(S02E16) "Somewhere, Peter will grow up, somewhere he will lead a proper life, somewhere he will be happy, but just not here. And we must take comfort in this. We must begin to move on." - Walter to Elizabeth, watching alt-Peter through the window to the other universe

I've said it before and I'll say it again: John Noble is a fantastic actor. With the flashback to 1985 in this episode, he completely morphed into a different Walter Bishop. And yet, you can see traces of the person that he is now, and because of all he's been through, you can understand how he got from there to here.

But he wasn't the monster that I thought he might be, based on some of the things we've learned about him since 'Fringe' began. Instead, he was a loving and caring husband and father who was obsessed with finding a cure for his son.

This episode has gotten a lot of hype, and it didn't disappoint. While it did answer a few questions, it posed even more questions, which will make the rest of the season exceedingly entertaining and possibly heartbreaking.

Geeks, meet Gleeks.

To kick of the May sweeps, Fox is planning a week of 'Glee'-inspired musical programming, including a musical episode of sci-fi fan fave 'Fringe.' In the April 29 episode, entitled 'Overture,' the show's paranormal investigators will find themselves suddenly breaking out into song and dance numbers.

Turns out a lot of the 'Fringe' cast have music backgrounds, so they were psyched to show off their crooning and hoofing skills as part of the typical weirdness of the show. How do these musical interludes come about? Read on for spoilers.

(S02E05) "Whether you admit it or not, your life is something of a nightmare." - Bowling Alley Guy to Olivia

For a minute there, I thought maybe we were in a True Blood crossover with the horned guy in the first few minutes of this episode. But no, it was the usual twisty-turny Fringe-isms involving mind control, computer chips and dream states.

And it appears that something many of us assumed had happened to Peter actually did happen -- though with this show, you can never be sure until it all plays out. It wouldn't surprise me if it's something completely different from what I'm assuming it is. All this, and Mysterious Bowling Alley Guy after the jump ...

(S02E04) "Momentum can be deferred, but it must always be paid back in full. As I always said to Walter, physics is a bitch." - William Bell to Olivia, on the dangers of jumping universes

Cryonics, frozen heads, worm juice, mercury blood, shapeshifters, and Leonard Nimoy were all featured in this episode, and I loved it all.

Let's start with the worm juice. Olivia must have been seriously craving her William Bell memories to drink that awful stuff. And what a trooper that she was able to keep it down, too. I guess it must have worked. She got some of her memories back, along with some help from the bell -- both the bell they chimed during Rebecca's psychedelic adventure and William Bell. Or Willem, as Olivia used to call him.

Is she right not to trust him? Could he have started the war? It's certainly possible, given his mysteriousness. He said for reasons she might understand later, he couldn't come back to this universe right now, possibly never. Why? What's he doing over there? Is he the one building the army? Is he being forced to? Will he and Walter face off eventually?

(S02E03) "Get my portable chemistry set ... this means bodies!" - Walter to Astrid

This episode of Fringe sort of went along without too many shocker moments -- until the last few minutes, that is. I wasn't all that surprised about the serum that turned people into human explosives, or even that it might be part of a top-secret military experiment. But I was wondering when our friend The Observer would turn up again in a big way and dump something spicy all over his plate of food.

(S01E19) It's an interesting premise. That we can have several different alternative realities, and if the brainwaves are hitting just right, we have the option to see more than one reality. Or in this case, more than one charred body.

I must say, Olivia handled it way better than I would have. I would have been FREAKING OUT and curled into a fetal position if the whole time-shift thing was happening before my eyes. But she took it all in stride, using it to help solve the case and find the twin sister in the lab. But oy ... what a shocker ...

Anyone who watched last night's episode of Fringe can see that all the pieces of the puzzle that is The Pattern are coming together. Dunham is starting to merge John Scott's memories with her own, right as the evil Nina Sharp at Massive Dynamic decided she needs them to help her nefarious plans. Dunham's actually starting to show some personality; the chemistry between her and Peter and between Peter and Walter is getting fun. And the ending to last night's episode set up a nice cliffhanger that will take us through the holidays.

It's starting to reach a lot of the potential that fans had for it, given its J.J. Abrams pedigree. So why am I not more engrossed with the show?

(S01E01) "I knew someone would come eventually." -- Dr. Walter Bishop

This is my second time watching Fringe -- I posted an Early Look review a couple of weeks ago -- and it's just as engaging to me now as the first time. Tonight, I focused more on the relationships of the characters, whereas the first time, I was fixated on the sci-fi paranormal elements. My thoughts:

Wow, I really like this show! But darn, I'll have to wait to see what happens next, because FOX only sent us the pilot episode. I hope the continuing episodes are just as good. I expect nothing less from writer/producer J.J. Abrams, who already has a slew of hits on his IMDB page, including Lost and Alias (and I have high hopes for the upcoming Star Trek feature film, which he's directing and producing). Also on board for Fringe are the writers of Transformers: Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Good combo there.

Let's see ... what can I tell you about Fringe without giving away any spoilers? The first scene hooked me and wouldn't let go until ... well, it still hasn't let go, because I can't wait to see what happens next. The show is equal parts Lost, Heroes, CSI, and The X-Files, and the pilot episode covers a lot of ground in the set-up, but also ends with lots of questions.

Imagine this. If The X-Files and CSI had a baby and that baby's godfather was Heroes, then that would be Fringe. Sounds pretty good, right? Well, after attending a screening of J.J. Abrams' new show at Fox studios in Century City, I can vouch that it is indeed pretty good. One might even say it's more than pretty good; it's great in fact.

I watched the two-hour season premiere on Thursday evening. The pilot I saw was unfinished, but according to the publicist for Fox, the network is so psyched about Fringe, they couldn't wait to show the press. He referred to it as Fox's "tent pole series for the fall."

After the jump, I tell you about the pilot and the characters. Consider yourself warned though, there will be a few spoilers.