Is this like a reset episode or something?

Begins with an Opening Eye, Liv's left. (Love how Olivia's nickname sounds like "live".) She's seeing lights overhead, just like in the Pilot ep, focus on lights. She's spun upside in her gurney, and I'm reminded of Ben's back surgery in Lost. Black shoes with white spots - like the Tao symbol? After her spinal tap she plays the helpless heroine, gets Water... and engineers her own escape. Which now seems like was expected of her.

She wakes up in the hospital, with an Opening Eye again! And just like in the Pilot episode, she's in a hospital gown, she's got a boo-boo on her right forehead. And then we get some exposition that explains the basic setup of the series. Repetition, repetition...

I love how Magic Eight Ball gives Olivia the clue she needs to finger Mitchell Loeb. When she confront his wife, the wife plays the helpless heroine trick to disarm Olivia - again, repetition of what we saw earlier.

Mitchell says that they saved Olivia; Peter says he's just trying to get into Olivia's head. Perhaps both are true. Rachel, Olivia's sister, tells her to go "save the world". And we get the whole "two sides" dichotomy directly referenced, picked clean out of the Lost mythology.

Walter wants cheesesteak to eat. Does cheese mean freedom in Fringe, too?

Mitchell kills the epidemiologists with a giant overgrown virus. This seems to be his M.O., biological weapons. He had that nasty heartworm in the first half of the season. Repetition, repetition.

Where was the Observer?

I was also not a fan of the repetition in this episode. And I missed the first 8 minutes, so I could not believe that Liv had already escaped. I thought that was kind of dumb. I wanted there to be an abduction storyline. Instead we just skipped over that.

I loved that Peter was worried about Liv and said that he cares, but Walter bringing it up one too many times.... it was one too many times for me, not just Peter.

I was also not a fan of the repetition in this episode. And I missed the first 8 minutes, so I could not believe that Liv had already escaped. I thought that was kind of dumb. I wanted there to be an abduction storyline. Instead we just skipped over that.

I loved that Peter was worried about Liv and said that he cares, but Walter bringing it up one too many times.... it was one too many times for me, not just Peter.

I'll second that, let's not force the relationship.

Second time that Olivia has gone to Loeb's house. I wonder if there are any differences in the decor from the first time?

When she buries the cannister of tubes, it's a repetition of burying the Artifact from earlier in the season.

Olivia is re-captured, just like in the previous episode.

Walter says something about "plane of consciousness". Plane crash?

"Four Musketeers", more like four horsemen.

And the whole procedural element of the show, it's starting to wear thin, just like Pushing Daisies.

I for one thought it was a good episode, imo. But why was Loeb trying to "save" Olivia? And if wanted to save her why have his wife kill her? What was put in Olivia during the spinal tap? Or did they just grab spinal fluid from her? Is her fluid "special"?

Exactly, hb. Maybe Loeb is "good" in some way, but he ordered his wife to kill Liv. That ain't good.

Even thought Loeb seemed emphatic that he was trying to save her, I didn't believe him because he told his wife to kill her. I really thought Olivia was going to say that he killed his wife because he had ordered his wife to kill Olivia. But, he didn't. :shrug:
We still didn't get the reasons for the oversized viruses. How do they think they're going to destroy them after these viruses do what they're supposed to do after they're released in the world. Makes so sense.
I loved that not only Peter told Liv that he was worried but Walter did as well. I think more than a lovey dovey relationship, they're trying to build a familial relationship for Liv. Bringing in her sister could also help with that.

Yes, the sister is maybe to warm Olivia up a bit? I'm okay with her, but I've read that some people find her too cold and too distant or something.

I also thought that this was a good episode. It moved along nicely, IMHO. I did notice the repetition with both women pretending to be helpless, etc.

Loeb is also trying to manipulate her with the whole "two sides" bit. Which he doesn't explain, at all, at all. If he wanted to elicit Olivia's support, he'd spill the beans. He doesn't, for narrative reasons. Cheap.

I swear, the whole "let's play with white/black good/bad switching sides dichotomous thinking" bit is getting old and tiresome and unoriginal.

The sister/niece thing is a set-up for a future plot twist, clearly. One is hinted at in the preview for next week, actually. I wasn't too impressed with their appearance into the plot. I like Olivia as a bit of a loner. How does it affect the sisters' relationship that Liv killed their dad?

