Over There: Part I (S02E22)
Airdate: 13 May 2010
Written by: Jeff Pinkner, J. H. Wyman & Akiva Goldsman Directed by: Akiva Goldsman
Running Time: 44 minutes
There's something almost quaint about a television drama committing so wholeheartedly to the two-part season finale format in this day and age. Fringe, ever the traditionalist at heart, splits what could have been a feature-length conclusion into Over There: Part I and its subsequent companion, ostensibly to preserve the episode count for syndication purposes. It's a decision that feels charmingly old-fashioned now—broadcast television clinging to its established rhythms even as streaming services have trained us to expect immediate gratification. The cliffhanger ending here, whilst undeniably effective in the moment, carries a whiff of nostalgia for an era when audiences would spend entire summers agonising over what happens next. In our binge-watching present, where patience has become something of a lost virtue, this structure feels almost defiantly retro. Still, there's something to be said for the weekly ritual of anticipation, and Fringe at least has the good grace to conclude within the same season rather than subjecting viewers to those agonising between-season splits that have become the bane of modern television.
The episode picks up with Peter having finally come face-to-face with "Walternate"—the biological father he never knew, the Secretary of Defence on the Other Side who has been orchestrating events from across the dimensional divide. Meanwhile, back in our universe, Walter and Olivia have discovered the devastating truth: Peter has voluntarily agreed to return to the alternate reality, believing he belongs there. Just as they're processing this betrayal of sorts, Olivia receives an ominous handwritten note from the Observer known as September. Its message is chilling in its simplicity—Peter, it warns, will be the catalyst for the apocalypse. It's the kind of revelation that demands immediate action, and so the stage is set for an interdimensional rescue mission that nobody asked for but everyone desperately needs.
To cross over safely, Olivia's nascent universe-hopping abilities require enhancement, which brings us to perhaps the episode's most cumbersome narrative device: the recruitment of three former Cortexiphan subjects. There's Nick Lane, whose emotional projection abilities make him a volatile asset; James Heath, once capable of generating deadly tumours, now apparently reformed and healing; and Sally Clark (Pascale Hutton), a pyrokinetic who immediately strikes up a romance with Nick. The four of them form a circle in an abandoned New York theatre, perform the crossing ritual successfully, but the toll is immediate and brutal. Heath collapses almost instantly, his body finally succumbing to the tumours that had been in remission, whilst Sally's condition deteriorates rapidly throughout the episode. It's grim business, watching these enhanced individuals sacrifice themselves for a mission they barely understand, and the episode doesn't shy away from the physical cost of such unnatural travel.
Naturally, their arrival doesn't go unnoticed. The Other Side maintains its own Fringe Division, led by an alternate Olivia who is every bit as capable as our own but distinctly different in temperament and appearance. She's backed by alternate versions of Charlie Francis, Phillip Broyles, and Astrid Farnsworth, all of them answering directly to Walternate. This mirror-team has been contending with their own string of deadly incidents—including one particularly nasty situation in Boston—and they're understandably keen to detain what they perceive as unauthorised intruders from a hostile dimension. The dynamic here is fascinating: our heroes, whom we've spent two seasons rooting for, are suddenly positioned as invaders causing chaos in someone else's reality.
Whilst all this unfolds, Peter finds himself reconnecting with his biological mother Elizabeth, again portrayed by Orla Brady. Back on the streets of Manhattan, Walter's team attempts to rendezvous with William Bell in Central Park, but the alternate Fringe Division intercepts them. What follows is chaos: Sally, realising she's dying anyway, unleashes her pyrokinetic abilities in a devastating display, burning both herself and Nick to ashes whilst grievously injuring Lincoln Lee (Seth Gabel), a young alternate Fringe agent. Walter takes a bullet and is rushed to hospital, whilst Olivia manages to slip away and finally meet Bell, who informs her that Walter is in serious trouble. The episode closes with Walternate standing in a mysterious room, contemplating the doomsday device that Peter is apparently destined to power—a final image that lands with appropriate weight.
