tvdinner&amovie

***Warning: While there are recaps for the last three episodes, there are also a lot of horrible analogies and metaphors, and crazy amounts of me freaking out and ranting. Also, this will be broken up into two parts, as it’s too long for one post.  Oh, Fringe. You crazy show, you.***

Are some of these problems I have things I have already talked about? Of course. But they’re not getting resolved in the show, making them seem even more apparent now.

I’m sad–devastated–that Fringe is ending. However, another, smaller part of me wishes it ended in season three. Or even season 4. There are only six episodes left, and will they really be that great? I’m not too sure. We’ve got the one Abrams is supposedly directing (which I don’t care about at all. We could say that he completely ditched the show, bringing about its downfall, but instead, because we’re bitter fans, let’s say that Abrams helped create something awesome, stuck it in the oven, then SABOTAGED his friends by changing the oven time. But if the cookies turn out good, we all know he’s going to be there bragging about how he helped with them.), the rumored “episode 19”–which breaks my heart because last season’s episode 19, Letters in Transit, have lost its “episode 19ness” because of this season.

I also do not like how the alternate timeline and future timelines have served as a completely different background and setting than the parallel universes in seasons two and three. Instead of being an intriguing place with subtle but distinct differences, the alternate timeline and future timeline is, in my mind, the lazy way of not explaining anything. Plot hole? Continuity errors? It’s okay–we’ll just blame it on the fact that this is an alternate timeline.

Can they really wrap up three seasons of awesomeness, one season of meandering, and half a season of not-very-good-storyline? Time will only tell.

If it seems like I am freaking out, it is because I AM.

I don’t know why cheesy metaphors seem to be the way I’m expressing myself, but I’m going to keep going with it. Fringe, you are like a cup of Mountain Dew Baja Blast with lots of ice (bear with me on this one). The first sip of that tangy, delicious bright-blue drink is nothing short of amazing. You continue sipping. It continues tasting delicious. Life continues, and you are happy–like is perfect. Then you suck on the straw and you come up empty. You freak out. “I’m done already? I’ve only been drinking it for a few minutes!” You open the lid; the straw was caught between ice. Don’t worry–you’ve still got about a third of the drink left. You replace the lip and shake the cup, relieved to hear lots of liquid and ice. But doubt begins to fill your mind. What if the ice dilutes the drink? Maybe to enjoy the last few sips, you must eat most of the ice first! (Here is season four–a delightful break, but not really what you’re in the mood for.)

You begin chomping away on that ice, shoveling it into your mouth. There are just a few pieces left. “That’s okay,” you think. Those few pieces won’t ruin the last of my drink. You take a first tentative sip. It’s slightly watery. “But that’s okay, too,” you try to comfort yourself. The next ones will be better. You swallow a half-melted ice cube that somehow went up your straw. “What the hell?” you think. You begin to get frustrated. Your mouth is half-frozen because you decided to eat all those ice cubes and the drink isn’t even tasting that good anymore. You angrily rip off the lid and throw the straw to the floor. Your eyes grow wide and you breathe in a gasp because–.

Well, we don’t know why because, because Fringe isn’t over yet! I’m hoping it’s something magical, like you discover that the last sip is a sip of the fountain of youth, and not something horrible like, you realizing that the cup’s been empty for a long time and you’ve been drinking half watery soda-water, half air. We will find out soon enough. And maybe I will revisit this analogy after the finale and give it a proper ending. But probably not.

Until next week’s episode, which, from commercials, looks to be slightly better than last week’s episode (although, really, that isn’t saying much), I will be rewatching seasons two and three. Because that feels like it aired a lifetime ago, and was a different show.

In news that’s a bit happier, John Noble just tweeted about the finale, and said that it was MINDBLOWING (all caps his words, not mine. Well, maybe mine. We will see on January 18. Please don’t let me down, Fringe. You will kill my soul and destroy my heart.)