Yes, I saw in the previews what you're talking about, LL. Remarkable how the faces of the two actress did look alike, IMHO. Not much ultra-interesting from the sister, but it seems like Olivia is closer to the daughter than the sister. The sister seems much more naive than Olivia, for what it's worth...

And the whole procedural element of the show, it's starting to wear thin, just like Pushing Daisies.

Sorry, I have to disagree, nothing was wearing thin on Pushing Daisies! Loved every episode!
100%
Yes, I saw in the previews what you're talking about, LL. Remarkable how the faces of the two actress did look alike, IMHO. Not much ultra-interesting from the sister, but it seems like Olivia is closer to the daughter than the sister. The sister seems much more naive than Olivia, for what it's worth...

I'll need to watch it again, lots of stuff discussed here that I didn't notice at all. I thought Olivia was just being nice to the kid. Not sure how I feel about the sister yet, she's not really a presence yet.

I really didn't notice anything that seemed to be recurring. I would like to know what the Loeb meant by saving Olivia.

Sorry, I have to disagree, nothing was wearing thin on Pushing Daisies! Loved every episode!

I loved the characters, the sense of humor, and the basic premise. But I got tired of the structure, and when it came back from its long hiatus I didn't check in on it again. (It's a pity the Writers' Guild did not effectively challenge the power structure of their relationship with the AMPTP. Maybe three more years of dualistic resurrection stories will help build some character and resolve?)

Every episode of Pushing Daisies had a sameness to it, which shocked me for such an original and creative show. They'd reintroduce the premise of the show at the beginning of every episode, through a flashback to Ned's youth - while it was nice to see some early character development, I didn't like being "'splained to" over and over again, as if I'd never seen the show before or was too moronic to remember. (I suspect that was the doing of the network suits, who probably didn't understand it and ended up playing to the lowest common denominator in the audience.)

And then there'd be a wacky murder, which would be neatly solved by episode's end. I don't know, I'm tired of the murder/police procedural, even if it's refreshingly presented. Still, I think Bryan Fuller is an amazing talent, and I'm looking forward to whatever he produces next - as long as it doesn't feature twins.

But when it came back they started expanding stories and it didn't concentrate so much on the murders. Things were really starting to get good! I wanted to meet Lil Gumshoe!

But when it came back they started expanding stories and it didn't concentrate so much on the murders. Things were really starting to get good! I wanted to meet Lil Gumshoe!

Really! I had no idea. If I'd heard it was moving away from the murder procedural, I probably would have tuned in again.

*sigh*

I had the same problem with Journeyman. It was the same story over and over again, structurally speaking. After four or five episodes, I got bored. I dunno, serials which rely on characters not talking to each other as a way of withholding their "big reveals", it's getting kinda stale. As I recall, that was also a big criticism of Lost back in Season 1 - too much tease, not enough please.

Bringing this back around to Fringe, if Mitchell was so concerned about Olivia and her "picking the right side", he sure didn't help his cause at all, at all, by withholding information. By being so clandestine, he ends up facilitating the death of his own wife. So why doesn't he communicate his intentions, and back them up by describing the big picture?

I personally enjoyed this episode, and I agree that the writers were not really trying to "force" the relationship between Olivia and Peter, but rather start to bring Olivia into a family and to give her people to care about, like she cared about John Scott.

Where was the Observer?

not sure if someone already answered this and I missed it, but he was walking past the university when Olivia went to pick up Walter and Peter before they went to dig up her evidence

Observer (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YPCf8JFgUdI/SXbd4suzMZI/AAAAAAAAKco/I1PlccvpnOM/s1600-h/Observer111t2.jpg)

OK.....I may be clueless here, but when Olivia was interrogating Loeb, I was a little stumped by why the heck he broke down and started talking after she shows him the picture of his dead wife AND tells him she killed her. I'm sorry, but if someone wanted information from me and then told me they killed my husband....I'd tell them to kiss my ***.

Just an observation. I'm Loeb had a very good reason. :undecide:

OK.....I may be clueless here, but when Olivia was interrogating Loeb, I was a little stumped by why the heck he broke down and started talking after she shows him the picture of his dead wife AND tells him she killed her. I'm sorry, but if someone wanted information from me and then told me they killed my husband....I'd tell them to kiss my ***.

Just an observation. I'm Loeb had a very good reason. :undecide:


Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. I thought he'd try to throttle Olivia or have an outburst of a different sort rather than bust out a confession. But maybe he just decided it wasn't worth the effort anymore because his wife was dead. Who knows, maybe Peter was right about the guy being insane.