Contributor: John Keegan
Written by Graham Roland
Directed by Eagle Egilsson
The previous episode began to demonstrate how the Observer tech was changing Peter. This episode takes it quite a bit further, and it’s hard to see. On the one hand, this is a promising direction for the plot to take, especially considering that it could do quite a bit to explain the origins and nature of the Observers. On the other hand, there’s little chance of a happy ending for Peter and Olivia, if Peter is changing this quickly.
It’s fairly clear from the episode itself that Peter is losing the capacity for emotion, unless it is strong enough to overcome the barriers being created by the tech. Peter does a sufficient enough job of putting on a show with everyone, but Olivia notices something is very wrong almost from the start. Peter’s dedication to the notion of paying any price necessary for victory only gets more and more clinical, which leads to the chilling moments at the end of the episode.
Those waiting for Olivia to have a stronger character thread this season will likely get what they’ve been looking for, since I doubt Olivia is going to step back and let Peter lose his humanity completely. It’s intrinsic to her character to become introverted and detached when she’s dealing with loss, and like the Bishops, she’s going to have to dig deep to avoid the mistakes of the past. Olivia was the one who began the story; it seems obvious enough that she will find a way to rise out of the ashes of her grief, as she did after the series premiere, to play the centrally vital role in the end.
Walter is fighting hard to maintain the person he has become, even as his reintegrated brain attempts to regress. It’s more than a little tragic that he’s relying on Peter so much to maintain his identity, because Peter is in no position to do much for his father right now. In fact, if Peter felt that it was more important to the cause for Walter to regress, I think he’d lie to Walter’s face to make sure it happened. His request to Nina, a wonderful bit of self-determination made manifest, could be one solution, especially since Walter’s doesn’t necessarily need those parts of his memory anymore, given that the plan was excised from his mind.
The use of Bell’s hand, a piece of the puzzle that I was worried had been forgotten after “Letters of Transit”, gives me hope that the other items that have been identified as important this season will also start to fold back into the story. There’s not a lot of time left, only six episodes, and with the final three hours being effectively one massive finale, they need to start pulling the trigger on all the plot elements they’ve put on the table.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Score: 8/10
