TV Show Review

TV Review: FRINGE: Season 4, Episode 21: Brave New World: Part 1

Leonard Nimoy Fringe Brave New World Part 1

Fringe Season 4 Episode 21 Brave New World Part 1 Review. Fringe: Season 4, Episode 21: Brave New World: Part 1 began the end to the fourth season of Fringe and introduced an old character back into the series, a character often discussed.

The best part of the episode was that a dead character in the original universe and both alternate ones is still alive. Like his first appearance in one of the earlier seasons, William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) turns from having his face the other way to look at the person that has just entered the room.

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Then the best dialogue in the episode occurs (about the art of Chess and sacrifice), delivered by Bell partially over a chess board. I thought Leonard Nimoy had retired from acting but when you are given the chance to deliver dialogue like he was given in this episode, you can see how he was lured back.

I love the allegory between the chess board and reality and look at the chess board (plus Bell mentions how the board continues to change, as the show and its number of realities do).

During Bell’s speech about the art of Chess, David Robert Jones (Jared Harris) stands there in awe of his master, his rationalization, and his intellect, as anybody would in his shoes.

FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) displaying even more mental powers may have been the highlight of Brave New World: Part 1. No, it was the highlight of the episode. Her intuitively grabbing Jessica Holt (Rebecca Mader)’s hand and lowering her temperature was cool (no pun intended) and could be explained but her somehow stopping the security guards (or them just stopping after telling her to drop her weapon), and taking “fighting” control of Peter Bishop was brillant and unexpected.

What was that? How did she do that? How did she know to do that? How did she get Peter to replace a dislocated shoulder. Why didn’t Jones just shot Peter in the back of the head when he first snuck up on him (well of course he couldn’t do that. Then a major character would have died?)

Inquiring minds want to know.

Is FBI Special Agent Astrid Farnsworth fatally wounded? It seems so. The fact that her and Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble) evaded being shot for so long, especially when the gunmen shot first, was ridiculous but common in TV shows and movies e.g. Demolition Man.

William Bell is going to make an interesting nemesis.

For more Fringe reviews, photos, videos, and information, visit our Fringe Page, subscribe to us by Email, follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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