To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. That was EVERYTHING I WANTED in an episode that got us to the operation of the machine and nearly tied up the plot. It was so RIGHT that I nearly cried. I think I would actually be happy if the last scene of the show had been Peter walking up the machine and about to step into it, it was all so perfectly wrapped up. (Of course, I'm happier that we got a fourth season, but anyway.)

Olivia is the other key! There is a drawing about her! She has A DESTINY!

And I KNEW back in the S1 episode with the light box bomb that PETER WAS THE KEY to helping her turn off the lights and doing other telekinetic things like typing on the AU's typewriter! I KNEW IT!!! And it is so utterly perfect that they both have to be there to make important things happen now. OF COURSE THEY DO, YES YES YES. THEIR CONNECTION IS EPIC AND UNIVERSE-CROSSING AND UNIVERSE-SAVING.

(I kind of love having a ship where THEIR LOVE will literally save the universe [um, in all probability, anyway]. Can you tell?)

On the other hand, I'm somewhat wary about the whole "fifteen years in the future" thing. Not exactly where I expected this to go, but I can roll with it. I think. REALLY curious to find out what's going to happen in the next episode. If anything, I was expecting someone, maybe Sam, to go back to the past to write all those First People books. Maybe the Observers are writing down what's happening so that they can eventually deposit all the books and clues back in the past for earlier Sam Weisses to find.

In addition to my glee over the rightness of it all, let me just go asdfghjkl; for a moment over the scene where Walter tells Olivia he wishes she could see herself as he sees her, because she really is extraordinary. Oh, wow. WOW. Anna and John were amazing there. Despite everything, Walter kind of is her father figure, almost as much as he is Peter's.

Anna and Josh did some amazing face acting when they were re-united. I really love the way Peter looks at Olivia in those kinds of moments, like she's making him the happiest person on the planet even when the world is crashing down around them.

Walter flying a kite in the lightning storm was hilarious. Astrid was quietly excellent, as usual.

Um. I think there was other stuff, like maybe speculation on whether Peter "chose" our universe/Ourlivia if what Walternate said in the preview was true--though if he really does think of red!universe as home when he's been knocked out and has reverted to childhood for a while, maybe not?--but that's pretty much it. I LOVED THIS EPISODE.