This week on FOX’s Fringe: We learn that if you miss someone enough, you can destroy the world… or at least Brooklyn.
Team Fringe is called in when a mass suicide in a Brooklyn apartment building is discovered to be more than it initially appears. As the team investigates the increasingly strange occurrences of the building, they meet Mrs. Merchant: a widow who deeply misses her husband. Meanwhile, Peter and Olivia try to work through their feelings for each other and Walter grapples with an important decision similar to one made by Walternate.
Major spoilers follow:
Upon the initial release of the trailers for “6B” last week, it seemed as though Fringe was on track for another dull, self contained episode that didn’t contribute to the overall mythology. Thankfully, “6B” turned the episode away from a ghost story and tied it into the parallel universe arc. Soon after the investigation starts on the apartment building, we discover that it’s suffering from a destabilization event exactly like the ones plaguing the other side. Making the apartment a potential “vortex” is a stroke a genius by the writers, as up to “6B” our universe has been relatively safe from the disasters plaguing the alternate reality. The episode really ups the stakes for the show by letting us know that at some point both realities are going to come crashing down unless a solution is found.
Even more interesting is the problem of the amber. Its role on the other side has been really cool, as it serves to give us interesting stories such as “Amber 31422.” The fact the amber, in a sense, has shown up on the show in the first season is something that’s really a considerate call back (hell, they had to mention it for me to even make the connection) and shows that the series has a real sense of internal continuity. Walter giving the amber a lot of thought made for some wonderful moments, as it puts many 
decisions Walternate made in a more practical light. The scene between Walter and Nina (is anyone else sensing some romantic tension there?) in particular became a great moment of introspection. If Peter and Olivia hadn’t been in the building at the end, then it’s almost certain that Walter and Broyles would have used the amber. The fact that Team Fringe solved their problem without resorting to destructive means is an important moment, as it shows a thoughtfulness that the other side’s Fringe Division may not have employed.
What really took the episode down was not the threat of the story, but why it had to occur in the first place. Drug trials, advanced technology, and divergent evolution at least show some thought from the writers to give reasonable explanations for the ridiculous cases Team Fringe must solve. However, simply having two people miss each other a whole heck of a lot doesn’t make a compelling argument for why it results in a fracture in the universe. It’s strange, as Fringe often throws some strange situations at our suspension of disbelief… but for some reason Mrs. Merchant’s destructive grief just seemed too much of a stretch.
Obviously, the show needs an emotional through line that resulted in Peter’s speech, but it seemed forced compared to other antagonists in the show’s past. All the actors played their parts well, but the underlying issues were glanced over to the point where the situation felt rather lazy and cheap. Is it too hard to establish that Mrs. Merchant and her husband had something different about them? The pedestrian nature of the drama gave an otherwise great episode a sour note when it didn’t have to be the case. Furthermore, it cheapens Walter’s guilt because the case in “6B” isn’t really the result of his abduction of Peter, but simply a chance convergence of two lonely people.
As for Peter and Olivia, their sub plot in the episode actually turned out to be handled in a mature, straightforward, and charming way. They actually had heartfelt and logical conversations about their feelings, which so many characters in television just can’t bring themselves to do. Mal and Inara could learn a few things from Peter and Olivia, whose constant honest communication over the course of the episode led up to a very adorable and satisfying ending. Olivia casually and confidently taking Peter by the hand up the stairs of his house is an excellent moment to end the episode and sure to produce many a “squee!” from shippers across the internet. The romance also had the 
hysterical Walter moment with him cooking a breakfast for Peter and Olivia, complete with a massive tray of blueberry pancakes. His sudden background dash out of the house has become one of the best Walter moments of the season, not to mention the show.
Overall, “6B” has a great deal going for it. The Peter and Olivia plot line, not to mention some mythology twists on the case of the week really gave the episode a sense of contribution to the overall season arc. It is a slight case for concern that the writers will rely less on science and more on emotional serendipity for their stories. Emotion and character are the top priority for any story… but suspension of disbelief has its place as well. If Peter’s doomsday machine plays in a similar way, it’s going to take a great deal of skill from the show’s creative team to make it believable.
8/10
Aaron also writes reviews and editorials for his site Media Rushes.
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