Last night’s episode of Fringe provided more evidence that Fringe is exploring some of the same themes as LOST. Whether it will do so in more satisfying ways remains to be seen. In this episode, “The Firefly,” the observers are back and playing a prominent role, apparently working on “course correcting” a universe tottering out of alignment. If that is what they are really up to, then I expect to be disappointed by how this plays out. Why, after saying in this episode that there are multiple possible futures and it isn’t yet certain which one will actually transpire, would the course of events require correction? Perhaps it is like the explanation in Doctor Who, where some major milestones in history have to transpire a certain way, while minor players and events can be changed. But that isn’t really satisfactory. If there is genuinely free will, then why and in what sense should history have to play out a certain way? And if there isn’t, then how can it not?
Be that as it may, the show’s mythology is fascinating even if not always logically satisfying. After all, what mythology is? That is not myth’s role.
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