Posted on 05/13/2009 1:05:26 AM PDT by America2012
This story contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of "Fringe."
Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello called it "ballsy." Other fans expressed shock.
Anna Torv's character of Olivia Dunham finally gets to meet the mysterious William Bell in the season finale of Fox's "Fringe" Tuesday, only to find out that it's not only Leonard Nimoy, but that he's working out of the World Trade Center in New York City.
Granted, it's a New York City in an alternate universe. But with Sept. 11 terrorist attacks just eight years old, could it have been a little too soon for the viewing public to see the towers used in such a dramatic way?
We turned to Twitter, probably the best place to find instant reaction, to find out.
"That was a bold image for 'Fringe' to end on," said @ambienceofmedia. "Countdown to some demographic becoming incensed over it."
It's not clear if a specific demo was angry with the Twin Towers or not, but there were some fans in the Twitterscape that didn't like what they saw.
"Not sure how I feel about the WTC in the end of the show," said @scottiewithers. "Seems a little inappropriate. Understand the shock factor, but wrong."
@jonathanblair was thinking along the same lines. "WTC in the end shot of 'Fringe'? Hope that didn't offend any relatives of loved ones."
"Seeing the Twin Towers on [tonight's] 'Fringe' topped the creepy scale," said @sushuma.
"J.J. Abrams, enough with the 'Star Trek' plug in 'Fringe,'" said @mmmaiko. "But nice 9/11 denial."
However, there were many fans who felt the inclusion of the World Trade Center was a nice twist to the show. And let's not forget, "Fringe" wasn't the first show, even this season, to use the towers. The premiere of ABC's short-lived "Life On Mars" also featured the towers under construction after its lead character ends up in the 1970s.
"Caught the last few minutes of 'Fringe,'" said @charlesjurries. "The closing shot? Creepy, in such an unusual, creative and unsettling way."
"The finale to 'Fringe' was epic," said @nateb2. "Wow, wow, wow."
"I will give you props 'Fringe' writers for having the balls to end the season with that shot," @robschmit said.
That was awesome. Broyles, her boss— I wish I could strut like that I would get all the ladies. Agent Dunham has a nice rack. Walter is the best character of all the characters I can think of off the top of my head right now. I love Leonard Nimoy but his acting seems to get worse with age.
That was a fine ending. I don’t see what the problem was. In an alternate universe, the WTC didn’t get knocked down.
Why would this make a fuss? It’s SciFi. They do things like this all the time.
But with Sept. 11 terrorist attacks just eight years old, could it have been a little too soon for the viewing public to see the towers used in such a dramatic way?
"Just eight years"? How long does the writer think we should stay in morning? Should the towers be ignored and forgotten?
I thought the Twin Towers was a cool touch. But when I saw the ears and the buzz cut in the silhouette, I thought it was going to be Ross Perot, so I was a little disappointed when it turned out to be Nimoy. Perot would have been truly bizarre and perfectly in keeping with a high-tech parallel reality.
Well we knew Bell was in an “alternate world.” It didn’t bother me, I thought it was reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty scene at the end of Planet of the Apes. I felt it was a unique and surprising way to confirm that she had entered the “alternate world.”
The downside of not watching Fringe, IMHO, is missing out on an excellent character, Walter Bishop.
Like Lost, I hope they are keeping an overall arc under their thumbs...never felt so betrayed as the MESS that was X-files at the end. No coherant overall story, ideas come and go just because they look cool...what a dog's breakfast.
I liked the WTC shot at the end. Knowing it was an alternate universe, it made me smile, after I got a chill.
'New' White House? Why is there a new White House?
It also looks like Walter brought his son back from the alt-reality after he died at the age of 7.
I was actually going to post a vanity on this exact same thing, so I am glad I did a search.
I will admit, my first reaction was “HOly crap, I don’t believe they went there”
I love the show, and I think it was a perfect ending to the season, but like this article I have to wonder what the overall reaction is going to be — expecially from 9-11 survivors, thier families, and from people who do not watch the show as they hear about the finish.
That to me was the huge shocker. I was wondering whose grave Walter was visiting, and it explains why Peter's childhood memories don't mesh with Walter's -- it also begs a lot of new questions. Is Peter's mother still alive in the alternate reality? Are she and Walter still together? What will Peter's reaction be when he finds out?
While the Twin Towers were a shock to see, when they panned onto that gravestone with the "Peter Bishop, 1977-1985" I truly got chills up my spine.
Fringe is one of the best written shows in years in my opinion. Full of interesting characters, and a story line/underlying plot that just gets deeper and deeper with every episode. J.J. Abrams is truly a master story teller.
I thought it was incredible!
And the shot of Walter placing the Walking Liberty half-dollar coin on the grave of his “real” son Peter Bishop, who died as a boy, gave me chills.
Who is the man posing as Peter? What a great episode.
We should never forget , never.
Yes, I thought the same thing.
I hope in the alternate/slightly different universe, I am skinnier.
And have better hair.
I have accepted that in the alternate reality polygamy is allowed, and I just have to live with the fact I am married to Jessica Beal, Jessica Alba, and Selma Hayek and we all live happily in the same house.
I was dismayed to see that libtards still exist in the alternate reality and they still elected Odumbbutt.
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