5.04 "The Bullet That Saved The World" TV REVIEW

IF YOU'RE YET TO SEE THE EPISODE, STOP READING NOW! BIG SPOILERS LIE AHEAD

Episode 5.04
Writer: Alison Schapker
Director: David Straiton

🐠 that it was the one Walter pulled from her brain in " ".

IN THE BASEMENT It's a fun treat for Fringe fans to see Walter's secret basement, with its selection of the show's greatest hits. The porcupine man previously featured in "The Transformation" (1.13) and " " (4.16). The substance that causes every orifice to seal over previously appeared in "Ability" (1.14). The window to the parallel universe previously appeared in "Peter" (2.16) – could part of Walter's plan involves asking Walternate and co for help?

ON THE BROYLES Isn't it great to have Philip Broyles back – even if Lance Reddick's ageing make-up makes him look a bit odd. (Maybe the lack of hair to grey up made the make-up artists feel they needed to work that little bit harder to age him 24 years?) We'd never wanted to believe that he was a collaborator, so the revelation that he's (probably) the Dove, helping out the resistance, is a great big high-five moment – a brief moment of joy before the tragedy that follows.

NITPICK 1 Broyles has always been a stoical guy, not the sort to wear his emotions on his sleeve. So it seems rather out of character when he embraces Olivia – their relationship has never been touchy-feely before. And his keeping a picture of Olivia and Peter is also unexpected. Maybe two decades of Observer rule have softened that hard veneer?

NITPICK 2 The Observers' ignorance of Earth culture is rather silly, given the amount of research September and his science team did before their arrival. Even if the sport is no longer played in the future, it's hard to believe that an Observer would have to ask Peter, "What is baseball?" as Peter fills his mind with random thoughts to avoid the Observer's scans. And surely Windmark's been on Earth long enough to have grasped the concept of love – he may not feel emotions like us, but the idea that he couldn't grasp the concept of Peter buying a present for his daughter doesn't ring true.

BEST LINE 1
Walter: "There was a time we solved Fringe cases. Now I think it's time🔥 we created a few of our own."

BEST LINE 2
Walter: "This is Greek to me, except that I read Greek. This is Aramaic to me, and not the Western dialect. I do speak a little."

Richard Edwards

Fringe airs on Sky1 in the UK on Wednesday nights at 10pm, and on Fox in the US on Friday nights.