The Morning After: Change for a Hundred

Namaste! Happy Lost Day, everyone!
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I know last week's episode "The Variable" was pretty hyped, but I'm actually more excited for tonight's episode (the penultimate of the season), since I have a feeling things are REALLY going to get moving here....we're on the clock, so to speak (t-minus 5 or 6 hours till the Incident, according to Faraday, right?), the pieces are in place (in 1977 or 2007), and with 3 hours of show left this season, it's time to move the pieces and wow us, Cuse and Lindelof.

Happy Lost Day!

James,
You should watch Fringe. Last night's episode had many major surprises and satisfactions. The story was simple and lean; there was a winking in-joke setting us up for the finale, some great acting of Torv and Noble. Saying more would diminish the pleasures of what might have been their best ep so far.

I was left with a mix of opinions on last night's Fringe:
The good: I was thankful for the lack of hand holding. A two second shot of Olivia tapping the (unlabeled) ZFT manifesto and a two second shot of pyro-girl's all gray wardrobe was all we had (and needed) to establish that pyro-girl was another ZFT initiate.
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The bad: I was really disappointed in the parallel universe. I was expecting something that was noticeably different (and decades advanced) from ours - instead its the old "Mirror universe" nonsense of the same exact people in the same exact jobs in the same exact relationships. Why not give P-Charlie (Parallel-Charlie) a goatee rather than the scar and be done with it? Although it does give weight to the theories I've seen that Peter is actually P-Peter, and O-Peter (Original/Our) died from his childhood illness.
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The maybe: So how long until dead characters show up again, like P-Scott or P-Harris? And how long until we spend time over there - or, given the inflection Sharp gave to Bell's "traveling", is that as early as next episode? I could see a Lost-ian final scene such as this:
SCENE: BELL'S OFFICE
DUNHAM: "No offense Mr. Bell, but how can you be so sure of these events in this parallel universe?"
BELL: "Ms. Dunham, where do you think we are?"
BELL points out the window; DUNHAM is startled as she sees a distinctly different Parallel-Boston skyline.
Roll credits.
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The ugly: The Spock bit was just way too meta/fourth wall, especially for a show that has never gone there before.
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I am also still keeping up with Reaper, and much like the show's protagonists, I wish they would put more effort into things.
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Take their relationship with religion: The show suggests some damning (pun intended) things about Christian/Jewish dogma, such as their first season suggestion that the gay couple were damned solely because of their sexual orientation, or this season's kid who was damned solely because he coveted his neighbor's wife (just thoughts, no action). But then they introduce universal salvation - even the literally damned could be granted entrance to Heaven- and the radical change that would imply to the various, err, life-challenged characters on the show.
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Or take the various relationship changes: seemingly every episode has someone breaking up, dating, getting promoted, or getting demoted. I _think_ the show is trying to say something about kids that age, who have relationships & jobs come, and go, and return, on a daily basis, but the execution is just sloppy.

Yeah I felt like Fringe was all an elaborate con to prompt the new Star Trek movie. *Fist pumping* KHAAAN!!!!!!!!
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Seriously though, it was so so episode, had good elements as well as bad. The parallel world had me for a loop in that I kept thinking Olivia was in the parallel world when she wasn't, not sure if that's a plus or minus...

@Tom- I like how they did not do the cliche thing of making the parallel universe so completely different from our own, like Sliders did every week in its time. (Spoiler Alerts ahead) Though what did concern me with the image of burning Boston and what looks like a hunt for more experimented upon people who gain superpowers is the show turning into Heroes. Hopefully, it's not going to travel down that road.

My good things: what happened to Agent Harris; what happened to Nina Sharpe; the finely acted confrontation between Dunham and Noble, which showed off a lively, angry performance by Torv; what becomes of Walter; and the pop culture bits, much more naturally and elegantly integrated into the story than how they do it in Dollhouse. In fact, I know J.J Abrams likes Stephen King just didn't expect so many references in one episode: Firestarter, Dark Tower (parallel universes) and even a little known work called Insomnia in which pale bald men from another dimension act like the mythological Three Fates, weaving the life lines of the characters. I liked the pyro girl but am eagerly awaiting the active who turns into a rabid St. Bernard.

@Rosseau, yeah I'd be happy if Agent Harris is gone, but it seems like he got the Nikki and Paulo treatment just because of the backlash of the fans. I mean, yeah he was a worthless character, but to bring him in for the few episodes, kind of build up a back story, but never really anything just to have him go up in flames seemed like a lot of fluff to me. If you're gonna build up a villian, at least make him interesting before you get rid of him. But at least, unless we're in a parallel world, we wont have to see him anymore.

Last night's epi felt very 'Vintage Fringe'. Awesome. Fine mix of procedural and overarching ZFT story.
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Peter's 'science' with the glass, yeah, totally narfalicious. That kind of intriguing 'what if' storytelling could very well be the reason more High schoolers and college students are getting hooked on this show (based on my non-scientific, totally biased research). Way to tap in to the future zeitgeist Bad Robot.
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The 18-34 demo currently commands more buying power and mass influence than any past generation. Crowd is less interested in stories showing what/who they should be but more about what/who they are. In other words, show us ourselves in the character and once we recognize our own traits, no matter how wacky or out-there the show's premise, you've won our attention.
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Some have opined that this gen is tech-smart but wooefully unsophisticated in discerning entertainment value, but i'd argue for the wisdom of the entertainment industry powers-that-be camping out with the demo for a spell and thereby discern what they want to see on TV and adjust their demo-specific offerings accordingly. Winning formula if there ever was one. Just your basic, average, 'grassroots movement', so called 'hoo-ha', that got 'the man' into 'the house'. Just sayin'.