Fringe (TV Series) Welcome to Westfield (2012) User Reviews

One of the Best Episodes

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 29 March 2017]

When several cars stop working at a road to Vermont, followed by a plane crash, Olivia, Peter and Walter are assigned to investigate. On the return, Walter asks to stop at a diner to eat pie and they are attacked by the attendant that is killed by Olivia. They find most of the population dead and a wounded survivor called Cliff that explain that most people went crazy a couple of days ago. They meet a group of survivors and Walter concludes that people from both universes are merging in their doubles and they are trapped in the town. Only those that do not have double in Westfield have survived. But the greatest problem is that the town will be completely destroyed and only the center of the merged town will be a safe place.

"Welcome to Westfield" is one of the best episodes of "Fringe", with an engaging story. The surprising conclusion with Olivia acting as if she were at the original timeline with Peter makes the next episode promising. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Welcome to Westfield"

I knew it!

[JeremyDunn14 · 10/10 · 12 February 2012]

I knew it was only a matter of time before Walter and Olivia would remember Peter.

Since this is the same time line as before, just rewritten, it stands to reason they would eventually remember.

Which is why in the season 4 premiere, December told September, "They must never know the boy lived to be a man."

This was because they knew with Peter in the picture, Walter and Olivia's repressed memories would resurface.

Glad to see things coming together. I knew a big reveal was headed our way! Just gotta trust Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman.

The Way into Walter

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 11 February 2012]

This episode bodes better for Peter and Walter, there is less estrangement between the two and they are finally learning how to operate as a unit.

The Fringe team is sent to investigate some very X-Filesean events: An area where Cars and Trucks shut down by themselves, Radios scan out of range and things float in the air, and Planes inexplicably crash- In a way very similar to the Episode "Transformation" from the first season.

Of course Walter in his incessant need to imbibe in culinary uniquities, sees a restaurant in "Westfield" which he must visit to try out some potential gastronomic delight. And so a quick side trip to said establishment is undergone.

But what happens ends up being a visit to the Denny'sǂ from Hell - And the apparent source of this week's Fringe event. Initially the place looks harmless enough but for the tumbleweeds blowing through the streets, but the level of weird just keeps rising. Westfield is a town where all of the alternate realities seem to be meeting, and everything changes from minute to minute - Including Olivia's memory of Fringe events of her timeline.

"Dark Skies" Tim Kelleher (Steele) is an injured man found by Walter, Olivia and Peter, who after Walter saves, tells the trio some frightening turns of events. Seems universes are colliding on this very spot. People's memories are changing from moment to moment and the whole town is disintegrating right in front of them.

If people like to compare Fringe to The X Files then this episode should make them happy, it has all the earmarks of a typical X Files situation.

Can Walter figure it out before he and Peter and Olivia get swallowed up into this temporal cesspool that is engulfing the town? Peter is finally discovering how to please this Universe' version of Walter. They Way into Walter is through his Stomach. Now that Peter understand this, he can maybe go home.

ǂDenny's is a franchise of low-budget and similarly low-quality food establishments in Southern California.

Finally!!

[ellisday-954-300919 · 8/10 · 21 May 2016]

Fringe has gone back to what makes it great!! The three main characters dominating the episode, Walter is back to himself and Olivia and Peter's relationship is building again. It's just like season 1 and 2. I was doubtful after the third season with the "alternates" and the new characters, that season 4 would be the same long story line, but no, I was thankfully wrong. Each episode has its own mini story line and some episodes, like this one, has no Alternates etc. I am looking forward to the rest of season 4. Gory, interesting and funny, FRINGE.IS.BACK! This episode is one of the greatest of this season and it finally makes me want to see more which I have not felt for the last season!

Fringe's testament to its fans and the Puppet Masters of Horrific Science-Fiction

[igoatabase · 10/10 · 16 March 2012]

This was the episode I had waited for. Season 3 had its lot of sci-fi wonders but so far the 4th hadn't raised the bar as high as I hope it would. This 12th installment left me speechless and can be compared to masterpieces like Reciprocity and "Concentrate and Ask Again". There're few superlatives to describe how its acting, writing, direction and overall production have to be praised. Has Fringe reached the acme of science-fiction ? The show could end right there and I wouldn't mind. Indeed now I worry that the upcoming episodes will disappoint me. Would it be inappropriate to compare "Welcome to Westfield" to Smallville's Booster ? I don't think so because I have tremendous respect and admiration for the people behind these TV series. However in the case of our favorite X-Filesean production I have no doubt that the 13rd episode will push the mind blowing barrier even further. Yes because it's what the incredible talents behind the show do. Their expectations are probably higher than ours and this time it was obvious from beginning to end.

