THE LISTS: Best Guest Performances on "Fringe"

I was caught off guard on this week's TOP 10 SHOTS column, since there just wasn't anything I could muster the heart to dissect for the occasion. The only occasion we have this weekend is Tim Burton's "Dark Shadows", and it's generally difficult to find anything Tim Burton has done that has an abundance of strong shots. Going off cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, I tried revisiting "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", but that's honestly still a really boring film. And even going for a strained connection, "Pan's Labyrinth" was the only thing that came close, and it still failed to amuse me on revisiting.

I have to give an honorable mention to "Where the Wild Things Are", which would have made the cut if I had more time to ruminate. There will be plenty other opportunities for it, I'm sure. So in the rush of the moment, I feel like giving notice to the real event of this weekend, which will inevitably be overlooked in the presence of "The Avengers" and Tim Burton's heightened whining. "Fringe" takes up its season finale tonight, which will fortunately not be the end of the series, given their godsend renewal for season five. The prospect of the definitive end of a show that has been something of a defining attribute for me over the past several years is difficult to say the least, but also tantalizing.

Television Breakdown: Violet Sedan Chair

If you didn't catch the new episode of Fringe last night, I can't truly say that I'm too angry at you. It's not because the episode wasn't up to the caliber that we've grown accustomed to all season, which it absolutely was. It's just that it somehow managed to do perfectly fine without those viewers that didn't tune in, garnering a 4.9 viewership rating, and improving upon where it stood on Thursday nights. It looks like the leap to Fridays turned out for the best, though I still highly encourage people to tune in for the show if they haven't done so already. It's the absolute greatest genre series on television. In the meantime between now and next Friday, take a listen to some of the unique music of the top band in the Fringe universe, Violet Sedan Chair.

Violet Sedan Chair "Seven Suns" LP Side 1 by k1k1chan

Television Breakdown: Rise of the Firefly

There hasn't been much viewing options this past week, but it's hard to quibble after having my mind completely blown away once again by the writers and producers behind Fringe. The show has taken so many brilliantly unfortunate twists and turns across the past nine episodes, and we're just starting to see the complication and repercussions of Olivia's stay over there and Fauxlivia deception over here. I can't say that this was the start of the next chapter of Fringe. It's a standalone adventure with huge mythological importance to what this series is about, and what is to come for our melancholy heroes. This episode was another look into the world of the Observers, most specifically September. He's the one assigned to our group, and we saw a side of the character that we've never seen before. For the first time, the bald man in black took action to influence the course of events, all for the purpose of delivering a simple message, as well as confirming a precarious theory.

It started when September brought former-musician Roscoe Joyce's son several years into the future to see his father. This brings our team around to Joyce, and after Walter has been kept on the sidelines over the first part of this season, the visit from his lifelong idol was especially important for him. I always want to head back to watch a Fringe episode over again, but it's kind of a requirement for this episode. All of the intricate plotting and maneuvers orchestrated by September build towards an emotional climax. September was testing Walter emotionally and psychologically, seeing if he would eventually be willing to finally let go of the most important person in his life: Peter. Walter was hell bent on fixing his memory so he might stop Walternate's insidious plans, and all the potential consequences Walter faced were made apparent from the onset. Walter has become obsessed with saving his son, even if it means the destruction of the universe. We saw huge progress in that respect this week, be it in an ominous fashion.