I’ve said before that Fringe offers much that LOST did and at times does a better job of providing a coherent story with answers. Of course, there are lots of loose ends that might still be left open: Who build the machine? How could they have designed it with Peter in mind? Who are the observers? Who are the “first people”? And, as if we are still in the realm of LOST, “What do the numbers mean?” A few days ago I reflected on con artists and Christianity and so had opportunity to mention Sawyer. Today in my Sunday school class we had mention of zombies and Sayid’s name came up. And this evening I finally managed to watch the latest episode of Fringe, and [SPOILER ALERT] found it to work in religious themes and content – very directly in the scene with Walter Bishop in the hospital chapel, but just as significantly in its exploration of a father’s willingness to let his son die in order to save the world.
I don’t know whether the end will be satisfying, but I’m just happy to enjoy the show while it lasts, and to explore what the religious themes tell us about religion and popular culture. And I think that any show that explores the possibility that what one person thinks is a sign from God could be due to another individual’s time travel experiments is definitely cool and thought provoking sci-fi. And in exploring ideas of calling and/or destiny, Peter Bishop sounded a little bit like John Locke – and so one wonders whether Peter, like Locke, is being manipulated to think he is special by some person or force working towards an end of his or its own.
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