the man in the mirror

I finally had the chance to watch the premiere of Fringe's fourth season...  There were several things that i noticed, one of which was that Lee's dead partner believed that "everything happened for a reason."  Just one of those weird moments where it connects to me but i know that it's really only because this is an Abrams show and that was something they used to say on Lost.  It's not like anyone really reads my blog, my title came from them, not the other way around.

So, observations:

There are many small changes...distressingly, most of these seem to be to the personality of our beloved main characters.

Olivia is wearing color (no more exclusively black and gray and white).
Walter can't leave the Lab so he's never in the field (weird).
Neither Olivia seems to be missing Peter...  Is the baby still alive?  I would guess no.
Fringe is more secretive than it used to be.  It also seems to have a larger budget.
 I was hoping to see Nina or Brandon at some point, but they are mysteriously absent.
Is Walter still trying to bring back William?
What did this episode have to do with what happened to Agent Scott in the pilot?

Is there anyone who really thinks that Fringe would have been successful in the past without Peter?  I'm not even talking about turning on the machine (which oddly hasn't been addressed, when it's staring them right in the face, i mean, come on, how did they turn it on, let alone control it, if Peter didn't exist?), i mean all the missions where his under the counter connections or brilliance or overprotectiveness of Olivia saved the day and/or saved her life?  I'm curious as to how many cases he was such a big part of that there is no way that things could have been solved without him.  I'm sure that it was most of them.  So that Peter never existed at all requires a little too much suspension of disbelief on my part.  Walter was hiding in the tank...well Peter pulled Olivia from that tank, saved her life, pulled her back from the edge, time and again.  It's not that i think Olivia has a death wish, but she is certainly reckless.  Charlie has been dead (in this universe) how long and she still doesn't have a proper partner?  I mean, it's good to see Astrid in the field more, but we know that she's not chasing down the bad guys with a gun and flashlight pointing the way.

Peter is visiting Walter in the Lab.  He is playing havok with Astrid's video blackberry.  But how is he trying to connect with Olivia?  We haven't seen that he is at all.  This seems completely unlikely.  Olivia was hallucinating about him even when her memories had been erased, and now she's not even sensing a twinge?  Not working for me.  I still want to see what happens next week but...this felt disjointed, disconnected, from all that has come before, even while it was building off of it.  How much has changed?  Everything has.

I'm sorry, Observers, i've trusted you in the past, but "fulfilled his purpose"???  Please.  Olivia and Walter still need Peter every day.  Don't make me kill you.  Death by poisoned hot sauce is so in the back of my mind...