‘Fringe’ Series Finale Review: “An Enemy of Fate”

The battle against the Observers comes to a thrilling conclusion as ‘Fringe’ season 5 debuts its final episode “An Enemy of Fate,” where Peter, Walter, Olivia, Astrid and Donald race to find a way to put their plan into action, and Windmark puts all his forces into stopping them.

Previous ‘Fringe’ finale episode “Liberty” saw Olivia realizing she must first cross over to the other universe in order to rescue Michael from a base on Liberty Island, while Windmark realized Broyles might be the traitor in his regime, so how does “An Enemy of Fate” conclude the 2-hour series finale?  How will season 5 of ‘Fringe’ close out the epic saga?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘Fringe’s finale episode of the series “An Enemy of Fate!”

Donald explains to December that he needs a new initiation trigger from the future, though December questions the plan to reset the timeline and negate the Observers’ existence. December believes Donald compromised by emotion, as the original science team swore not to speak of to others, but Donald reminds him that they can change all of destiny if they will it so.

Elsewhere, Walter helps Anil set up the magnet by phone, while Broyles calls Peter to check in. After Broyles leaves his car, Windmark and his men step in to reconstruct the conversation sound-waves, confirming that Broyles is a traitor to the Observers. Broyles clears out the files in his office, and dismisses his assistant in a hurry, but Windmark appears asking for a word before he can leave. Broyles keeps his cool, dismissing the notion that there could be a traitor in his department, and Windmark surprisingly lets him go without accusation.

The team arrives back at the Harvard lab to find Donald waiting, as they all wonder the boy's reason for leaving the train in the first place. Donald brings them up to speed on retrieving the initiation trigger from December, and further explains the plan to send Michael through time to the year 2167. Broyles calls en route to them, but quickly realizes his movements are being tracked. Olivia offers to come rescue him, but Broyles declines believing the plan to be all that matters. Walter realizes they’ll soon need to leave the lab and instructs the team to hurry retrieving their equipment.

Liberating more from the amber, Peter stumbles across a mysterious syringe as well as a tape addressed to him, neither of which Walter can immediately explain. Peter pops the tape in, which turns out to be a heartfelt goodbye to his son, with mention of a mysterious letter, and the syringe as an inoculation to take the boy into the future himself. Peter balks, and desperately searches for another way, but Walter assures him it has to be done to erase the paradox of their existence, and the pair share a tearful embrace over the revelation.

Olivia and Astrid find December’s apartment open and ransacked, and the Observer himself hung from the ceiling. Olivia manages to get the drop on two Loyalists patrolling, but sees that the initiation trigger has been confiscated. Back at Observer headquarters, an Observer presents the device to Windmark, revealing the rebel plan will be to reset the timeline.

Broyles attempts to flee from his Loyalist pursuers, only to be caught and captured by an Observer, while Donald worries about how they’ll get another initiating reactor. Olivia attempts to ask Michael for help, but the boy only presses his finger to his lips in response. Astrid suggests that they reconfigure one of the Observer shipping lanes between timelines, one of which  will open the following morning at 6:08 a.m. Peter and Olivia resolve to retrieve one of the necessary cubes from Observer headquarters, as Anil calls to announce Broyles' capture.

As Peter and Olivia borrow a number of past ‘Fringe’ artifacts for the raid (including osmium bullets that will make the bodies float “because it’s cool”), Astrid leads Walter into the amber to show him something: a still-frozen Gene! Walter tears up at the gesture, as Astrid assures him everything will be alright, and Walter responds by telling her “Astrid” is a beautiful name. Finally.

Windmark begins to interrogate Broyles, explaining how the original team had been corrupted by emotions  and admitting that he too had begun to feel something: hate. Meanwhile, Olivia and Peter wait outside the headquarters, and comfort one another over the belief that they’ll soon see Etta again. A resistance member leads them into the building toward a main ventilation shaft, where they mask up and dump their store of Fringe chemicals!

Back at the Harvard lab, Donald shows Walter that he took the remaining inoculation himself, that Walter’s relationship with Peter has taught him the true meaning of a father’s love, and he must be the one to take his son into the future. Meanwhile, Peter and Olivia make their way through the facility, Loyalists and Observers dying all around them from such past Fringe cases as the stomach-bursting parasites, skin sealing agents, and even the butterfly-hallucinating pathogen from “The Dreamscape!”

Peter manages to secure one of the necessary cubes, while Olivia rescues a still-living Broyles. Elsewhere, Donald, Walter, Astrid and the resistance wait in position while the Loyalists open the time portal shipping lane. Peter and Olivia finally arrive, and both sides begin a terrific firefight while the team attempts to set up the shipping lane to take them to 2167.Walter successfully launches the beacon into the portal, but just as the group prepares to retrieve Michael, Windmark intervenes!

Windmark easily overpowers both Peter and Olivia , but when Olivia sees Etta’s “magic bullet” necklace lying on the ground, she manages to conjure just enough of her Cortexiphan powers to smash Windmark between two cars! Donald grabs Michael and the pair run toward the portal, but Donald takes a bullet to the back and collapses. As Michael pulls out his tiny music box, Walter realizes what he must do, and says a wordless goodbye to the team, before taking Michael’s hand and leading him into the portal.

In an instant, Peter and Olivia are once again playing with Etta in the park as they were in “Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11,” but with no interruption from the Observers this time. The pair blissfully return home, and Peter finds a letter from Walter in the mail. Inside, Peter finds Walter’s long-lost “White Tulip” drawing, a sign from God. Roll credits.

And so, it has come to this. 'Fringe' has officially fallen by the wayside, and will air no more. While we admit to feeling somewhat underwhelmed by the episode's final battle scenes, and the multiple questions left by the somewhat lackluster resolution, we can't deny the rich emotional content that permeates "An Enemy of Fate." The relationships between characters built up over years are as rich as ever, and you'd be made of stone to not at least well up from Walter's tearful admission to Peter that "you're my favorite thing."

Additionally, it was great to see the 'Fringe' team pay such homage to the classic cases from earlier seasons, as Peter and Olivia used so many prior artifacts to lay waste to Observer headquarters. All in all, "An Enemy of Fate" made for a fine finale to an uneven season and a wonderful series, one whose emotional depth and warming heart far outweigh any potential flaws.

Well, what say you? Do you feel "An Enemy of Fate" successfully resolved the season, and the series at large? What lingering questions did 'Fringe' leave you with? Tell us everything you thought about the finale in the comments below!