"Fringe" The Last Sam Weiss (TV Episode 2011) Poster

(TV Series)

(2011)

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10/10
"The Taming of Fauxlivia"
XweAponX3 May 2011
We've been waiting to "see" what "the machine" does since the beginning of the season.

Now, suddenly, an ancient artifact appears which actually causes the Observer's Picture of Peter in "The Machine" make a lot of sense...

Who were the "First People" and what does The great bowler "The Last Sam Weiss" know about them? (Do not want to insert a spoiler here, go Hulu the Ep).

Fringe, like The X Files before it, answers questions only to ask more... And so conflicts are resolved which actually begin new conflicts. Nothing new there, it's basic Television writing. But the way it is done in Fringe, makes each episode stand alone- And together.

This latest 2nd-to-Season Finale ep makes references to many eps from earlier in the season and even before, making a tie-in to previous events and answering/asking questions.

I hated Fauxlivia, for a long time she was nothing to me but Walternate's evil sidekick - She did some very rotten things while she was here on this side. But now we know that her involvement here has caused a major shift in the character, we will just have to see if it is an improvement. If you factor in that she believed Walternate telling her that her universe was at war with the Fringe universe - (which is not "our" universe- This was revealed in S3x15 "Subject 13" where the young, freshly recovered and kidnapped Peter comments to "our" Walter that "The Red Lantern is supposed to be Green") - Then she was just performing as she believed and doing what she needed to do, as any intelligence agent would do here in our world. But now we see that there were consequences to her involvement here, her involvement with Peter and even our Walter. - We are all watching Fringe through Walter's magic window, but in our case we get to see two alternate universes. And maybe there is a universe where Anna Torv, John Noble and Joshua Jackson are really Fringe agents - The way the science is presented here, does not come off like regular technobabble scifi writing, like Star Trek: The Next Generation, which actually made it sound believable - We know that a lot of these concepts which are presented in Fringe are based on actual theories in OUR universe.

That Fauxlivia makes some decisions in this ep directly opposed to how she would have acted in the early eps of S3, makes me hope that both universes will survive. And maybe we are seeing the Taming of Fauxlivia... However, we know that she is not going to roll over and accept her current situation.

So now we have all of the clues given us throughout the season, forming a climax and at this time I await S3x22 with great anticipation, as the events which began at "6.02am EST" come to a drastic conclusion... and I look forward to where Fringe is going to take us in S4: Because the quality, just keeps going up.
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8/10
Another Intriguing Episode
claudio_carvalho24 March 2017
While the doomsday machine creates many lightning storms, Olivia seeks out Nina and she discloses that Sam Weiss might have the answer. Olivia chases Sam while Walter and Astrid research the storms. Meanwhile Peter awakes with amnesia, but he takes a taxi and asks the cab driver to go to New York; then he buys a coin at a pawnshop. Walter asks Broyles to take the machine to the Statue of Liberty to be close to the machine of the parallel universe and reduce the damages in our universe. Sam goes with Olivia to the machine and he suggests to use a device to open the field that is protecting the machine and let Peter go. When Sam Weiss retrieve a box with the information about the crowbar, he learn that Olivia is the crowbar. However she does not know how to use her ability.

"The Last Sam Weiss" is another intriguing episode of "Fringe". What has happened to Peter is the great question of this outstanding show. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "The Last Sam Weiss"
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9/10
Epic finale second part and the mad scientist next door review
igoatabase30 April 2011
Dear patient,

This is Walter Bishop and I would like to welcome you to my new experiment, Foreseen Review. It's actually an old project I worked on with my good friend William Bell back in 1985. Our goal is simple. I ask a question and answer it the same way you will once you have seen the episode. If our answers differ it means the world as you know it is about to end. Be prepared for the ultimate odyssey !

I. Should we just get rid of Astrid ? Of course not even if she acts as my friendly pet at times her kindness and encouraging words allowed me to overcome the most desperate situations. She taught me so much and in this installment she put in light what happened to me in the chapel. Do I believe in God ? As a man of science you probably think I was desperate but there're times when it's better to question your beliefs and become a man of faith if necessary than staying still and not doing anything. Just Believe !

