6B

In this one the forces at work begin to encounter one another. A group of young people at a party fall to their deaths when a temporary hole forms under them. It then closes up. The team comes to investigate. The only explanation is that all kinds of paranormal events seem to have happened in this apartment building. At the center is 6B, the home of an elderly lady who sees an image of her dead husband. Walter believes this is evidence of a vortex between the two universes and if so, where will it be next. It seems that the old lady (a widow) and her husband (who is a widower from the other side) have an emotional connection which facilitates the danger of the vortex. Well thought out episode.

It is typical of this series that the writers can whip a love story out of thin air which might be one of the greatest ever.

Seriously, when I am asked (as Top Reviewer) to recommend a love story, I usually send people to HERE COMES MR JORDAN and more recently EYE ORIGINS. This episode will stick in my mind for some time to come.

As for the reviewer who felt this series had become a soap opera, the answer is that everything is a soap opera because without people there is no story that stands on its own. Even X-Files got mileage from its "anti-romance" where Mulder and Scully self-consciously avoided each other.

Great

In the weeks leading up to Peter's inescapable joining with "The Vacuum" (i.e., "the machine") Walter fears that "his" universe is breaking apart and it is only a matter of time until "our side" is as bad off as "The Other Side."

And it all starts at this innocuous, innocent looking Building in New York- Where Odd Things have been happening, the residents have been moving out in droves, and at a Party on the 3rd Floor the Blender turns on all by itself, an hors d'oeuvre suddenly has peanuts in it causing a guest to go in to anaphylactic shock, and then a body falls on the street while a woman is getting into a taxi-Then another, and another. And a few more, followed by a few pieces of furniture.

Several theories get tossed out — "Flash Mob Suicide"-But Peter notices, that the bodies were too close to the side of the Building to have jumped off the balcony - The bodies were found below the balcony, ergo, the balcony must have stopped existing for a split second - Walter and Peter get off the balcony fast.

It's Walter's fear that the universes will break apart because he crossed over to get Peter, revealing the "red" and "blue" universes to each other and to the Pauli Exclusion Principal (aka, the "Heisenberg" principle) which ultimately would leave One Universe standing. And that it is finally beginning now, beginning at the innocent looking building, which has been used in a lot of movies, including "Kate and Leopold."

If this is in fact happening, then Olivia helps Nina Sharp set up Amber Protocols for this side and they build a prototype Amber Containment unit.

In the end, the vortex that appears, is not due to a "soft spot" but to a "Ghost" - Which appears to an Old Widow Alice Merchant played by Phyllis Somerville (Grandma Fuller from "Benjamin Button")-She sees her Husband Derek (Ken Pogue). On our side, she lost Derek, on his side, he lost Alice. The connection between the two is shattering the universe(s), and it takes "Grandma Fuller" letting go of Derek to break the connection.

On the other side, Alt-Astrid reports a "Class 4 Vortex." But when Alternate Lee and Fauxlivia get to Apartment 6B, there is nothing there and Derek tells them nothing about what had happened.

Ultimately this episode is about Olivia and Peter, who just like Alice and Derek, are from two sides of a Multiverse. So as strains of Velvet Underground play in the background, Peter and Olivia go "Upstairs"...

When a group of guest falls during a party from the veranda of an apartment building in Brooklyn to sidewalk, the Fringe Division is assigned to investigate. Olivia, Peter and Walter learn that the building is considered haunted and the residents are moving away. Walter sees the position of the bodies and conclude they have felt through the balcony and concludes the place has a crack to the parallel universe. Olivia notices a glow from the apartment 6B and the widow Alice Merchant believes she can contact the ghost of her husband Derek from the beyond. But soon Walter, Olivia and Peter conclude she is contacting Derek from the parallel universe. Meanwhile Peter tries to mend Olivia's broken heart and rekindle her feelings for him.

"6B" is a spooky and also romantic episode of "Fringe'. The lead story of Alice and Derek certainly affects Olivia's feelings and she is more open with Peter. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "6B"

Actually, there are some respected reviewers around on the internet that didn't care much about this episode, and simply dismissed it as a boring, slow-pacing soap opera. It is sad, that after almost 3 full seasons, Fringe still suffers from a misplaced ID card, that loudly writes "Sci-fi horror" more than "mytery and fantasy".

This episode, in my opinion, is the very episode in Season 3 that matches up to the quality of what was considered to be Fringe's "Constant"--"Peter". On an emotional level, they both showed the determination of the creators to transform it from a X-file wannabe into the cousin of "Lost", which is good because "Monster of the week" formula gets old in these days, especially if you had the familiar monsters and just gave them a slightly different but still quite over-the-head explanation(X-files would say "blame the aliens" while Fringe would say "blame the other dimension").

You don't necessarily need to be charmed by movies like Up to appreciate the subtlety of this episode. In fact, it's very fun and funny to compare it to Up for many similar qualities, like the interchange of metaphors and various paralleling themes. The relationship between the old couple living in the apartment was somewhat a mirror to Peter and Olive's twisted entanglement, be it "quantum" enough or not. "To cross the line" is like the keyword of this episode because Walter, P&O, and the old couple all have lines to cross for similar reasons. The final result? They got paid off all in satisfying ways. For Walter, it's just touching to see a crazy genius' moral struggling to match up to the coldness of his nemesis, his arch-enemy. It's also a precious reminder to me that it is those at power that needs people's care and consideration the most--before we conclude and wrap them up in monstrous coverages. For the old couple, it's even more interesting because "Crossing over" or "cross the line" to them really have more layers than those main roles. To them, the very line they would probably be crossing is a line of sanity, reason, common senses and even religious conviction or clarity. This is a highlight of "Fringe"'s struggles at heart. Though I'm not really bought into the mythology of Fringe, I'd like to appreciate their effect and artistic considerations of presenting the tongue-in-the-cheek differences/similarities between alternate dimensions and afterlife.

And, to the stars of the show, Peter and Olive, their line to cross is a both the borderline between 2 universes and the invisible line marked by Olivia's emotional scar, as she kept on resenting the fact that which would have possibly been the most important and beautiful part of her life was stolen by her arch[-enemy. Ethically speaking(gosh, if there are still anything that can be called ethical if there are really two universes at war) Peter and Olivia belonged to different worlds, and they'd better leave each other untouched to prevent further complications. Yet, as complications and conflicts both marched on regardless of their position, it's also relieving to see they have the courage to come to terms, which finished building up the story's many further possibilities.

Way to go, Fringe team! And best wishes.