Mark Watches ‘Fringe’: S03E21 – The Last Sam Weiss

In the twenty-first episode of the third season of Fringe, the mysterious Sam Weiss comes to Olivia’s side to help her determine what to do with the newly-activated device as their universe begins to experience dramatically more frightening effects. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Fringe.

HOLY GOD THIS EPISODE. THIS EPISODE. I mean, there’s so much that happened, so much we learned, and yet, all I want to talk about is the final sixty seconds. I know that’s what all of you want to do, too. HOLD ON, MY FELLOW WATCHES, WE WILL GET THERE. Can’t spoil all the fun, right?

I’ve liked where season three of this show has gone quite a bit. It’s easily better than the previous two, so I want to state that before I delve into a bit of an explanation of why this episode felt like a triumphant bit of storytelling. The first eight episodes of season three were electrifying in their energy, urgency, and unique story they were telling. I remember binging through those episodes in just a day or two. I actually sacrificed getting ahead of myself in terms of reviewing just so I could catch up to real-time before the season started back up again. The show had taken the concept of parallel universes and made them easy to understand for most of the audience, and complicated enough so that we couldn’t figure out the details. I felt so immensely satisfied with how rich and believable the alternate world was, and I loved to see Olivia, Astrid, Walter, and Brandon play such disparately distinct characters with ease. (Think how exciting that has to be for an actor or actress.)

The show mixed character growth and emotional storytelling with a MIND-NUMBING serial mythology that the writers also didn’t stray from updating continually. We got answers so regularly that the show felt as if it was barreling towards a huge emotional crux, and in “Entrada,” we got that moment. I still think “Entrada” is the best episode of the entire series, and now, “The Last Sam Weiss” has managed to give it a good run.

The best thing this show ever did was drop the one-off episodes and become a serial drama. It’s made watching Fringe exciting and rewarding, and that’s what I want from a serious drama. I’ve really enjoyed the journey since “Entrada,” so, again, this is not me stating that I dislike season three. But that sense of urgency and OH MY GOD never got quite as strong and present until now. However, that is entirely ok! We have gotten to spend time developing these wonderful characters even further (except Astrid COME ON WRITERS, MORE ASTRID), the pieces have been set into place for this final battle, and there have surely been some fantastically brain-melting twists throughout.

But damn…shit is so goddamn real right now. And I love, love, love when shows and stories do that. I’ve talked about how this show feels rewarding, and this is what I mean: I feel like Fringe has said to me, “Thank you for sticking around. Here’s what we’ll give you in return.”

UGH. I LOVE IT SO MUCH, Y’ALL.

So, I’ve whined about Astrid a lot, and I must say that this episode and “6:03 AM EST” have given us huge doses of her, much more than usual, and she and Walter give “The Last Sam Weiss” a poignant and emotional cold open. Walter is heartbroken that after he was willing to give up his son to save this universe, Peter instead was wounded badly and appears to be in a coma. Bless Astrid, by the way, who is the butt of a lot of Walter’s rage in this episode, and she knows exactly what to do to calm him down. Their relationship has grown so much since the beginning of the show, and I appreciate that the writers are willing to show us this. What else best represents true love besides tapioca pudding and Astrid Farnsworth? Well, ok, Broyles and LSD does, but beyond that. NOTHING, that is right.

We’d only seen small, singular moments of chaos as our universe begins to fall apart, but what “The Last Sam Weiss” does well is give us the true scope of the effects of the device being turned on. Not only does the scene in Holyoke, Massachusetts serve to demonstrate the severely serious situation that the team is up against, but many times in this episode, we are given these grandiose glimpses of the world falling to pieces. How do you show people that the world is ending in just forty-five minutes? This episode shows you how. By the time Peter steps into that machine in the end, you honestly get the sense that shit is real and everything is going to end right now if he doesn’t. That is such a difficult thing to pull off, and “The Last Sam Weiss” does it nearly flawlessly. (I say “nearly” because there’s nothing to kill the vibe of a story more than what basically amounts to a Ford Focus car commercial being dropped into our laps. God, I hope season four doesn’t have these.)

But let’s talk about the titular character, who we’ve all been dying to learn more about for a long, long time. I’m actually completely fine with the fact that we got only part of his story and not the whole bunch jammed into this story. It would have felt too rushed, too much like the writers were telling us HEY, HERE’S EVERYTHING, YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORK FOR ANY OF IT. When you have a show based on a mythology like this, you can’t just spill forth the answers all willy-nilly. They have to feel real, to have a purpose for being revealed in the way in which they are.

