Pushing the Reset Button: Fringe 

I came to this series late so I probably haven’t loved it as long as some of its most ardent fans. But I’m passionate about the show and I was excited when the series was reset at the beginning of season 4. I knew Joshua Jackson‘s Peter Bishop couldn’t be gone forever, but I had no idea how his absence would change the show. And while it has been so hard to be patient, it was a huge relief to see Peter Bishop back in action in “Novation” – to a degree.

I love that no one knows who Peter is. I love that they’re treating Peter like he’s a fringe event, because to everyone he used to know he is. I love that there are things Peter and the audience knows, but Fringe Division doesn’t. I’m looking forward to this journey. I want to see how Peter deals with this new role and how it affects him. I want to know more about how everyone, including Peter, is different. I want him to have a relationship with Walter again. I want him and Olivia to be in love again. I think it’ll take a while to get there but I’m so excited for the ride.

If the world is different since Peter hasn’t been in it, then that definitely means their past cases have been different too. I’ve heard that we’ll be revisiting some of those cases, which I think will be very exciting. I just love that both the audience and Peter are privy to information that the rest of Fringe Division isn’t. But by the same token neither Peter nor the audience knows much about how everyone’s been without Peter in their lives. I mean, what do we know?

• Olivia and her sister lived with Nina Sharp. Olivia and Nina seemed to be thick as thieves in an earlier episode but in “Novation” they were a little cooler towards each other. Also, Olivia killed her father in this reality.
• Walter lives at the lab and has a closer relationship with Olivia than in past realities. He was willing to go as far as removing part of his brain to avoid ending up back in the mental institution after he saw images of Peter around the lab.
• How is Broyles different in this reality. Is he still married? It’s nice to see he’s alive here and over there.
• Where’s Charlie? I love that Seth Gabel’s Lincoln Lee is Olivia’s new partner in this reality but I do miss Charlie. I know Kirk Acevedo is on Prime Suspect. I just hope we get to see Charlie here or over there at some point.
• Astrid has a closer relationship with Walter as well and gets to spend more time in the field when they need Walter’s expertise – she’s his eyes and ears. But we’ve barely seen her in the last few episodes.
• Fauxlivia seems even more smug – to me. We’ve only been over there once this season, which I’m fine with. Sometimes I want to punch Fauxlivia in the face, even though we she didn’t sleep with Peter in this reality. Just pretending to be Olivia is enough for me to dislike her. Do I even want to see her redeemed? Why do I hate her so much?
• How will Peter’s appearance affect everyone going forward? He’s got to feel extremely isolated. For now, they’re keeping him locked up in that room. I like that he used his knowledge of what went on in his reality to help them. I love that things are different and surprising to him in this reality.

What do you hope happens in the future of this reality? Do you think Peter and Olivia will ever get back together? Will Walter allow himself to develop a relationship with Peter, even though he doesn’t think he deserves that? What does Peter’s reappearance mean for the Lincoln/Olivia relationship?

Fringe airs Fridays at 9/8c on Fox.