to prepare for “The war to come”?
Were all events connected with DRJ merely tests to trigger more of Olivia’s abilities?
Why would William Bell want to trigger Olivia’s abilities?
Do Olivia’s abilities have any connection with the scroll in”The last Sam Weiss?
I believe answers await in Part 2
I think that after this greeting of the Bell: “Hello, old friend,” to Walter, with Astrid in his arms, it seems that everything leads us to the principles of Fringe, when the experiments in Jacksonville. It is possible, I assume, that we come to know in the next episode, who really is the bad guy in this whole story, or Walter, or Bell, or … both? And I could not to stop talking about to watch the actor Leonard Nimoy again, was simply sensational and unexpected thing for me, I am fully gratified. Thanks Fringe!
“That lemon cake laced with Cortexiphan has to be foreshadowing, right?”
————
Hmm …. could Olivia really “have to die” and then “regenerate” sometime later?
What effect does this have on the other Cortexiphan children?
I think Bell’s cooperation in S2 was a matter of ally-of-convenience: Peter’s remaining over there would have been as dangerous to Bell’s plan as to Olivia’s world. And Bell wasn’t afraid to die because he had the soul magnets as backup.
Walter’s words in 1985: “Like everyone else, you’re blinded by the charming manner, the air of intelligence, the whole damn show. All William Bell ever cared about was finding a way to increase the power and the wealth and the legend of William Bell.”
One of the frustrating things about this show has been how Olivia has ignored the CortexiPowers except in crises. You would think she might like to control them rather than invent things on the spur of the moment.
As much as it pains me to say this episode was….
underwhelming. Most of it centers arounds Jone’s anti-climatic demise again.
The show could still pull it off in the next episode so I’m with holding final judgement but this one lacked focus.
2 Predictions:
1) Olivia will regenerate Astrid.
2) September will take the bullet meant for Olivia thereby circumventing the outcome that Olivia must die in all the realities.
Food for thought:
If September sacrifices himself to save Olivia next week – is this the trigger event that leads to the Observer Occupation depicted in Letters of Transit?