Fringe season 4 episode 10 : Forced Perspective

Summary : Two hands but nine fingers, awkward writing, cliché plot, questionable guest, empathic Olivia, unexploited potential, VFX are wicked

Score : 5/10

Spoilers

And the first misstep of the season is… The tenth episode ! In fact the pilot had already disappointed me but the other installments were so great that I was convinced the remaining ones would be in the same vein. However Forced Perspective proved that Fringe still has weaknesses that even its own writers can exploit from time to time. My first complain would be the lack of shapeshifting. I'm not sure switching between multiple storylines is efficient. Of course Olivia's migraines are connected to other events but their coverage should be more intertwined. Second the episodic plot couldn't have been more cliché. A young girl with a special ability who has to move all the time to escape evil scientists trying to experiment on her ? I understood their point was to emotionally link her to Olivia but I found some scenes quite awkward and almost forced. Third I question the casting because the guest actress wasn't creepy enough and looked just like the cute girl next door. She would have been perfect in Castle or Ghost Whisperer but not in Fringe. What saved her character were the enigmatic and freaky drawings because the way her visions was expressed was everything but believable. Fourth at least the episode succeeded in the empathy department. I really felt for Olivia and from Broyles to Peter it was obvious most people really cared. That's why they should have come up with something more original. For instance they could have turned her into the young girl she used to be when the freak of the week was featured. It would have made things way more bizarre ! Last but not least I was absolutely thrilled by the frozen explosion sequence, even if it's something we have already seen in Heroes for example, but I would definitely have traded its expensive visual effects for a better script. The Fringe that only superficially blows my mind is not the Fringe I love ! It should instead stick to its The X-Files modern approach, a deeper and more fascinating one.