TV GUIDE: Weekend TV Playlist: Fringe, Banshee, Girls Returns, Golden Globes, More
Jan 11, 2013
by Matt Roush
Next Friday, it will all be over for fans of Fox's super-freaky but deeply heartfelt sci-fi extravaganza Fringe. And quite a ride it's been, through parallel universes and surreal head trips and baffling time leaps, landing its heroes into a climactic war for humanity's survival against the invading Observers, oppressive Mean Baldies from the future who favor intellect over pesky emotion.
Tender moments abound amid the manhunt tension in Friday's penultimate episode (9/8c), which explores several pertinent and profound father-son bonds as Walter (the great John Noble) immerses himself, Altered States-style, in the sensory-deprivation tank in hopes of forging a psychic connection with the mysterious "Donald," who was revealed last week to be the sympathetic Observer known as September (Michael Cerveris, and what a shock it is to see him with a shock of hair). The delightful explanation of how "Donald" got his name is just one of many reveals in this hour, including the significance of silent and solemn Observer child "Michael" — the episode is titled "The Boy Must Live," a throwback to past events and future peril — and finally we get details of the much-discussed "plan" that could vanquish the Observers. (One of the weakest and silliest elements of this final season was the endless quest to retrieve bits and pieces of Walter's plan on scattered VHS tapes — why not just record it on 8-tracks? — frozen in amber.)
In the future, whether on tape or disc or computer stream or whatever cloud our TV archives will exist within, Fringe will shine as a rare example of unfettered imagination given free rein to do its own thing, tell its wild story in its own fashion, reinventing itself season to season (some more successfully than others) while always taking us to unexpected places. Though never a pop-culture sensation on the level of The X-Files, Fox kept it going longer than most of us could have hoped, and for those loyal few who still care, we can't wait for the payoff...
The Fringe two-hour series finale airs Friday, January 18, 2013 at 8/7C on FOX. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE SERIES FINALE PROMO.
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