Olivia asks a lot of questions. Some of them get direct confirmations or information. Some of them get a question in return. I love that Sam Weiss knows most of the story, but by the end of the episode, he’s almost as much in the dark as the characters and we are. Personally, I think if he’d been an all-knowing figure, it would have been a tad irritating. What he does know, though, is fascinating.

So Sam Weiss is one in a line of a number of Sam Weiss’s. How many are there? And if the first Sam Weiss was the one to discover the manuscript, then who wrote it? How’d he become a contact of Nina Sharp in the first place? How is he even a part of this all?

Ok, seriously, I have a quarter of a million questions about Sam Weiss and the First People and this device, and it’ll be ridiculously pedantic to spend time talking about them. I don’t think we’re done with Sam Weiss yet, despite that I thought the name of this episode implied that Sam was going to die. I’m glad he didn’t, and perhaps next week’s finale will shed light on why he’s played such a large part in all of this.

Which brings me to my next point: WHY DO OLIVIA AND PETER HAVE SO MUCH TO DO WITH ALL OF THIS? I didn’t understand why Peter was destined to be the one to turn on the machine. We’ve never had any light shed on that throughout the show’s history. But when Sam unrolled the “crowbar” located in the box and Olivia’s face appeared among the DNA strands and brainwaves, I realized it was quickly becoming imperative that I figure out why these two people were going to play such a huge part in the end of a universe. (Or the saving. Or something!)

Sam Weiss spoke of the fact that the “timeline” was wrong, which makes me instantly think of The Observers, who are still largely unexplained in the series as well. Beyond wondering why Sam knows that the timeline is wrong (and what that timeline is, too), I can’t help but think The Observers are playing a much larger part in all of this. Who else would know that Olivia would come to gain the powers necessary to be the “crowbar” in the force field around the machine?

I’m glad that Olivia’s powers, which have largely been ignored for most of season three (aside from her ability to pass between universes, obviously), are finally coming back into play. Even better, the writers didn’t avoid the uncomfortable fact that Olivia hasn’t used them in so long. I’m glad that she resisted the idea and I’m glad that they wrote the scenes with the typewriter to show that it’s not a convenient set of powers to have. It would have been far too easy to the story, and it would have stripped us of the metaphorical power of her finally being able to use them, but only in the presence of Peter.

Peter’s story was REALLY frightening and strange for a large chunk of “The Last Sam Weiss,” as I’m sure each of you nearly had an aneurysm when you saw Peter’s note that said, “I’m Going Home.” Of course, my mind ended up on a horrible conclusion: Peter would find a way to go to the alternate universe while in this state. I actually believed this was going to happen even more when Walter told Olivia she’d have to interact with the machine on the other side. I don’t know if I could have handled that, honestly, so I’m glad that was just an extraneous, illogical plot twist that existed only in my brain.

The thing that was so striking about Peter’s REALLY EXPENSIVE trip to New York was that there was this prescient sadness to the way he moved about, as if he knew he was heading to a destiny that was not at all pleasant. Of course, part of this can be explained by his disorientation, but I’m wondering if this phase is actually a sign of something more, maybe a clue to where Peter goes at the end of the episode. Either way, Joshua Jackson played the part extremely well.

John Noble also has another scene in “The Last Sam Weiss” that is not only just as well-acted as Joshua’s part in the episode, but is a fantastic sign of just how much Walter adores and loves Olivia, and how much he’s come to love himself. Walter and Olivia, in a way, have shared some fairly damaging runs of low self-esteem. We’ve seen that manifested in Walter’s sadness about having to rely on Peter during season one, or Olivia’s reluctance to open up to Peter for a large part of season three. Both of them have been hurt in immeasurable ways, and the monologue that Walter gives is about personal healing for him, and shows the hope he feels that Olivia can feel the same way about herself:

“I know what it’s like to feel unequal to the task required of you…to feel incapable. I’ll never be the man I was, but I’ve come to embrace those parts of my mind that are…peculiar and broken. I understand now that’s what makes my mind special. I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. You have no idea how extraordinary you are. If you would embrace that, there’s no end to what you can do.”

ALL MY CREYS. God, what a fantastic message for this show to impart on it’s main character.

But honestly, it’s what we all want to talk about. The machine. The incredibly tense and gorgeous scene inside Liberty Island. The message on the typewriter. Did Peter type that or is it meant for him? WHY SKIP OVER THAT DETAIL oh right the writers are teasing us.

