In addition to revealing Bell, the nanite case also revealed Olivia’s power of interpersonal telekinesis (for lack of a better phrase). (And what does Bell’s history of cancer, disappearance, and reappearance in this universe mean for the events of Seasons 1-3? How completely different were those first contacts between universes, without Bell to orchestrate them and move the pieces around the board? Argh, my brain!) Is that an allusion to Peter’s death/abduction/etc? Bell said he hadn’t made a move in his chess game in over 20 years. Maybe there’s more to this: Nina sure thinks so. Then again, his plans have always been mysterious: maybe he’s not a villain bent on the destruction of two universes. Now, not only is Bell back, but he’s possibly evil. Speaking of which: wow and double-wow! In a recent conference call, Pinkner and Wyman attested to their strong desire to get Leonard Nimoy back for the fifth season…and didn’t let anything slip about his appearance in this week’s episode. (Jones, luckily, not one of our more loveable Bishops.)

And then Bell decided to sacrifice his bishop. Like malevolent germs.) More to the point, their purpose is confusing: why would Jones leave such an obvious trail? Was he coached by Bell to draw the Fringe team out? In that case, Bell and Jones decided to sacrifice a bunch of people just to draw Walter’s attention to the continued existence of his ol’ friend Belly. Her fear-and her strength-were a beautiful opportunity for Fringe to remind us what is at stake with every case: not just world-bending mind-altering insanity, but individual lives. Lost’s Rebecca Mader has made no secret of her membership in our unofficial Fringe fan club, and she did a wonderful job of showing us the outsider’s view of the events our heroes deal with every day. The first third of this episode was a fascinating low-key case of the week that set up the roller-coaster ride of the last two-thirds.

And, in keeping with Fringe tradition, it is almost impossible to rate or even assess.

“Brave New World, Part I” continues the great tradition of wonderful, mystifying, tantalizing penultimate episodes. And so it begins: the long, quick slide down the rocky outcropping towards the cliff from which we will hang with delicious, knuckle-whitening suspense until fall.

Brave new world tv show review