Each week FringeBloggers invite some of the most interesting personalities from the Fringe community into FB Towers, to review aspects from the most recent episode in our Fringe Roundtable! Joining the panel this week to review The Road Not Taken is self-professed Fringe cynic Ace, Fringe parody-maker TheMarkedMouse (AKA David Wu) and the ever-awesome yvaine!
The Observer. Where do you think he’s taken Walter!?
Ace: To the supermarket, where else?
TheMarkedMouse: I believe this is the beginning of a culmination of events hinted at in Epis. 1.04 “The Arrival,” where we learn that Walter owes the Observer a favor for bring him and Peter back to life. I suspect the Observer is taking Walter to a safehaven of sorts, where they will be setting up for an upcoming battle/war.
yvaine: Maybe in one of the parallel worlds? This particular part of the episode is really jogging my brain, but I couldn’t really think of any other explanation worthy of that cliff-hanger.
Your favourite moment from this episode?
Ace: Harris getting killed. That was worth the admission fee alone!
TheMarkedMouse: The best scene was at the cafe when Olivia was confronting Walter about the drug trials conducted on her when she was a kid. Walter’s emotional vulnerability helps cement the overall Fringe theme of “the redemption of Walter Bishop,” and is yet another factor in terms of John Noble heading towards a potential Emmy nomination.
yvaine: Burn, Harris, Burn! I won’t pretend I didn’t love that — I wished for it in the past Roundtable. ;) Olivia confronting Walter at the end was another favourite as well, because it tells us so much more about Walter and how he’s really coping with everything that’s happening. And I have to mention the Star Trek connection. That was fun.
What did you think of Peter’s project?
Ace: Nothing special. Walter looked sick with disappointment. 
TheMarkedMouse: Peter’s project is a brilliant idea. However, keep in mind that phonograph records by their nature contain their grooves in a spiral; the burned imprint on the glass disc would have had to somehow been burned in a spiral of sorts, at a mostly-uniform time rate – as supposed to a random burn – for the audio to be calibrated by the machine which, by the overt use of the turntable, is designed to record LPs in a linear fashion.
yvaine: Peter’s project was cool, but rather too convenient. He finished it just as they were going to need it? Yup, convenient. And was it really worth it to dismantle all those precious lab equipment? He could’ve just used his many connections to get his spare parts. Oh, and are we really sure that’s the purpose of his project? There could be something more to it.
Harris ZFT lackey and ‘death by fire’. Your thoughts?
Ace: Hahahahahahaha. Is that enough or shall I continue?
TheMarkedMouse: The Sanford Harris character had been given great significance since the Pilot episode, in which Broyles adamantly defended him in front of Olivia. The character was also blasted by critics based on Fringe-Forum.com and various podcasts. And just like that, he goes up in flames. I suspect that there will be some element of resolution in the final episode, but I doubt we’ll hear much of Harris’ memory (unless it’s via a Lost-style flashback) in Season 2.
yvaine: I’ve always thought there’s something suspicious about the guy, though I wasn’t really willing to connect lame old Harris to something as intriguing as ZFT. But hey, I thought it was a great twist. Since he didn’t seem to know Jones, the reveal implies that ZFT may be composed of small cells that work independently of each other. Other implications could lead to more interesting stuff. I already weighed in about what I thought of the fireworks. :p
The cliff-hanger. Did you like it?
Ace: There was a cliff hanger?
TheMarkedMouse: I liked it very much, because it involves Nina Sharp, an intriguing character who I hope we see substantially in Season 2.
yvaine: Oh, yes, I’m hanging all right. Definitely hanging.
Your “The Road Not Taken” rating out of 10?
Ace: Good show, I might be back next season. 8/10
TheMarkedMouse: I give it 9.5 out of 10. Truly one of the best episodes, and leads into what I suspect will be an astounding finale.
yvaine: I’m giving this episode a 9.5. I don’t think I’ve ever cursed so much (not in a negative way) during a Fringe episode. :p
Thanks Ace, David and yvaine, for participating in the “Road Not Taken” Fringe Roundtable, it has been great having you at FB Towers! We’ll have another awesome panel next week to tackle the Fringe Season 1 Finale! Til next time! — FringeBloggers.com
[All previous Roundtable's can be found via the tag 'Roundtable'. We're also working on adding profile page featuring a short bio of all the panelists. We promise this time ]
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