II. Am I in love with Olivia ? Of course I am, what a silly question. Or silly me I should say. Never mind, the important thing is that this time our relationship was developed further and I was able to finally tell her how I see her. Anna Torv is such a talented actress, but not as sexy as me – little big John Noble, and I really cared about revealing the beautiful humanity in her character. Considering she had to make the impossible become possible I just tried to support her the best I could, like Astrid does even if she really annoys me at times. See we both lack confidence in our abilities. She's special but I feel like the village idiot even if my partners trust me.

III. Will Peter ever wake up ? I have no idea but really hope so. However if you naively think this is just fiction then there's a good chance that Joshua Jackson will recover. See I have seen 28 Days Later and on naked Tuesday I always wonder if it would have been as excellent if its protagonist had stayed in a coma for the whole film. I don't think so. Moreover Jackson is paid to act, not to sleep. Seriously the story has never been so twisted and should even remember you Sliders.

IV. Do they have what it takes to produce a mind blowing finale ? Even if half the budget is spent on rendering 3D location titles no one cares about we still had a few bucks to surprise the audience. The first thing is that the episode was heavy on well polished visual effects. It proves that 6:02 AM EST was really the calm before the storm. And I mean storm ! There were also plenty of fresh sets chosen by Sam Weiss himself. That man creeps me out but when it comes to design he's a genius, like I used to be. Museum ? Stroke ! Antics shop ? Coined ! Our team was even able to make you believe the machine could actually be real. Of course it is but the audience is not supposed to know it. Fringe is just the solution we have found to warn them of… I have already told you too much !

V. So what's your monkey sketch this time ? Last time Naughty Slippers™ was a mistake. They weren't supposed to write it and I wasn't supposed to do my part. We just thought the viewers weren't ready yet to witness how charming I am. Moreover this time we were just uninspired. What could we possibly have imagined ? There's nothing funny about storm. Otherwise there was room for my favorite sequence : The science lab session. It's even better when – not so serious – Philip Broyles is my witness because Lance Reddick is only an actor and doesn't know anything about magnetic fields and Jean-Michel Jarre !

VI. Will it end with an other cliffhanger ? You're a smart reader, you should know better. This is a three parts finale and the continuity was so well planned that once done with season 3 you should instantly want to watch it all over again. But considering you have endured my painful writing so far I think it's time to give you a scoop : Season 4 has already begun.

Now if you haven't already seen The Last Sam Weiss I really hope our little game convinced you to turn on your TV. And if it's already done then you probably think I'm a mad scientist who has spent way too much time spanking pancakes and bugging the networks with his silly jokes. I can't help, it's my nature.

W. B.
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9/10
Wow Really Rocks Hope They Wrap it up Sensibly!
Traxman1530 April 2011
This Is Darn Good

What a Wonderful Episode, even though it Takes Many Leaps of Logic, and so On, but as In All Fringe--Logic is Never Relevant it seems here if you have been Paying Attention To Any of the Previous Episodes but I wander Pardon Me! I really Wonder if the Observers are coming Back for the End of this Season, or Will They Be Prominently Featured Next Season as so Many People are Speculating? Boy I am Really Impressed with the Writing these Past Few Shows--It is Really Getting Much Stronger every Episode seemingly--Very Good Job Writing Staff--Now Let's Wrap it up Nicely, with a Few Good Shows that Actually Make Sense, and Hopefully You Won't have to Scratch your Head too much, or View Them Repeatedly to Have them Make Sense! One Can Only Hope!

Cheers T:
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10/10
The Breakthrough
Hitchcoc12 November 2023
Things go crazy when it is realized from Sam Weiss's documents that Olivia has control over the machine. She must shut it down in order for Peter to enter it. That is what the bulk of this episode is about. Peter is unconscious from the beginning and works his way to New York after leaving the hospital. Walter puts things together and realizes that he has to let go of Peter or there is no tomorrow. As things draw to a close, Peter finds himself in a war zone in the alternate universe. Olivia has successfully used her telekinetic powers to manipulate the machines. One episode to go for this season.
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