I sat on the edge of my couch (literally!) as the two of them stood in front of that device, the hair raising on my skin as the machine began to whir and hum while Olivia used her powers to shut down the force field. Again, it was a great metaphor for Olivia letting down the walls around her own heart, allowing Peter inside. (I didn’t miss that, writers!!!) I never thought we’d see Peter try to enter the machine TWICE on this show, and yet the second time is infinitely more tense and suspenseful than the first time around. Was the episode going to cut out once Peter stepped inside? It felt like everything was moving in slow motion as Walter and Peter looked up that man in that impossible machine, expressions of horror and terror wiped across their faces.

I honestly expected a cut to black. I did. Instead, Peter wakes up and he looks different. He’s wearing different clothes. There’s a patch that says BISHOP on the lapel. Fire bursts around him as gunshots spread throughout the vicinity of where he’s landed.

Where is he? Peter turns up to face a memorial to September 11th.

DEDICATED IN FUCKING 2021.

What?!?!!?!?!!?!?!?!?!!?

And as the solider with a Fringe Division patch identifies him as “Agent Bishop,” Peter realizes he’s been shot and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING MAKES SENSE. NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE. Has Peter literally traveled to the future? Or just his consciousness? Which universe is he in? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON????

“The Last Sam Weiss” felt so much like a season finale that I now know we are all completely and utterly unprepared for next week’s finale. WHAT IS GOING ON.

I love you, Fringe.

 

About Mark Oshiro

Perpetually unprepared since '09.
This entry was posted in Fringe and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

245 Responses to Mark Watches ‘Fringe’: S03E21 – The Last Sam Weiss

  1. monkeybutter says:

    Whatever, I'm gonna start with the last 30 seconds in my comment, because I'm impatient! It seems like they're in our universe, because there was a shot of the Freedom tower, then the September 11th memorial, while the Twin Towers are still standing in the other universe. I think the 2021 is just when they finished work, possibly after a delay because, WTF, that's the other universe's Fringe uniform! It seems like the universes merged, but I have no idea what's going on or what the heck is going to happen! Would this mean two Lincolns? Could Lincoln/Lincoln be included in my Lincoln/Everyone ship? But Mark, it really does seem like time travel. Fringe loves you.

    Astrid's talk with Walter, and Walter's talk with Olivia were touching moments. The entire team means a lot to each other, they relate so well, and I don't know how that is going to work out in this seemingly new future universe. I agree that this episode was tons better than the last few, mostly because things are starting to make sense, but also because Olivia is showing more positive development after "Stowaway." She conquered her fears, but she still hangs on to some self-doubt, and is realistic about her powers; she's not magically perfect, but she's gradually improving.

    There has to be more to Sam Weiss. The writers gave us a lot, but I'm waiting to see what else he knows. I need to hop into a (not) doomsday machine to take me to next week.

  2. I honestly expected a cut to black.
    Every fucking second of Peter's walk to the machine, every fucking second it took to put his leg, his leg, his arm, his arm into the correct positions, I was thinking, "DON'T YOU DARE END, SHOW. IF YOU END RIGHT NOW I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU IN THE FACE."

    And then it didn't end and WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON.

  3. Kristina says:

    I read a comment from another Fringe review and I'm going to agree with this person and pass the theory along. They thought that instead of being a time machine, it's actually showing Peter the future and the next season will be the team trying to figure out how to stop it. And from the preview they showed of the finale, I'm thinking Peter does come back to the present and tells the team what he saw. Or at least I hope so, I don't know if I'm prepared for them to be exclusively in the future next season.

    My sister and I were watching this episode and I actually yelled, "They did WHAT?!" at the end. My mind was blown and next week I'm sure it will happen again haha. LOVE FRINGE!

    PS Peter has a wedding ring on in the future!

  4. sabra_n says:

    I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.

    And that's when I almost started bawling – which for me is the equivalent of crying profusely, because I don't cry at any media. Except "Vincent and the Doctor". 😛 Seriously, though, Olivia is so amazing and she deserves to have people tell her how awesome she is every day. And to have Walter voice that sentiment so sweetly was really a wonderful moment.

    Also amazing: Astrid managing to come up with a way to transport a giant heavy machine that's violently hitting anything that comes near it. She's got supernatural support staff powers on the level of Jeeves at this point.

    As for the ending? I just laughed my head off, because yes, we were totally being fucked with, but given S3's track record I'm willing to go along for the ride.

  5. ldwy says:

    This show seems even more jarring sometimes because I live in New England. Holyoak, MA? It's jut a regular place that I go to. The fact that it's literally close to home makes everything hit a tiny bit closer to home.