Written by the show's core trio of Jeff Pinkner, J.H. Wyman, and Akiva Goldsman, Part I functions primarily as setup for the grand finale to come. Goldsman, pulling double duty as director, manages to strike a reasonable balance between the necessary exposition and the action sequences that keep things moving. He's particularly adept at handling the multiple storylines without letting the pacing drag, no small feat given how many plates this episode has spinning simultaneously.
The cleverest addition by far is the cold open, which drops us straight into the alternate universe with those striking red opening titles—the "Redverse," as fans have come to call it. We meet the parallel Fringe team dealing with their own bizarre cases, establishing immediately that this world has its own rhythm, its own concerns, its own heroes. It's a brilliant narrative choice because it reframes everything that follows. When our Olivia and her makeshift team cross over, we understand exactly what they're walking into. More importantly, we see how the regular characters—the ones we've been following for two years—look from the outside. They're not heroes here; they're invaders, terrorists even, causing destruction and death in a world that was minding its own business. That perspective shift is genuinely unsettling in the best possible way.
The episode employs a familiar structural trick, using that shocking cold open before flashing back thirty-six hours earlier to fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, this means we spend a considerable chunk of time in the Olivia and Walter preparation phase, which proves to be the episode's weakest stretch. There's something perfunctory about watching them gather resources and recruit volunteers when we already know where this is heading. Having Nick and Heath return—characters established in previous episodes—provides some welcome continuity, but Sally Clark feels like an afterthought. She's introduced primarily as Nick's romantic interest, given minimal development beyond their romance, and then dies in spectacular fashion. It smacks of inconsistency in the writing room; she's far less developed than her male counterparts, existing mainly to motivate Nick and provide a tragic conclusion to the theatre sequence. All three Cortexiphan subjects are essentially "Redshirts" in the classic sense—we know they're doomed the moment they volunteer, and their fates unfold with depressing predictability.
That said, the revelation that Peter might become part of an apocalyptic doomsday device works well enough as motivation. It's the kind of plot-moving detail that feels slightly convenient—how fortunate that Olivia receives this warning exactly when she needs proper motivation to take dangerous action—but it gives Fringe Division a concrete reason to risk everything rather than simply accepting Peter's choice to stay.
Where the episode truly shines is in its exploration of Redverse differences, small details that accumulate into a coherent portrait of an America that diverged from our own decades ago. This is a more technologically advanced society—Lincoln Lee will fully recover from his burns thanks to advanced nanite treatments that don't exist in our world. The Fringe Division operates with military precision and ruthless efficiency, willing to sacrifice thousands through quarantine protocols if it means containing a threat. ID checks for bus travel suggest a society that's accepted surveillance and control in exchange for security. Even the geography looks different—the United States map displayed in their headquarters shows altered state boundaries. The political timeline has shifted too; Barack Obama is serving his second term in 2010 rather than his first, and The West Wing apparently enjoyed an eleventh season that never happened here.
More compelling than any of these environmental details, however, is alternate Olivia herself. Anna Torv clearly relishes the opportunity to play a different character—this Olivia sports brown hair, a tattoo, and a lover named Frank (played by Philip Winchester) who would complicate matters considerably should the two Olivias ever meet. She's harder-edged, more militaristic, yet recognisably the same person at her core. Knowing what we do about the season's trajectory, this introduction carries additional resonance, though even viewed in isolation, it's a standout element.
Over There: Part I is solid but imperfect piece of television, successfully serving its function as the first half of a season finale without ever quite transcending its structural limitations. It asks us to accept some fairly major contrivances—the convenient timing of September's warning, the underdeveloped sacrifice of three supporting characters, the episodic nature of the cliffhanger itself. Yet it rewards that patience with genuine invention in its world-building, strong performances from its cast playing alternate versions of themselves, and a genuine sense of stakes that has been building across two seasons of storytelling. If it doesn't quite stand alone as a complete narrative experience, well, that's the bargain we make with broadcast television. Sometimes you have to wait a week to see how it all ends.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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