Take it on the Other Side

Episode Commentary: The Man From the Other Side

Since coming back from its two month hiatus, “Fringe” has been fantastic, and “The Man From the Other Side” is no exception.

With only a few episodes left, we’re getting back into the main story with Thomas Newton and the shape shifters. For the first time, we see where these shape shifters come from. Apparently they aren’t born but rather hatched from a disgusting pod/embryo-like thing and they come out pretty nasty looking. You’d hope that a sci-fi show would have good visuals, and the effects on “Fringe” have always met the expectations.

Of course, being all nasty and slimy, these guys had to find some patsies to transform into, and lucky for them, they didn’t have to look too far. Of the three pods that we see in the beginning, only two people come out, so when Olivia, Walter and Peter arrive on the scene, Walter decides to try to jump-start the remaining one and try to get information out of him.

As the episode progresses, we find out the plan is try to bring over someone from the other side and Newton needed these three shape shifters to take the place of certain people with clearance to do so.

One of the questions raised in this episode is who is Newton working for? For the first time we get a hint, someone called “The Secretary.” There are really only three options: William Bell, the other Walter, or someone entirely new, but it’s probably one of the first two.

As great as all this other universe stuff is, and something a lot of fans have been clamoring for amidst the standalone episodes, it manages to get overshadowed by Walter and Peter’s relationship.

It’s only been a matter of time before Peter finds out about his origin. It’s hard not to sympathize with Walter. He doesn’t know how his son will react when he finds out, and for the first time in the series, he has a real father-son relationship with his child. When we first met these characters, Peter didn’t care for his father at all, and up until now, he had always referred to his father as “Walter” and not “dad.”

The other touching moment happens when Peter talks about his mother with Olivia. Outside of the flashback episode, Peter’s mom had not been seen or spoken about much. We knew she was dead, but even Peter was suspicious about how she died.

At the end of the episode, Peter and Walter finally talk about everything, and it is one of the most heartbreaking scenes in a series that has had quite a few the past weeks.

Everything is out on the table now. Where it goes is anyone’s guess.