    Let's see. I'm worried that we can't actually quite trust Peter. Not trust his actions/memory. The way he was so confused and doing weird things with such certainty (ie obtaining coin?), and then when they find him, quickly seems to regain his memory? But also answers questions a little strangely (for instance when Walter asks, "Who am I," Peter says, "Well you're not the Secretary of Defense") makes me worried that we're assuming all is back to normal with Peter when it might not be. I was a lot reassured by the very tender scenes between him and Olivia, but not entirely. The typewriter message "Be a better man than your father" is left unexplained. Which makes me wonder if it ties into my unease about Peter-which father? I'm just very uneasy.

    This episode did a great job of giving me many many answers and asking just as many new questions.

    I am liking the way Sam Weiss' story is playing out…I thought he was definitely going to be a first person! But now their identity/role is still very in the open.

    • Conman9191 says:

      "Be a better man than your father" was the phrase that Bell told Olivia to tell Peter (in Greek) at the beginning of Season 2. Peter said that his mother used to say it to him every night. So that was why Olivia chose it as her test phrase.

      • SecretGirl127 says:

        It was also the phrase that Peter used to test if Alt-livia was Olivia. (She failed.)

  6. dcjensen says:

    In my own little mind I have a scene where they find something on the coin Peter bought to indicate it's the same coin from the other side that the Observer gave to Walter.

    When they question the pawn shop owner, he says the guy who sold it to him said he found it in a graveyard…Or that it was sold to him by a very bald man.

    • ldwy says:

      I am excited to watch more and see if you are a ~true seer~ (in the words of this blog). Good ideas.

  7. unicornseatrainbows says:

    Also, I assumed the typewriter was typing "Be a better man than your father" because that was the phrase Olivia was trying to focus on during her little test with Walter, but it wasn't working UNTIL she thought about it later with Peter by her side. Not really sure though.

  8. dcjensen says:

    I also have kudos for the best use of The Doors in a TV episode in a long time. Even if the kid is listening to music that was probably made before his father was born.

    And the scene with the climbing the overpass to see the lightning storm? Wonderful.

    Also? Who is Barry the Dad in the car in the opening, and how did he know to back up rapidly, and then why did he go to investigate the lightning? I wonder if we will be seeing this character again?

  9. Hotaru_hime says:

    I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.
    I nearly started crying at this line, but I managed not to. JOHN NOBLE, GET ALL THE EMMYS. Even the ones for things you have nothing to do with, like sound and wardrobe.
    As far as the typewriter thing goes, it happened after Peter asked her what phrase she was trying to type. The "Be a better man than your father" is a line that is important to both of them; to Peter because that's what his mom told him and to Olivia because Peter told her. And emotion plays a huge part in Olivia's abilities and Peter can get her to focus them- remember she was only able to activate her telekinesis and recognize objects from the other side because Peter encouraged her.
    Maybe I'm wrong, but they are definitely linked. Peter/Olivia ship FOREVER.

  10. Coughdrop01 says:

    I never catch subtleties but as soon as Peter woke up I was all OH MY GOD RECEDING HAIRLINE!!! hahaha

    fantastic episode. I love that I am shouting at my tv this much.

  11. SecretGirl127 says:

    I think that is our universe because the Altverse has the twin towers standing proudly. I was just at the site at Easter, and our universe still has a huge hole (at least it wasn't smoldering like the last time I visited the site), so I believe it will take another 10 years for that building to be finished. But, if the Fringe Division uniforms are from the other side, does that mean the two universes join to form one?

    I would be up for a season of jumping back and forth between the present and future. Similar to the season we just had jumping back and forth between the universes. But I think that would mean Peter would have to make several trips into the machine, and I don't know how that could happen without appearing contrived. "Oh, we need more information about the future, get in Peter," and time travel episode begins.

    ONLY ONE MORE EPISODE. I am not going to survive the summer.

  12. Pingback: Weblin Avatar » Mark Watches 'Fringe': S03E21 – The Last Sam Weiss | Mark Watches

  13. sistinas138 says:

    Mark, have you ever seen the TV show Alias which was an earlier one by J.J. Abrams?

    I think you’d enjoy it….. It’s a spy show with a continuous search for MacGuffins linked to the Renaissance era artist/prophet Milo Rambaldo who is described as a cross between Leonardo DaVinci and Nostradamus. One major plot line revolves around the discovery of a Rambaldi drawing of “the Chosen One” of his scheme of things/ultimate plan which is a obvious portrait of the main protagonist Sydney Bristow (played by Jennifer Gardner) except it was done hundreds of year before she was born.

    When I saw the drawing of Olivia as the “crowbar”, it was all I could think of!

    Gawd I love Fringe.