Olivia's blue fantasy was a perfect way to introduce the writers' new televisual experiment. It's reminiscent of all these life changing works of art that excel to immerse their audience into their fictional universe in only a few split seconds. You forget everything around you, from the projects that drive you to the things that hurt, and for a moment you really feel like making love to the partner you have always dreamed of. I love you. Je t'aime. Te amo. And it got even better when we soon realized that this new Olivia was operating a mental transformation into The One we miss. The Alpha and the Ωlivia. What a stellar ending she could give birth with Peter ! In fact I was so thrilled by the ride they offered us that I didn't see the kiss coming. I shouldn't have left my guard down ! But there're worst ways to get knocked out.

When it's time to joke, it's John "Walter" Noble time ! His evolution slightly mirrored Olivia's one but the writers' were wise enough to make it as subtle as possible to leave our three-two (#?!) love birds some space. And with The Return of the Killing Pancake™ I already anticipate how much his reunion with Peter will make me cry of happiness like someone having its bare feet licked by a giant bear with a bird hat who has a beard and probably drank way too much beer ! But for once the comedy elements were anecdotic and the story couldn't have been more serious. It was quite welcome considering I found Making Angels a little soapy. First the parallel disaster was reminiscent of Amber 31422's wormhole. I can't imagine how much it was expensive to produce so many visual effects heavy scenes ! It really felt like the merging of two worlds even if I found the eye of the storm part a little rushed. Why did it end so abruptly ? At least the last thing we saw was Peter looking at Her. An other element I appreciated was the overall Stephen King's spirit. People trapped in a creepy town ? Of course the dimensional loop can only remember the time bubble from "And Those We Left Behind" but in my humble opinion it was more in the fascinating vein of a Groundhog Day or a King's novel. Indeed there was just something scary about the abandoned village, don't miss Nightmares & Dreamscapes' "You Know They Got A Hell Of A Band" by the way, and there was even a freak in the schoolbus ! Last but not least the black smoke, unrelated to Lost's one, some people had in their eyes was probably an homage to the cult oil from The X-Files. So definitely yes, this was the episode I had waited for.

Note : This review was first posted on Kritikenstein, my weblog.

One of my favourites.

[fallencarpathia · 8/10 · 8 May 2023]

This is easily one of my favourite episodes of the later seasons. Back in the start it was the old monster of the week and episodes similar to this, but when the alternate universe thing kicked in, they kind of took a back seat, which was unfortunate, but the show was still enjoyable regardless.

One thing that helps with my appreciation of this episode is it's many similarities to one of my favourite movies: John Carpenter's In the mouth of madness. (1994). A town you can't leave where everyone has seemingly gone mad, some residents having two irises in their eyes... Etc. Obviously the "meat" of the story is quite different, but the similarities are undeniable.

The acting in this episode also really stands out. While I have always said that Walter is one of the best written and best acted characters in TV history, every character really has their moment, especially when it comes to Olivia's recollection of Peter aling with her behaviour and body language towards him, how it changes from the beginning and the end of the episode. Too often when shows do the "amnesia" thing, it's rushed and seems to suddenly resolve, here it took time and seemed much more natural.

The best ep from a poor Season 4

[nicofreezer · 9/10 · 19 June 2021]

Poor is a bit severe , i should said and mediocre Season, way inferior to the first 3.

But here we go with " Welcome to Westfield" finally a nice and interesting story. The Fringe team goes to a lost and dark us town, into the forrest, a town with a mystery, thats an episode ! Very X files style, I would have love to see Mulder and Scully goes there.

Fringe will never match the X files, even the best Fringe episode like this one is still far from a Classic X files, but but I was entertain for once.

8.5/10.

Town Without Pity

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 15 November 2023]

When a plane crashes and vehicles left non-functioning, the principles find themselves trapped in a town where there are people becoming zombies from occupying the bodies of their doubles. Right? Don't ask. But this is a survival story. A local teacher has been stabbed and is fighting for his life. After a transfusion, he and the others head for high school where Walter and Peter try to figure out what is going on. It turns out that when examined the crazies have multiple organs from combining two species. What they need is to find a vortex like the eye of a hurricane. A poignant moment comes when Peter begins to be recognized by his new friends and a relationship with Olivia begin to emerge.