(S01E16) "Psychedelics? No, not since Thursday." - Walter, responding to Peter's question as to whether he's on something.

Fringe just gets better and better! This week's episode was one big, long freak-show-horror-movie-mystery. Although they once again didn't have anything about the pattern or the missing Nina Sharp or Massive Dynamic, we know it's coming. We know this because Leonard Nimoy is on tap to play the mysterious William Bell, Walter's long-lost lab partner. Wheeeeee!!!!

(S01E15) "There is so much that is unexplained ... until it is." - Walter Bishop

First things first: I'm so glad to have Fringe back! It's such a good show, and this episode with its tense moments, mind-freak games, and The Observer reminded me once again why I love it. And, of course, everything that is Walter Bishop. The scene with the record player and the blues and the neurotransmitter was classic Walter.

They sure jumped right into it with the opening scene: the storyline about the contractor having a "feeling," double-checking the building before demolishing it, finding the hollow room below, and then finding the child in the dank, dark bowels of the building ... it all made for an intense opening scene that made you feel like anything could happen.

(S01E11) "Things like this used to happen in the lab all the time. It makes me nostalgic." - Walter, after catching a giant slug under a trashcan

I love this show! And seeing it after its weeks-long hiatus just reminds me once again how much I love it and why. Part of it's because they throw little clues at us, and we're tasked to try and figure them out. Where did we see this guy before? What does this mean? How does it tie into the past? Are these new characters part of a larger conspiracy? It's a fun puzzle that isn't dumbed down for the audience.

(S01E10) "Just when you thought things couldn't get any weirder..." - Peter to Olivia, on seeing a dead guy embedded in a wall

Wow, a lot of things started to come together in this episode. Let's analyze:

The guy in the wall. So we now know that the experiment we saw in last week's episode - where the guy grabs an apple through the wall of a safe - is being used on a larger scale. Specifically, to steal things out of bank vaults. Only, not everyone gets back through the wall.

The safety deposit boxes. We pretty much knew that the contents were mysterious things that would bring ... something ... to light. But what we didn't know is that the contents of those safety deposit boxes were actually put there by Walter years ago. And that the box numbers were the same numbers he chants at night while he's trying to go to sleep -- the Fibonacci Sequence we learned about at the beginning of this season. Way to bring that back around.

(S01E09) "In case you hadn't noticed, I can be quite obsessive." - Walter to Astrid, on his current obsession with coffee yogurt.

Another great episode tonight, and some of the little symbols we see leading into commercials were actually in tonight's episode. Let's see ...

There's the moths (or butterflies, as the case may be), who showed up in a Massive Dynamic employee's hallucinations, causing him to leap through a window and down several stories, landing on top of a car. Yeah, that did not end well.

Oh my. So much to be thankful for, even though the fall season hasn't been all that great. Here's my list:

Rogue agents. It's been Far.Too.Long since Jack Bauer has entered our living room, and we couldn't be more gleeful about his return - both the 24 movie and the series in January. Welcome back, Jack! We missed you! Well, my son and I have! My daughter and husband don't get you, but that's ok!

Mad scientists. That crazy Walter Bishop really brightens up our Tuesday nights around here. My son goes to school on Wednesday, talks about Fringe with his buddies, then texts me back their thoughts on The Observer, the cylinders, Massive Dynamic and all the rest. Of course, Walter is the best thing about the show. We love him.

(S01E08) Maybe I'm just in a weird mood, but tonight's episode was heartbreaking. Seeing Walter go back into the mental facility and have to spend the night wondering if he'd be stuck in there again -- it just made my heart ache for him. I didn't really get the hallucinations he had of seeing himself in various places, though. Maybe just his mind playing tricks because of the intense emotional state he was in ... ?

There are so many things that happened in this episode that brought to mind a lot of thoughts and questions:

(S01E07) "Do you have any mints?" - Walter to Agent Broyles, who just told him to save his friend in the hospital

Tuesdays are a big night around our house, thanks to Fringe. My 14-year-old son and I wait patiently for it, passing the time by discussing possible explanations for The Observer, the cylinders, The Pattern, the Massive Dynamic connection, everything. If we had a watercooler in the house, we'd be around it for sure.

My thoughts on tonight's episode:

...himself!

Keifer Sutherland says that the upcoming season of 24 will have everyone's favorite, tired hero Jack Bauer not saving the world, but saving himself, from bad guys who are hunting him around the world and want to kill him.

I think this is a fantastic idea. It would make the show more Bourne Identity and less James Bond. Meaning, more a personal story about survival than a story about bad guys trying to destroy the world. I think I'll even watch this upcoming season, even though I haven't watched any of the other seasons (not a knock against the show. I love spy/action shows, but there was always something else on).

The FOX show returns in January.

[via TV Tattle]