  14. SkaRn says:

    peter seems awake, conscious and aware but if you slowdown the end of the episode when he’s stepping onto the machine and watch the flashback memories frame by frame, he seems to be remembering his ‘kidnapping’ and how he wants to go back to his own world (by jumping into the lake with a stone tied to his legs).. add that to the fact that he wants to see his father, the “secretary of defense”, and his dialogue saying there’s two of you, and you are definitely not the secretary, i think this new peter is not from our side any more.. he’s the peter from the other side.. i wonder if i make sense?

  15. clapton5000 says:

    Mark, I agree with the above comment about Alias. I know you have a lot on your plate to watch (including Buffy, my fav), but I'd like to point out that the first season of Alias is a must-see, and easily the best single season of any JJ Abrams show. There are definite plot points lifted for this season of Fringe. The rest of Alias was a letdown, but Season 1 was fantastic.

  16. Pingback: Free Blood Sugar Meter

  17. Pingback: Dark Under Eye Circles

  18. Pingback: eBook Library

  19. Pingback: Blood Glucose Monitor

  20. Pingback: Jtosme Movie

  21. Pingback: Baby Products

  22. Pingback: Clothing

  23. Pingback: DVD

  24. Pingback: Dark Under Eye

  25. Pingback: eBooks

  26. Pingback: Free Glucose Monitor

  27. Pingback: Dark Under Eyes

  28. Pingback: Diablo 2 Items Store

  29. Pingback: join eBook Library

  30. Thank you for another awesome post. Keep rocking. Conversion Prophet

  31. Pingback: http://www.LegitVip.com/

  32. Hi there, a very good read and it sometimes just takes someone to post something like this to make me realise where I’ve been going wrong! Just added the site to my bookmarks so will check back now and then. Cheers.

  33. Pingback: roofing sacramento

  34. kleeneze says:

    Have you ever considered creating an e-book or guest authoring on other sites? I have a blog based on the same theme if you’re interested.

  35. Pingback: boutons de manchette

  36. Pingback: paris accommodation

  37. Pingback: florence hotels

  38. Pingback: mirabilandia

  39. Pingback: lido di classe

  40. Pingback: hotel lido di classe

  41. Pingback: replacement furnace filters

  42. Pingback: drinking water benefits

  43. Pingback: Internet Marketing

  44. Pingback: buy traffic

  45. Pingback: buy facebook likes australia

  46. Pingback: stocks and bonds

  47. Pingback: stocks

  48. Pingback: stocks

  49. Pingback: stock certificate

  50. Pingback: dentist bondi junction

  51. Pingback: emergency dentist sydney

  52. Pingback: Sondaj

  53. Pingback: Google

  54. Pingback: Surrey Botox dentist

  55. Pingback: property and casualty license

  56. Pingback: online income tax filing

  57. Pingback: Missold Investments

  58. Pingback: benefits of article marketing

  59. Pingback: new movies

  60. Pingback: ghd|ghd straighteners

  61. Pingback: free legal music downloads for ipods

  62. Pingback: online social networking

  63. Pingback: colothin colon cleanse

  64. Pingback: Pool Surfaces

  65. Pingback: top google search today

  66. Pingback: altama boots

  67. Pingback: aladdin lamps

  68. Pingback: Mauritius Villa Rental

  69. Pingback: ideas for a home based business

  70. Pingback: instant affiliate paydays

  71. Pingback: Help a disabled american veteran

  72. Pingback: making money online

  73. Pingback: breast enlargement without surgery

  74. Pingback: Location Vacances Ile Maurice

  75. Pingback: http://pkhousecleaning.co.uk

  76. Pingback: http://www.clubpenguinnews.net

  77. Pingback: mentoring program

  78. Pingback: work from home. home business

  79. Pingback: hair salons in id

  80. Pingback: Fine Teak cabinet

  81. Pingback: Self Catering Mauritius

  82. Pingback: Pigeon Racing

  83. Pingback: Weight Loss Tablets

  84. Pingback: Affiliate Marketing Course

  85. Pingback: hemorrhoid symptoms

  86. Pingback: Location Villa Ile Maurice

  87. Pingback: como afinar pianos

  88. Pingback: brisbane seo course

  89. Pingback: side effects of methadone

  90. Pingback: Fidelización de clientes

  91. Pingback: Buy Twitter Followers No Password

  92. Pingback: Villas in Mauritius

  93. Pingback: fat cow review

  94. Pingback: how to become a cna

  95. Pingback: photographe publicitaire haute savoie

  96. Pingback: roof flashing

  97. Pingback: Als Internet Model Arbeiten

  98. Pingback: guaranteed facebook fans

  99. Pingback: Ricoh Aficio

  100. naturally like your website however you need to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very bothersome to tell the truth nevertheless I will definitely come again again.

Comments are closed.