Many (Genetically Identical) Hands Make Light Work (Of Fixing A Couple Of Universes)

The "they were always destined to be together because they knew each other as kids" trope is not one of my favourites, so I started this run of episodes in kind of a bearish mood, though I do give Chandler Canterbury credit for giving real feeling to kid Peter's terror at being in the wrong place, surrounded by impostors. (Once you know that the latter half of this is a real mental illness, called Capgras Syndrome, it will haunt you, so...if you didn't, sorry!) But after that baloney, we get back to what has made Season 3 so much fun for me overall: switching from one universe to the other in a sprint to the finale.

I wonder if I would have liked it as much if I'd watched the episodes when they actually aired. For those who did, was it fun to leave off on one cliffhanger (Olivia A is possessed by William Bell?!) only to pick back up with one from a previous episode (Olivia B is pregnant with Peter's baby?!!?!), or frustrating? The advantage of watching them this way is that if something happens that annoys you -- as Anna Torv's Leonard Nimoy impression did Dave, though I thought it was cute and a lot less cartoony than it could have been -- it will probably roll by before it can really rankle you, as opposed to making you stew about it for a week.

In general, this was a good week for the old Marathon Diary. We got more of Torv stretching past the strictures that had limited Olivia for most of the first two seasons; more of the greater ambition of Season 3, not just in terms of the two-universe format but also the Inception-y "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide"; and finally a second Lincoln, and there's nothing bad about more Seth Gabel.

I also like the way the show is teasing the idea that maybe Olivia and Lincoln are supposed to be together in both universes. I'm not so naïve as to think that Peter is going to be permanently erased from all known universes -- I believe in The Observer's ability to fix things that need fixing, but if Peter B's kidnapping wasn't the event that caused Universe B to start disintegrating, what did? And what made Walter crazy? And did Mrs. Bishop A still kill herself if she didn't have guilt over it? etc. -- and I guess if this TV show has let us see Peter and Olivia together both as children and in the future they are Meant To Be. But still, Lincoln is a credible alternative that I would like to see explored in the sense of him taking his shirt off.

Anyway, the tenuous alliance of universes that kicks off Season 4 has a lot of potential and I'm excited to see where it goes. And while I understand that we're supposed to pledge allegiance to Universe A because it's the one we live in and we should root for the home team, let's not discount the fact that Universe B got some things right too. I mean, let's not forget where Olivia B was taken to recover after giving birth to Henry.

"Government Hospital"! FUCK YEAH the U.S. of Universe B has figured out socialized medicine! That's where I want to live! I don't even drink coffee so I would be perfectly comfortable there as long as they still have Dairy Queen.

Most Horrifying Indignity Visited Upon A Human Body Part: I know they did it for her and the baby's benefit, but I still didn't love seeing Fetus Henry growing super-fast in Olivia B.

Gross.

Favourite Character Actor From The HITG! Pantheon: When you need a wild-eyed loose-cannon terrorist type, you call Brad Dourif.

Heartbreakingest Walter Moment: I get that Walter deserved to be incarcerated for crimes against...the universe? I guess? (I feel bad for whichever Congressional aides had to draft the bill for THAT new law.) But it still made me SO SAD to see him all pitiful and bearded again.

At least there weren't too many scenes between this one and his reunion with a handful of Red Vines.