Walter Bishop smiles for me, and I think that there will never ever be a more compelling or interesting character in the history of television.  In his brilliance and madness, there is a tenderness that I find so compelling I cannot look away.  He is a mad god among rampaging, self destructive humans.  He is a scientist who spins straw into gold and makes magic sound both technical and real.  

Olivia Dunham is wearing a pantsuit this episode (again).  Olivia Dunham saves the day (again).  Olivia Dunham puts on her brave face (again).  I want to be like Olivia Dunham.  I want to work for the FBI.  I want to see her be the heroine that I feel is so sorely missed in today’s iteration of supernatural and science fiction textual bodies.  I smile because I know that she already is.

In this universe there are tumultuous Multiverses and bald Observers who carry life’s secrets in their leather briefcases.Astrid Farnsworth makes me proud and Peter Bishop makes me cry.I pull my red, fuzzy blanket over my head when something scary happens; I am galvanized by the excitement of a great mystery.  I am prompted to think, to feel, to imagine.  In the quiet of my living room, I make this little world my own. 

When television is so good that it reshapes the way you see humanity, you know you’ve found a special thing.  Fringe is that good thing.  Fringe is that great thing.