Television Breakdown: The Big Reveal

Fringe: Reciprocity

Last week's Fringe had a certain feeling of dread about it, and that lingered over the entirety of the episode. Right from the start, we felt that something terrible was going to happen, or some major reveal was on its way. The latter turned out to be right, and while I had already suspected it, having a mild piece of confirmation made it so much more impacting. If you didn't pick up on the revelation, you should in an episode or two. Every episode since we got back from break has been leading up to a big reveal at the end, and that adds some enticing confusion to everything up until that point. It makes repeat viewing even more necessary than before.

It helps that this was a particularly exciting episode, and it didn't have to do with any case-of-the-week scenario. Right from the beginning, this episode was about Walternate's machine and its relationship to Peter. The device itself has such a menacing look to it, borrowing most prominently from the device Mewtwo was hooked up to towards the beginning of the first Pokemon movie. It's ridiculous parallel, but it's a fascinating one as well. This episode was another analysis of the state of the situation, much like 6955 kHz. Suddenly it felt as if a completely new case was butting heads with the initial conflict of the episode, as somebody has been hunting down and killing shapeshifters.

From that moment on, the episode is an intense hunt for whatever mole has infiltrated Massive Dynamic or Fringe Division. I was so worried for most of the episode that Astrid was the mole, seeing as everything started going down after she started tackling Fauxlivia's computer files. Instead, the truth turned out to be far simpler, yet unexpected. I think that everybody picked up on the doctor being more than what he seemed, but even though I knew that Peter was going out at night for some mysterious reason, I could never have guessed that he was the one killing off those shapeshifters.

Olivia continued to recover from the emotional trauma of returning home, but it was such a meaningful episode for her because she started to see the humanity in her doppelganger. The two think in similar manners, so it allows for Olivia to in some ways empathize with the woman who stole her life. It's horrible, but that was the job that Fauxlivia was meant to fulfill, and she reacted as emotionally to it as we would expect our Olivia to. There are differences between the two, one having not been subject to Walter and William Bell's drug trials, but they're just alternate versions of the same person. However, this episode was far more about Peter than anyone else. The reveal at the end that the machine had "weaponized" him was equal in shock to when Olivia became convinced that she was Fauxlivia. It's frightening to think that he might be changing for the worst, and it's some strange foreshadowing of the events still to come. As for what I didn't like, Josh Singer remains my least favorite writer on the show in terms of dialogue, and that showed a bit this week. However, the execution of the story along with the outstanding performance from Joshua Jackson made it a powerful experience. That final scene is absolutely to die for, not in terms of revelation, but in terms of execution. Ultimately, this episode managed more impact and thrills than last week's Observer piece.

9.5 out of 10

Cougar Town: Lost Children

I've tried not to take up writing on half hour shows, but just because they don't have the same amount of content doesn't mean they deserve to be ignored. I'm not going to lie and say that I don't absolutely love Cougar Town, because the moment I got started on it, I was hooked. It has such a wonderful flavor to it, and I just hope that it someday earns Courtney Cox the Emmy nomination she never got from her work on Friends. The show never indulges in mythological arcs, but it's just as necessary and enjoyable as a good modern comedy like Easy A.

The episode really focused around an adult version of hide and seek, which was mostly just Jules looking desperately around for Ellie, and everyone else doing their own thing. On top of that, Grayson's friendship with Andy had a bit of trouble this week, which grew rather funny when Grayson decided to tie Andy to a tree. However, the hilarity of the episode mostly came from the search for Ellie, and was mostly concerning Travis. Why isn't he at college? There's also a wonderful shout-out to Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. "Give me back my son!"

9.2 out of 10