Nothing Is Written In Stone: An Advance Review of Fringe's "Bloodline"

What's done is done, but what has yet to happen is far from certain.

This is especially true within the world of Fringe, where anything is possible and where the actions of characters have ripple effects that have impact on not only their lives but on entire universes. A father's love can doom a world or two. A child can become a lifeline to another universe. An ancient device could destroy the future. But the future, for all of its infinite possibilities, is a blank slate yet to be written. We can choose, we can fall, we can fail. But tomorrow is forever in front of us. Nothing, we're told, is written in stone.

This week's sensational and gripping episode of Fringe ("Bloodline"), written by Monica Owusu-Breen and Alison Schapker, is set Over There and it's with a certain amount of relish that we dive through the veil to see the after-effects of Fauxlivia's return to her own world: how she's coping with her pregnancy and the fact that the father of her unborn child is on the other side of that dimensional divide.

If Peter Bishop will truly be forced to choose between two worlds, how can condemn a world without destroying something he holds dear? Over Here, he's finally been reunited with Olivia and they've embarked on a romantic relationship, just as her body has been co-opted by William Bell; but Over There is the child he doesn't yet know about, the continuation of his bloodline, his offspring, and his child's mother. There is no opportunity to choose again, nor possibly to choose both. One choice can save, but it can also destroy...

Matters of the blood loom large over this episode, as Over There's Olivia contends with the possibility that she could be a carrier for VPE, the same virus that killed her sister Rachel during childbirth. As with Peter Bishop, Olivia could be faced with a moral dilemma: her choice can both save or kill. Terminate her pregnancy and live... or carry this baby to term and likely die. But there's no guarantee that Olivia even has VPE, though there's an 80 percent chance she does. But does that mean that her mind has been made up? Are her actions to be dictated by what happened to Rachel? Is her fate already sealed?

I don't want to spoil too much about this fantastic episode, but I will say that there are other factions at play here, conspiratorial forces who might want to force Olivia's hand. This child was conceived between two worlds, the offspring of Peter Bishop and Olivia Dunham, and who knows just what abilities this child could have as a result of this pairing. When I say that there are multiple eyes on Olivia, I mean just that: while her pregnancy may be a secret to just about everyone other than Olivia and Walternate, there are those who have their own agenda for this unborn child. And the results are pretty gruesome and upsetting.

(What else would you expect? It's Fringe, after all!)

The tension surrounding Olivia's kidnapping here casts a wide net around the other characters of the series, as we see the lengths Walternate will go to to get his grandchild back and the depth of feelings Lincoln Lee has for Olivia, as he races to try and save her from whoever grabbed her from her apartment. Look for Lincoln and Charlie to come to an understanding about what they face in the days ahead, and for the very welcome return of Andre Royo's Henry.

It's this latter one that's quite interesting. In saving our world's Olivia earlier this season and getting her to safety on multiple occasions, cab driver Henry seemed to be in the right place at the right time. But his involvement with Olivia--and now Fauxlivia--ask certain questions about destiny. Is his fate inexorable tied up with both Olivias? It calls to mind a certain Chinese proverb: "If you save someone's life, you must care for them forever."

It's Henry, in fact, who might be the savior of both worlds' versions of Olivia Dunham, a man who has crossed paths with her so many times that he's now fated to look after her for the rest of her life. A cabbie who transported a woman who can move through worlds. A father who must care for a mother. What's especially interesting here is that he doesn't know this world's Olivia and she doesn't know him, so something bigger than both of them--call it divine intervention, fate, destiny, what have you--has engineered their meetings towards some end. And, given that proverb, it's only fitting that one such meeting should occur within the heart of Chinatown.

The ending of this episode is sure to be controversial in more ways than one, but it presents some interesting ethical and moral dilemmas as well as a better understanding about how each of these characters' inner lives function: the choices they make, the sacrifices they endure, the way they compromise for self-fulfillment or the greater good. And, no, I won't be spoiling it here for you.

What I will say is that I was on the edge of my seat throughout this week's episode, which also presents some further fun differences between this world and ours (pay attention to mentions/sightings of The West Wing and Taxi Driver, among others) and gives some depth and insight into Over There's characters. With the possible end of one of these universes approaching, the writers are making it difficult not to sympathize with both sides of this war, especially with the understanding that one world could be erased by the time this season comes to a close.

Of course, nothing, after all, is written in stone.

Fringe airs Friday night at 9 pm ET/PT on FOX.